Hajimete No Gal

I thought this was some sort of sequel to Oshiete! Galko-chan but apparently I’m wrong. The main protagonist is a busty gal who looks pretty similar to the main character in the aforementioned series, that is why I assumed it would be so. But other than that, everything else is different for Hajimete No Gal. Sometimes I feel series like this is to pander to lonely single plain otaku guys like us because the main character is also a plain chap and somehow lands this gorgeous gal as his first girlfriend while slowly accumulating a harem of his own as well as a series of other ‘first experiences’.

Episode 1
Ah. Nothing tells you the start of a new school year like couples dating everywhere! Wait. Is this school some make-out association because they’re blatantly flirting everywhere! Unless you are these bunch of losers who can’t get a date and are still virgins: Junichi Hashiba, Shinpei Sakamoto, Minoru Kobayakawa and Keigo Ishida. Junichi still wonders why he is a virgin. Maybe there’s a reason to it… Herald Nene Fujinoki. Junichi’s childhood friend who sees him as a big brother. She might have a body of a loli but hentai tits! WTF?! Then there is Yui Kashii who seems to be wanting to talk more with Shinpei despite having not many chance last year. Oi, Junichi. What’s this harem you’re getting?! His 3 stooges loser pals start reading porn in class just to ruin the mood for those idiotic couples. They try to tempt Junichi to join them. When he does, Yukana Yame chides him for being a loser. Please do that stuff at home. Loser. Wow. It really scared the sh*t out of Junichi. Later the friends converge to talk about how gals like her are just b*tches who want sex. As stated in the magazine. This has Junichi fantasize making out with her. While he is doing that, his friends set him up to go ask Yukana out by placing a love letter in her shoe locker. Junichi realizes they really screw him over when she actually turns up! Awkward. Since he has come this far, he prostrates himself to beg her to date him. Yukana is not impressed… He starts worrying about his future where everyone calls him a loser for prostrating. But since he has a foot in the grave, he continues to prostrate so he can see her pantsu. Nice view… She asks him what he likes about her. Oh, don’t lie. She knows what you’re thinking. You want sex, right?! Busted! Now imagine a future where girls run away from this virgin who is looking for sex. For some odd reason, it’s like Junichi’s hentai kappa took over his consciousness to continue looking up her skirt. But wait. Yukana knows he is doing so! Then she really gets close and asks if he wants to see more. Turns out she is teasing him and loves the reaction of a virgin. It’s too hilarious. Junichi thinks he won’t be tricked anymore when Yukana looks serious in wanting to go out with him. Imagine his shock when she says she likes him. Is she trolling?

Episode 2
It’s no surprise Junichi is confused that Yukana actually agreed to go out with him. Why think so hard? Screw that! Time to have your hentai kappa fantasize f*cking this gal! Just don’t fall off the bed. Junichi’s pals regret setting him up. They vow to always be friends. Suddenly Junichi receives a sexy morning selfie from Yukana. Suddenly friends turn into enemies. All because of tits. Shinpei at least still have the heart to tell him to go for it and kiss her. I don’t know about this Karaoke XXX Rule whereby going karaoke with a girl will end up having sex with her. In class, Yukana clings on lovingly to Junichi. Everyone is shocked to see this and even more shock when they learn they just started dating. Even Nene is left in tears when she confirms so. I guess it shows it doesn’t necessarily mean the biggest tits guarantee a guy. And now his friends-cum-enemies really wish he would die. Great friends… Junichi is surprised when Yukana and wants to go to a place where they can scream out loud and feel good. It’s the karaoke. What were you thinking? So as his fantasies start to take flight, he sees a management notice for patrons to stick to singing and nothing else! To say that it did happen before… With her boobs too close to his face, naturally he goes off on another fantasizing of her ‘testing his mic’. The events that transpired seem to be too coincidental to Shinpei’s Karaoke XXX Rule. Is Yukana really daring to have sex? So as his consciousness stat debating about this, another inner conscious in the form of a handsome guy comes to give his advice that all real men must give his lady something before indulging in the desires of the flesh: A passionate kiss. Junichi realizes the true potential of this karaoke as he faces Yukana and prepares to kiss her. However, all ruined when she points out his nose hair sticking out! That really ruined his day. And possibly his future reputation. She excuses herself and it seems she knew he was going to kiss her but she was too embarrassed to go through with it. At the end of the day, she really felt fun and would love to go karaoke with him again. At least all is not lost. A distance away, Ranko Honjou watches them and is not too pleased seeing this development.

Episode 3
Junichi gets a love letter in his shoe locker. See how his friends go crazy about it… So when he goes meet this girl, he didn’t expect her to be the tanned gal type. Yeah, it’s Ranko. She starts flirting all over him. So cliché that you’ll expect Yukana to walk in and see this. Yes she does. So it’s over? Turns out Yukana and Ranko are childhood friends with the latter being a year her senior. Junichi gets more fanservice with Ranko fondling Yukana’s boobs. When Yukana walks home with Junichi we hear Ranko’s true intention. She intends to break up their relationship. Junichi gets a call to go out with Yukana and Ranko. Nene sees this and once more is in tears believing he has multiplied his girlfriend. Shopping for clothes, Yukana asks him which dress suits her. I don’t blame him as a guy for thinking which clothes she get f*cked in the best. On the way back, a couple of punks try to hit on Yukana. Junichi tries to stand up for her but he is a wuss. So Ranko solves this problem by dating them both. And by that she meant beating them up quickly in the alley. While Junichi is depressed thinking how weak he is, Ranko invites herself into his home. As you can tell, she is flirting all over him in an attempt to tempt him to lose his virginity with her. Luckily the temptation in Junichi is strong so he rejects her. He only wants to lose his virginity with Yukana. And this makes Ranko mad! She chides him for being a failure and doesn’t care about his virginity! Don’t he dare dirty Yukana with his filth. It is then Junichi realizes Ranko likes Yukana. Like in a lesbian way? Ranko can’t understand why Yukana picked him. So she is going to f*ck him so hard that he won’t get another girl! Junichi’s virginity is saved when Yukana comes in. She thought Ranko was acting weird and followed her. They are both afraid she might have heard everything but she is just jealous Junichi invited Ranko to his home when she didn’t get invited first. Ranko then switches tone that she was just testing him. Yukana might not like how far she went with the test but when Yukana still loves her as a friend, Ranko starts crying. Next day, Ranko threatens Junichi not to tell Yukana about her true feelings. Seeing how cute Ranko looks like this, Ranko gets violent and beat him up. And won’t you know it? Yui is watching while seething her teeth. She cannot believe Junichi likes other girls than her! OMG! Yandere?!

Episode 4
We see from Yui’s point of view that to her everyone is her maid or butler. But it looks different for Junichi. That guy is watching sexy online gal videos. He calls it research to know gals better for Yukana’s sake. Really? In class, he hears his friends talking about this sexy gal named Boa who has many followers online. You can say they are totally into her. Junichi would have had wilder imagination with his lunch with Yukana had not Ranko joined them. Yeah, that smirk still indicates she is hell bent in stopping Junichi. When Yui comes to talk to Junichi, Ranko tells her she is bothering and to go away. Yui apologizes and will do so another time. Ranko’s experience and guts tell her this is a dangerous girl despite her innocent looks. Later Yui manages to get Junichi to help out with some school errands. However they end up dating at a café? Suddenly starts flirting all over him! Oh, just his imagination. When Yui asks him about Yukana, he can’t stop talking about his girlfriend. In class, Yui purposely flirts with Junichi in front of Yukana. Meanwhile Shinpei has discovered something on Boa so he meets up with Minoru and Keigo to tell them Boa’s true identity: She is Yui! Take a closer look. The damning evidence is how she makes references about ‘dogs’ that are actually about them. Ranko heard this and wants to know more. Yui seeks Junichi’s help again. This time it is private. So at the rooftop, she reveals she likes him and wants to go out with him. So please break up with Yukana. However he rejects her because he still likes Yukana. I want to say Yukana’s boobs beat hers flat (pun not intended) but with this virgin guy it’s not likely. Now Yui blows her top. Am I seeing a pattern here? Girl gets rejected and she gets mad? She reminds him he is her dog and is supposed to do what his master says! WTF?! She threatens to show this secret clip she recorded of their ‘date’ at the café to Yukana. What is Junichi going to do? Don’t worry. Herald Ranko and the 3 stooges. Ranko whispers to Yui she wants to be part of her royal guard. She knows she is Boa. Yui is forced to back off. She gives the memory chip to Junichi who is clueless. Ranko tells him this is to prevent Yukana from being sad. As Junichi walks home with Yukana, he tries to assure her nothing funny happened between them. She believes him because she knows he is head over heels over her so there is nothing to worry about. His goddess is looking more beautiful today.

Episode 5
Junichi is dreaming of fondling Yukana’s delicious boobs! Only, he is really some busty girl’s tits! OMG! Who is this girl who has monster tits like Nene?! She is even trying to speak like a gal but obviously fails. Since Junichi isn’t able to figure out who she is, can you? Believe it or not, it’s Nene! What a total makeover! So holding his arm and her boobs rubbing against it while walking to school, it’s no doubt his friends are going to make noise again. Just run away in jealousy… Yui manages to get back on good terms with Junichi but she smells another girl’s scent all over him. Nene comes into the picture and doesn’t hold back in shooting off her mouth insulting Yui as having a mental age of 30. If this catfight was real, it’s going to be real nasty… Yui leaves but not without stepping on Junichi’s foot. Yeah, it’s so early in the morning and he is already worn out by all the drama. Thankfully he has some Yukana love to replenish it up. He could have a great fantasy while having lunch with her had not Ranko always being there to remind his place. More complication when Nene drops in to feed him cookies and even lick his face! Oh, Yukana hasn’t even licked his face yet… Junichi has every right to be worried. But must his imagination be so over the top that the breakup is reimagined as Ranko pulverizing him with wrestling moves? However Yukana isn’t mad. She thinks Nene is Junichi’s little sister. Yukana isn’t cowed with her threats. Is it because her gal language isn’t strong? Nene tries to size things up by comparing their boobs. Even Ranko joins in and you can tell Nene’s boobs beat theirs by miles! It’s hard for any straight guy to remain unstimulated. Nene then puts down her foot. She believes Yukana is keeping him as insurance in case she doesn’t get any other guy. There is no reason for a girl to go out with him. Oh, she’s going to use that I-know-him-longer-than-everybody-else card? Even so, Yukana points out that doesn’t mean Junichi can’t get a girlfriend. Besides, since she knows him longer than everyone else, she should know it better he has his good side too. Out of argument? Cue for cliché loli cry and run away while throwing insults.

That night, Nene crawls into Junichi’s bed naked! How did he not feel something so busty creeping up from underneath? Was he too engrossed trying to research about gals? She is trying to seduce him. Please take her virginity! I guess when you’re desperate it’s the only thing to do. Typically, Junichi is trying hard to control his libido so we see his inner hentai kappa rampaging only to be defeated by his handsome guy in which a consensus is reach among all his inner conscious representations: They’re going to lose their virginity to Yukana! This means in the end, Junichi refuses Nene and covers her up. His reason is that he doesn’t want to use her feelings so he could lose her virginity. Nene doesn’t mind but Junichi doesn’t want to see Yukana sad. But seeing Nene sad is okay? Flashback shows as kids, Nene wanted to be his bride. He told her if he is not cool in the future, then she could be his bride. I suppose Junichi has become cool now. Poor Nene leaves broken hearted. Next day in class, Junichi gets more Yukana (boob) love. Only to be separated by Nene because she hasn’t given up on Junichi yet. She’s going to be a cooler gal than Yukana to steal him away from her.

Episode 6
Shinpei is telling Junichi about this popular king game. You know what this means. He wants Junichi to gather Yukana’s friends to gather at her house. Easier said than done. How is he going to ask her? Oh well, nothing like asking her straight in the face. Yukana is blushing and nervous when Junichi asks if he come to her place today. When she agrees, he asks for permission for Ranko and Nene to come along and he’ll bring his pals too. That killed the mood. Oh, Yukana is not angry. Really. She’s not. So while Junichi is fantasizing losing his virginity to her, he is caught in his silly act by Yui. Since she is so imposing, he has no choice but to invite her too. If you insist. Junichi enters Yukana’s room for the first time. Is she on purpose trying to show too much cleavage to him? Then she starts flirting and hinting naughty things. When she whispers her parents are not home, it is at this point he realizes why she was mad earlier. He must be cursing himself for being stupid. What a way to cock block. Things are about to get hot when the other girls drop in. Ruined. Yukana explains she was only teasing him because a guy like him has no balls to do it in the first place. That really hit home… When Junichi’s pals arrive, they are dressed in suspicious looking attire!

Shinpei announces the king game so Yui is quick to point out if they have something perverted in mind. Of course not. However the other girls have their own agenda and want to participate. At first it starts off normal so Junichi is relieved but Shinpei notes there is an order to things. So we see crazy ‘normal’ stuffs like Ranko slapping Junichi, Yui talking like a baby and Nene doing a sexy gravure pose (more cleavage the better). It is time to step up things as Shinpei whispers to Junichi how he is going to rig the game. He will have Junichi and Yukana kiss and at the same time the rest will also kiss their respective targets (since the sticks are arranged in a manner they will know who gets which number). But Junichi wonders what Yukana will think of him if he sets this up. So when the game is on, it turns out all the guys have to French kiss each other!!! OMFG! Junichi betrayed and rigged the game just to save the girls. But at a hefty price… Now, now. A king’s order is absolute. And so get ready for Junichi x Shinpei and Keigo x Minoru! I guess it would be traumatic for us to watch so please view sexy poses of the girls while the kissing is underway. I hope the girls won’t have some strange awakening in them. The guys are so dead after this. Junichi is starting to regret this when Yukana whispers to thank him for saving the girls. I guess all was worth it. Yukana then suggests all of them go on a trip together for the summer vacation. Why is Junichi looking so shock and disappointed? Karma, right? Because many are broke, Yukana then suggests they all work together part time to earn money for it.

Episode 7
Shinpei is so kind to find jobs for his pals. So Junichi will work at a cosplay café. Don’t worry. He won’t be putting on girly outfits. He is the kitchen staff. Apparently all the girls are also working in this same café. We see the girls in their natural character like Yukana and Nene being totally moe while Ranko is more aggressive. Unintentionally Yui is clumsy and naturally it makes her embarrassed. Super moe! Junichi thought he could get an indirect kiss from the bottle Yukana drank. However Ran’s entrance startles him. He drops the bottle and she steps on it. Is this some sort of an omen? Meanwhile Shinpei and Keigo are working at a manga store. Shinpei looks so dedicated in his job that he becomes so efficiently doing everything in a breeze. Like as though he is gunning for employee of the month, no, to become manager of the store? And Minoru is at the day care centre. Why do I have a feeling they want this guy arrested? The café has a special event whereby they will read light novels to the customer. As Yui reads one, it turns out to be an erotic novel! She can’t do it. Nene reads it but because she sounds monotonous, Ranko finds it interesting and reads in a very erotic way. Turn you on? Not sure if Yukana is jealous or embarrassed but she won’t lose out and starts reading one too albeit quite embarrassed about it. Shinpei can’t take it anymore so he tells her to stop. Junichi protests to the manager about forcing these girls to read what they don’t want. The manager brushes him off until Yui hands him a call from the owner. Looks like the event is cancelled. On the way back, Yukana expresses her wonder to Junichi for standing up for them. She suggests doing other part time jobs and hang out more often together. Although this trip is a group trip, she hopes they can have a trip just by themselves.

Episode 8
Beach episode! Our girls are looking dangerously sexy in their swimsuits. Especially Nene… So while Junichi has fun with the girls, how come the other guys just sit out and watch their stuffs? Well, they get to secretly film the other beach babes… Don’t worry. There are little girls for Minoru’s taste too. When Junichi sees Yukana and Ranko being hit on guys, he thought of going to save them. But he sees them happily chatting with them so he starts thinking he shouldn’t be jealous of them having their own male friends. They spot Junichi and go to him. They thank him for saving them from those man sluts. Is his reward to put sun lotion on their naked backs? They’re making ambiguous noise so does this mean Junichi is that good? That night, Shinpei and Keigo dress up in full military gear to go peek on the girls. They want Junichi to join them. At first he refuses but after some twisted logic to see Yukana’s boobs, he is in. Minoru will be at the men’s section because apparently single fathers can bring their daughters in. Paradise… So we see our girls having fun soaking in the outdoor hotspring. As usual we have all of them fondling each other’s boobs and Nene becomes the main victim because of her melons. Yui feels left out but it won’t be long before Yukana starts messing with hers to make her part of the fondling family. The trio trek through the forest as Shinpei points out a trap. Junichi thinks he can use this to foil their plan and purposely triggers the alert. However this trap was set up by Shinpei to test Junichi since he betrayed them before. Now he is at it again, they shoot him down till he falls over a cliff! Don’t worry. Guys like him always survive. Now they try to go peep on the girls but it seems the forest has real traps too. Nothing like a man’s charged libido to make him charge through all the traps. But Shinpei gets hit by a (toy) arrow. He is ‘dying’ a dramatic death and passes the baton to Keigo. He won’t let his ‘death’ be in vain but he too steps on a bomb. It becomes a beautiful firework for the girls to watch. Later Junichi wakes up on the beach next to Yukana. He learns they found him sleeping here. The other guys passed out and were taken back to their room by the inn manager. The duo chat and get closer to each other. They also talk about their next plan to go somewhere just the 2 of them. The other girls could only sadly watch how close they are. When Yukana and Junichi walk back, there is this handsome dude whom Yukana recognizes.

Episode 9
Dai Mitarai is her old middle school friend and it seems they know each other well to casually talk and joke about. Junichi feels so left out that he almost disappears into the background. Yukana did manage to finally introduce him but Dai is having that evil stare. Junichi cannot help think how Yukana and Dai are so compatible with each other. So he speaks his mind to her about it. This makes Yukana in a bad mood as she leaves. Junichi is so down in class that his buddies can tell. When they learn what happened, they know he is done for. Shinpei starts explaining about NTR and cuckold. And what the heck does he mean that Dai has a magical dick?! Wrong person to ask for advice… It’s about to get worse since Yukana blatantly ignores Junichi. Even when he manages to talk to her, she comes up with some sort of excuse that she is busy. So Junichi’s friends are happy that they take him to karaoke? I guess this means the virgins are united again. Shinpei then brainwashes Junichi to prostrate himself and apologize to Yukana. That always works, right? Maybe. When they leave the karaoke joint, they see Yukana and Dai happily talking in the café across. Junichi instantly turns into ashes. The next day, Junichi is still down but Yukana is back to her normal perky self. She was just acting like that so he would reflect upon his actions. I guess not because he starts having doubts that they have lined their answers together, the reason she could answer so quickly. Then he lashes out at her to stop messing with his feelings, accusing her she is just messing around with a virgin like him. Yukana’s sad look. You’re so screwed…

Yui can tell Junichi is down and talks to him. When she learns what happened, she becomes mad. He was being selfish and not thinking about Yukana’s feeling. She doesn’t even consider him worth to be his servant now. Oh no. Is his harem falling apart?! Next, Nene learns about it and is also not pleased. Because at this rate he is so uncool. Oh dear. It’s falling apart quickly!!! Junichi watches a video on Boa as she rants the guy she likes broke her heart because of his selfishness to his girlfriend who is also her friend. Despite all that, she still feels drawn to him and wants things to go back to normal. Yukana then calls the girls for a meeting. It won’t be so much of a meeting because she starts off crying. Ranko is visibly upset as she leaves to take care of business. The virgins are too having their own meeting. Ranko barges into grab Junichi by the collar. He admits he is dumb, stupid, perverted and selfish. That is why he is going to face Yukana and doesn’t want her to have anyone else. Just then, Dai and his gang of delinquents waltz in. Dai starts talking how easy a girl Yukana is and once he is done with her, he is going to let them all have a go at her. Junichi won’t take this and makes his way to confront him.

Episode 10
Junichi wants Dai to take back all the bad things he said about Yukana. Since he is willing to get rough, let’s take this outside. Junichi throws the first punch but is lame and gets gutted. Then he bites Dai’s leg! He won’t let go till he promises to stay away from Yukana. Dai lies about it and makes him put his guard down. That’s when Junichi gets beaten up real good. Time for Ranko to pop in. Dai and his guys are going to bust her ass too but she gets back up by Junichi’s pals. For once they have balls. They stay behind to handle the punks to let Junichi go to somewhere more important. Junichi tries to call Yukana but she isn’t picking up so he leaves a message to meet behind school. Yukana isn’t purposely picking up as she talks to Yui and Nene about her uncertainty if Junichi likes her. So her rivals have no choice but to support her. Meanwhile, it’s amazing Dai’s delinquents all get defeated. As usual, Dai is faking pleading for mercy. A little girl happen to be nearby. Does she not know they’re fighting?! Why is she so intrigued at what’s happening?! Dai uses this chance to escape but not after bumping into her. This causes Minoru to move into action. After saving her, he turns into the Hulk!!! Minoru, smash! Dai is cornered by Ranko who kicks him in the balls! Because guys who treats girls like objects deserve no balls! Then she sets Minoru on him to make him learn the hard way about staying away from them. They send a victory selfie to Junichi who is still waiting for Yukana to pop up.

Eventually Yukana turns up and instantly he goes down on his knees to beg her to go out with him. He admits he is weak, stupid and a pervert. He initially wanted to date her to lose his virginity but now he really likes her. He describes all the things he likes about her like her smile, being nice to everyone, etc. She brushes it all off. Because they are already dating, right? Since Junichi is free, she has a place she wants to take him. Remember that amusement park date? She remembers. She even changes into the outfit he picked for her during the shopping. They have fun there but it looks like Junichi is a bigger wuss in rides and in the haunted house. At the photo booth, they’re supposed to kiss as per instructed. Nervous Junichi does so but sly Yukana backs off at the right timing as the photo captures a funny pose of him trying to kiss! Embarrassing! Before they part, Yukana surprises him by giving him a quick kiss! The day was worth it. Next morning on his way to school, Yui and Nene can tell how something good has happened. I guess everything is settled then. But they think they have gone even further seeing the very good vibe between them. Ranko threatens to kill him if he isn’t still a virgin… Thank goodness he is. Yukana takes Junichi’s hand as they run towards school while the other girls happily chase them. Happily ever after.

Episode 11 (OVA)
It’s the school cultural festival and Junichi’s class is doing a café whereby the girls dress and act the opposite they are. While Yukana is polite and proper, Yui is kinda a b*tch. Wait. Isn’t that her real personality? No wonder so convincing. We take a break to get your 2 cents worth with some locker room fanservice. Ranko fondles and analyses sizes of boobs. And the official results are in. Yukana being G-cup, Nene tops with her H-cup (possibly I-cup) while Yui is C-cup (I thought it looked more like B-cup but heh, I’m no expert). As Yukana invites Junichi to go around the festival grounds together, she learns of the school’s legend whoever dances together at the bonfire dance will be together forever. Also, there is an experiment going on around the school with 3 holes randomly planted and whoever falls into it gets prizes. Huh? After Junichi and Yukana visit Nene’s animal maid café, it seems Nene and Ranko are in cohorts to break our couple up for their own nefarious goals. The same too for Yui and Shinpei. First, Shinpei interrupts Junichi’s outing with Yukana and brings him to a room to witness some sick lolicon sect led by Minoru! WTF did I just see?! I don’t know how these events led to Shinpei stealing Junichi’s handphone (so he can’t contact Yukana) as he starts chasing the thief around. Yukana waits for Junichi but looks like her handphone is out of battery. Nice timing for Ranko to hang out with her. Meanwhile Junichi bumps into Nene who insists they go to the haunted house. It is her who get spooked and ran off. The ‘ghost’ turns out to be Yui who needs a favour from him. Yeah, to help build the campfire for the dance. She starts thinking this is just part of an experiment instead of believing the legend. She is startled when Junichi calls her as she falls on him. WTF moment as she enjoys fondling his chest? Junichi gets up when he sees Shinpei and resumes the chase. Yui tries to catch him but falls into a hole. Shinpei also falls into a hole that allows Junichi to get his handphone back. Too bad, out of battery. Yukana ditches Ranko to go look for Junichi. Ranko tries to go after her but falls into a hole. Seriously, nobody else but these unlucky people fell in there? And all they got was a stupid trophy? Maybe it’s a loser’s trophy… Anyway Junichi and Yukana manage to meet each other and apologize just in time before the last bonfire dance.

Still At First Base
So the obvious lesson is to be true to yourself because at the end of the day, you’ll definitely nail yourself a cool girlfriend and a potential harem. Man, I love good happy (harem) endings. And so begins their path to true love. With Junichi and Yukana dating each other, maybe it will be tough for the others to steal him unless they slip up somewhere. But that is another story. As far as this one is concerned, medetashi, medetashi.

Obviously this anime is geared towards the male demographics and although I won’t say its fanservice is super heavy as in comparison to very heavily fanservice laden anime series like Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai, there are still enough fanservice to please all you horny otaku guys. One look at Nene’s boobs obviously says it all. Like as though she retired early from porn and ended up in this anime. Can a girl as young as her grow so rapidly in such a few years? Because hell, I’m sure she wasn’t this busty during the flashbacks when she was young. My only realistic explanation is that she underwent boobs enhancement surgery somewhere in between and then later realized this makeover wasn’t enough to win Junichi over and hence and round of makeover.

However the ‘sad’ part is that many of the boob shots and pantsu shots especially fantasy delusions of the girls in erotic and compromising solutions are heavily censored. Oh ho. Time to go buy the DVDs if you want to peak at them. And there aren’t even any bare tits exposed here. With a variety censors getting in our way of enjoyment, the ‘best’ one has got to be what I call the ‘Hand of God(dess)’. Because you’ll see a gal’s hands covering over those parts while they moan, “Dame~”…

I guess the plot and storyline are pretty obvious and cliché. Normal guy gets hooked with a pretty hot chick. I know it happens in real life to. But it happens more frequently in the world of television. It usually starts out as the guy like him obviously getting one hell of a pretty girlfriend with the intention to bang her because seriously, if you don’t harbour at least such fantasies, YOU ARE NOT A GUY! And also, why the heck are you getting into a straight relationship if otherwise that points out you are totally gay! So it started as a joke for them and slowly it evolves into nearly a true blue love. So why the harem too at the same possible time because before this Junichi was like a loner like his buddies and now he has got a few other girls trying to get his attention? Well, it’s not like these girls suddenly just have a crush on Junichi. It was a long time ago and perhaps status quo and having things stay the way it was. Until Junichi gets hooked up, that status quo is threatened so they moved in. And since this show isn’t about NTR, I guess the rest have to wait in line and play good until they break up or something instead of stealing him.

Therefore the characters themselves are pretty cliché and predictable. If you have seen many genres like this in the past. Like yours truly. But hey, disclaimer, that doesn’t mean I’m an expert in this area. So like Junichi whose main character traits fall into the generic normal plain ordinary regular average Joe type, it must have been done to death in many series in the past. He struck the winning lottery after landing Yukana as his girlfriend. Was it out of sheer luck or fate? Usually this kind of character who isn’t mostly driven by his libido (read: horny pervert), has some good side to him and thus a higher chance for us to make his character more likeable as he tries to respect his girlfriend and be more considerate to her instead of taking any chance to outrage her modesty just to satisfy his lust. I guess that is what his inner selves are for. Junichi is also primarily a weak character due to his nature of trying to be nice and not offend his girl so at times when punks try to hit on Yukana, Junichi is very much a pushover or ignored. But in a way it is also good since you can’t jump in blindly and then get beaten up yourself just to prove something. Not that I know Junichi has some martial arts knowledge. But as long as you stay true to your ideals, you’re pretty much invincible. Hey, at least he got the girl.

I suppose I could also say him betraying his friends on a couple of occasion is firstly, I don’t think they are really friends. They are just friends of convenience since as far as this anime is concerned, they are the only ones without any decent girlfriends. So it’s not like he is betraying them, right? I mean if you think about it, if you had to choose what kind of friendship you want to improve, would it be with your girlfriend or these so called ‘friends’? Therefore Junichi’s buddies are there to make him look better because these ‘best friends’ are even more losers than him. With Shinpei being the ‘relationship master’ and the ‘brains’ while Keigo is the unfortunate type with good looks but ends up being a loner too most probably of his stinking personality and Minoru who might be the most docile of the pack but is quickly established as a lolicon. Why is it that big guys like him have an affinity for little girls? Because Green Green’s Tenjin also had this same tendency.

Junichi’s harem is also cliché and fall into certain tropes. Like Yukana who is busty, pretty and sporting herself. She isn’t a typical airhead just because she looks like a gal. Not perfect but she’s the kind of the closest dream girl any guy would want. Definitely Junichi and Yukana seem so out of place because of their very different behaviours. Junichi is more reserved and being the amateur he is and his first time dating a girl, Yukana is more outspoken and frank. Though she does get jealous sometimes and you can see that when she pouts a little. It is just a little mind boggling that when she first accepted him as her boyfriend, I thought she had some low standards and expectations. I know it is good to give others a chance but naturally you want someone with better traits like good looks and rich, right? You know what they say about opposites attract. So did she fall in love with him after he first confessed to her? Because her body language indicates so. If that is the case, why hasn’t she fall for him before that? Maybe it goes to show all you need are balls and the initiative to go ask a girl out. Yup. That’s all it takes. While still very far away from the initial plan of banging her, at least Junichi has that chance. Better than no chance when he was an outsider.

Completing his harem is the childhood friend, the tsundere and the lesbian. They do have their allotted screen time but not as much so as not to divert many of the screen time dedication between Yukana and Junichi. Nene like any other childhood friend is banking on past childhood promises to make her dream come true. If boobs don’t work, maybe this will. After all, she is the closest to Junichi and one who can easily get physical with him (even more than Yukana) using the onii-chan trope. Yui like the classic tsundere might tell us she considers Junichi her servant but we veterans know better otherwise. That is why I figure the reason she has this other online personality Boa to express her true feelings. Lastly for Ranko, I guess for diversity purpose, we always must have that one girl who is lesbian (see Watashi Ga Motete Dosunda). I was predicting that her role is to prevent Junichi from being a couple with Yukana at first and hence justifying her presence but over time she will slowly become straight and fall for him. Well, it doesn’t seem to be the case at least for now.

There are also a couple of other characters who are their classmates, Kokoro Shiina and Ayumi Uesaka whose ‘appearance’ are mostly confined to the next episode preview (included are illustrations from various artists with some looking normal and some definitely for fanservice). What they do are just mess around while the time runs out as they complain about their lack of presence and lines in the episode proper or even here even right till the last episode still b*tchng how they haven’t make their proper appearance and it has all ended. They even once complained how Junichi’s 3 Stooges buddies have more lines and roles in the anime when they don’t have names in the manga. Truly background characters… Don’t think sexism, please…

Art and animation are pretty standard at least for this genre. Mostly hot looking girls and mostly plain looking guys. But sometimes the animation quality dips and it is quite obvious. Especially the last episode I thought it felt like a bit of a rush job. I can’t help notice how many of the characters here when I first set my eyes on them, they somewhat looks like characters from other anime series. This isn’t my first time doing so for an anime as you probably have guessed over the years I have watched tons of animes so there are bound to be a few characters from different series to look like twins in another. But for this anime, it seems I noticed a bunch of them. Take for instance Yukana herself. I thought she looked like Galko from Oshiete! Galko-chan, the reason why I initially thought this was some sort of sequel or spin-off to that said series. Of course Yukana doesn’t look exactly like her as I also feel that she is a cross with Fairy Tail’s Lucy.

But the very obvious physical similarity of this character design goes to Ranko. The first time she appeared, I instantly went, “What the heck is Shokugeki No Souma’s Mito doing here in this series?! Has she dropped out of Totsuki and quit being a chef to just be some lesbian gal?!”. Oh dear. Both are such busty tanned blondes that sometimes it is hard to tell them apart. Well, if you don’t look very closely, that is. The other very familiar looking characters include Junichi’s plain guy looks reminds me of Green Green’s main plain guy protagonist, Yuusuke. Or any other plain looking guys in other animes; Shinpei having this uncanny resemblance to Angel Beat’s Takamatsu; Keigo looking like a watered down version of Kodaka from Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai; Minoru is what happens when Astro Boy has grown up and let himself loose; Nene’s new look was it what you get when you turn Inu x Boku SS’ Karuta lively as well as mix it up with Philuffy of Saijaku Muhai No Bahamut? Did Yui and Suzune Horikita of Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi No Kyoushitsu E copy each other since both animes aired in the same season? Last but not least, why does Dai have this creepy and strange semblance to Kuroshitsuji’s Sebastian?! Wow. It’s like they didn’t need to think so hard to come up with original character designs. Or maybe they did and coincidentally they all happen to look somewhat similar somewhere…

Voice acting is pretty okay with me recognizing Yui Ogura as Nene and Eri Kitamura as Ranko since I was just fresh off watching a similar haughty character she voiced in Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai: Lucifer. However I didn’t realize until much later it was Ayana Taketatsu behind Yui. It didn’t occur to me if her voice sounded familiar. Not that she sounded too different. Maybe I haven’t heard her in quite a while. At least the first time this year. (The last I heard her was in 2016’s Okusama Ga Seitoukaichou sequel). Because of that, paranoia also got a little to me since I thought it was Nana Mizuki behind Yukana’s voice. She wasn’t. No wonder it sounded a little off. Yukana is voiced by Yuki Nagaku who did Arisa in Akiba’s Trip The Animation. The other casts are Shintarou Asanuma as Junichi (Tsuda in Seitokai Yakuindomo), Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Shinpei (Tsukumo in Nanbaka), Kenji Akabane as Keigo (Arashi in Triage X), Minoru Shiraishi as Minoru (Sakamoto in Nichijou) and Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Dai (Ban in Nanatsu No Taizai).

The opening and ending themes are nothing special. They sound so generic like these days’ pop music whereby one can easily churn out tunes and tunes from a music making software on your PC. Hajimete No Season by Junjou No Afilia has this upbeat and lively pitch to it that is befitting for an all-girl idol group. I can’t tell the difference with Gal Chikku Love by Erabareshi for the ending theme. It sounds as similar if not more dramatic and heavy on the use of synthesizer effects.

Overall, if you are a fan of such ecchi and romantic comedies (if I can go so far as to call it that) and don’t mind the clichés and tropes (because why stray so far when the test and tested formula has proven to work so many times), then this anime is for you. Unlike in some shows where the hero gets the girl in the end, our main guy here already gets the girl at the start. The odd couple of normal Junichi getting hooked up with typical gal Yukana proves once again that we cannot judge a book by its cover. Yeah, it is the inside that counts. But what counts even more is getting inside her pants. Haha! Oops… Looks like there are going to be quite a lot more of firsts before he could finally land at Hajimete No Sex…