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This Week in Anime - Where Did "My First Girlfriend is a Gal" Go Wrong?


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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:39 am Reply with quote
Based on the title of the article, did anyone seriously expect this trashy, badly animated show to be good? There was a 90% chance that this was going to be a mediocre anime. I watched the whole thing, and the only redeemable thing was the sweet moments between the titular couple. The show was mediocre from start to finish.

This Fall's My Girlfriend is Shobitch looks to be in the same vein of My First Girlfriend is a Gal, and without watching a second of it, I do NOT expect it to be a well done show. Sorry, but trashy and ecchi anime tend to suck (no pun intended).
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AtoMan



Joined: 17 Sep 2012
Posts: 161
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:59 am Reply with quote
Except the manga version wasn't bad. And "My Girlfriend is Shobitch" manga is actually fun.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar


Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:03 pm Reply with quote
I agree with what Jacob and Steve said in regards to "good trash" vs this show and those like it. I think part of the issue also is the fact that in the past 10, certainly 5, years there has been a rise in good tiddy shows. Whether it's flavor is sex jokes or ridiculous antics like Shimoneta or Prison School, your battle tiddy shows like High School DxD or Senran Kagura, or those that push the tiddy boundary into soft porn like Valkyrie Drive, Testament of Sister New Devil, or Hybrid x Heart Ataraxia. Basically ecchi shows aren't as simple and monotonous as they used to be. In the past something like Ikki Tousen, Queens Blade, or Quaser of Stigmata was seen as pushing the limit. Not anymore. Some, like DxD, actually have pretty decent plots and stories as well. For those that don't many focus on their particular flavor of tiddy trash and jack the volume up to 12. In essence the bar has been raised for ecchi shows so stuff like Gal just doesn't cut it anymore. Not when there's tiddy shows that give you far more actual tiddy for your trashy goodness and/or plot to go with them.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:20 pm Reply with quote
It was a comedy, I laughed, I'm evil. I love the fact that I can enjoy a cringe comedy like this and absolutely loathe something like WATAMOTE. But that's where the good cringe is, if you find you can relate to the cast, the creators are doing something wrong.

"Aww, they're so cute..." Why would that be a thing as the guy remains friends with a cast right out of Green Green... and yes, I like that one too... and as long as he remains friends with degenerates, losers and that one pedo guy, he is one of them. Guilty by association and at a basic level, he knows it.

It was ten episodes, it was mostly harmless and it'll be remembered just as well if not better as whatever your top series of last year was. And if it's really as bad as some claim, it may reach Eiken status. The fewer episodes a series has, the more likely that is.

Anime is fun, isn't it?
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Goober2049



Joined: 10 May 2015
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:30 pm Reply with quote
I actually laughed at this show for referencing other, better ecchi shows. Hybrid Heart Magius Academy Ataraxia is probably my favorite ecchi comedy for completely unintended reasons.

I think most of my problem with the show would be its constant use of virginity as an insult. I know a lot of high school kids get caught up on the whole thing--and it doesn't help that a lot of people play off having sex as some kind of symbol for adulthood--but it gets old when that's the main insult thrown at Junichi in every episode.
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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Ganguro Girl is a better romcom about dating a gal than this.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 1:20 pm Reply with quote
Constantly cockblocks itselfs, literally cucks the main character for the "drama", and then just ends. Stop this. Stop writing the same boring garbage over and over. If you want to have slutty characters, just let the kids duke it out under the covers and go for broke on the ecchi content. Trying to be fanservicey without nudity for shows like this is pointless. You have an oppai loli with tits bigger than her head, you're a ridiculous ecchi show and you should be embracing that fully, like Valkyrie Drive.
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 1:46 pm Reply with quote
I watched all of Netsuzou Trap but stopped watching My First Girlfriend is a Gal after the first episode. Granted it is a matter of opinion but I hated the creepy sense of humor in My First Girlfriend is a Gal and from the sounds of it that got even worse in later episodes. Netsuzou Trap did cover a serious topic in a rather simple manner but it never treated it like a joke.

Last edited by Chrono1000 on Thu Sep 28, 2017 4:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 2:04 pm Reply with quote
I actually did have some expectations for this, I like anime-gyaru, I really liked Yukana and felt she could have been characterized really successfully, and I like fanservice shows that are set in the real world(I don't know why, but as soon as you add magic or scifi to a fanservice show, I'm no longer interested), but this show dropped the ball in pretty much every regard. And WOW the art and animation was horrifying..
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I_Drive_DSM



Joined: 11 Feb 2008
Posts: 217
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 2:15 pm Reply with quote
This show just didn't translate itself from manga to anime well at all, which was disappointing as I enjoyed the manga and was looking forward to it. I think what really made it drudge along is that the jokes and gag situations - most taken from the manga - were drawn out WAY too long. They were short and sweet in the manga (relatively speaking).
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TasteyCookie



Joined: 19 Jan 2017
Posts: 421
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 2:30 pm Reply with quote
This is a perfect example of an adaptation done wrong. The manga, while not amazing or ground breaking, was enjoyable and has some sincere commentary on the nature of Gal culture and learning how to properly treat a woman despite their outer appearance. Yukana is much more fledged out and extremely relatable as a character. Their relationship also evolves into something that is genuinely endearing.

The adaptation though was just a whole bunch of mediocre. I didn't find the show to be bad, (except for the horrendous animation, Jesus) it was just incredibly forgettable. Though if you haven't given it a shot, do yourself a favor and listen to the dub, it is honestly hilarious in its own right.
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Arale Kurashiki



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 744
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:22 pm Reply with quote
the fact that this show was made almost disturbs me. like sure those disgusting jokes, the uninspired repetitive stories, the terrible animation, that's all bad enough. but the fact that real humans came up with it is worse.

i agree with the idea that if you're going to make something that's just fanservice, you should be silly about it and go all out. trying to portray it as "normal" or justify its existence in your work is just dumb and creeps me out.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:55 pm Reply with quote
"The pedophile" seems the best answer to the titular question to me. Can't nope enough to him Shocked

Other than that, I didn't think it was that bad. The anime original episodes were a bit too generic though. It may have scared off some viewers, but it probably would have been better to just take it in a more fetishistic direction, so it least it would have been more interesting. Just not in the pedophile direction though.
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Punch Drunk Marc



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1742
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 4:07 pm Reply with quote
zrnzle500 wrote:
"The pedophile" seems the best answer to the titular question to me. Can't nope enough to him Shocked


I agree. I tried to put up with him, but I was officially done when he had that map of all the childrens houses complete with when their parents go to school. The small saving grace was that none of his friends thought it was funny and actively admonished him...spoiler[even though one of them did get him a job at an elementary school so there's that]

I also found it funny that his voice actor changed in the middle of the series. It was most likely due to scheduling conflicts, but I just like to think that Cris George had enough and simply stopped voicing the character.
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 4:11 pm Reply with quote
I haven't finished the show yet since I'm watching Funimation's simuldub. I like the show's frank talk about sex and how the main character is slowly learning that his virginity is something special and how he doesn't just want to give it to any girl, but if it seriously goes nowhere I'm going to be pissed.

Also, the pedophile is by far the worst character. I had my phone ready to dial 911 on this fictional character when he said he had a map of the little girls in the area.
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