Hajimete no Gal [Review]
“Junichi Hashiba is an uncool high school student who frets about wanting to lose his virginity. Egged on by his friends, Jun gets on his knees and confesses his love to a classmate named Yukana Yame. The confession surprisingly works and the couple goes out. However, Jun finds himself in uncharted waters with Yame, a trendy and fashion-conscious “gal.” – Hajimete no Gal (manga)
There are times when a man gotta do what a man gotta do….watch ecchi anime! I’ll take one for the team so that you don’t have too! Jokes aside, the anime had an interesting theme with gals which hooked me at first, thinking it was something along the lines of Oshiete no Galko-chan!, I took a chance.
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Story:
The overall concept of the story was a new and interesting one, which I’m sure lured a lot of watchers in. In comparison to a lot of other ecchi anime, it’s not that different. Junichi, our protagonist, deals with a lot of internal conflicts. Most of which is deciding whether it is the time to lose his virginity or not, which is quite amusing seeing his persona’s fight each other. There are times when his thoughts run amok and creating these ecchi scenes, which, to be honest, could be toned down a bit.
Artwork & Animation:
There are character designs that differ from the source material, the manga. Junichi’s hair is red when reading the colorized pages, yet appears dark brown in the anime. That made him a much more boring character, that he already is. Throughout the show, the art was lacking and the animation was lacking, from disproportionate facial features to choppy animation. The opening animation, however; is an exception.
Character(s):
The girl as the main feature in the show was fantastic, all of them had something different to bring to the story. The boys, however, were strange. Funny, but again, they were so over the top that it was a little worrisome. Junichi, as the main character is very weak, he did have some moments like when he fought with himself internally. But other than that he was a weak main character always letting his character development be determined by Yukana.
Sound (OST & Voice Acting):
The soundtrack had a typical anime vibe to it, which is both good and bad. Bad in that it’s something that we always hear when watching anime, but good in the way that we have heard it and it’s familiar.
Enjoyment:
The beginning was pretty amusing and being able to see the girls in different outfits was an experience in itself, I now enjoy gal characters!
Overall: Score 7
The original concept of a gal girlfriend was a good lure, but I didn’t think the execution was the right one to take advantage of it. Even for a fan of ecchi, this isn’t the best anime to watch. I will only recommend it because through this your appreciation for gal characters will increase. But if you’re here only for the ecchi, there are better ones out there, or read the manga!
KiritoNarukami 