Gals!
Gals! (Original spelling in capital letters : ! GALS ) is a manga series of Mihona Fujii , also known as anime titled Super Gals! Kotobuki Ran was filmed. The work depicts the problems and adventures of a clique of school girls, so-called high gals , who make the Shibuya shopping street in Tokyo unsafe. Shopping and love adventures are the main occupations. Although humor dominates the series, more serious topics such as bullying , gang mentality and brutal teachers are also touched upon.
content
The girl Ran Kotobuki enjoys her life as a high school student in Shibuya with her friends. Her parents and brother are in the police force and want her to pursue such a career, but Ran is more interested in fashion and pleasure. But since she has a keen sense of justice and receives 500 yen from her father for ten good deeds, Ran continues to stand up for others.
Her friends are Miyu Yamazaki, a former leader of a youth gang, and the reserved Aya Hoshino, who helped Ran out of prostitution with her brother. Together with the two most popular boys in the school, Rei Otohata and Yuya Asō, the girls are repeatedly drawn into adventures of friendship, enmity and juvenile delinquency.
Characters
- Ran Kotobuki ( 寿 蘭 )
- Ran is the main character in the series. The lively girl is the daughter of a pure police family and, if her parents want, she should also take up the police profession. However, Ran resists it and prefers to spend her time shopping and the latest fashion. Nevertheless, she has a big heart and a keen sense of justice and so she survives her adventures in the sense of her parents. Ran is still a virgin and is always looking for the right person, who she finds in Tatsukichi.
- Miyu Yamazaki ( 山 咲 美 由 )
- Miyu is Ran's best friend. Miyu used to be a leader of a gang (the Resistance ) and made Shibuya unsafe. She also always caused trouble at school. However, after a fight with Ran in which Miyu lost, she broke up the gang. She is engaged to Ran's brother.
- Aya Hoshino ( 星野 綾 )
- Aya is also one of Ran's friends. The quiet, reserved girl used to let an older man stand her up, but after Ran talked into her conscience, she stopped. She is with Rei.
- Yamato Kotobuki ( 寿 大 和 )
- Yamato is Ran's older brother. He is a police officer and works in the Shibuya precinct. As a result, he often has to deal with his sister. Miyu fell in love with him after he helped her while she was a gang. Because of his job, he hardly has any time for her.
- Rei Otohata ( 乙 幡 麗 )
- Rei is the heartthrob from Meisho Daiichi High School. He comes into contact with Ran when she tries to get his bag. She even succeeds, and since then fate has always wanted their paths to cross, not necessarily always for Reis' pleasure. He works as a DJ.
- Yuya Asō ( 麻 生 裕 也 )
- Yuya is the most popular of the Meisho Daiichi High School after Rei. He is Reis' best friend and always with him. After meeting Ran, he falls in love with her. Unfortunately for him, she hardly pays him any attention and does not respond to his attempts to flirt. His misfortune intensifies when Tatsuki Kuroi appears. Due to a misunderstanding, he becomes mom's friend.
- Sayo Kotobuki ( 寿 沙 夜 )
- Sayo is Ran's little sister. In contrast to this, she really wants to become a police officer and already practices by shadowing Ran and her friends (because there is always something going on at Ran). However, she is a bit clumsy about it because she often falls, even though there is no reason. The girl who always wears a hat after an unfortunate haircut already has a boyfriend.
- Mommy Honda ( 本 多 マ ミ )
- Mommy is the hottest high gal in the Ikebukuro district . After bumping into Ran, an argument arose over who was Tokyo's high gal. Mommy always tries to wipe one thing out of Ran, but pulls the shorter one. After Ran has washed her and Harue's heads in the truest sense of the word, they even become more or less friends. Even so, there is still competition between them. She goes with Yuya.
- Harue Kudō ( 工藤 ハ ル エ )
- Harue is Mami's best friend and also a Bukuro-Gal. She used to be a member of the Eagles gang and one of Miyu's archenemies. She used to live in Shibuya, but after being rubbed off by Miyu, she could no longer be seen there. She is now also friends with Ran's clique.
backgrounds
The " Kogals " or "Ganjiros" are particularly extroverted, cheeky and extravagant girls in Japan. In addition to this scene, the manga also depicts other phenomena, such as juvenile delinquency, in major Japanese cities.
Manga
In Japan, the series appeared from December 1998 to April 2002 in Ribon , a manga magazine mainly for girls, by Shueisha- Verlag, and was concluded with ten volumes.
The manga was published in English by CMX Manga , in French by Glénat and has also been translated into Spanish and Dutch. Gals appeared in Germany ! from April 2005 to August 2006 at Egmont Manga and Anime . The German translation is by Antje Bockel.
Anime
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | 超 GALS! 寿 蘭 Super GALS! Kotobuki Ran |
| Country of production | Japan |
| original language | Japanese |
| year | 2001 |
| length | 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 52 |
| genre | Comedy |
| idea | Mihona Fujii |
| production | Ryunosuke Tsuno, Tomoko Gushima |
| music | Hikaru Nanase |
| First broadcast | April 1, 2001 - March 31, 2002 on TV Tokyo |
In 2001 Studio Pierrot produced a 52-part anime for the manga. Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi and character design by Hiroto Tanaka and Yuko Kusumoto. The artistic director was Junichi Higashi. The series ran from April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002 under the title Super Gals! Kotobuki Ran (
The anime was broadcast in English by Anime Selects and was released on DVD, as well as being broadcast on television in Spain, Italy and the Philippines.
synchronization
| role | Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) |
|---|---|
| Ran Kotobuki | Megumi Toyoguchi |
| Miyu Yamazaki | Haruna Ikezawa |
| Aya Hoshino | Grandma Ichimura |
| Yamato Kotobuki | Hiroki Takahashi |
music
The music for the series was composed by Hikaru Nanase . The song AI-TSU by Dicot was used for the opening credits, and Dakishimetai by Jungle Smile for the credits .
reception
According to the AnimaniA , Gals offers a simple story without great tension or surprises, despite the heavy text. In terms of drawing, the manga was successful, the backgrounds and characters were detailed. However, the female figures can only be distinguished by their hairstyles.
The specialist magazine MangasZene writes of a happy drawing style, and unsurpassed "grimaces and gag scenes" . In the anime adaptation, the animation is good television average and the character designs are close to the original. The Japanese speakers were also cast successfully.
Malindy Hetfeld from Splashcomics praises the detailed drawing of the characters, clothes and backgrounds. The German translation was successful. The work initially offers likeable characters and funny stories from everyday Japanese schoolgirls, even if the conversation is too shallow for some. In the other volumes, however, the unchanging figures could lose their charm, and some jokes would be silly. Individual volumes, like the fourth, succeeded again.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b AnimaniA 3/2005 p. 42 f.
- ↑ a b MangasZene No. 6, p. 34.
- ↑ Malindy Hetfeld: Review by Splashcomics on Volume 1. April 20, 2005, accessed April 11, 2009 .
- ↑ Malindy Hetfeld: Review by Splashcomics on volume 2. May 19, 2005, accessed on April 11, 2009 .
- ↑ Malindy Hetfeld: Review by Splashcomics for Volume 4. September 14, 2005, accessed April 11, 2009 .
Web links
- Official Homepage of the Anime (Japanese)
- Anime News Network about the manga and anime (English)