Author: Meguru Ueno
Genre: Romantic Comedy, Ecchi, Harem, School
Episodes: 10 Episodes + OVA
Production Studio: NAZ
Introduction
For this year’s generic summer fanservice anime, we have Hajimete no Gal. In my personal opinion, not really too similar to previous fanservice anime. In fact, the fanservice only supports what this anime really had to offer, even though the trailers don’t really showcase that. HajiGal is more than what meets the eye, so without further ado, let’s get onto those points that really make this anime stand out from its previous counterparts.
Storyline
Hashiba Junichi is a second-year high school virgin who regularly has sexual fantasies. After a humiliating situation between Junichi and the class “gyaru”, Yame Yukana, Junichi’s virgin friends decide to choose someone from their group to ask Yukana out. Surprise surprise, Junichi was chosen. Junichi’s friends placed a love letter with Junichi’s name to Yukana. After a few sexual delusions which lead to Junichi unnecessarily begging Yukana to date him, Yukana agrees. And thus, began the relationship between Hashiba Junichi and Yame Yukana as they strive to be a loving couple whilst dealing with the misdeeds of all the other girls that also like Junichi.
Despite dressing and acting like a “gyaru”, Yukana has never actually been in a relationship with a man, and Junichi being the virgin that he is, does not have any expertise with women. The story mainly focuses on Junichi trying out brand new things and Yukana learning about true and pure love.
The story tries to focus a lot on the fanservice but the small cutesy and fluffy scenes are what really settled the deal for me. The amount of cute and pureness that comes with every romantic scene is enough to make you go through literal layers of admiration.
Animation & Art
For a relatively new studio, NAZ did a pretty good job on animating HajiGal, especially the ecchi scenes and sexual delusions that really do look like they came straight out of a hentai video. On the other hand, one of the biggest turn offs for me is the animation’s inconsistency. I just don’t get how boobs bouncing up and down can turn out so much smoother than plain walking. A plus for them, however, on using risky provocative shots such as camel toes does improve on the fanservice factor.
Sound & Music
Using background music is almost a necessity when it comes to rom-coms. They add more effect and depth to a scene and can sometimes make the scene feel completely different from what’s actually being displayed. HajiGal really makes use of background music really well; especially on the sexual delusion scenes, which really gets you into the mood. Voice acting is done pretty well. Not any big names in this as far as I’m aware of so that’s a plus.
Characterization
Almost all the characters in HajiGal are really different from one another whether it be character design, personality or otherwise. That alone is a pretty good thing to have. I could only count one or two characters that were generic, but otherwise, every character I’ve seen so far have been quite original. The ones I’ve found to be the most original were the two main characters, Hashiba Junichi and Yame Yukana.
Junichi is a pretty legit representation of a high school student, being nervous around girls, having frequent sexual fantasies and is all-around pretty awkward to begin with. That last fact alone is surprisingly uncommon among teenage protagonists nowadays. Yukana, despite dressing up like a ‘gyaru’, which is already a pretty rare sight to see in anime and manga, is instead pure and has little to no experience with love. Even the supporting cast are pretty unique. You have one of the main character’s best friends who’s into little girls and is fat, you have the four-eyed virgin pervert who gives advice to Junichi, and so on.
Conclusion
A pretty good rom-com anime to start the summer with. It has fanservice, cute romance scenes, lovable characters, uniqueness, and a lot more. Definitely would recommend watching. However this anime surely isn’t for the faint-hearted when it comes to softcore hentai scenes.
