Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「はじめてのSEASON」(Hajimete no SEASON) by 純情のアフィリア (Junjou no Afilia)
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「はじめての土下座」 (Hajimete no Dogeza)
“My First Time Begging for It”
Doutei
Of course, you couldn’t call me Zaiden if I didn’t wait for the uncensored release. Having read the manga, I actually have no idea what needed to be censored, but I sure as heck ain’t complaining!
I actually found Junichi’s friends quite funny. Over the top reactions aside, they seem horribly out of touch with society at large without realising it. Who reads porn magazines during class registration?!? I can understand why people would dislike them. But if you consider things from a holistic viewpoint, it wouldn’t have been possible for Junichi (Asanuma Shintaro) and Yame (Nagaku Yuki) to have gotten together without their insistence that he ask her out. So they have served their purpose in driving the plot, where ordinarily our protagonist could never have gathered the courage. Not to mention, they were never supposed to be taken seriously anyway. As far as I am concerned, the doutei squad are just a bunch of joke characters caricatured as always having sexual matters on their mind, occasionally used to instigate plot progression where needed. More importantly, it highlights the social background from which Junichi comes from, helping explain many of the unfavourable characteristics we initially see in him. Including his completely rubbish confession.
Confession
That look of disgust from Yame sums it up, and what a glare it was. From rampant sexual fantasies, to peeking at Yame’s panties and then asking her out, I don’t know who else cringed because I most certainly did. More because I was taken back to my middle school days, since it usually takes a show like Watamote to make me cringe hard out of nowhere. Nothing sexual, I was too young and innocent for that. Something about proposing on one knee with a can of soft drink in hand, and getting turned down. Putting my past experiences behind, I actually didn’t think the dogeza was too bad. But I would say he was fairly self aware and had gone in with the mindset ‘Que sera sera‘ – ‘Whatever will be, will be’. I bet even he didn’t expect that he would fluke his way to having his confession accepted, so you can’t really fault him for desperately going full YOLO #SWAG, for lack of a better description. If you never ask you’ll never get, so credit where it is due for actually confessing in the first place, even if the intentions were somewhat questionable.
Junichi starts off as a seemingly irredeemable loser, asking out a supposedly easy girl for the shallow reason of wanting to lose his virginity. But expect him to slowly change for the better through his relationship with Yame, as he comes to realise certain things about himself and others.
Concluding Thoughts
While I wasn’t too keen on certain aspects of the adaptation, such as their decision to introduce Nene (Ogura Yui) and Ranko (Kitamura Eri) really early on, I can understand why they would want to market Hajimete no Gal as a harem show. But if that’s the case, I feel like the production team have missed the point. The focus of the show is meant to be shared between Junichi and Yame, with the other girls generally taking a backseat, or used as tools for the sake of advancing the relationship of our main couple. Of course, fanservice should be sprinkled here and there, but it shouldn’t be so obtrusive so as to detract from the viewing experience regardless of how tasteful it was. Nene’s character design being a victim, her proportions becoming even more exaggerated than before, going from ero-kawaii to straight up absurd.
I’m mainly concerned about the direction we’re going in terms of how Yame is depicted as a character. The anime seems to be pushing an agenda where she’s slutty, even beyond Junichi’s delusions. From my perspective, the manga was angling for a cute and playful girl getting slightly embarrassed herself from all the teasing. Maybe it’s just me but I actually reckoned it hinted towards inexperience on her part, despite constantly referring to Junichi as a virgin in a derogatory way. Nevertheless, I felt none of this could stop the best of Yame’s features shining through. Her amazing sassiness and non-stop teasing of Junichi make this show so entertaining in spite of all its flaws. To be honest, I have little hopes for the fanservice and harem aspects being dialled down upon, because you know those things sell like hotcakes in today’s market. But I would still be happy to watch through to the end, because I personally really like the manga.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「ギャルチックラブ」 (GAL-tic Love) by エラバレシ (Erabareshi)
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https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
I actually find Gals quite attractive
Though this attraction is 2D only.
3D gals are not as attractive (and some times ugly as F*CK!)
No one gives a fuck about who you consider attractive or unattractive, let alone real gals.
So much so that he turned me off to the manga completely in the space of two chapters. I honestly could not stand him.
The following is taken from the Summer Preview excerpt I wrote, which sums up my thoughts:
Although far and few, he does wind up having some cool moments, admittedly often undone immediately by the next foolish thing he does. But I’m usually okay with loser-ish characters, as long as they show the potential for development and growth.
I started to read the manga a couple of months ago, but also had to bail because of Junichi. His misogynistic views of Yame as a slut just dragged everything down for me. I was interested in Yame herself and would’ve liked to get to know her more, but…(see previous sentence).
Junichi does start off viewing Yame as a slut which is absolutely unacceptable. But as the series goes on, his view does come to permanently change when he realises something. I’d say his stance stems from being self-defence mechanism against emotional damage, because he believes that Yame doesn’t love him and is simply playing around by having him as some sort of side guy.
As I said, it gives some space for development where a guy changes from a strong view he previously had, as opposed to starting off seamlessly.
All through this episode, I just could not shake the feeling that I was watching an eroge brought to life due to the character designs. @_@
Some of the character designs were nice but I felt the fanservice was overtuned for Ranko and Nene. Pretty happy to see Yame get brought to life on the screen! 🙂
American Pie: The Anime?
Not quite. No pies were harmed in the production of this anime, and no mothers are at threat from Junichi here.
That was the most garish, awful looking green I’ve ever seen in anime. It reminded me of Maid-sama, and I liked that one despite the damn uniform colors!
So a show about a loser who is content with being with a slut?
I think you’ve jumped the gun with judging Yame here. Then again, I did reckon that the anime pushed a slutty narrative of her that didn’t exist in the manga.
amagami junichi vs hajimete no gal junichi, who will be the winner?? stay tuned folks!
ahhh!! THESE COMMENTS!!!! hahahahahahaha! yall got me rolling!!………a joint that is
Sorry, but this MC is terrible. And his friends are worst. And this is coming from a guy who loves fanservice. But these morons don’t deserve anything like that.
At the moment, I agree the MC is terrible. But events further on in the manga cause me to stand by him regardless of the criticism. Feels like my hands are tiedbecause I can’t outright spoil stuff in the comment’s section, so people won’t understand the perspective I’m coming from.
That’s the impression I got from it. I appreciate the fanservice and want to see more of Ranko, but the MC and his friends were pretty obnoxious. I’d imagine the MC gets better since it’s about him learning to love who he initially thought would be easy, but he comes off like he doesn’t know whether to be pervy or chaste.
https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2018.jpg
Damn that uncensored version… Gotta go get it. I have to openly admit that I’ll be watching this show for the guilty pleasure and the Mika Jougasaki look alike.
https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
Looks like straight out of Gunma Kisaragi hentai. Still erotic but napata’s much more erotic.
https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
Contrary to what his friends said, she’s also the type that I’d like to ask out. Not sure if it’s any indication but those black lace tigh highs… Beneath that cute and innocent exterior lies something far more darker and sinister.
Her bronze hairtie?/clip?’s a snake…
Hmmm…. :thinkingface:
Napata over Gunma Kisaragi please
Discount Mika Jougasaki? *ding* Also, her friend Ranko looks a lot like Ikumi Mito (Shokugeki no Souma).
Yui–“silk hiding steel”? But yeah, that long black hair and black lace thigh-highs…HNNNNNNG!
//MEGATHINK
Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh….Weeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllll………… Napata tends to focus on couples in love, usually… And Kisaragi on the other hand…. Has a thing for uh… Yeah… more than just two people…
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyyyyyywayyyyyyyyyyyysssss, this particular shot https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2001%20-%2005.jpg threw me off since it felt very… I dunno, ‘public’ I guess. I can’t quite explain but it just felt pretty weird seeing that kinda in-real-world, brazen, matter-of-fact like display of ‘smex’ out in public in your typical ethic series.
And oh man, Yui is…. WOAH //Gulp… I, uh… Just… Phew…
https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2001%20-%2010.jpg
Oh pfffttt XD
>ethic
Should’ve been spelled ‘etchi’ GUHHAHAHHA XD
“Gyarus are slowly beginning to trend in anime. I, for one, welcome our new overlords!
It’s not the first time gyarus trended in anime/manga, though. Before Twitter, there was the Gals! manga. (Adapted to anime as Super Gals! Kotobuki Ran. God, I’m old…) And more recently, Oshiete, Galko-chan. Even a few anime idols are of the gyaru variety. (e.g.: Mika and Rika Jougasaki from The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls. Though I find Mika to be the more stylish of the two.)
Anyway, Hajimete no Gal also reminded me a bit of B Gata H Kei–which should be a good thing as I liked the comedy of that show–and Yamada basically sounding like a more perverted teenage Nanoha. (*cough*Sameseiyuu*cough*) Except this time around, it’s the guy who now seeks to get his cherry popped. (And the double standard rears its ugly head again…)
Meanwhile, Junichi’s friends reminded me of Kazuki Shikimori’s petty and selfish classmates from Maburaho, which isn’t a good sign. I probably won’t be surprised if those three try to sabotage Junichi’s relationship with Yukana out of spite/jealousy, though part of me still hopes they won’t. (If they do, they’re not true bros and Junichi’s gotta have the guts to ditch the bad influences in his life. OTOH, is Yukana really just stringing Junichi along? Will he even realize it?)
https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
I know some people like their busty lolis (or should we say, “petite busty girls”), but goodness gracious! Nene has an Eiken-esque bust!
And those references to the “Newtype Flash” and Hentai Kamen… XD (Side note: I loved the sheer audacity of the live-action Hentai Kamen movies and how they parodied Marvel Studios’ MCU vanity plate.)
Since I did find some genuinely funny moments in the midst of some of the cringe (I thought Aho Girl would be the only cringe comedy of the season) I’ll give it a couple more episodes as it’d be interesting to see if actual romance will develop between Junichi and Yukana (and perhaps shatter some gyaru stereotypes along the way)…
I just hope they mainly stick with the manga. Our female lead has always been a deep and special sort, an adorable gadfly. I’d hate to see them change the one who’s arguably the selling point
And this is anything BUT a harem, when one of said girls is after our female lead
I couldn’t help but feel that the anatomy in the confession scene panty shot was wrong. I mean, I’ve seen some exaggerated anime labia in my time, but this is ridiculous. It almost looked like she was keeping her emergency mentaiko supply down there or something.
“Gal” as in ganguro?
“Gal” as in gyaru.
or kogal (kogyaru)
Is it me or the male characters looked like another copy of the Prison School’s boys? Not to mention they even have their own Andre and the nerdy guy really souded like Gakuto.
I think it’s easy to hate on Junichi largely because people have gotten a bit too used to the “pervert with a heart of gold” type of male (MC or otherwise), like Issei from High School DxD, Jiraiya from Naruto, and so on, where, once the story is under way, their perverted tendencies are usually quickly forgiven and/or “forgotten” about because they tend to do nice things more often, and so their perversion becomes more for comedic purposes rather than a “main” character trait, so I’m willing to give Junichi a chance to change and develop out of that thinking as he and Yame spend time together.
It’s also a, unfortunately, pretty realistic depiction too. I’m pretty sure A LOT of males here and elsewhere, myself included, have had at least somewhat similar thinking that Junichi did of a certain girl(s) at least a couple times throughout their young school life – judging a girl(s) based on appearances and rumors (if a girl shows more skin, then she is “probably easy”). Sadly, unless such thinking is curbed, it’s what also leads to things like blaming rape victims – she was dressed “slutty” and so she “had it coming”.
They did move Nene’s entrance earlier than the manga and changed it considerably. However
Show Spoiler ▼
I love Gyarus too! Lets make a club.
Oppai loli proportion is disgusting.