***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Joshi Kosei. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Eriko Takahashi's (voiced by Hitomi Nabatame) dream has come true. She has become a high school student. Not only that, she will be attending an all-girls school. In her mind, this means a paradise of sophistication and femininity.
Eriko, along with her friends, Yuma Suzuki (voiced by Masumi Asano) and Ayano Sato (voiced by Mamiko Noto), her contain their excitement. Except there is one problem. It turns out a school with only girls is not the Eden Eriko were expecting.
It seems when there are no boys to impress, girls just stop caring. Once private, embarrassing, and non-hygienic topics are now out in the open. That and the word "reservation" no longer hold any meaning.
This harsh reality is then confirmed by some middle school veterans of the academy, Akari Kouda (voiced by Satsuki Yukino), Kyoko Himeji (voiced by Kyoko Hikami), and Ikue Ogawa (voiced by Sawa Ishige).
Though rough, this team of six make the most of the situation. And with a range of over the top personalities, this appointed Moron Group are always the center of attention.
Series Positives
It's no secret that I haven't read any of the original sources of any of the series I have reviewed. Except for some reason, this is the one exception. Yeah, I can’t believe it either.
Joshi Kosei was a good read. And a pretty decent watch as well.The Characters
All the main characters were fun. But to give each of them enough screen time to feel important would have been asking a lot. This would then be even more unlikely since there were only twelve episodes to work with. As such, Joshi Kosei was in an uphill battle.
Both Ogawa and Himeji fell to the sidelines. Granted Himeji did have a more prominent role in the anime than in the manga. So that's a win I suppose. That aside, these two’s place in this show was underwhelming, to say the least. Luckily the other girls more than made up for them.
Yuma and Ayano were among the more grounded members of the group. "Grounded" being a comparative concept.
Ayano was ditsy and a massive air head. On the surface, she was as innocent as can be. Her fantasies, on the other hand, were anything but.
Yuma was much more blunt and direct. She was prone to aggression. This did make her one of the more entertaining characters of this series.
However, the title of most entertaining goes to Kouda. Her lack of shame was funny at worst and hilarious at best. Both in the anime and the manga, she was my favorite character. Her actions were selfish, egotistical, and derived from a need for attention. Despite her tendency to go overboard, she remained in balance. Especially when paired with Eriko.
In fact, when Eriko was with anyone, this was when this show was at its funniest. Being as impulsive as she was, when Eriko was in trouble, it was usually because of something she did. She was the butt of many of this series’ jokes. As well as one of its most significant instigators. And though teased and made fun of, she never took it lying down. She would fire back.
The Humor
On more than one occasion, I couldn’t help but see hints of Azumanga Daioh. Even if in spirit only. Trust me, these two shows are not the same. The jokes of Joshi Kosei separated themselves from what's found in Azumanga. Not only that, the humor of this series was unique.
While much of this comedy was suggestive as hell, that wasn't where the laughs came from. Joshi Kosei pulled from subjects like female bodily functions, personal hygiene, and sex. That last one, you may be thinking, doesn't sound that special. For example, innuendos were at the core of something like Seitokai Yakuindomo.The difference is, shows like Seitokai indicated no character had actually done the act. Not the case with Joshi Kosei.
Series Negatives
The source of Joshi Kosei’s humor may be unique. Too bad there was nothing else to distinguish this series from any other school slice of life. The only reason I know about this show is from reading the manga. And I read the manga out of pure happenstance.
This is one of those anime that happened. Nothing more.
Plus, while I was laughing throughout, I can't tell you if it was because this series was actually funny. It could be that I was laughing because I knew where all the references were coming from.
Some of the more reoccurring jokes from the manga appeared here. Yet there was so little context for them. Had Joshi Kosei been any other anime, this would have been confusing. That or I would not have noticed them at all.
Eriko
I said when Eriko was with someone else, this show became funny. This is a different story when she was by herself. There was nothing memorable about Eriko. As the main character, both in this anime and the manga, she was pretty bland.
In the manga, we learned a bit more about her. For instance, despite her aloofness, Eriko was a good student and a brilliant test taker. That would have been a nice thing to see mentioned once in this series. Would this have saved her character? No.
There was only one moment in this entire series were Eriko impressed me. It was when Yuma’s little sister, Momoka (voiced by Ai Shimizu), had almost succeeded in destroying all of Yuma’s friendships. Eriko was the only person who saw past Momoka's BS. And her reasoning was fantastic in how "matter of fact" it was. Had this series had more moments like this, Eriko may have been the best thing about Joshi Kosei.
Episode One
Something I liked about the manga was the energy that came with it. This show did an amazing job of recapturing that same energy. Or at least it did when we got to episode two. Episode one almost doomed the rest of this series.
This opening was lifeless. The comedy that was here would have worked had it happened later in the show. Yet at this point, the jokes fell flat. I got super nervous and thought the rest of this series was going to be like this.
None of the personality I knew was in these characters was present at the start. This was huge gut punch when I saw this happen with Eriko and Yuma. But my heart plummeted when I saw Kouda for the first time. She was so plain. That's a word I never want to use to describe her ever again. She got better, thank God.
In terms of an effective opening episode, Joshi Kosei struggled. It failed at its main purpose. It doesn't get you excited to watch.
Final Thoughts
Though easy to overlook, if you give Joshi Kosei a chance, you’ll be surprised.
The characters are a lot of fun, especially when together. You will be hard-pressed to find another anime like this that uses the same kind of jokes. Even with more conventional stuff, this show is pretty damn funny.
It may be sheer luck that I came across this series, but for what it’s worth, I’m glad I did.
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