My First Girlfriend is a Gal

Episode 5

Rarely have I seen a series more fiercely at war with itself over whether it wants to bask in its tastelessness or reach for respectability. Both sides are strongly at play in this episode.

Case in point for the tasteless side of things is Junichi's chubby friend. So far, the series has resolutely tried to make a running joke out of his lolicon fetish, though whether or not his antics are at all funny may heavily depend on the viewer. This time around, the series takes things much farther by having him actually produce a map of where all of the local little girls live. If the writers were going for an “ultimate creepiness” play, they succeeded. Thankfully, the series regularly reinforces that his antics are not acceptable, as his friends routinely reject his tastes and even request that he not bring up their names when he eventually gets arrested. However, I'm not sure if that goes far enough, since that “gag” takes him across the line from being just a lolicon otaku into an outright pedophile. That I could do without.

Thankfully, the rest of the episode is less problematic – as long as a fair amount of (obnoxiously but creatively censored) fanservice doesn't bother you, anyway. As we saw hinted last episode, Nene has made herself over into a “gal” because she mistakenly thinks that's where Junichi's tastes fall. She's even tried to replicate typical gal slang (which the subtitles make a valiant effort to convert into English), though Yukana humiliates her later by commenting on her “dated” style of speaking; presumably that's what the “half-assed” in the episode title refers to. But this isn't any ordinary level of determination. Nene is fully ready to tempt Junichi into sex to win him over, and not just the coy or clumsy flirtations commonly seen in most harem series. No, her attempt at seduction is as full-bore as TV anime usually gets.

I'm actually pleased that the series shows Junichi being so tempted by this that he has to resort to another one of his internal battles to maintain self-control, as few straight guys that age would have the willpower to resist such a situation. (The DBZ allusion was also a little amusing.) However, I was also pleased to see his self-control win out for the right combination of reasons; he wants to share his first time with Yukana (loyalty) and he doesn't want to treat Nene as just a sexual outlet (respect). That outcome was reasonable to anticipate, since anime romcom leads don't tend to sleep around, but the series handled it well. In fact, the series might be better-off if it played its story more seriously, since its dramatic moments have generally been stronger than its rarely effective humor.

But what's up with the artistry all of a sudden? Though it wasn't a constant problem, a handful of scenes in this episode looked much worse than normal.

Rating: B-

My First Girlfriend is a Gal is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.