She initially refuses, so the police blackmail her by offering to pardon her mother, who is on death row for killing her husband, eventually forcing her to accept.
Put under the tutelage of officer Kyouichiro Jin, she is given a metal yo-yo that doubles as a weapon as well as a police badge, and is made to infiltrate high schools around Japan to investigate and stop criminal activities.
[3][4] Disappointed that he could never end a complete serial before, Wada planned earlier in production a dramatic final scene in which the protagonist would die.
[16][17] Wada published two Sukeban Deka short stories set in a parallel universe in the October 1998 and May 1999 issues of Hakusensha's Melody magazine.
[18] Media Factory later collected the chapters in a tankōbon volume titled Sukeban Deka If (スケバン刑事ｉｆ), which they published under the MF Comics imprint on June 23, 2004.
Lasting 24 episodes, the series adapted the first part of the manga and was relatively faithful to it, only changing minor points, though it deviated more towards its conclusion.
The popularity of the first series allowed it to be followed up by Sukeban Deka II: The Legend of the Girl In The Iron Mask (スケバン刑事II 少女鉄仮面伝説) in November 1985.
In accordance, although the series did base most of its storylines in the second part of the manga, Minamino portrayed an original character named Yoko Godai, a mysterious girl from Kansai forced to wear iron masks for most of her childhood.
Yoko was liberated from the mask by a police agent named Nishiwaki (Keizo Kanie) that offered her a place in the Sukeban Deka program, and she accepted in exchange for help to find her disappeared dad.
Sukeban Deka II contained connections to the first series, as Hiroyuki Nagato returned periodically to his role as the Dark Director, while Nishiwaki was revealed to be a former coworker of Kyoichiro Jin.
However, in a departure from both the first series and manga, where Saki worked alone most of the time, Sukeban Deka II added two sidekicks for the main character: Yukino Yajima (Akie Yoshizawa), the refined heiress of a rich family from Kyoto who was also a Japanese martial arts expert, and Kyoko "Marble Okyo" Nakamura (Haruko Sagara), a street-wise Osaka native who excelled at street fighting and the usage of marbles as weapons.
In the story, Yui, the youngest of the Kazama sisters and known as the Great Sukeban in Miyazaki, was sent to Tokyo by her foster parent, the monk Osho Taian (Hiroyuki Tanaka).
Their mission was to confront Koji Kashin, a mysterious entity who had been lurking in the shadows for centuries, intending to shroud and dominate the world in darkness.
Transformed into a trio of kunoichi, they battled Koji Kashin and his army, aided by their mentor Kazuya Yoda (Nagare Hagiwara) and the agent Reia Kido (Satomi Fukunaga).
Despite a strong premiere and an ambitious length of 42 episodes scheduled in advance, Sukeban Deka III rapidly lost its momentum and didn't do well.
Saki Asamiya is given a chance to delay her mother's execution by working as an undercover cop and infiltrating Takanoha High School to investigate some mysterious deaths among the student body.
[29] The series' popularity has proven to be longstanding as the TV drama's DVD rerelease sold 130,000 copies in 2005, which prompted Toei to produce the third live-action film.
[32] Carlos Ross, writing about the OVA for THEM Anime Reviews, stated that Sukeban Deka "is Asian action drama faithfully translated into the cel medium, and done well, to boot.
[36] Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies states that the characters "are nicely drawn", the blossoming relationship between Saki and Sanpei "is handled convincingly", and that "teenagers will relate to the story's themes of betrayal, powerlessness, and being an outsider".