_When I write a review I try to make it concise and easy to read.
This is a spoiler free review, so go ahead and read without worry._

The Gokudols, man oh man where do I start with that gem. I think this one of those animes you have to approach at a slower pace. This isn’t an anime (personally) I would recommend to watch and binge; it’s a “one or two episodes before or in bed” kind of show.

Back street girls - gokudols, despite common misconceptions, is NOT an idol show, it just takes place in the idol scene. This isn’t about music, lyrics, or even show with “normal” idol performances. It’s more about the story behind the scene of these idols, more specifically: how unlike idols they are... because they are men. Yakuza in fact.
The premise is hilarious, maybe even ridiculous: 3 yakuza men made a mistake and their boss gave them an ultimatum: Die or go to Thailand, get a sex change, and become idols to make money for their clan.
Now hear me out, it sounds preposterous but the show is actually comedy gold.

I think one of the main hesitations I’ve heard about this show is about the “trans” themes and how it could take a very “bad” direction but frankly, this show does a great job at keeping politics out of their story and the way the entirety of this show is portrayed throughout is very neutral, and non offensive. Even better, they take these themes and elevate them to a standard of comedy that I find is very much lacking in a lot of recent comedy animes coming out.

Now they obviously had a sex change but their “manly yakuza” personalities are still very much present. And so the show is essentially comically portraying the duality these now idols face; On one end the typical aggressive yakuza they are, the other very graceful and talented young idol girls they are forced to be.
The show does a fantastic way of depicting the inner thoughts of the now 3 ex-yakuza members, as they have to go through what idols do. On top of that, their boss has extremely unrealistic expectations of them that he demands to be met.

I think one of the greatest checkbox this show ticks is how well they portray the psychology of these 3 characters. Even though they are yakuza, they are constantly subjected to the “brain washing” of their boss to be “girly” and idol like. They are essentially abused and exploited by their boss and forced to live a life they hate. Slowly being programmed to be these textbook perfect idols. Maybe this is a stretch from me, but this could also be interpreted to be a satire of the work and expectations idols are subjected to on a daily basis, although that’s just my own subjective input.

And so as the anime progresses you see them slowly become more aware of certain things they never thought about; Things like being uncomfortable because they’re being stared at by all the men. And while this can be attributed to the fact that they, themselves are males; The themes in this show serve to almost be a satire of certain gender stereotypes in a very comical and light hearted way.

I think another reason I really enjoyed this show is because these character are much older than the normal demographics of characters you see usually in idol anime or comedy (high-school). So in a way it’s a bit of a more “mature” vibe throughout the anime which I personally thought was refreshing.

The art style isn’t anything particularly special but I think its simplicity makes the show a lot easier to watch. There was no real animation as the show was just following their life behind the stage. In this case the animation doesn’t really add or remove anything from the anime.
The plot itself is what really ropes you in.

Music wise, there isn’t anything special either but again this show really centres on the life of these 3 idols, so there isn’t much of the idol singing/performance you would expect. The anime for the most part portrays how unlike idols they are during their down time. Which to me is a “novel” way to tackle the idol theme; Especially when you consider all the other components the show adds. Adding a sense of freshness to the otherwise stale idol scene. (But that’s my opinion)..

I personally gave this show a 10/10 but for the sake of objective evaluation I will be giving it a 90/100.
First, the justification of a score this high simply boils down to this anime really being a new way of portraying comedy. Like I’ve already talked about, this show essentially takes two really big anime tags (idols and comedy) and approaches it from such a unique angle that no other anime has done, or done as successfully.

Secondly, the rewatch value of this show is pretty high. Give it a few months after the first watch and I think the show is as funny and entertaining the second time.
I think the fact that this show is on Netflix really elevates it further. I just turn on my tv in bed and watch an episode till I’m tired and.. yea; Just Netflix and chill.

Finally, the reason why this show is not a 100/100 has to do with the quality of the animation. And while I know I’ve said it’s not important to the show, it’s still a component that needs to be used for evaluation. That’s not to say that the quality of the show is poor. You just can’t really compare it to shows like demon slayer or violet evergarden in terms of the quality of animation. And that’s fine.

I don’t want to say more than that, just want to give people the right nudge towards giving this anime chance. I hope this anime gets the attention it deserves

Thanks for reading and happy watching!