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My First Girlfriend Is a Gal

My First Girlfriend Is a Gal (Japanese: はじめてのギャル, Hepburn: Hajimete no Gyaru, lit. "My First Gal"), also known as Hajimete no Gal, is a Japanese manga series by Meguru Ueno. It has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace since November 2015, and has been collected in eighteen tankōbon volumes. A ten-episode anime television series adaptation produced by NAZ aired from July to September 2017.

Plot

High school boy Junichi Hashiba laments not having a girlfriend as his classmates have seemed to be pairing up everywhere. His single unattached friends force him into boldly confessing his love to Yukana Yame, a beautiful "gal" at the school. Although Yukana easily determines that Junichi really just wants to lose his virginity, she agrees to be his girlfriend. Junichi soon attracts the affections of other girls who have known Junichi or Yukana for a while, including his childhood friend and neighbor Nene Fujinoki, Yukana's gal friend Ranko Honjō, and the school's madonna Yui Kashī.

Characters

Junichi Hashiba (羽柴 ジュンイチ, Hashiba Jun'ichi)
Voiced by: Shintarō Asanuma[4] (Japanese); Alejandro Saab[5] (English)
Junichi is a second-year high school boy who wishes to have a girlfriend. At the start of the series, he is set up by his friends to confess his love to Yukana Yame. While he is internally thrilled to see Yukana's sexy body, he is easily embarrassed when Yukana confronted him for such lewd actions. He regularly has sexual fantasies of losing his virginity and is depicted as having internal debates in his head over what to do in situations. His friends also pressure him to hook them up with girls. As he learns that Yukana does indeed like him, he tries to remain loyal to her, turning down the other girls that make advances on him. Later in the series, he enters university.
Yukana Yame (八女 ゆかな, Yame Yukana)
Voiced by: Yuki Nagaku[4] (Japanese); Jamie Marchi[5] (English)
Yukana is a fashionable high school "gal" with strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, a busty chest, loose socks, and a carefree attitude. She was very guarded about lewd stuff, calling it gross, but agrees to be Junichi's girlfriend. She finds Junichi to be transparent with his emotions and reactions, and often calls Junichi out for being a lewd virgin who is interested in her body, but teases and flirts with him too. Underneath she is very caring, and seeks her friends' advice often on how to relate to Jun better, being a little naive sometimes on applying the advice. On occasion, she lowers her guard and lets him touch her if it helps affirm how committed she is to the relationship. She gets jealous of the other girls that flirt with Junichi, except for Nene, who she thinks her little sister behavior is too cute to be taken seriously. She later goes to the same university as Junichi.
Ranko Honjō (本城 蘭子, Honjō Ranko)
Voiced by: Eri Kitamura[4] (Japanese); Morgan Garrett[5] (English)
Yukana's childhood friend is a tall tan-skinned gal with short light blonde hair, light purple eyes, and a big chest. She is very aggressive, making moves on Junichi which makes Yukana jealous.Ch. 14-15, 20 She reveals to Junichi that she loves Yukana and is possessive of her; she does not like Yukana being so close to Junichi,Ch. 22, 29 even if it means having to have sex with Junichi herself.[6]
Nene Fujinoki (藤ノ木 寧音, Fujinoki Nene)
Voiced by: Yui Ogura[4] (Japanese); Brittany Lauda[5] (English)
A petite but big-breasted first-year high school girl who styles her hair in buns.Ch. 23 She and Junichi are childhood friends, but she is obsessed with Junichi, and initially tried to dress and act like a little sister because he had expressed interest in that genre of video games. She briefly tries the gal lifestyle to try to win Junichi over, and later tries to attack him by lying on top of him naked in bed, but Junichi rejects her. She then decides to openly compete with Yukana, going back to her bun hairstyle, but then she turns back to be a gal again. In the anime, Junichi's friends regard her as a "loli with big boobs".Ep. 1
Yui Kashī (香椎 結衣, Kashī Yui)
Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu[4] (Japanese); Alison Viktorin[5] (English)
Junichi's classmate and class representative, who has long dark hair and reddish eyes. Junichi's friends regard her as the school's madonna, smart and beautiful, like a character from a manga or a video game,Ch. 27, 29 but with a modest chest size compared to the other girls.Ep. 1 She has known Jun since middle school and initially acts very friendly and nice around him.Ch. 27, 29 She secretly dresses up as a blonde-haired (red hair in the anime) twin-tailed idol named BoA who does live streams on the internet. She is upset that Junichi, whom she deems her number-one servant because he had helped carry boxes for her or picked up her eraser, does not fawn over her like an obedient pet because he is with Yukana. She tries to remedy that by pulling him aside and asking him to dump Yukana and go out with her. When Jun refuses, she gets very angry and threatens him until Ranko saves him by threatening to reveal her net identity.Ch. 32-36 She becomes more attracted to Junichi beyond just wanting him to be her pet, and eventually confesses to Junichi and is rejected. She then strives to be his second girlfriend as in a harem,Ch. 60-61 even following the two to university.
Shinpei Sakamoto (坂本 慎平, Sakamoto Shinpei)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga[4] (Japanese); Brad Smeaton[5] (English)
A glasses-wearing classmate with short bluish hair who is part of Junichi's group of perverted friends.Ch. 1, 27 He, Junichi, and Yui were classmates before in middle school.Ch. 29 He is the one who usually initiates the plans and recommendations for Junichi, including planning the confession, giving movie tickets to Junichi, and others. He is also the first to make the connection between Yui and online idol named BoA.Ch. 35 Shinpei has an older cousin named Sayaka,Ch. 45 who attends university and is involved in a manga club.Ch. 50
Keigo Ishida (石田 景吾, Ishida Keigo)
Voiced by: Kenji Akabane[4] (Japanese); Jacob Browning[5] (English)
A blonde-haired classmate who is part of Junichi's group of perverted friends.Ch. 1, 27
Minoru Kobayakawa (小早川 稔, Kobayakawa Minoru)
Voiced by: Minoru Shiraishi[4] (Japanese); Cris George[5] (English)
An obese classmate who is part of Junichi's group of perverted friends. Of the three friends, he mentions that he likes little girls.Ep. 1Ch. 1, 27, 31, 32
Ayumi Kamisaka (上坂 歩美, Kamisaka Ayumi)
Voiced by: Kazusa Aranami[7] (Japanese); Kristin Sutton[5] (English)
Yukana's gal friend with medium brown hair and blue eyes.Ch. 7 She is more of a background character in the manga, but has a larger role in the anime.
Kokoro Shīna (椎名 心, Shīna Kokoro)
Voiced by: Natsuko Hara[7] (Japanese); Annabel Thorne[5] (English)
Yukana's gal friend with blonde hair stylized in tails tied with red ribbons.Ch. 7 She is more of a background character in the manga, but has a larger role in the anime.
Yuki Kashī
Yui's younger brother who dresses up as an attractive girl at school, flirting with and teasing Junichi. Yuki is very fond of Yui, but when he notices she has been off because of her love for Junichi, he tries to support her and disrupt Junichi's relationship with Yukana. This is so that Yui can return to being the strong older sister.Ch. 53-58
Iris Kotohayashi
The student council president who dislikes that Junichi has attracted a harem of pretty girls at school. She has long blonde hair, and is part French and part Japanese. She has a reputation of imprisoning students like in the Prison School manga.Ch. 65-66
Kiyo Gokomachi
Junichi's next-door neighbor at university. They share a wall in the apartment complex but it is so poorly constructed it breaks into a hole.Ch. 128-132
Karin Kurihama
A first-year student who joins Junichi in the otaku research club at university. She has light hair and a cheery attitude. She aspires to be a manga artist, and recruits him to teach her about putting romance into her manga.Ch. 133-136
Omae Sakurako
President of the otaku research club at university.Ch. 134

Media

Manga

As of March 2024, the series has been released in eighteen tankōbon volumes.

Anime

A 10-episode anime television series adaptation by NAZ aired from July 12 to September 13, 2017.[28][29] The series was directed and character designed by Hiroyuki Furukawa, who also did the erotic comedy My Wife is the Student Council President.[30] The script was supervised by Yuichiro Momose, and the music was done by Yashikin of MAGES.[31] The opening theme is "Hajimete no Season" (はじめてのSEASON) by Junjō no Afilia,[32] while the ending theme is "Galtic Love" (GAL的LOVE) by Erabareshi.[33] An OVA episode was released on December 26, 2017.[29]

Funimation licensed and streamed the series in North America with an English dub,[34] while Crunchyroll streamed it in Japanese with English subtitles.[35] Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the dub was moved to Crunchyroll.[36]

Reception

The anime's first episode was reviewed by various writers at Anime News Network. James Beckett found that the fanservice to be as expected and that it embodied "all of the most irritating sex comedy stereotypes that stopped being funny back when the American Pie sequels fizzled out over a decade ago." Nick Creamer found the censorship bars to be the only unique thing about the show, and that the central characters were not likable. Theron Martin held out some hope that Yukana would at least have some character depth. Paul Jensen found the premise of two characters from different social circles to have potential, but the first episode to be obnoxious and dumb, outside of some moments where Yukana reacts to Junichi's confession. Rebecca Silverman regarded the episode as mostly fetishism and unless that was toned down and "starts to develop Yukana as a real person, it could be a somewhat smarty raunchy comedy," but did not plan to watch any more to find out.[38]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ All English episode titles are taken from Crunchyroll.
  2. ^ The possible canon counterpart is Chapters 70–73, found in the sixth tankōbon volume.

References

  1. ^ a b Høgset, Stig. "My First Girlfriend is a Gal". THEM Anime Reviews. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  2. ^ Egan, Loo Antonio (November 21, 2016). "Hajimete no Gal High School Romantic Comedy Manga Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  3. ^ Ressler, Karen (February 24, 2017). "Hajimete no Gal Anime Reveals Main Staff, Character Visuals". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Pineda, Rafael Antonio (May 26, 2017). "Hajimete no Gal Anime Casts Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Kenji Akabane, Minoru Shiraishi". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Summer 2017 SimulDubs on FunimationNow!". Funimation. July 13, 2017. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  6. ^ Martin, Theron (July 27, 2017). "Episode 3 - My First Girlfriend is a Gal". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Sherman, Jennifer (June 20, 2017). "Hajimete no Gal Anime's 2nd Promo Video Previews Junjō no Afilia's Song". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  8. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (1)" はじめてのギャル （１） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  9. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (2)" はじめてのギャル （２） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  10. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (3)" はじめてのギャル （３） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  11. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (4)" はじめてのギャル （４） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  12. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (5)" はじめてのギャル （５） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  13. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (5) Orijinaru Anime BD-tsuki Genteiban" はじめてのギャル （５）オリジナルアニメＢＤ付き限定版 [Hajimete no Gal (5) Limited Edition w/Original Anime BD] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
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  16. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (8)" はじめてのギャル （８） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  17. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (9)" はじめてのギャル （９） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  18. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (10)" はじめてのギャル （１０） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  19. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (11)" はじめてのギャル （１１） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  20. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (12)" はじめてのギャル （１２） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  21. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (13)" はじめてのギャル （１３） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  22. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (14)" はじめてのギャル （１４） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  23. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (15)" はじめてのギャル （１５） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  24. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (16)" はじめてのギャル （１６） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  25. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (17)" はじめてのギャル （１７） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  26. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (18)" はじめてのギャル （１８） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  27. ^ Ueno, Meguru. "Hajimete no Gyaru (18)" はじめてのギャル （１９） (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  28. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (June 8, 2017). "Hajimete no Gal Anime Reveals July 12 Premiere, New Visual". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  29. ^ a b Pineda, Rafael Antonio (March 23, 2017). "Hajimete no Gal TV Anime Gets 10 Episodes, OVA". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  30. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (February 14, 2017). "Hajimete no Gal Anime's Website Opens, Reveals Visual". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
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  32. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (June 5, 2017). "Junjō no Afilia Performs Hajimete no Gal Anime's Opening Theme Song". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  33. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (May 13, 2017). "Idol Unit Erabareshi Perform Ending Theme Song For Hajimete no Gal Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  34. ^ Godswill (June 7, 2018). "August 2018 Limited Editions – Gundam IBO Season 2, Testament of Sister New Devil Burst, My First Girlfriend is a Gal". Funimation. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
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  36. ^ "UPDATE: Funimation Titles Now Available on Crunchyroll (3/16)". Crunchyroll. March 1, 2022. Archived from the original on March 22, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
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Works cited

External links