Hajimete no Gal

Extremely annoying. The MC is quite possibly the worst main character ive ever seen, being simultaneously annoyingly lecherous and pervy (basically seeing his new GF as a piece of meat for the large part of the early chapters) and annoyingly a pussy (refusing to do anything even when his girlfriend borderline sexually assaults him asking to bone). His main goal is to end his virginity, yet purposefulyl declines every reasonable chance his girlfriend throws his way.

His GF Yume-San is a very kind, nice, empathetic (obviously extremely attractive) and understanding person, while he offers nothing. Obviously this is a simple trashy escapism manga, but usually in these type of harem romcoms the MC is a kind person who the girls fall for for a reason. Here, no attempt is given. Yume is basically a perfect girl who falls for the schools incel head over heels for basically no reason. While he continues to act like either a weasel or a sex offender, she takes it all on the chin and accepts him wholeheartedly, which is wholesome in a way and extremely annoying in another.

Other then her there are a myriad of other girls just there to offer fanservice (the mc is already in a relationship after all). Theres his childhood best friend whose a childish bitch (refusing to befriend one of the mc's friends because he was 'too fat'....), Yume-san's lesbian best friend whose just there to throw a wrench in things, and the school popular girl who falls for him for also no reason, who is a femdom.

If you enjoy not thinking about things and dont get annoyed at cliches or bad romcom manga writing, this could be enjoyable. The main girl is great and so is the fanservice. But dont expect a single inch more then that, or any significant well written fluff moments.

EDIT : Caught up to chapter 50 and I love this manga. The following was written when I had finished reading chapter 21 and modified a bit thereafter, due to which I changed my rating as well

Well this is my first review on MAL so please bear with me. Also, I'm thankful to the various translators and hope they can keep up the good work.

Story : 7.5/10

This story is a bit different compared to typical rom-coms, you'll see why from just the first few chapters. It's funny, light, cute and somewhat reminds me of Hollywood sex-coms. It's not thought provoking or complex, but it fits perfectly with what the author is aiming for : adolescence sex comedy

Art : 7

It's simple and clean. The art where they show close up of the girl's face is pretty good. Apparently it's also the author's first serialization, so it's impressive considering that. I wish the breasts weren't drawn so oversized though.

Character : 7

I haven't seen any silly nosebleeds in this one yet. I haven't seen "accidental" situations that lead to the female getting violent unnecessarily beating up the male. MC's insecurities are targeted well, he's not the "knight in shining armor", but still has positives about him that eventually make you want to root for him; he's a bit timid, a bit clueless too, but the female lead makes up for it with her aggressiveness. She's unexpectedly shy at times as well, which made me wonder if there's a backstory there (given how she is a bold gal at other times).

The other characters so far (not many) have been okay. Nothing extraordinary but not boring either. They provide comic relief or some other plot help at regular intervals to keep it fresh, but there's no diving into their lives so far.

Enjoyment : 9

The premise, plus how quickly things take off and the silliness in various situations make this manga very enjoyable. It's definitely not slow, the pacing is good. It's light, at times funny, at times cute (with a big help from the female lead, she's probably one of my favorite female leads in romcoms). The interactions between MC and the main heroine are the key part of this manga. The story also makes you look forward to the next chapter.

Overall: 8

This manga is the closest I've come to finding "Skill of Lure" level of fun. It's not at the same level, but it is still ongoing and has good potential. It's not "hilarious", but has a good balance of rom-com-SoL. I just hope it doesn't have overly drawn out dramatic arcs in the future.

I'm not sure why the overall rating on MAL is so low, there are several romcom manga out there that are nowhere close to this level of fun but are rated much higher.

This manga fills the void in my heart. It takes care of me unconditionally. It knows that I am a virgin with a tsundere fantasy. I love this manga. I am filled with warmth after reading each chapter.

Please, Trumpu-san, make this manga real so I may have a glorious and beautiful 2D waifu in real life.

Hey shawty. lemme holla at you right quick ya know what im sayin. checkin you out over there you lookin kinda good, ya know what im sayin. so i was wondering ya know how about you and me go back to the place, get comfortable, probably sip on some of this henney, you know what im sayin, and after that, you know what im... sayin, we can do the grownup and you can let me clap on dem cheeks, ya hear me?

I found this one when i was looking for manga with loser boy getting a hot chick a.k.a shounen and Hajimete no Gal would definitely be enough to satisfy you if you have a similar craving, so far the story is not all that "original" just really really enjoyable.

It does not really carry a heavy dramatic tone because of the comedy integrated in the story which for some people may feel a little bit disengaging but if you love that kind of thing then you should try this.

The characters are not the most memorable but not boring either except for the MC's friends, who actually do serve a purpose to the plot so whatever.Their isnt a cluster of character which is something I think is awesome for a romance manga that also carries the comedy tag.

I came into this expecting to dislike it, since I watched the anime and it was really mediocre, but to my surprise I really liked the manga, because, in contrast to the anime, it takes the relationship of the main couple (somewhat) seriously, especially in the later chapters.

The story: 6.

The story is nothing to write home about, it's barely even there, but I feel this manga would be worse if they'd tried to force a story in this character-based manga.

The art : 8.

Hajimete no Gal's art is really good for what it is. It isn't the most stunning, but it conveys ideas very well. It's simple at times, but it generally doesn't get boring.

The characters: 9.

This is where this manga really shines, the characters, though pretty much just tropes, get actual character development! Though MC at a first glance seems to be self-insert-otaku-kun, which he kind of is at first, he (and the others) get character development, which makes for a nice story, with changing dynamics, yet still well-established characters. The characters are also actual people that react somewhat like a real human, not in one continuous state of being, but with fluctuating emotions.
None of these characters seem as fake as the type of manga this is would get you to believe.

Enjoyment: 10.

This manga, whilst maybe not the best objectively, is undoubtedly fun enough and worth your time. I really liked it but that's just personal preference, since I like stories based on characters.

Overall: 8.

The Hajimete no Gal manga is most definitely worth your time, it's a pretty good manga, especially if you like manga based almost entirely on characters. It's above average, if what you seek is characters. If you don't like stories centered around characters, this manga is most likely not for you, but I had a lot of fun just binge-reading all the manga's chapters in two days.

[I'm writing this because it's strange for me to smoke a entire manga in a night, so I feel like telling you why this shit is good]

[NO SPOILERINOS AHEAD]

Story [5].

Since this is clearly a non-history aimed manga, there isn't much to say about. It just exist to put rocks into the main characters path and make them develope.


Art [9]

I'm not a big manga lover (Clasiccal only anime weeb), but I'm pretty impressed. The art matches perfectly with the action, and that is just beautifull. Want some emotional hit on that scene? You have it.


Character [10]

This is what makes this opus great. In this decade, rom-coms seem like copies of one another. Same characters, same course of action, B E A C H E P I S O D E S (damn them), you name it. But this breaks the spectrum totally.

It all starts with a different perspective of a rom-com. The romantic plot it's not forced, it just gently slides in with the developement of the main characters (HELL YEAH, CHARACTER DEVELOPEMENT IN 2017). Just dont expect that MALE MC SEES PANTSU > RANDOM SC SHOUTS KYAA > FEMALE MC IT'S FUCKING PISSED OF because it's not going to happen (likely)


Enjoyment [9]

I feel refreshed. Usually I just avoid romcoms because of their tendency of being very similar, but some true art pieces come by sometimes, like Golden Time. I really expect this to be at least at that level. I liked what I just saw. Now I want more. And I want a girlfriend.

End my suffering, please.

OVERALL [ 8. FOOKIN 5 ( let's call it a 9, k?)]

*I'm writing this review because this manga is really a funny romcom and I want people to acknowledge it so we can have faster scans and translations!*

Story(7):
The story is the weakest part of this amazing manga, is something we have seen quite a bit in this kind of genres:
Unpopular guy get te chance to date a really cute and popular girl.
What makes this manga amazing are witouth a doubt the characters, Junichi our cliché anime character, weak, a looser is constantly teased by Yuka which seem to understand pretty well the desires of his new boyfriend, but something about her personality seem strange, is she really the type who likes to tease our otaku freind Junichi or she's hiding something? Is a really funny and adorable manga with fanservice too!

Art(9):
The art is amazing: clean and dynamic, the background are well done and the characters are well made and expressives.

Characters(9):
Junichi is our male protagonist, he wants a girlfriends but he's also insecure with the other sex, he thinks low of himself but he muster the courage to confess to Yuka because of a prank from his friends.

Yukana, in the other hand is a really interessting character.
She accept Junichi confession even knowing that he clearly doesnt like her because she likes to tease him, her personality seem a bit strange, she seem really confident and that she has a lot of experience in love, but is it really true?

Support: cliché friends that are perverted, looser and otakus that are jelous of the sudden succes of Junichi, that help him for a purpose(getting to know the friends of Yuka)
There is also the best friend of Yuka, she's been introduced recently, she's like a hunter for virgins like Junichi, maybe she's the reason of the behavior of Yuka?

Enjoyment(9):
Really funny and cute romance story.
The ecchi part(fanservice) is used well, and have a purpose in the manga! In this case tease Junichi. The pacing is alright and make the manga always funny to read.

Overall(9):
I raccomend this anime for the people who are searching for an interessting character, funny situations, and solid romance development.

This manga surprised me. It really sticks to the ecchi, romance, school and shounen aspect and the comedy had me dying multiple times. (There was this one Nisekoi reference that killed me. That reference is why I'm writing this review xD.)

Story (6) - It's a somewhat of a cliche story where this unpopular kid gets a hot girl, but they realize that it's cliche, which is why the story never takes itself too seriously. This lack of seriousness made the story enjoyable.

Art (9) - You want ecchi, you get ecchi. Simple as that.

Characters (8) - The characters were actually pretty good. The MC was a bit annoying in the beginning, but now that he has a clear idea in mind, he is somewhat relatable. The "gal" is what I think carries the show in the beginning. Not only with her art, but with her playful personality. The side characters are funny as hell, especially the MC's friend (the guy with the glasses.) Overall, the characters are really good for what the show is.

Enjoyment (9) - I enjoyed this manga way more than I anticipated too. Like I'm a bit surprised I have this manga an 8, but oh well.

Overall (8) - Overall, my score came out to be an 8. The show gives what it advertises, the art is amazing (there are some solid backgrounds and the girls...well...I think you know,) the characters were funny which really made me enjoy the manga. I would recommend this to someone who wants a relatively laidback but funny manga.

This manga started off with overused gags, and the whole premise is superficial itself. Honestly, I only read the manga because of the yuri route it went. However, I do notice that the author did listen to some of the critical reviews.

If you want to have a short read with just fanservice and exaggerated characters with overused humor, Id suggest this.

Now, for the actual criticism, I will say that at first the MC was just superficial, however I noticed he became more calm and more understanding. I hated him at first because I believed he was just using her, however he grew out to be more loyal and liked her for her. Now, that is a good character development, however he still focused to much on the sex part, so I do feel like it contradicts the development?

Its not really a enjoyable male MC, and it's incredibly unrealistic and rushed for the side characters. I only liked one side character, which was the newest one recently, who slowly opened up to Yukina. Id only read this for the yuri route, as it's even more better than the MAIN COUPLE, and more wholesome/less superficial.

Hey y'all. MAL's biggest gal manga reviewing mouthbreather here.

You know what I like? A story premise with cute shit. You know what I hate? Going full-blown harem when you're running out of ideas and need something to cater and appeal to the broadest types of weebs possible.

This manga was always pretty tied with harem as the main character just suddenly attracts gals like moths to a flame when he starts to date the main girl by the name of Yame. Typical story of loser gets with very popular girl and wacky misadventures ensue as everyone tries to fuck him. I always understood why people disliked that aspect of the manga, but the strongest part of the story was never really the harem shit or the characters, it was the dynamic between Junichi and Yame. What begins as the main character just trying to lose his virginity actually becomes a pretty fulfilling relationship between both the characters even if the origin of why they dated had little substance beyond a dare. They have cute moments that remind me of the naivety that comes with having a first girlfriend. Not knowing when to engage, overreactive imaginations, misunderstandings, etc. The development between these two is great, and I'd love if more of the manga was cleverly written in different ways around their dynamic but it isn't. It's based around the entire posse, and I was fine with this for the most part albeit minorly annoyed, but lately the story is just starting to fall off the rails. The harem characters are like those shitty repetitive side-quests you have to complete before you actually get to the main one. Some of the harem characters are just fine in their own right like the cam girl and tan gyaru as they will sometimes normally progress Yame and Junichi's relationship forward through misunderstandings and manipulation, but others like fat tiddied loli and the shitty trap character are completely pointless and serve as nothing but brainless filler and lowest common denominator pandering. Even the loli has a chapter where she is depressed because NO ONE pays attention to her. All of this makes me think, if the best part of this manga is just the two main characters interacting, then why does a harem even exist? Never once do you ever feel like Junichi is even close to betraying Yame. All of it just starts to fall apart and slowly you stop seeing the background characters as characters but rather as just obnoxious and easy plot points. I really wish there was just more well-written side characters rather than just harem fodder that keeps being introduced like the trap or the student president. Maybe there's just something inherently dumb about having a harem in a manga where there's already an established relationship as the central point of your story.

I do enjoy this manga as it's one of the first gal manga I've gotten invested in, but the story dredging you along over and over until you get to Yame and Junichi starts to feel less and less worth it as it goes on. I'll still follow it and see where it goes from here.

Also known as Hajimete no Gyaru. In English, it's called My (Frist) Girlfriend is a Gal. The two main characters are fairly typical Japanese high school students, although one of them has bleached hair and dresses like a gyaru. Something else you might not have noticed is how unusual their expressions tend to be on the various covers.

>Characters

I originally found this manga by its anime. The art was nice, and the main female protagonist, Yukana had something about her... something so rare in a female anime character. This girl is overflowing with confidence, and confidence is sexy. The male character, Junichi is no pushover either. Let's talk about him first.

-Hashiba, Junichi

This is the face of youthful passion.
Junichi is just a guy, and that's what makes him so great. He's not that tired whiner trope like Hope from Final Fantasy XIII, or some crybaby who contributes nothing to the adventure like Yuki of Mirai Nikki. He's also not an unstoppable omniscient god like Sora from No Game No Life.

He's just normal. He's nervous about meeting girls since he and his antisocial friends probably never talk to them, but he's not petrified. He actually builds up the nerve with some help from the aforementioned friends and asks Yukana out on his own. They meet up outside the school, and after a lot of inner dialogue, he musters his nerve and asks her out.

-Yame, Yukana

When it comes to personality, Yukana is more than just a pretty face and some tits (although, she has both). Yukana is confident, feminine, and friendly. Despite being a gyaru she's actually friendly instead of high-and-mighty. She's also fairly condescending to the main character, but he's no slouch! He can take it! She accepts his request at the end of the first volume and they start going out. She likes shooter arcade games and karaoke.

Yukana also knows how to dress up, which is to be expected of a gyaru. Outside of school, she usually dresses in a fairly normal manner. The gyaru thing might just be to keep people out of her hair at school. This I find interesting, because usually gyaru are always gyaru, like her friend Ranko. Yukana isn't though, when it's time to go out in public for dates, she dresses like any other girl trying to look nice.

>The Good

Hajimete no Gyaru is really awesome when it comes to the main romance. Here's a breakdown of how romances work, in both eastern and western works of fiction.

-The main two want to get together, or maybe one is pursuing another.
-Something gets in the way.
-They get over it.
-In the last chapter they make up and get together.
-The end.

Well, Hajimete no Gal put step 4 at the beginning. They're dating for most of the series and it's great. Why has no one else noticed this? It's so unique, I mean, name another series like this. Not where they're chilling from the beginning, but actually actively going out and inviting each other on real, deliberate dates. Love Hina sort of? I can't think of one. What does that mean? That means something unique is happening here, and unique is very good.

>The Bad: Plot vs Character

I don't think I'm the first person to notice that this manga doesn't have a specific plot, however, I think I am the first person to put into a review why a plot would be a bad thing.

Hajimete no Gal is a character driven romance/comedy with a bit of drama for good measure. Plot is something that detracts from character. Consider this, I'm a writer with two copyrighted works under my belt. I've experienced first hand the relationship between plot and characters. When you start a novel, you have to choose which is more important, Tales of Symphonia and Bleach both chose plot, and thus the complexity of each series' main characters are lost on most people.

Character driven narratives are much harder to do, because any plot must happen because of a character, not because they must "save the world," or "kill the bad guy." All of the plot elements in Hajimete no Gal are there to further the main pairing's relationship, and personally I'm fine if not happy about that.

>The Great: Jurassic Park level pacing.

Pacing! The pacing in this manga is impeccable! This series moves so fast, but still gives you enough time to take everything in. It's wonderful!

I actually caught up to volume three in a single night. For reference, at the height of my manga reading, while I was going through Kurokami, I usually read one volume a day. That meant I covered three times my normal amount when I started (and caught up with) Hajimete no Gal. Why? Because I was engrossed.

I can only compare the pacing to a Michael Crichton novel. That's right, the New York Times bestselling author that wrote Jurassic Park, Sphere, and Rising Sun. (Rising Sun is about how different Japanese culture is from Western culture. Great read if you are interested in Japan.)

> The Amazing: The Natural Slice of Life

The characters are very realistic, they truly feel human.

Side Cast

Look, even the side characters contribute something. Even the smallest character manages to eventually gain some relevance. Instead of introducing new people, the author got a clever idea, one that I use in my own works. Why not have old characters do the things I want to have new characters do? Keep the pool of people focused, streamlined.

-Honjo, Ranko

Yukana's best friend Ranko? She's jealous of Junichi because he's taking all of Yukana's attention. She sits in on some of their dates, and more often than not actively disrupts them by showing up right when things start to get interesting.

But there's more.

When Ranko realizes that she's not going to be successful in breaking the two up, she changes gears. She becomes the badass protector of Junichi and Yukana's relationship. (While still trying to drive them apart.) How? Why? Well, let's take a moment to be rational. It seems that Ms. Honjo has a very specific set of priorities.

-Keep Yukana all to herself.
-If 1 is not possible, Junichi x Yame is the next best thing.
-If anyone gets in the way of 1 or 2, stop them with physical violence or intimidation.
-Ranko is essentially my type. Intimidation and drive!

-Kashi, Yui

This is your typical goody two shoes. The pure girl who the main character is destined to fall for.

Well, this isn't that kind of story, so instead she gets pushed aside and resorts to deceptive tactics to try and force her way into Junichi's heart! Does she succeed? Well, read the manga to find out! (Hint, no.) Actually, Yui tests Junichi's outer limits of commitment, and she still gets turned down. Then she tries to force herself on Junichi, and of course, Ranko comes in and saves the day, leaping in from... I don't know, the sky maybe?

-Sakamoto, Shinpei

This is our ringleader, the catalyst. He's the leader of a group of outcasts, the group Junichi finds himself in at the beginning of the story. Some might write him off, but he has clear motivations and a consistent character. If it weren't for Shinpei this story might not have happened. See, he was the one that forced Junichi into asking Yukana out. It was his idea, and he had to basically force it to happen.

Then later he returns to make MORE plot stuff happen! Like, don't discount this guy, he's serious! Sakamoto is jealous of Junichi's relationship and does what he can to sabotage and cock-block him. Usually, it has the opposite effect, and so Jun thinks they're on the same side and thanks his "good friend" for the "good advice."

There are people like this in the real world. Lots of them. In fact, many of my own friends doubt my potential for success, but few are rude enough to try and stop me. But maybe you know someone that's the jealous type like Sakamoto?

Fujinoki, Nene

I'm not a huge fan of this girl, but luckily her arc was short, and way less cringe-inducing than I expected.

Nene is the childhood friend who's returned to claim her boi. And that boy is Junichi. She makes a lot of advances on him, utilizing handcuffs and nudity and taking advantage of the fact that she knows where Junichi lives. In the end, she claims that she will be competing with Yukana for Jun's love. Yukana decides that this is both hilarious and adorable, and stops taking her seriously. Good! I didn't sign up for another generic harem!

>The Endearing

-Junichi's Contributions

Not once, but twice Junichi stops a girl's advances. He informs two different girls that he's already in a relationship, and he's perfectly happy with it. Why is this important? Well, consider the typical harem. The main character has not (and might never) decided on a woman, and so he never blatantly turns down a girl. Junichi is and does. His greatest character trait is his resolve; his commitment.

Junichi does more than just pull his weight. He's a true second half in this relationship, whether his girlfriend is there to babysit his emotions or not. This is so reassuring. When I see an MC almost cheat on his girlfriend, it's not something that I enjoy. I cringe and get uncomfortable. Why should I be happy if he two times? With Junichi in the MC slot, I feel safe. I know he's going to do whatever he can to stay committed to Yukana.

-Yukana's Contributions

At first, for both halves, the relationship was sort of a joke, and sort of a test ride. Yukana wasn't conceited about it though, she regarded Jun with open eyes, and took it seriously when things got serious.

She dresses up for him and keeps him at a fair distance. She picks on him, flirts with him, and tests him. She asks Ranko for advice and considers Junichi fairly when he makes an advance. (Although most of the time she turns his advances down. She's not sure what to do in a relationship either!)

-The Pair

These two are a great match, which is exactly why this series works. It's the seed from whence all the plot elements stem. Yukana teases Junichi to confuse him, and Junichi spouts his honest thoughts to confuse her. Neither of them has been in a relationship this deep before so it's all very new and exciting. A prime example of young love!

>The Human

This is the gold of the series. All the characters, all the situations are so natural. They seem so real, it's the kind of stuff that happens all over the world, with regular people. It truly is a slice of life, and I love it.

I love the fact that this series is so grounded, that it invites you to expect a cliche and then gives you a natural response instead. As someone who's seen over one-hundred anime, and read my share of romance and shounen manga, I'm familiar with all the tropes. When almost all of them were avoided or directly subverted, I was both impressed and refreshed.

>Conclusion

If you like realism, and good characterization, this manga is for you. I'm so jealous! I wonder if there are any gyaru in my country? Or maybe a goth. Or maybe just a nice girl :) I need to start dating before I turn into a wizard >_>

>Verdict

I almost never give a true 10/10. All my My Anime List ratings are bumped up by 1 point since I'm so unfair. (Bleach is a 9, Slayers a 9, Oretachi... I'm not sure, 9.7?) Hajimete no Gal gets a TRUE 10 out of 10. I absolutely love it, and if it gets translated officially, I will be supporting the artist by purchasing the manga.

Read it if you even vaguely enjoy a good romance.

You already know the drill, so let's get to it.

This manga is very stereotypical. Loser homie gets the hottie and he's always nervous and she's all yandere but not really yandere. However before ya think that I'm bashing this I really do love the art. It takes a while for the update which makes it more of a laidback, every once in a while read but you'll enjoy it.

There's also a To Love-Ru reference that I laughed pretty hard at.

The comedy is probably the best part compared to the decent story. The artist knows how to make ya laugh when you wouldn't expect it then make ya hard right after.

Go head and give this a read but don't expect it to become your new number 1.

I had high hopes for this series i thought it was going to show me the character development i always wanted to see in a anime and alot of progress in the relationship but what i exepected was wrong the anime turned into a borderline hentai i have no problem with that but when the harem came into place that is when the line was crossed after that i no longer got the enjoyment i wanted every time anything romantic is happening it is always ruined by the harem and honestly the anime is just following the typical plot all ecchi anime take a harem with lots of panty flashes to lure in people but the story will never go anywhere and there will never be a proper relationship but i hope in the future it changes