Anime Hajime Review: Hajimete no Gal

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Hajimete no Gal. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Junichi Hashiba (voiced by Shintaro Asanuma) is what you might call, a loser. All around him, his classmates are pairing up and forming couples. While he’s left stuck with his group of perverted friends.

Fed up with their situation, Junichi’s pals devise a bold plan. They want nothing more than to lose their virginity, so they decide to go for their best shot. In their class is a beautiful “gal” girl named Yukana Yame (voiced by Yuki Nagaku).

Gal girls, to them, have a reputation of being quite loose. Though confident in their assumption, none of them have the balls to go through with it. Thus, Junichi’s group tricks Junichi into meeting with Yukana.

Dumbfounded to be in this predicament, Junichi is at a loss when Yukana does show up for the meeting. Throwing caution to the wind, Junichi goes for it. However, Yukana sees right through him. After a thorough bout of teasing, Junichi believes his school life to be over.

Then Yukana does something no one would’ve expected. She agrees to be Junichi’s girlfriend.

Unsure how it happened, Junichi finds himself in a relationship. And with a girl as stunning as Yukana no less. It’s a pairing most people wouldn't have guessed. But sometimes, you just never know.

Series Positives

What is a gal girl? The best answer I can give is say the gal style was once a popular fashion trend in Japan. In recent years, the look has retained a following, but its peak has long since passed. That, of course, begs the question. Why is a gal girl the female lead in a 2017 anime?

Quick answer, fan service. The real answer, I don’t know.

That notwithstanding, Hajimete no Gal could’ve been awful. It wasn’t a surprise hit. Nor would I call it good. There were lots of things I did not like about this one. There were lots of things this series didn’t get right. There were plenty of times where I felt myself getting annoyed and/or bored. Yet there were certain aspects that were amusing. This wasn’t a bad watch. It just wasn’t the most engaging.

This series had moments of unexpected, but nonetheless effective comedic timing. I got quite a few laughs out of this. Hajimete no Gal was, for the most part, not outlandish. Things got ridiculous. Though, nothing was ever too much.

That is, with the exception of Junichi’s friend, Nene Fujinoki (voiced by Yui Ogura). I’m not saying this show didn’t accentuate Yukana’s large bust, but at least her proportions weren’t nonsensical. Having the petite Nene be about five feet with breast the size of basketballs was out of place.

Since we’re on the topic, and to the show’s credit, the fan service was fine. It was over the top and prominent. Shots existed for the sole purpose of looking up skirts. The suggestive and promiscuous nature of the series was off the charts. Except I expected that going in.

Take the eroticism away and you’re left with a tolerable, albeit flawed romantic comedy.

The Characters (Part 1)

This series had the characteristics of a harem story. There was a center who found themselves surrounded by potential suitors. Yet labeling this show as such is a bit of a stretch.

Junichi may have caught the fancy of a few people, but so what? There was the already mention Nene. Another potential member was Yui Kashi (voiced by Ayana Taketatsu). Both girls didn’t serve much of a point. Granted, they did help boost Junichi’s character. By doing so, this helped improve Junichi and Yukana’s relationship. A relationship that was the core of this series.

This was a romance story.

The last harem “member” was Ranko Honjo (voiced by Eri Kitamura). Her role, in combination with Nene and Yui being inconsequential, made this not a harem anime. Yes, Ranko was a potential suitor. But not for Junichi. To her, Junichi was an obstacle and a threat. Ranko was Yukana’s best friend. She cared about Yukana’s well-being.

I wish the show had explored this. It could’ve made Hajimete no Gal stand out. Having competitors for both sides of a relationship isn't a thing in these types of anime. So much so, it being here is enough to value it.

That takes care of the side characters. What of the two leads.

Junichi was half and half. Sometimes he was infuriating. Other times he was fine. Neither of these sides to his character dominated the other. He was the person who produced some of the funniest one-liners. He was also responsible for some the more headache-inducing scenes.

I’ll give Junichi this. Despite being a coward and a total putz, when he needed to, he acted rather cool. More than once, he had to intervene when other guys were bothering Yukana. He got his ass handed to him, but that’s not the point.

Regardless of the unlikelihood of this couple, Yukana was Junichi girlfriend. He didn’t back off when she needed his help. Every time he was about to enter a fight, Junichi new he was going to lose. Although, he did manage to get a few good hits in before the inevitable happened. This goes to show, getting your nuts kicked in is a lot more admirable than cowering.

These moments turned Junichi into a more likeable character. Something he struggled with. Then this show had a scene I did not expect. I’m not overstating it when I say Junichi did something that left me impressed.

To bring Nene back into the discussion, she wasn’t secretive about her feelings for Junichi. She had loved him for a long time. Junichi did care for Nene, but didn’t share those feelings. To him, she was like a little sister. Nene was determined to change that.

Nene offered herself. Despite his libido suggesting otherwise, Junichi did refuse. In his mind, if he had accepted, it wouldn’t have been him accepting Nene. It would have been him settling to lose his virginity as soon as possible. That wasn’t something he wanted nor did he want to do that to Nene. Junichi wanted his first time to be with the girl he liked. He wanted his first time to be with Yukana.

This was a great moment I didn’t think this show would have. I’ll always enjoy a good confession scene. But a well-executed rejection is something I’ll never not appreciate.

Last there’s Yukana. Of all the characters, she was the one who had the most potential. The fate of this show rested on her shoulders. That may not have been fair, but that was the case. That and I simply liked her.

I loved Yukana’s ability to tease Junichi. It made her a lot of fun. During their first meeting, Yukana’s reactions to Junichi stubbing around were fantastic. Keep in mind, morons filled most of the first episode. Not the enduring kind either. Junichi wasn’t the biggest culprit, but he was a strain on the nerves. A quality that lessened, but never went away. Yukana was never that.

Of everyone, Yukana had the most character and personality. There was a story to her that would make for a decent show. It sure would be a shame if said show didn't take advantage of that.

Series Negatives

This will sound weird. Hajimete no Gal was oddly reserved. I'm referring to the fan service, but in a lot of other ways too. For the former, it was interesting to see were the line was.

This was an ecchi series. The very first shot was up Yukana’s skirt. FYI, I did watch the uncensored version because why would I not.

Expected situations came up. There was a beach episode. A public bath episode. A ton of female on female groping. As well as healthy doses of Junichi’s perverted imagination. What confused me was why this show held back as much as it did?

This series could’ve gone crazy. Characters with features like Nene's were a thing. I’m sorry to keep harping on this, but it was stupid. Then when this show did nothing with this, it became even more pointless.

Other scenarios that had little to do with fan service were also reserved. There was a scene when the characters decided to play the King game. The idea is everyone draws lots. Whoever becomes King gives orders to the other players. This could’ve turned sexual. I know why it didn’t since it would’ve ruined the point of the scene.

That notwithstanding, there were other things that could’ve happened. The series could’ve had a lot of fun with this. Yet Hajimete no Gal did the bare minimum.

This show had ideas. It followed through on some of them. Too bad the end result was kind of stale.

Characters (Part 2)

Like I said, Junichi was half and half. The half that was annoying was really annoying. I get why he would doubt why a beautiful girl like Yukana would be interested in him. That angel would work if better developed. Here it got used more for self-deprecating comedy. It wasn’t an outward problem. Until it became one, which I’ll get to.

Then there were Junichi’s friends. They were insufferable. I don’t remember their name. I’m not going to look up their names. Nene and Yui may have been pointless, but at least they weren’t these idiots.

Junichi’s friends had that wonderful quality of screaming a lot. Because the louder you scream the funnier you are. The only thing that sometimes saved them was Junichi’s straight man routine.

Then there was one friend who was a huge lolicon. His flag raising comments were funny in the awkward kind of way. He would say things that if he ever tried to attempt them the cops needed to take him away. But it was fine as long as he was never in the presence of children.

He was in the presence of children. This wasn’t funny show, it was creepy, and damn you for making this a running joke.

Yet the biggest disappointment was Yukana. Why this series focused on all these side characters is beyond me.

Why not spend more effort on Yukana and Junichi’s relationship? The amount of time these two spent together should not have been as sparse as it was. We didn’t get to know Yukana that well.

I cannot stress what a massive miss this was. This series hinted at different aspects of who Yukana was. This could’ve made for a strong romance story. For example, I don’t think Yukana had ever been in a relationship. She seemed to enjoy flirting, but she had never gone further than that. Her reservation towards perverted things also indicates to me she may never have had sex. Why ignore this?

Junichi believed gal girls only thought about fashion and boys. Yet Yukana was right there to prove that's not true. Why not have Junichi learn more about who Yukana was? Why not let the two fall for each other isn’t of just saying it happened? It would’ve made the ending a whole lot better.

The Ending

This ending was not earned. It was forced. It came out of nowhere. It had to undermine any sense of who these characters were for it happen.

Junichi was self-centered. Although he kept it to himself. He never projected it on anyone. It did make him awkward, but I can see why someone might find it charming. It also made whenever he stood up for Yukana that much more remarkable. He wasn’t comfortable acting in those situations. But he acted anyway because it was the right thing to do.

Then there was this ending where he became an asshole. I understand he felt jealous, except he took it way too far. The level he went to was unprecedented for his character. He never got close to this before. Could he have reached this point? Over time, yes. But there’s an enormous gap between being a doofus and being a dick.

All for the sake of having a redemption moment.

This was so hollow. There was no effort in it. Never mind the fact it played out exactly as you might think it would.

This was an unfortunate note to end on.

Final Thoughts

There were good things in this show.

Some of the characters were fine. Some of the comedy did land. This wasn’t garbage. But there were too many other things that held this series back.

A lot of characters were annoying. A lot of characters weren’t developed enough. Many scenarios had potential and yet never came to be. Then to have everything finish off with an ending that did not work. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I can almost get behind this one. Except I don’t know who I’d recommend this too. Hajimete no Gal, is one you can skip.

               Google+                        Facebook                         Twitter