Super Gals! A Quintessential Schoolgirl Anime?

I am a poor, unfortunate soul. As much as I love Gals!, I have never seen the original Japanese version. I remember reading (more like look at the pictures) it in Ribon Mangazine way back when, but I have never heard the original Japanese version. The English version makes me laugh, but I have a feeling I’m missing genuine glimpses of Kogal culture lost in translatation. But if the English translation is any indication, heroine Ran Kotobuki ignores Japanese politeness and tells it like it is – and profanity and hilarity ensues.

I love Kogals who write about other Kogals.

You can’t really get away with writing about schoolgirls without writing about the fashion they like so much. Super Gals, I think, it’s another slice of life anime with a few ongoing storylines (Will Aya tell Otohata how much she likes him? Will Miyu finally get Ran’s older brother Yamato to kiss her? Will Ran ever stop calling poor Yuya “second place”?), but every episode has something different and interesting. Sure, we see into Miyu’s past among other things, but otherwise, there is variety, and it’s pretty damn funny at times. Even though this anime has only strengthen my desire to visit Shibuya before I die, would you call it a schoolgirl anime? That is the million dollar question.

I would, definitely. You definitely see actual schoolgirl mannerisms in this anime, and I don’t mean how to study for a test (because Ran doesn’t study for anything). Purikura trading, cell phone game-playing, discussing really good leather bags for school, drooling over high school idols, the works. I swear, it’s like an issue of Egg Magazine that’s playing out right before my eyes. If Azumanga Daioh is the Japanese schoolgirl’s studybook, then Gals is the issue of Egg Magazine the schoolgirl is hiding in her textbook.

Gals is another anime that definitely promotes girl power. Ran kicks complete and total ass, on behalf of herself and on behalf of the friends. Ran doesn’t take crap from anybody, and a lot of people could learn how to do that anymore. Sure there is some sappy elements of romance that makes it a truly shoujo anime (but all the fight scenes and name calling might attract a male viewer), but I still like it. What I can’t believe is how it was first shown in Ribon, a middle-school shoujo magazine! But seriously, any girl will enjoy it, and maybe even younger boys. (My nephew loves this anime, even though he really shouldn’t be watching it. It’s because of this anime that he wants to learn how to para para, though). This anime has something in it that we can all relate to, so definitely watch it.

And maybe I can update one day after seeing the Japanese version…

Yamato Damacy is a very funny show, right?

Here is a messed up video done by a teacher and his Japanese students. Please watch until i can get my article together!

The Schoolgirls and the Schoolboys, oh my!

The Quintessential Schoolgirl Anime: Azumanga Daioh

First I’d like to give a big shoutout to the nice fellows from ITGFreak and the Kyle Ward forums for visiting my site.  For the day, all fanservice is dedicated to you all! Domo Arigatou!

I think it’s safe to say that you can’t start talking about anime that features schoolgirls (and school itself) predominately than the ever-so-famous Azumanga Daioh.  When my friend Sunil mentioned it to me a long time ago, about how it was funny because it was about everything and nothing, I didn’t believe it.  I saw the dub before the sub, which was a shame because the dub doesn’t get all of the jokes (which are very Japanese by nature).  Perverted teachers (Kimura-sensei), messed up crazy teachers (Nyamo and Yukari), rivalries (Kaguya and Sakaki-san, Tomo with just about everyone else, again, Nyamo and Yukari), Lesbian crushes (Kaorin and her obsession with Sakaki-san), it as it all, and most of the time, it’s in the school grounds.

Yomi didn’t respond too happily when Tomo said this wasn’t a schoolgirl anime.

What tripped me out about this anime is that except for the really perverted Kimura-sensei, this anime is very female-centered.  And instead of it being about boys, which boys to love, which boys to lose their virginity to, thisthatandtheother, it’s really centered about the girls and how they interact with each other and the environment around them.  I love Sakaki and all of her interactions with pets.  She’s this quiet giant who seems really sweet, but anytime she goes near a cat, well, that gray neko, she ends up getting injured, and yet she still shows compassion for it anyway (however, the licking of her cat bites were a bit much for me).  Tomo is a little too energetic for me, but you have to admire her resolve to throw herself into everything she’s a part of…except for school.  Yomi is a hard-ass who always tries to keep Tomo in line (and usually fails), and Chiyo-chan is just plain cute.

Azumanga Daioh is a great anime. Seven out of Seven gals can’t be wrong.

My favorite character is Osaka (Ayumu Kasuga), though.  Everyone says she’s slow and stupid, she’s actually pretty insightful.  Her Japanese word plays are funny and interesting to say the least (it’s the reason why this anime is better seen in Japanese), and she just plain trips me out.  (She thought a knife, a KNIFE, was a frying pan…and the knife flew.)

Anyway, I really like this anime because in the absence of an ongoing storyline (this episodes have 3 or more vignettes in one episode), the little snippets of life that could be real, that are way out there, and yet are very funny nonetheless.  The dream episode is something we can relate to…come on, we’ve all had weird dreams at many points of our lives, and probably involved an Engrish-speaking orange cat.  In the middle of the crazy events, we’re getting a slice of Japanese schoolgirl life.

And there is girl-power.  Gotta love girl power.

I wouldn’t call this a shoujo anime because of all the girls, I’d call it an anime that everyone who loves Japanese culture will enjoy.  Plus, in true fan service fashion, those uniforms ARE pretty cute (Sakaki looks the best though, for, ahem…various reasons that well in the center of her body…but this is NOT a tasteless blog).  Plus, it does involve seven crazy schoolgirls in action, so that is good for something.  Don’t you agree?  Allow me to show you what happens to people who DON’T agree…

Kagura will come after you.  HARD.  And desks WILL fly.

Schoolgirl Pop

It’s a fanboy/Japanese businessman’s dream…

Skirts, Hirari by AKB48

I found this completely by accident while watching MaeKen videos on Youtube (why Hinoi Team chose Korikki over him, I’ll never know).  I don’t know much about AKB48, but they seem to be in the vein of Morning Musume, that is a pop group that has different groups to it (on the Japanese Wikipedia page, there was talk about group A and group B.  Morning Musume, I know had little sub-sections as well).  In this case, I’m watching fifteen or so girls dancing all together, singing nicely, dancing on stage in sync, their cosplay outfits sure to be emulated at an anime convention somewhere.  And with song titles such as “Dear My Teacher” and “Skirt Hirari”, they definitely appeal to the junior high/high school set.  I’m just now getting into the J-Pop set (well, beyond Arashi, Hikaru Utada, and anything from a Bemani game), but I know that this is nothing new.  Girl groups have been around for a long time, and where there are cute adolescent Japanese girls singing, there will be Schoolgirl uniforms.

Another AKB48…and some fanservice.  Gotta love Fanservice. 

Why wouldn’t they be?  Most of these Japanese idols are teenagers, going to school themselves, so I bet they are going to have to wear a uniform sooner or later.   Japanese school girl uniforms are looked to be the trendiest ones the world over, and they are all over the place in Japan.  They are stylized in manga and anime, so why not add to the mania by having nubile Japanese girls wearing them while singing, dancing, and modeling?  I guess it’s good marketing on the promoters part.  Not only will there be fans among their peers, but among older men who would normally not listen to this music, but are attracted to the uniforms.

Kira Kira Melody…really cute.  Really cute. 

There will be more about this in the future as soon as I research this more.

A Day in the Life of a Japanese Schoolgirl

I found this film on Youtube, which I think is pretty true to life.  I enjoyed it a lot. So will you.

 

 

Bikes. Trains. Friends. Persistant Perverted Businessmen.  True life.

Never Mess with Chiaki Kuriyama as a schoolgirl, part one

…well, obviously, this is why.

Go Go Yubari, the quintessential kick-ass schoolgirl.

Plus, the not so obvious answer.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Chiaki Kuriyama.  She seems like a sweet Japanese girl.  She’s cute.  She’s hot.  She’s a great model, and she has a pretty smile.  But the girl obviously has a split personality.  On one hand, she can be a sweet Japanese schoolgirl in her movies.  But on the other hand, she can also play a psychotic schoolgirl who can kill an entire room of people in minutes.  I can see why Quentin Tarantino picked her to play the now-infamous Go Go Yubari.   But I guess this illustrates the two-sided coin of Japanese schoolgirls.  They are cute and loveable, but please don’t piss them off, or they WILL kick your ass.

But that’s another article which will be Chiaki Kuriyama-less.  Yep, she’s sweet, but I hope I never see her in a dark alley.  I’d be a little nervous.

Purikura! The Legend Continues.

If my huge explaination is a bit much, this gentlemen, code name HOOFuL, made a purikura video/animation. It’s really cute, and full of schoolgirls, too!

So much music, you’ll feel like you’re in the booth yourself!

You can visit HOOFuL’s Youtube page here.

Little picture, big habit, hugely popular in Japan.

 

Purikura screenshot by yam kaija on her fotola. I give credit where credit is due!

You can’t talk about Japanese schoolgirls, much less write a blog about them without talking about the phenom of sticker pictures, Print Club, or better still, Purikura. According to Wikipedia, the first machines were developed jointly by Atlus (go Persona!) and Sega (go Outrun) in 1995, and have been hugely popular ever since. Lots of fashion magazines made for the high school/young adult set has pages dedicated to showcasing their models taking various purikura pictures. Japanese schoolgirls often have their own purikura photobooks, which are filled with all the various sticker pics they taken, so they can show off and trade with friends. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve flipped through the Japanese Seventeen magazine and see these books before my eyes. I mean, they are HUGE. And kogal/ganguro magazines like Egg and Teen Girl show off very tanned girls and they ikeman boyfriends showing off in starry background photos, while giving detailed instructions of where to find such machines all over Shibuya and Harajuku. (Going off-topic a moment, even the gosuloli set have their own purikura backgrounds. It’s that popular, folks.) I read on Wikipedia that some purikura owners even have items that people can rent for use with the purikura, like wigs and props and all sorts of things. Only in Japan, I say.

Listen to actual Schoolgirls explain purikura!

There are purikura enthusiasts out here in the west, especially those schoolgirl admirers I’m writing for, but unless you are really lucky, or live out west, you’re out of luck. I’m one of the lucky ones. J-Toys in Arlington Heights, Illinois actually has one of the more recent styles of purikura machines made for about five people. It costs about three dollars last time I tried (in Japan, it’s between 300 to 600 yen), and it has a touch screen so you can choose photos and even write a message to be printed on the photos. It’s a completely customizable experience. Wikipedia says that J-Pop plays while you’re getting the shot together (the one if J-Toys didn’t have that, i think), so it’s really an experience people get into. Otherwise, you’re stuck with those sticker pic machines that look like they came from 1995. You stand at a booth with a curtain, you pic a background, and you take a picture. Whoop-de-do. Your purikura booklet will have no pizzazz whatsoever.

Schoolgirls are into this big time. Whatever little money they have, they spend on this pictures in order to update their purikura books. According to Wikipedia, a “trait of Print Club machines is to have different frames (the picture that surrounds the photo taken) distributed around different machines in different parts of Japan, meaning that sufficiently motivated people can go around and get their picture taken at all of them to collect all the frames.” Plus, you can customize the message in the photo, so no two pictures or their messages are alike. Not exactly something that encourages schoolgirls to save their yen for a rainy day, right?

And the most interesting part about Purikura isn’t just the picture, but the messages you can write on it as well. I remember going to the Mitsuwa Marketplace while J-Toys was still there, and seeing a pole filled with purikura people put on there (a memory wall maybe?), and all the messages they wrote. Some people created a makeshift with the the sensor pen in the booth. Most of the messages were in Japanese, but by looking at the faces, I bet they were meant to be funny. The English messages were certainly goofy. The ones I see in the magazines are in japanese, but you will catch “Engrish” every now and again, from the innocent couple’s “4th anniversary” to something I can’t even begin to comprehend.

Purikura has been around 11 years and it’s here to stay, which is common knowledge among schoolgirls and kogals.

Or is it? Now there’s videkura. Gentlemen, start your nosebleeds. In the future, booths will now be able to create, edit, and customize videos for the internet or mobile phones (you know, because Japanese schoolgirl phones rock, but that’s another post). Up to three people can be in the booth and create their own three-minute music video of sorts (which I’m sure people will be begging for others to download onto youtube).

Speaking of youtube, here is a demonstration video I found:

I wonder if i get to see these actual videos…

The Site Mascot…

…is a fine lady, right?

Kawaii desu, ne?

Okay, that’s enough with the bad Japanese.

The Closest Hinoi Team will get…

…to looking like schoolgirls. So sorry, guys.

Korikki-less for your viewing pleasure.