I have to say, I officially kind of like Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi. I’m not going to get into the whole guilty pleasure thing, because I think it’s kind of a false concept to begin with and besides, even if you buy into it there’s really nothing in this show that would merit the description. Is it highbrow entertainment? No, but so what? It’s fun and cute and seems to have a good heart. It’s also shameless but that’s actually intrinsic to its success. I don’t know if that adds up to something I’d cover but at the moment I’m certainly enjoying it.
I was thinking that Tsubasa was a fish out of water merely being a Tokyo boy plunked down in Kitami. And that would certainly be enough culture shock for most anybody, but apparently there’s more to the story than that. It’s not surprising that he’d never been to a snow festival before, or that Kitami would have one. Minami catches him gazing at a poster and invites herself along with him, despite the fact that she hasn’t gone in a years and considers it lame and kiddie. She’s falling for Tsubasa so what difference would that make.
I love Japanese regional trivia, so Dosanko Gal has that in its pocket as a bonus. I certainly didn’t know that in Hokkaido if you put sugar on a corn dog – generally called an “American Dog” in Japan – they call that a “French Dog” in Hokkaido (I didn’t even know sugar on an American Dog was a thing). Tsubasa was excited about this because he’d been reading up on Hokkaido regional specialties, which is cute as hell. Minami declares she’s going to expose him to the wonders of Hokkaido cuisine, which for my money is the best in Japan. Of course even in Kitami, an indirect kiss is still an indirect kiss…
Back in school, Minami makes good on her promise by introducing Tsubasa to a local yakiben, where you use the water from the noodles to make a soup on the side. Meanwhile he shares his grandma’s homemade bento with her, which triggers a very interesting conversation where he says he’s never tried cup noodles before. And eventually, that he’d never been to a convenience store either. Minami is suitably floored by this, which is certainly atypical for any Japanese, much less a modern teenager. Curiosity takes over, and she invites herself to his house on the assumption that he must be a sheltered rich kid.
That may very well turn out to be true – at the very least he sure as hell ain’t poor – but there’s something else going on with his family life. On the way they pass a snow fort and she decides to show him the pleasures of such things, which leads to one of those shameless passages I was referring to earlier. Grandma happens to overhear this conversation, Tsubasa is suitably horrified, but eventually Minami wins over the old lady with sound advice about avoiding black ice and umbrellas in the snow (that made perfect sense actually), and provides a safe shortcut to their (massive) house. She invites Minami in for tea, as much out of curiosity as anything, and the family mystery deepens.
I’m kind of curious where this is headed. Maybe it’s something as simple as Minami being right, they’re just rich and sheltered – but why did they move to Kitami? I sense something deeper there. We also have the specter of the harem element kicking in, though I suspect Minami is the only serious player in the romance department. Obviously this could all go south (no pun intended) at the drop of a ski cap, but for now I’m very much pleasantly surprised. Let’s see what the next few episodes have in store.
sonicsenryaku
January 16, 2024 at 11:22 pmI had an inkling there was something of note about this show, so I decided to read to a few chapters of the manga; and yea, I was very surprised with just how pleasant and wholesome it was. I think it also helps that Minami genuinely feels like a character and not just a simple rehash of the gal archetype or merely pandering material. Marin from My dress-up darling seems to be the recent standard for fans of this romance subgenre on how to properly execute the gal archetype; but honestly, as much as I liked Marin, Minami is the superior gal; a more fleshed out and organically written version of what Marin is.
From the looks of things, this series seems to be going under the radar and will probably stay that way for the rest of the season, which IS surprising in and of itself since other shows of its type get way more attention than this one seems to be getting at the moment. Anyway; It’s like you said: Hokkaido Gals isn’t reinventing the genre or anything; it’s just a genuinely pleasant series and that’s no fluke. In some ways, it feels like a good old-school romance from the early 2000’s
Guardian Enzo
January 16, 2024 at 11:27 pmI think the very reasons it’s going under the radar are the reasons why it’s better than most series in this sub genre, sadly.
sonicsenryaku
January 17, 2024 at 12:56 amYea; it certainly feels that way
L0ken
January 17, 2024 at 4:05 amNot really. The reasons it’s going under the radar is because source material turns pretty bad and isn’t like those early vibes, so most of the pre-anime talk wasn’t hype, but lamenting how it lost it’s way and people not being excited about it based on current state of the series. And yes, harem elements that isn’t going anywhere will increase and shift focus and relationship, plenty of dragged bullshit in this harem-based tourism campaign series. First 15-20 chapters were the most fun and then it’s starts slowly deteriorating until certain point when it just bad, so season 1 may be still okay.
sonicsenryaku
January 17, 2024 at 6:16 amWhile pre-anime talk helps with generating engagement, that pre-talk being positive or negative doesn’t usually mean that a series will go under the radar. Rent-a-girlfriend, despite how many manga readers attested to it being a dumpster fire, was still able to generate a decently strong anime audience and maintained a noticeable amount of popularity; domestic girlfriend is another example of this. Now I haven’t read to the supposed point in Hokkaido Gals where the story “gets bad,” but I think what we should be using as a metric to measure the reception of the anime so far is well, the anime’s word of mouth.
The two eps we have so far don’t seem to be garnering a significant amount of fan conversation and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that said episodes (and at least the section of the story I’ve read so far) take a low-key (yet skillfully earnest) approach in its storytelling style compared to what is expected of this romantic subgenre. This aforementioned reason may potentially be the cause for its lukewarm reception; however, it is this very reason that I think Enzo and I are pointing to as being a strength of the show and what might be getting glossed over by its audience; and hey, if that kind of stuff doesn’t tickle their fancy, that’s plenty alright, too.
Nothing notably exciting has happened in its premiere eps (at least so far) to become an immediate talking point and it’s not like the animation is particularly stellar either, so no one is motivated to discuss it. With something like Dress up darling, you had CloverWorks beautiful production values, its cosplay subject matter, and Marin’s insanely fetching character design as immediate selling points to a general audience to tune in. Hokkaido Gals doesn’t really have that, its low-key earnest take on exploring the romantic attraction growing between its cast out in the cold, frosty sticks isn’t seen as an X-factor by the general audience watching the show, and so it reasons that it would probably be overlooked.
I’m sure there are other reasons beyond what we’ve discussed that would fit as explanations for why the anime is going under the radar, but I don’t think the problem that, “the manga went to shit,” is why no one is watching. I get that you’re saying that the supposed diminishing quality of the manga led to disinterest in discussion circles amongst fans, which led to less press from those fans when the anime was announced, and now because no one talked about it, it sort ended up dead on arrival. But the anime is out now and there are a bunch of people who haven’t read the manga that wouldn’t or couldn’t have had their opinions be influenced by that side of the manga fandom; therefore, the problem isn’t that the lack of pre-anime hype is making it go under the radar (that certain is a reasonable explanation for why not many tuned into the premiere); it’s that the content we have RIGHT NOW from the anime isn’t doing enough to pull viewers and get word of mouth going (which is how popularity spurs), especially those who would usually tune into this subgenre of anime, for whatever reason that may be.
As I said, there are quite a few manga with poor reputations that build plenty of traction in their anime as well as those that don’t have any prior word of mouth or just a small amount of it, that still end up taking off with their anime. And then you have anime originals, that may not garner any pre-hype, even with trailers but garner a large popularity simply because enough happened in its episodes to get people talking
Brian Guy
January 17, 2024 at 8:41 amIt never really gets “bad”, it just changes into something different for a while (that some fans really hated and some found creative and fresh) before becoming something different again over the past year.
Also, “harem” does not in any way describe future developments. Things that happen in succession are completely different from things that happen simultaneously (and to go any further than this would invoke spoilers).
Guardian Enzo
January 17, 2024 at 8:46 amAnd quite frankly we’re already pretty close to the edge. Probably best not to continue in this direction.
Mornal
January 17, 2024 at 7:37 amSo far first two episodes have been ok. My main issue is things are moving a little too fast between the two leads. As soon as they met she was all over him and now they’re already on dates and hanging out with family etc. I know you probably have to do that to keep the target audience engaged, but taking things a little slower would’ve been nice. Then of course the usual shonen romance MC syndrome with Tsubasa being flustered all the time, kinda irritating, doesn’t help he has little distinguishing characteristics to be an interesting character, but it is what it is.
Brian Guy
January 17, 2024 at 8:22 amAbout the possibility of family issues…dad is here but absent, while obaa-san hasn’t seen Tsubasa smile in forever. Hard to imagine there isn’t something there.
Also, i absolutely promise, this is not a harem series as would be traditionally defined. Scout’s honor.
Nick
January 17, 2024 at 6:51 pmAnd you’re right, I thought this manga was one of the few to actually show a realistic light on the confused feelings of high school, but it’s obvious from the start who Tsubasa likes and he never does anything to stray from that path at all, and there isn’t any ecchi BS of him molesting every girl in sight.