You may be wondering at this point why, if I'm such a fan of of Sukeban Deka, don't I post about the anime, manga or OVA.
Before I even started watching the show, I did a lot of research to figure out if it was something I would like. So of course I found information on all of the forms of media.
The manga and anime seem to be very similar as far as I know, so for simplicity's sake I'll group them together here.
We know that the reason Saki agreed to be recruited as Sukeban Deka was because the death row execution of her mom, Natsu, would be postponed and possibly canceled. Natsu was incarcerated on the charge of killing her husband, Saki's father.
Natsu is a completely different character in the TV show than in the anime/manga. Anime/manga Natsu abused and hates Saki, preferring her sister. Miyuki, and does various things to have Saki killed. I don't get why Saki even wants to save her.
Natsu is the TV show is the opposite. She truly does love Saki and never killed her husband, although after years in jail she's started to believe she did and declines to see Saki because of that guilt. It makes sense that Saki would want to save her, not just to prove her mother's innocence but also to reconcile. I think that this was a beneficial change, and I applaud the writers of the TV show for it. Saki's sister, Miyuki, also doesn't exist in the TV show.
Saki herself is rougher and meaner in the anime/manga, which is to be expected considering her life was harder than TV Saki's (if that's possible--!!). The panel above isn't a good example of that, I just liked it.
Manga/anime Sanpei also is more obsessed with Saki than in the TV show. He literally shaves his head when she says she doesn't like guys with long hair. Fans of this site know how much I love TV Sanpei, so it seems that the writers made another good change.
We know that Sukeban Deka is an inherently violent show. There's lots of fighting and death in the TV show, but it's not too disturbing thanks to the cheap primitive special effects. In anime or manga, sky's the limit since everything is drawn, so it's more violent and gory.
If you've seen the TV show, you know how crazy Remi Mizuchi is. If you don't know, she's the main villain of the first TV show, the eldest daughter of Gozou Mizuchi, and both of them want to take over Japan using their wealth and power. Remi resorts to some crazy tactics, but she pales in comparison to her anime/manga counterpart. You can do your own research on that, but she organizes murder, torture and, well, *involuntary* activities. TV Remi didn't go that far, which is good because I'd rather not watch anything beyond a bit of violence.
Saki and Remi in the manga
It is controversial, though, as Sukeban Deka's creator Shinji Wada himself disliked the TV show a lot, saying that it deviated too much from his vision. With all respect to him, I prefer the TV show's story. Incidentally, he was a huge fan of Sukeban Deka II, as well as the later movie Yo-yo Girl Cop.
I'll still use some anime/manga pictures on the site just for aesthetic purposes, but I don't intend to watch or read it. That being said, if you are interested, fan translations of the manga can be found for free online, and the anime and OVA can be found subtitled on Youtube and Internet Archive. I'm sure they're excellent, otherwise they wouldn't be so popular, it's just not my kind of thing.
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