What are the odds that two manga about an otaku bonding with a popular girl and her energetic best friend would get an anime adaptation AND air in the same season!? Well, it happened because, in addition to the 2nd Prettiest Girl in My Class, we have Otaku ni Yasashii Gal wa Inai!? (Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku!?). Just like with 2nd Prettiest Girl, this isn’t an automatic YES from me. We need to see if the anime adaptation can do the manga justice. So, does it?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
Takuya Seo is an Otaku who loves the K-Mart version of Pokémon called Glittermon. The anime even pokes fun at the fact that it’s a parody knockoff of the real deal. The energetic girl who sits in front of him, Ichiji, forgot her eraser, so she turns and snags his out of his hands, but he protests because it’s a special eraser to him since it has Glittermon on it. Ichiji’s friend Amane notices it, and when Ichiji wants to know what Glittermon is, it’s Amane who jumps in and talks about it. This makes Takuya suspect that she’s an otaku, too, but she swears up and down that she only knows about Glittermon because of her little sister (yeah, right!)
As the episode goes on, Ichiji takes more and more interest in Glittermon, while Amane continues to deny that she’s a fan, despite going from tsundere to deredere instantly whenever he teases her with things such as a limited-edition pin or the fact that one of the Glittermon, Patch, dies in an episode.
Speaking of limited-edition stuff, Takuya heads to the store because they have mystery boxes of Glittermon figures. When he gets there, Ichiji and Amane are there to buy one, too. Ichiji is only doing it to help Amane (aka her “littler sister”) get a Vamp figure, while Takuya would just be happy with anything because it’s Glittermon. He’s about to leave when they both stop him and ask to go buy figures together. The more that they hang out, the more he is in disbelief. Can gals truly be kind to otaku?
Worth Watching?
YES – So, I may have had my issues with the anime adaptation of 2nd Prettiest Girl, but this one knocked it out of the park as far as its adaptation goes. The characters look like they do in the manga, they sound like I would expect them to, and the story was followed faithfully. The only issue I need to wrestle with is whether I should continue to watch this because there are not many volumes out here in the U.S., and the anime is definitely going to go beyond what I’ve read, and as someone who is actively reviewing the manga, do I truly want to spoil myself?
But that’s a personal issue that only I must deal with. As for you, if you haven’t read the manga, then I would say that this is a show I would highly recommend if you’re looking for an otaku romance to get into. Yeah, the Glittermon thing is a bit cheesy, but I can tell you that things normalize after a bit… just be patient… and also… slight spoiler… this is one of those romance series where it is not clear at all who Takuya will end up with. Both Ichiji and Amane are on an equal playing field… and that, my friends, is as super rare as a Vamp figure!
Great show… even if that ending theme is… uh… a bit weird with the Engrish opening. Eh… can’t win them all, I suppose.
