When you were in high school, there was a ton of stuff to worry about: getting into college, being popular, seeing your name in the school newspaper. But the most important one was having a girlfriend. And if you didn’t have a girlfriend, what’s wrong with you, man? Well, I have a girlfriend, but she doesn’t know she’s my girlfriend. *sigh*. Yeah, we’ve all been there. But what if you got one of the popular ones? Such is the thought behind “Hajimete no Gal”, (“My First Girlfriend Is a Gal” or “Hajimete no Gyaru”).

We doggedly follow the misgivings of Junichi Hashiba (I’m sure you can find him up there). He moans and laments about not having a girlfriend, as his classmates have seemed to be pairing up everywhere. Peer pressure comes into play as his single unattached friends force him into boldly confessing his love to Yukana Yame, a beautiful gal at school. (OK, I never understood the ‘Gal [Gyaru] Movement’ in Japanese culture or what it tried to do).

Although Yukana easily determines that Junichi really just wants to lose his virginity, she agrees to be his girlfriend. Junichi soon attracts the affections of other girls who have known Junichi or Yukana for a while, including his childhood friend and neighbor Nene, Yukana’s gal pal Ranko, and the school’s madonna, Yui. Our tale is how all these divergent people interact with one another.

For a guy who had nothing, he now has too much, as everyone vies for his affection while holding the others off, although the main battle is between Yukana and Ranko, as they have been friends forever. Oh, yeah, there is tons of fan service and lots of suggestiveness, but it’s never crass or crude; more like the ladies understand what’s going on and are just pushing their ‘assets’ to the forefront to make Junichi squirm and reel from all of it.

You also come to learn that perhaps Yukana may have some genuine affection for our golden cherry boy and will defend him from the seductive charms of her rivals. Oh, yeah, it’s a rom-com, so nothing is too dangerous or out of control and we all remain friends at the end of the episode. The bigger problem is that Junichi doesn’t really know what to do or how to handle things to get what he wants, and it’s not to get boinked, but to have a real girlfriend. And since things are up in the air, assume a second season of this nonsense is lurking out there.

Oh, yeah, even though this is a very heavy fan service show, you need to see things play out better in ‘real time’, so plunk your butt into the seat and go at it, as the mayhem and overall bizarre nature of the show plays out far better than the episodic approach

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           8 (Boobs, boobs, boobs)
Plot                  8 (Rather typical, but done with charm)
Pacing              8 (Almost too hard to keep up)
Effectiveness   7 (As if this stuff really happens…..)
Conclusion      5 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service     5 (A similar show would be “Maburaho”)
Bingeability    9 (Have at you!)

Overall            8 (A marvelous waste of time)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Will you…..go out with me?