OP Sequence

OP: 「おしえてA to Z」 (Oshiete A to Z) by 田村ゆかり (Tamura Yukari)
Watch the OP!: Download, Streaming ▼

「ぼーい♂みーつ♀がーる あなたの「初めて」私にちょうだい!!」 (Booi Miitsu Gaaru. Anata no ‘Hajimete’ Watashi ni Choudai!!)
“Boy♂Meets♀Girl. Please Give Me Your ‘First Time’!!”

I was expecting some good, humorous, sexual contexts in this anime adaptation and Hal Film Maker delivered just that. I take back the doubt I expressed over the casting Tamura Yukari for the lead role too, after seeing how she balances out Yamada’s sex-hungry mind with an air of cuteness/silliness. It may not sound like much, but when we’re dealing with a 15 year-old girl just entering high school and aspiring to have a hundred casual sex partners, the latter saves her character from coming off as a complete slut. Instead, we have an extremely attractive yet naive girl who’s still innocent in more ways than one. When she’s paired up with her good friend Takeshita Miharu (Horie Yui), we also have the Yukarin x Hocchan manzai routine going non-stop — I like it!

This premiere episode started out in accordance to the 4-koma manga , which is more or less like I described in the Spring 2010 Preview. Yamada (first name not given) is all fired up about having sex, but can’t get past the mental hurdle/fear of getting ridiculed by good-looking and experienced partners. As a result, she turns down every guy who hits on her, claiming she has the right to pick a golden “Cherry” (Japanese slang for a male virgin) to be her first. Well, she manages to stumble upon one such person at the bookstore (literally) while shopping for a new dictionary to replace the one she has with all the perverted words highlighted in red. The victim of her raging hormones is a regular-looking guy named Kosuda Takashi (Abe Atsushi), who just happens to break her fall. For his efforts, Takashi gets a swift introduction by Yamada, followed by a prompt question about his virginity. Rightfully so, that conversation ends immediately due to his embarrassment, but the two soon find out they’re in the same class.

The comedy picked up from that point on, with Yamada trying to seduce Takashi to no avail. Her first attempt to share a textbook so that they can sit together doesn’t go as planned, so she resorts to shoving him into a storage room and taking him and his virginity by force. This fails miserably as well however, since all Yamada can think of doing is flashing her bra before running off due to her own embarrassment. This leads to her next attempt in the library, where she gets Takashi to rub her stomach pains away and encourages him to move his hands upwards. Unfortunately for Yamada, this blatant seduction attempt doesn’t get her anywhere either, and she soon realizes she’s been so focuses on trying to get into Takashi’s pants that she totally forgot about the kissing aspect, leading us to the second half of the episode.

 

「放課後大作戦!とりあえずキスしましょ?」 (Houkago Daisakusen! Toriaezu Kisu Shimasho?)
“After School Strategy! Shall We Start With A Kiss?”

After having a close encounter of a lip-kind while studying with Takashi, Yamada readjusts her focus to scoring a kiss first. This leads to her “steal his umbrella and walk home with him using mine” plan, hoping that Takashi will invite her inside when they get to his place. She gets an unexpected helping hand from Takashi’s older sister Kazuki (Noto Mamiko), who heads out for dinner with their mother to give the two of them some alone time. Surprisingly, everything starts to go well despite the lack of a condom, with Takashi manning up and making the first move. However, the sight of his erection (もっこり!) scares off Yamada, leaving our poor cherry boy dumbfounded. Now seriously, how is she ever going to lose her virginity if she’s scared of the one thing that’s needed for that?

Given the short manga format and what was shown here, there seems to be a lot of witty source material to work with. It’s not always “laugh out loud” funny, but it’s quirky enough to put a smirk on my face more often than not. Yamada’s unusual female view on sex makes up the funnier portions, as she’s always taking the initiative and letting her thoughts drift into sexual territory, but Takashi’s reactions to her advances are amusing in their own right. That said, one thing that surprised me in this first episode was the frequency that the jokes were delivered, meaning there was never really a dull moment. The sheer amount of material they covered in a single episode is pretty remarkable, especially when you consider that this is an introductory episode and Yamada has already tried to get closer to Takashi in several ways.

In retrospect, I have to say I enjoyed this premiere episode more than I thought I would. Yamada is both cute and aggressive, which in my mind is the best of both worlds. I’m definitely sticking with this one, and quite frankly, it should’ve been marked down as a guaranteed watch to begin with. A romantic comedy with a sexually-starved girl taking initiative? What’s there not to like? Just don’t forget the box of tissues when you’re thinking of Yamada. =P

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「裸足のプリンセス」 (Hadashi no Princess) by 田村ゆかり (Tamura Yukari)
Watch the ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

61 Comments

  1. this is will give me a good laugh. anything that doesnt a mech everytime i watch something that has a nice indirect subject about wars. you u can count on me to watch it.

    i_luv_buns
  2. I watched the episode 20 minutes ago and I still cannot stop laughing. every thought I have about this series makes me break out in laughter. Hal Film did a wonderful job!

    I will definitely be watching this series.

  3. The 1st episode was ok. I just hope they are going to add more to this series then every week being the same stuff over and over (Her wanting to get laid but being too embarrased to go thru with it).

    Splash
  4. I love the male main character! Takashi isn’t like all the main characters lately (annoying because he doesn’t get a clue), but he isn’t a perv either. I liked this first episode because I think that, apart from the fact of Yamada being a Sex Freak, this is actually kind of believable.
    I’m definitely going to watch this!

  5. Great job keeping the site going, looks really good and liking the improvements. I think this will be one of the few series I actively watch this season, didn’t expect to like it as much as I thought. More enjoyable than the first heroman ep.

    robbiebizzle
  6. I’m still on the fence for whether I should watch 12-13 episodes to this 😛 But because I’m reeaaalllyyy into ecchi animes, I might just stick around if it has some decent humor

    Click
  7. Well, I guess I was wrong about this being an April Fool’s Day joke. =( I somehow didn’t see the post on March 22nd, and I first noticed it on April 1st.

    Anyways, good job keeping the RC up and running. I hope to see you following a few shows this season!!

    Vegetarian4Life
  8. Well I was surprised with the two “half” chapter format. It looks like Hanamaru format is catchy. I did enjoy first episode. Will watch to see were it goes but if the only goal is sex and run it can go bad. Maybe she’ll mature in the process.

    Island Esper
  9. Lol I can’t believe how many times i laughed at this, I don’t usually go for shows like this but i think I’m going to pick this up. Keep it up Divine its much appriciated.

    Siege
  10. Don’t consider this series stupid at all.

    Consider the japanese society, where woman who are proactive and outgoing are still considered un-ideal at best, and despised and subjected to mobbing at worst.

    This is one series that does feminism right.

    tokugawa
  11. I approached the show cautiously because of the ridiculous premise but I was pleasantly surprised with the first episode.. Yamada is hilarious haha
    I just wished Yukarin didn’t use her mahou shoujo voice.. I keep hearing Nanoha / Ink when she opens her mouth..

    Sabin
  12. Heh, Yamada’s attempt to become a whoring slut seems to be destined to fail miserably. Yukarin does a very good job in making what originally sounded like a despicable character with seemingly despicable motives extremely likable.

    Hocchan makes a great dynamic combo with Yukarin, while Abe is believable as Takashi – doesn’t behave like a hesitating jerk seen in typical harem males, but doesn’t go too far either. And I nearly didn’t recognize Noto as Takashi’s sister Kazuki, she rarely does such spunky roles.

    Kinny Riddle
    1. HOLY CRAP! He’s right, the sister is Mamiko Noto!! A second play through and i picked up on her distinct pronunciations haha.

      I remember my motivation for watching the show was because she was listed in the VA cast but she totally flew under my radar when I was watching it the first time.

      also, @Thomas; Have to agree completely. Witty writing, and down-right fun. I’d normally not watch something like this but as for now I see no reason why not.

      Dawn
  13. Trying to find the moment to post on the new site, and now~

    This is very entertaining to watch. What’s more entertaining is the argument that’s going on in MAL about this show. Lol, please blog this! Look forward to it~

    underMebius
  14. HILARIOUS! Definitely placing it on my lookout list!

    It’s awesome to see a perverted female character – who’s openly honest about getting a harem. I just don’t like the ever so convenient plot that the hot girl is falling inlove with the guy because he’s…nice! But hey, maybe she’ll just pop his cherry and move on to a real man!

    Remy
  15. i hope the whole anime doesnt consist of the girl trying erotic things to sleep with the guy cause that is a very stupid and boring plot
    the first episode was so random i couldnt even finish

    tk
  16. OMFG… after watching this, I finally totally understood HOW and WHY I lost my virginity in high school 🙂

    It’s not as uncommon as you think, guys. Yamadas are everywhere.

    Adieu

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