Anime Review: Super Gals!

I'm sorry, again. This is coming a little late because once again I needed to use my weekend to catch up with my school work, but this time I'm taking a moment this Monday evening to get a review out as soon as possible, so be grateful. Or not, seriously I have no power over you my humble (and probably only) reader. Anyway, it's been a while since I reviewed an anime and this time I come with an anime about girls, and fashion, and platform boots that double as boomerangs. This is Super Gals!

Miyu, Ran, and Aya. In that order.

Ran Kotobuki is a Gal, a free spirited teenage girl with an eye for fashion and no sense of responsibility. But Ran isn't just any kind of gal, she is the #1 Gal in all of Shibuya, a Super Gal. When Ran isn't sleeping in class, making up excuses for her tardiness, or ignoring her family of police officers wills for her to join the force, she is wandering around her turf with her best friends Miyu and Aya, checking out the latest tends, hunting for GL (Good Looking) Guys, and stuff her stomach with free food. All with only at most 500 yen in her purse. Live for today, worry about everything later, stay true to yourself, and be good to your friends, from the mouth of Ran Kotobuki, that's an ironclad rule for gals.

He's 25, She's 16, and they are totally in love.

Super Gals! is the type of comedy where thing start out kind of dull and not really interesting. The first few episode are kind of a wash where the gags seem forced and most of the jokes are "Ran does something crazy." However, things do pick up after a while as more characters get introduced and their quirky personalities start to play off of each other. While Ran is running around with only one of two thoughts going on at any given time, Miyu is trying to find any moment she can to be lovey-dovey with her boyfriend, and Ran's older brother, the straight-laced, duty bound Yamato. Aya is trying to get some alone time with her first love Rei, a man who's unimpressed by virtually EVERYTHING around him, while Rei's friend Yuya is hopelessly trying to get Ran to fall for him but fails at his own incompetence and Ran's density. Add to this a monkey man from Machiba who effortlessly becomes Ran's boyfriend, a debutant from Ikebukuro who it the best at EVERYTHING except beating Ran, and Ran's kid sister who forms the Junior Detectives along with her boyfriend and a kid who falls in love at first sight at every sighting, and you have antics galore.

And I look at her, and she looks at me, and I look at her, and she looks at me...

Like I said, one of Super Gals! biggest issues is that it is a slow build to the really good stuff. The first few episodes aren't very interesting and can easily bore you, which is a shame considering the series does get really good towards the end, not just in terms of comedy but also some more dramatic moments since this series actually does take some really hard looks at relationships, especially romantic relationships as this is one of the few anime I've seen that actually deals with couples DATING and not just fuffing about before they confess to one another. Unfortunately, do to the lack of interest when the series was originally released in America through ADV Films, only half of the episodes are dubbed. While the entire series has been released thanks to Right Stuf, the later half of the series is Sub only, which is frustrating. And lastly, given the 52 episode count there are times in the series where they repeat a premise of an episode or start going through the bag of cliche episode plots that no series should be without (I'm looking at you body swap episode!), but fortunately it is only a few times and they play off of them in different ways.

Super Gals! is a fun series and well worth your time. Is it the best romantic comedy series out there? Of course not... That would be Toradora. But it is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, so long as you get pass the first few episode funks. Super Gals! comes Highly Recommended.

Until Next Time.

-CRES, I get that way sometimes playing Smash Bros.