Aho Girl / First Impressions

「ギャルが! アホガール」 (Gal ga! Aho Girl)
“The Gal! Aho Girl”

Even gyaru want nothing to do with Yoshiko’s idiocy! Eimura Akane (Ichimichi Mao) hates her right off the bat, but that doesn’t stop Yoshiko from wanting to lift up her skirt or recruit her and her friends to play extreme hide-and-seek. The gyaru group add a neat dynamic to the show’s cast as they are all underachievers like Yoshiko and share a higher interest in playing than acing exams, but would never lower themselves to want to associate or be aligned with her. It’s interesting how the show tackles the differences between the two parties as Akane and her friends still retaining their street smarts despite not being book smart. Meanwhile, Yoshiko’s disregard for both departments of intelligence is seen as repellent regardless of the intelligence of whomever she encounters. And because Yoshiko’s definition of playing is four grade levels below everybody else, even the laziest students that want to go out shopping don’t want to have anything to do with Yoshiko’s type of playing, especially if she’s hiding in a hole for three days without food or water.

It’s admirable how much the episode retains from the previous one with Akuru building a deep bond with Yoshiko’s dog. It shows a commitment to having each of the episodes be more than just a simple one-off, and carries the character development throughout the series. His horror in finding out that his name is Dog is as funny as him reprimanding Yoshiko for every instance of her trying to purposefully give her dog ridiculous names like Dog and Cat. At the same time, Akuru still has his Achilles Heel of being too headstrong to read the feelings of those around him. He quickly learns that he might be too forceful in his demand to rename Yoshiko’s dog as he sees fit when the dog is clearly worried about having to choose between two people that he loves. It took Sayaka for him to realize it, but it could be something that would eventually give Akuru empathy towards those around him. If only he kept that lesson when he gave Ruri a demeaning book about how to live an unintelligent life for her birthday. Oh Akuru, one step forward and five leaps back.

Akuru’s lack of tact, however, brought about one of the funniest parts of the episode with Yoshiko using her wits to cheer up Atsuko-sensei with a charming boy alter ego, Yoshi. Much like Tsurezure Children‘s Love Master, Yoshiko isn’t bluffing about understanding what it means to love someone as her Yoshi disguise gives her the chance to play her teacher like a fiddle with as many cliched pick-up lines as possible. I laughed hard when Atsuko didn’t pick up on Yoshi’s slip-up in mentioning bananas as she butters her up in making her feel desired at her age. Age standards are pretty messed up as 28 is far from an undesirable age, but then again, going out with a teacher is way more frowned upon. My main takeaway from the section though was how funny it was for Yoshiko to hone so much in on her knowledge of how playboys behave that she’d be able to steal Atsuko’s heart just with a wig and some eccentric flirting. It had a very Looney Tunes feel to it, except without having Atsuko be aware that she’s being punked by the dumbass girl from her class in an effort to cheer her up.

11 Comments

    2. They say ignorance is bliss, but there is something unintentionally wise about Yoshiko. Like after years of mastering idiocy has given her some unintended intellect in getting her way.

      Choya
      Reply

    1. It was surprisingly thoughtful for her to create the Yoshi character to make Atsuko feel loved, even if she’s putting more effort into this than anything productive like studying. It also calls back to the methods she took to cheer up Akuru, albeit it was only to get him back into the mood of wanting to kill her again.

      After three days of fasting, she was still committed to staying hidden in that small panel out of dedication to the game.

      Choya
      Reply

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