First Impressions / Hajimete no Gal

「はじめてのバイト」 (Hajimete no Baito)
“My First Job”

Shinpei is at it again as the architect of him and his friends’ part-time jobs. While I can only assume his plan for Minoru was to get him arrested for a Dateline episode, he gave himself, Keigo, and Junichi their dream summer jobs. Maybe not Keigo, but Shinpei’s stint at an anime/manga store has given him a lucrative spot as a well-respected supervisor at the store. I don’t think we got to see the payoff for Shinpei’s access to weapons during the calendar montage, but considering that the owner of the anime store is Dutch from Black Lagoon, he’s got a good chance at getting an internship in Roanapur.

Junichi got the longer end of the stick with his part-time stint at a cosplay cafe where all of his lady friends are working at too. The cosplay cafe itself was the ideal setting for the part-time work episode to take place in considering how many fanservicey opportunities that cosplay can offer the show. There was something poetic about how they had Ranko dress up as Sayaka Miki given the character’s unfortunate love triangle as well as matching with Yame’s Madoka Kaname outfit. And since the part-time job is for several weeks, our workplace montages give the girls alot of outfits to work with from nurse costumes to maid uniforms.

It all goes downhill for everyone though when their perverted supervisor uses his power as a way to get the girls to have their schoolgirl outfit day be celebrated with them having to read passages from erotic light novels. As Yui gears up to orchestrate the owner tearing the supervisor a new one, the girls all read passages from different books that match their personalities. Nene happened to conveniently grab one that Junichi used to enjoy, which is a nice manga callback to how familiar Nene was with Junichi’s collection when they used to be closer. I laughed hard at Ranko’s performance since she read both the girl’s and guy’s perspective of the novel’s sex scene enthusiastically, putting on a husky guy voice when she had to switch to the male protagonist’s dialogue. Much like in the karaoke episode, Yame happened to choose a book that offered a more sentimental view of intimacy. Although it was awkward for Yame to have to feel blushy and embarrassed about the novels, at the very least Junichi won brownie points from having a deeper issue with the girls reading all of this aloud.

For all the silliness that the comedy and fanservice offers, they make the romantic scenes in the show very heart-warming. The moment where Yame is looking forward to a trip that Junichi and her can share together offered a cute way of having their relationship grow further with how enthusiastic the two are to continue taking every next step in their relationship together. The next episode’s beach episode is shaping up to be the perfect opportunity to get the couple closer, and provide some quality ecchi along the way.

End Card

18 Comments

  1. I thought it was strange that we got WacDonalds versions of most of the light novel titles but they went straight with HxH, even to the point of reading from the actual chapters. You don’t often get a direct call out of other works in a series.

    Jhereg
    Reply

  3. I always did have that sneaking suspicion that I was watching a hentai anime without the hentai so having the characters out and out do erotic voices got a chuckle out of me.

    I do find that the romantic plot is actually getting stronger. Many romantic comedy are light on the “romance” and heavy on the “comedy”. This one feels genuine, Junichi and Yame’s relationship might have started as a joke but it is slowly blossoming into something more. All too often the “nice guy” protagonist is basically a doormat but Junichi has some spine and standing up to people who could cream him (in previous episodes) or torpedo his summer plans (this episode’s manager) for Yame’s sake shows that he is no milquetoast. There is an old fashioned notion that a boy becomes a man so that he may be worthy of the woman he loves and we are seeing that in some respect in Junichi. He conquered his lust in a tokusatu/kaiju battle and is working on love, or at least romance, in his relationship.

    Mechamorph
    Reply

    1. Sometimes, I feel bad when voice actresses are given overtly lewd lines to work with in scenes where the characters are reading explicit lines, but the erotic LN reading scene in this episode didn’t give me that feeling. Maybe it’s because they didn’t have to get too invested into making it sound lewd, and the VA’s that did made it campy enough that it was more comical.

      One thing I’m enjoying alot about this show is how seriously it takes the main couple. It doesn’t feel like an empty promise where the couple goes nowhere by the end of it all. With every new episode, it seems that Junichi is having an easier time standing up for Yame while Yame is slowly opening up her thoughts to Junichi. It’s still a slow, steady process, especially since they are stuck within the trappings of a comedy ecchi anime, but I like how even with the tone shift the anime takes from the manga, they still keep the spirit of the show being about Junichi and Yame’s relationship growing and strengthening with time.

      Choya
      Reply

  5. https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
    Though I can’t help but chuckle at the nod to the “bowl of rice” scene from K-On! that popularized striped panties (with Yui’s VA Ayana Taketatsu being an alumna of the show), I still can’t put a finger on who Yui was actually cosplaying as because of the different uniform. (Perhaps Yui did cosplay as Azu-nyan Azusa in the manga?)

    https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
    Never expected to see Masou Gakuen HxH get a direct shout out–and with the actual raunchy light novel covers, to boot! Also nice to see the light novel/H-doujin artist Hisasi contributing the end card for this episode. (P.S.: Aine and Hayuru best girls.)

    “I laughed hard at Ranko’s performance since she read both the girl’s and guy’s perspective of the novel’s sex scene enthusiastically, putting on a husky guy voice when she had to switch to the male protagonist’s dialogue.”

    Well, Eri Kitamura (Ranko’s VA) also voiced straight man/male tsundere Mahiro Yasaka (Haiyore! Nyarko-san), so she’s no stranger to putting on a (husky) guy voice.

    https://randomc.net/image/Hajimete%20no%20Gal/Hajimete%20no%20Gal%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
    Hooboy, as soon as I saw Minoru read that “Help Wanted” ad for a day care center, I just knew trouble wouldn’t be far behind.

    Incognito
    Reply

    1. She does have the twin tails and striped pantsu of Azu-nyan, but I can’t place my thumb on who Yui and Nene were dressed up as.

      Eri Kitamura has been in so many things with varying voices that it’s hard to keep track of her roles. It’s a testament to how talented she is where I’ve been watching multiple shows at a given time and can’t even tell. Like I’ve been catching up with Hero Academia and completely missed that my choice for best girl Ashido is Ranko. I think the deepest I’ve heard from her was Juri from Street Fighter IV, but she’s definitely got the voice and talent to play just about any character, similar to how Chiwa Saito and Miyuki Sawashiro are. And I totally missed that she played Sayaka in Madoka too, so her cosplay was also an actress allusion.

      This series has made me curious on what HxH is supposed to be like. I was surprised that Minoru wasn’t reported or anything by the time the summer jobs ended, but it goes hand-in-hand with them not showing us how Shinpei’s ended.

      Choya
      Reply

      1. Technically, it was Mio who wore the striped pantsu, but I guess fanon decided to give Azu-nyan striped pantsu as well. (Unless her Nendoroid, Figma and other miscellaneous figurines of her show that she does.)

        I’ve seen the TV anime of Masou Gakuen HxH, and it’s pretty much Infinite Stratos going full-bore ecchi with copious amounts of “Does This Remind You Of Anything?” (trope). I’ve yet to see the home video release of the show, but I can only assume it’s even raunchier (and more polished) than the uncensored broadcast on AT-X (which still had its share of off-model moments).

        Incognito
        Reply

      3. The original light novels for it are all translated on the usual “stupid” site if you are curious. Short version is the writer plays chicken with the law as far as what he can get into a light novel and still have it on book shelves. In later novels he REALLY pushes the limits.

        Jhereg
        Reply

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