The average schoolboy Junichi (right) and his girlfriend, the titular Yukana (left).
My First Girlfriend Is a Gal (Hajimete no Gyaru) is a manga series by Meguru Ueno. It has been serialized in Monthly Shonen Ace since November 2015. An anime adaptation by NAZ aired from July to September 2017. An OVA episode was released in December 2017. The series can be legally viewed subbed on Crunchyroll here
, and dubbed on Funimation here.
The second year of high school has started, which means boyfriends and girlfriends get to spend the best years of their lives together. Unfortunately, Junichi Hashiba and his friends still find themselves single and hating it. To break the status quo, Junichi's friends have forced him into confessing to a beautiful gal named Yukana Yame. At first, the confession goes south, as Yukana confuses Junichi for a pervert. However, she surprisingly takes a liking to him and agrees to date him. The real challenge, however, is that Junichi has no idea how to lead a relationship. Needless to say, Hilarity Ensues.
My First Girlfriend Is a Gal provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: In episode 7, Ranko is dressed as Sayaka Miki, and even uses Sayaka's "Magic and miracles do exist!" line, though much more aggressively.
- Adaptation Dye-Job:
- In the manga, Junichi has auburn hair, but in the anime he has brown hair.
- Yukana’s case is similar to Chitoge; completely blond in the manga, but with pink tips in the anime.
- Yui's BoA persona wears a blonde wig in the manga, and a red one in the anime.
- Adapted Out:
- Yuki Kashii, the younger crossdressing brother of Yui, is completely absent from the anime adaptation.
- Student Council President Iris Kotohayashi plays a role in the school culture festival as its main "antagonist", but she never appears in the OVA which covers that material.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Conversed. According to Junichi's friends, women like it when men beg for their permission to date them. When Junichi tries it on Yukana, she finds it both gross and hilarious.
- All Men Are Perverts: Junichi's friends read dirty magazines in front of the rest of the class to kill their mood. While played for laughs, the anime does show that their constant out-and-out perversion plays a large part in their social pariah status.
- Alliterative Name: Yukana Yame and Shinpei Sakamoto.
- Animal Motifs:
- Junichi is associated with a dog by both Yukana and Yui.
- There's Yui and snakes. Her stream name is BoA, which is a type of snake.
- Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?:
- Nene sneaks into his house, gets stark naked, and straddles poor Junichi all in an effort to get him to take her virginity and be with her. Because he's truly faithful to Yukana, he doesn't let her have her way.
- While caught in a series of traps set up by a perverted madame, Yui feigns being horrified over the sexual things that are required to escape, but when Junichi finds an alternative (for example kissing Yui's hand instead of her lips), Yui becomes too angry and depressed to continue.
- Attempted Rape: Ranko attempts to force herself onto Junichi all to ruin his relationship with Yukana after he refuses her advances. A timely intervention from Yukana keeps her from going too far.
- Be a Whore to Get Your Man: Nene attempts to do this, stripping naked and climbing on top of him in bed. His sex-crazed persona nearly goes along with it, until his cool persona steps in and manages to prevent him from doing anything to her.
- Befriending the Enemy: Shortly after her introduction, Iris targets Yukana, trying to force her to change her dress and behavior to be more modest and proper. While the rest of the gang try to push back and retaliate against Iris to stop her, Yukana simply accepts Iris's actions with a warm smile, and says she doesn't mind dressing "normally" for a time. This, combined with Yukana coming to Iris's defense when Yui and Yuki try to give Iris a taste of her own medicine (by making her dress and look like a gal), makes Iris come to befriend Yukana and become a Cool Big Sis to her (and by extension, the rest of the group).
- Big Damn Heroes: Minoru, Shinpei, Keigo, and Ranko do this for Junichi in episode 10 when Dai Mitarai and his thugs are about to beat on Junichi some more after pulling an I Surrender, Suckers moment on him to throw him off guard.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
- Yui as revealed in episode 4, using either her charisma or manipulation to get those around her to do her bidding. She doesn't actually view anyone as people; from her viewpoint, everyone around her is a faceless servant or prop in her life.
- Dai Mitarai, a Canon Foreigner and Yukana's middle school friend from episode 10. Behind his handsome looking demeanor, he is actually sadistic, perverted (even greater than Junichi's friends) and a manipulative jerk. His true colors reveal that he enjoys taking somebody's girlfriend, talking about how easy to make gals like Yukana fell for him, and then lets his friends have their way with her once he's done toying with her. This obviously ticks off Ranko at first, but it also forces Junichi to man up and confront Dai in order to protect Yukana's dignity.
- Blackmail: Yui tries to blackmail Junichi after their cafe date, but gets Hoist by Her Own Petard in return when Ranko lets slip she knows Yui is the gyaru streamer BoA.
- Book Ends: In the anime, Junichi gets on his knees to beg Yukana to go out with him. He does this again in episode 10, though this time he really lets out his feelings for her, along with the fun he's had the past few months as a result of dating her.
- Brutal Honesty: When their graduation begins looming, Junichi decides that he will go to the same university as Yukana because he wants to stay close to her and support her dream of becoming a baker, even if he's not really interested in it himself. When he tells Yui his plans, she at first tries to hide her true feelings because she's afraid she'd only hurt his feelings or look like she was jealous (which she was, although that wasn't her reason for disliking it). However, she decides to come out and state that she thinks following Yukana into her school just for the sake of their relationship is a terrible idea and that he should give thought to what he truly wants. He's shocked, and Yui quickly leaves out of embarrassment for being so forthright, fearing that Junichi might resent her for it. However, he later thanks her for what she said and says that her words opened his eyes. She starts blushing from the realization that Junichi took her words so close to heart.
- Butt-Monkey:
- Yui (even after Character Development) remains a schemer that repeatedly tries to one-up the other girls and seduce Junichi. However, her schemes almost always backfire in a way that leaves her in an embarrassing fanservice situation.
- Iris behaves like a stoic Ice Queen, but her haughtiness is usually undercut by someone (usually Junichi) inadvertently doing something perverted to her, such as pulling down her skirt or falling on her boobs.
- Call-Back: Just like he did when he first asked Yukana out, Junichi again prostrates himself in Chapter 37/episode 10 of the anime when he confesses to Yukana and apologizes for the heartache he's caused her.
- Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Averted at first, as Junichi has lots of naughty Imagine Spot moments early in his relationship with Yukana. However, as their relationship deepens, he experiences less and less of them. The other girls step in to fill in the Fanservice shots.
- Censor Box: The broadcast version of the anime uses various things to hide the lewder parts of the series, such as a woman's hand blocking shots of Yukana during Junichi's Imagine Spot moments. Other things were used as well, such as a disco ball.
- Changing Yourself for Love:
- Nene attempts this twice. Before the series began, she played heavily into the little sister archetype, because she picked up somewhere that Junichi liked those types of girls in media. As soon as she finds out he's dating Yukana, she switches to a Gyaru Girl style (but still keeping elements of the "little sister") to get him back. Junichi is too Oblivious to Love to notice either, and the second attempt further fails because Junichi doesn't particularly have a fetish for gals and wound up with Yukana as part of a prank.
- After going through a Love Epiphany, Yui realizes how cold she's been to Junichi and tries to become better to become his kind of woman. Even when she accepts that she'll probably never become his girlfriend, she still wants to be an ideal mistress for him.
- Character Development:
- Junichi goes from trying to date Yukana just to eventually lose his virginity and thinking she's "easy" to taking his relationship with her seriously.
- Yui goes from a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing that only tries to seduce Junichi to get her "dog" back, to falling in love with him completely and vowing to be a better person for him.
- Childhood Friend Romance:
- Nene with Junichi, though he points out that they had only really known each other when they were little and they haven't seen each other in years. The next time he sees her, she looks completely different from how he remembered her.
- In a case of Unrequited Love, Ranko towards Yukana.
- After her Love Epiphany, Yui wonders if she fell in love with Junichi the moment they met in middle school, and has simply been in denial all this time. She breaks down and cries, wondering why she didn't come to realize how she felt until he was already in love with someone else.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: In a Flash Back, Nene asks to marry Junichi if he's still "uncool" and doesn't have a girlfriend when they get older. Though it does hurt her to see him with Yukana, she does at least seem happy that he's finally become "cool" enough.
- Cliffhanger: Episode 9 ends on one, with Junichi heading to the table where Dai, Yukana's old middle school friend, brags about stealing women away from their boyfriends and promising to let his group of buddies have fun with her afterwards. However, the ending credits begin to roll when he starts heading towards their table.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Most of the girls show signs of this, and are usually not happy to see Junichi getting too friendly with other girls. They will then often try something to get his attention, which doesn't sit well with the other girls. Oddly enough, Yukana never really displays this behavior, and she never seriously worries that another girl would try to steal him away.
- Compressed Adaptation: Several arcs in the manga are either shortened, removed entirely, or even merged with elements from different arcs. For example, the anime completely skips over the introduction of Yui's brother Yuki, despite Yuki's schemes playing a massive role in Yui having a true Love Epiphany. In the anime, Yui's feelings for Junichi simply turn affectionate with no internal conflict. Also removed is Student Council President Iris's role as an antagonist that attempts to force the gals to wear conservative clothing and stop the "Gap Moe" cafe at the school festival. The OVA starts with the cafe already in full swing, with no hint of opposition.
- Conflict Ball: Junichi and Yukana are intensely in love with one-another, with the only real "problems" in their relationship coming from avoidable misunderstandings or hiding things from each other for no real reason. It never lasts more than a chapter or two, and typically only ends with the two reaffirming their intention to be together forever.
- Crazy Jealous Guy:
- Junichi's male friends aren't too happy with their single status. And when he starts dating Yukana, it only makes them angrier.
- Junichi himself starts falling into this trope in episode 9, when Yukana starts talking to an old middle school friend. They get along so well that he thinks she's cheating on him.
- Cringe Comedy: The first episode alone contains multiple examples of Junichi imagining his life ruined because of innocent mistakes, misinterpreted comments or things just taken out of context.
- Debut Queue: The girls each get an episode that focuses heavily on their interactions with Junichi, such as Ranko attempting to force him to break up with Yukana in episode three.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Junichi is often on the receiving end of physical punishment from some of the girls, usually Ranko. If the gender roles were reversed, he'd quickly be arrested and slapped with a restraining order.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: When Ranko's Secret Test of Character on Junichi fails, she decides to directly force herself on him to break off his relationship with Yukana, all because she was in love with her and didn't like seeing her hurt. This somehow makes Ranko look sympathetic but if she were a guy she would easily be seen as scum.
- Easily Forgiven: Several of the girls do some downright nasty stuff to Junichi, such as Ranko attempting to rape him to make him forget about Yukana. However, he doesn't seem to hold a grudge against them, and in fact they become part of his and Yukana's group of friends.
- Ecchi: The basic premise of the story from the get-go, as exemplified by a lot of tropes listed here. Hell, the very first frame of the anime is a shot of Yukana's cameltoe.
- Emasculated Cuckold: Junichi's male friends warn him of this in episode 9, after Yukana gets a bit too friendly chatting with an old male middle school friend.
- Engineered Public Confession: When Shinpei discovers that BoA has insulted him and his friends, he prints a picture of her and records her words on his cell phone and shows it to Minoru and Keigo as proof that Yui is BoA. Afterwards, they and Ranko confront Yui about her identity just as she's blackmailing Junichi.
- Everyone Can See It: Yui, in her BoA guise, constantly brings up her "Doggy" at least once per stream, usually to rant about how he isn't giving her attention or hangs around too many girls. In the manga, when a random comment pops up on her stream that says "BoA likes Doggy", she is upset by it, as she doesn't understand what gave a viewer that impression. The commenter turns out to be her brother Yuki, who is trying to manipulate her into confessing her love to Junichi, but she remains in denial. Later, when Ranko crashes her livestream and asks her audience what BoA thinks about "Doggy", the entire audience unanimously agrees that BoA is clearly head-over-heels for the guy, even wondering why it was necessary to ask something so obvious. It's this moment that finally makes Yui realize what she truly feels.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even Shinpei and Keigo are shown to be creeped out by Minoru's fetish for younger girls. They even warn him that the police will eventually arrest him.
- Excellent Judge of Character: Yui, Yuki, and Ranko are all extremely perceptive and can decipher that someone is acting untrustworthy or are hiding their true feelings/intentions. They also act as Foils or spanners for each others' schemes. Of the three, Ranko is usually the victor and out gambits even the other two.
- First Girl Wins: In a meta-sense, at least. Yukana is the first character we see before any other, and it's to her that Junichi stays true, even in the face of the following: advances from women he's known longer, equally voluptuous if more tricksy women, and women from higher social strata.
- First Kiss: In episode 10, Yukana finally kisses Junichi on the lips.
- Flanderization: Junichi's friends from the manga to the anime. While they had some distinct personality aside from being perverted, their wackier sides were turned up for the adaptation.
- Gag Dub: The English dub borders on this. While the script stays true to the story beats and maintains consistent characters, dialogue is filled to the brim with over-the-top jokes and memes, the boys are total hams, and all the titular gals talk like American Valley Girls, given their actresses are American. It's not as derailed and irrelevant as Ghost Stories, but definitely not like the average dub.
- Gone Horribly Right: The love letter put in Yukana's shoebox by Junichi's friends was likely meant as a prank towards him. Unfortunately for them, despite the awkward first meeting, she agrees to date him, which only further infuriates them since they're all still single.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: While she and Junichi are lost together at an amusement park, Yui intentionally leads him to the "Magic Castle", where legend says couples who kiss stay together forever. Stopping to rest at said castle, Junichi falls asleep, and a devil appears on Yui's shoulder stating that this is a perfect opportunity to kiss him without resistance. An angel then appears and says that a kiss on the cheek is just fine; Yui snaps with surprise that the angel isn't trying to stop her completely.
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: Yui treated everyone as her personal servants, but especially liked seeing Junichi as her faithful dog, whom she could tame to do anything she wanted. Paying slightly less attention to her, after he began a relationship with Yukana, prompts her to try and seduce him solely to be the center of his attention again. When all of her attempts fail, she quickly begins to realize that having other women around Junichi in general makes her angry, until she finally figures out that she wants to be with him.
- Green Rooming: The main girls are all shown in the first episode, interacting with Junichi in some fashion. However, none of them are relevant again to the plot until their Day In The Lime Light episode.
- Gyaru Girl: Yukana and Ranko openly live as gals with bleached hair, heavy makeup, skimpy outfits, and gal-specific lingo. Nene quickly begins to imitate them to get Junichi's attention, and Yui turns out to be a gyaru streamer called BoA, making all four main girls gyaru. That makes all four of the main female protagonists some type of gal.
- Groin Attack: Episode 10 of the anime shows Ranko Honjou kicking Dai Mitarai's balls when the latter tries to plead mercy, claiming that those who toy with women have no right to have them.
- Hate Sink: Dai Mitarai the ex-boyfriend of Yukana only exists to be hated by the viewers due his vile misogyny and hurting children as well as the looming threat of rape towards Yukana by him and his lackeys that his beatdown by Ranko and Minoru is well deserved.
- Hidden Depths: "Gap"note motifs are the main appeal of the series. The premise of the series begins with Junichi's friends pushing him into trying to hook up with Yukana because "gals sleep around and give in easily", and they think they'd be able to get gals of their own. It swiftly becomes clear that they're totally wrong; Yukana is not just an airheaded bimbo, and is a decent girl that just likes the gal fashion style. The main cast of girls aren't so shallow either. There's also the reveal that the polite, proper Ojou Yui Kashii is actually a stuck-up, scheming Bitch in Sheep's Clothing acting as part-time gal, and Ice Queen Iris Kotohayashi being a much kinder and affectionate person that she lets on.
- Hopeless Suitor: Both Yui and Nene towards Junichi. The former may have had a chance had she of gave him a Love Confession before he met Yukana, but he doesn't seem to have any romantic interest in the latter. Episode 8 really drives this point home, when the two girls along with Ranko watch Yukana talking to each other and getting along very well. Sparklers they were playing with on the beach also start to gradually fade away and die out to further drive this point home. This is best seen in the "official doujin" comics; where Junichi is usually the one who has a dream about dating one of the haremettes, Nene's version has her dreaming about a situation with Junichi instead of the other way around, implying he won't ever see her as an option.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Junichi, when it comes to his male friends, is ridiculously gullible and pliant. He constantly gets manipulated by his loser friends into doing questionable things, and he never recognizes that they're just trying to use him to get their own girlfriends.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: Not does only Junichi fantasize a lot, but his three friends also do this. Their classroom seems no better than them in some regards, given that all the couples in school started getting handsy with each other during couples' season.
- Hulking Out: Minoru does one in episode 10 after Dai Mitarai, in an attempt to escape, pushes into a little girl, knocking her over in the process. Minoru calms her down, and then immediately rages and goes after Dai. He turns into a Lightning Bruiser, who manages to do a Flash Step and appear behind Dai, and has to be temporarily held back by Shinpei and Keijo.
- Idiot Ball: After they start dating, Junichi looks forward to making out with Yukana, but is too awkward to think of a convincing way to set up an opportunity. Even when Yukana herself tries to arrange a study date in her bedroom, while her parents are away, Junichi is quick to invite all of their friends along. It's only after the invitations have already been made and he notices Yukana's disappointment that he realizes what he just did.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Though the exact nature of her feelings toward Junichi beforehand aren't elaborated on, Yui's romantic interest in him began in earnest once he began dating Yukana and, consequently, began paying less attention to her. She attempts to seduce him simply to break the two up, but when he rejects her and her subsequent blackmail attempt is foiled, she becomes more and more intent on spending time with him herself and more jealous of any other girl in his orbit. By the time of the school festival, her interest is flat out sexual attraction.
- Imagine Spot: Junichi constantly imagines himself in perverted situations with Yukana.
- Incompatible Orientation: Yukana is straight, and sees Ranko as her best friend. Ranko feels mostly the same, except she's a Butch Lesbian with Single-Target Sexuality towards Yukana.
- In Medias Res: The first chapter begins with Junichi immediately asking Yukana to go out with her before it switches to earlier in the day.
- Insecure Love Interest: Junichi immediately feels this way when Yukana runs into an old middle school friend, and chats with him in such a friendly manner that he ends up thinking that he's both not good enough for her, and that she must've just been toying with him until her middle school friend could hook up with her instead.
- Instant Expert: While it doesn't happen instantaneously, Shinpei becomes extremely adept at managing the bookstore at the part time job he does with Keijo to earn money for their beach trip. So much so that the store manager goes on a trip, and entrusts him to manage the store in his absence.
- Intimate Lotion Application: In episode 8, Yukana shyly asks Junichi to put lotion on her back, much to his perverted joy. But Ranko also decides to mess with him by asking the same but in a bolder fashion, even undoing her bikini top, causing Yukana to get jealous and do the same. When he does start rubbing their backs, Ranko purposedly starts making loud orgasmic sounds, which Junichi calls her out on.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- Ranko at least says she's doesn't want to see Yukana sad, not so much that she's accepting of her choice in beloved.
- Yui and Nene also do this for Junichi in episode 10, when Yukana isn't quite sure if he actually likes her or not. They convince her to ask him again what his feelings towards her are. Once she leaves, both girls ask if they should be "helping the enemy", referring to Yukana as a love rival.
- It's All About Me: Yui is secretly quite self-centered, and tends to see her classmates as faceless masses and servants. Junichi is so far the only exception since he doesn't play along with her ego, and it's making her quite angry.
- Kick the Dog: Though Yukana's middle school friend Dai Mitarai in episode 9 gives some obvious smirks to viewers to indicate he's up to no good, he's given a scene at the end of the episode where he brags stealing away women who are already dating another man and toying with their feelings. He then also says he'll let his buddies have their fun with her afterwards as well, to ensure to audiences that he's a monster and will deserve whatever happens to him.
- Kissing Under the Influence: On a camping trip, the girls become high from mushrooms that Nene found and made into soup. At one point, Ranko kisses Yui, to which she becomes embarrassed about after the mushrooms wear off. Since then, she seems to have developed a crush on Yui, become flustered and running off after getting caught staring at her in the public baths, as well as becoming shy and nervous around Yui during her Boa stream. And when it looked like Yui was about to make out with her, she panicked and could do nothing but blush to her ears and brace herself (though it turned out to be a prank).
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- The two thugs who try to pick up Yukana after she, Ranko, and Junichi leave a shopping center. They knock Junichi down when he tries to protect Yukana, but Ranko decides to go with them to have "a little talk". A short while later, the two thugs are seen passed out in an alley.
- The same goes for Mitarai who is later punished by Ranko and Junichi's friends for bullying both Junichi and Yukana.
- When discussing their post-graduation plans, Yui is brutally honest and tells Junichi that following Yukana to her college just to be together is a terrible idea. She then runs away, terrified that Junichi may hate her or think she just said what she did out of jealousy, when she really was looking out for his best interests. Later, Junichi seeks her out and tells her that her words opened his eyes, and that he reapplied to a different university, which happens to be the same one that Yui applied to. She is overjoyed to realize that she and her beloved Junichi are going to be in the same school together yet again.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: While visiting a ninja-themed amusement park, Junichi, Yukana, Yui and Iris all fall into a trap run by a sadistic, perverse madame. She places Yui and Iris in different bondage-themed traps laced with aphrodesiacs, with Yui in particular hoping to use the traps as an excuse to do dirty things with Junichi. Iris tries to resist, but even she is eventually begging Junichi to "get her off". They wind up being rescued by Shinbe and find Yukana being fed snacks in a comfortable room. As they are leaving the park, an embarrassed Yui and Iris grumble that the three of them will never mention what happened down there again.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Yui's character development prompts her to shift from a true snob who only sees other people as her personal playthings, to a snob who only sees most people as her personal playthings, but also develops genuine love (toward Junichi) and feelings of friendship. While still massively haughty, with a scheming streak to match, she still shows a more honest and tender side.
- Love Confession: After several chapters of angsting, Junichi finally confesses to Yukana in Chapter 37 & episode 10 in the anime.
- Love Epiphany: In the anime, Yui's Character Development is reduced to a Green-Eyed Epiphany, where she begins pursuing Junichi solely out of jealousy of the other girls. In the manga, this is only the awakening of her feelings, and afterward she is internally confused and conflicted about why she cares so much. This lasts until her brother and Ranko ask her livestream chat what they think "BoA" really feels. The entire chat thought it was blatantly obvious that BoA was head-over-heels for "Doggy", and this is when Yui finally realizes what she'd been denying to herself all along.
- Love Letter Lunacy: Junichi's friends put one in Yukana's shoebox at school as a prank. Ranko later does this as well to Junichi just to screw with his head.
- Ma'am Shock: Downplayed. Minoru is initially interested in Nene when he sees the short girl walking to school with Junichi. However, when she mentions she's around the same age as the rest of them, he's immediately disgusted by it and wants nothing to do with her. Interestingly, it doesn't faze her at all.
- Male Gaze:
- The camera never fails to focus on Yukana's breasts or panties.
- While Ranko flaunts her assets shamelessly, Nene also has huge knockers despite being so tiny, and they are so big that they rest on her lap when she sits down. This is noticed by Yukana and Ranko.
- Man Bites Man: Junichi resorts to this in his fight against Dai Mitarai in episode 10 when it's shown he's no match against the latter in a regular fist fight. He tackles the guy and then chomps down on his leg, refusing to let go until Dai apologizes for calling Yukana a slut despite getting hit repeatedly. In an Ungrateful Bastard moment, he says he's sorry for what he said. Junichi lets go, but then Dai kicks his head really hard, and claims he was lying. Junichi attempts another tackle and bite, but Dai doesn't fall for it the second time.
- Marshmallow Hell: While being hugged by Nene, Junichi points out that she is unintentionally pressing her breasts into his side. Nene tells him its not unintentional and she's doing it entirely on purpose.
- The Mistress: Later in the series, while Yui refuses to outright give up on any chance of becoming Junichi's girlfriend, she realizes that it's unlikely, and instead hopes to convince him that she would make a good mistress, at the very least.
- Ms. Fanservice: Primarily Yukana (there's a reason why she's the head Gal in school), although Ranko and Shizune also have their moments.
- New Job Episode: All of the main characters work part time in episode seven to earn some money for a beach vacation. The girls and Junichi work at a maid cafe, while Shinpei and Keigo work in a bookstore, while Minoru works with kindergarteners.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Junichi's insecurity at seeing Yukana talk to an old male middle school friend gives him so much strife that he causes a lot of emotional stress to her when he assumes she was just toying with him until a better man came along. When they hear about it, Nene, Yui, and Ranko all give him a What the Hell, Hero? response at being so selfish.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Dai Mitarai and his cronies were going to do this to a lone Junichi initially in episode 10 when he tries to defend Yukana's honor against them. However, this trope is quickly turned on them when Ranko and his friends show up, and manage to beat all of the thugs instead.
- Not Good with Rejection: Yui attempts a "Love Confession" to tempt Junichi into dumping Yukana and once again devoting his attention solely to her. He turns her down as politely as he can, and then she quickly leaps off the deep end, ranting that he's her "dog", that she's his "owner" and that he's supposed to obey her. Junichi is completely baffled by this sudden shift in attitude. This is subverted the second time she makes a genuine confession; she gets rejected again, but she accepts it with dignity, and later tells him that she won't give up and will at least try to make herself his "Number Two".
- Oblivious to Love: A weird example with Yui, who is less than pleased with Junichi's relationship with Yukana but doesn't seem to understand why.
- Oh, Crap!: Yui when she realizes that her identity as the webcam girl Boa is exposed.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Several characters notice that something's wrong with Yukana when she comes to school with her shirt buttoned all the way up.
- Overdramatic Dating Commotion: Forced by his friends, Junichi begs Yukuna to date him, to which she agrees not after some teasing. Come the next day and she sends him a selfie in bed with her boobs slightly exposed on his way to school. His friends immediately betray him by saying they aren't friends anymore right after promising to be his friends forever and ignoring that they're the ones who pushed him to this in the first place.Shinpei [crying]: A man as fortunate as you is no friend of mine! I hate you! I'm losing my mind from the absurdity of the situation!
- Patient Childhood Love Interest: Three examples, which all backfire at the start of the series:
- Nene has known Junichi since grade school, and he made a Childhood Marriage Promise to her that if he's still uncool when they're older, the two of them can be together. Given Junichi's unremarkable reputation, Nene was sure that all she needed to do was wait and then remind Junichi of the promise, but that hope gets shattered when he starts dating Yukana.
- Yui is a downplayed example; while it's ambiguous exactly how she felt about Junichi, she enjoyed having his attention ever since middle school. The instant that he even starts paying slightly less attention to her, she becomes incredibly jealous, apparently never even considering the idea that he could move on with his life. As time goes on, it's hinted more and more that she may have always had a crush on Junichi but never recognized it until he got another girlfriend.
- Ranko has had a crush on Yukana for years and was hoping to slowly draw her into a same-sex relationship. This hope also gets dashed when Yukana begins dating Junichi.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Dai Mitarai's trash talking of Yukana and hinting that he was going to treat her like a slut, then passing her off to his cronies once he got bored with her prompts Junichi to defend her honor. Though Junichi doesn't quite get to deliver justice as he's largely outnumbered and outmatched, Ranko, Shinpei, Keigo, and especially Minoru all make sure that the Jerkass and his henchmen get what's coming to them.
- Pervert Revenge Mode: Junichi gets slapped by Yui when he inadvertently walks in on her changing in the maid café's dressing room.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: All of the main girls were encountered at much different times in the manga. The anime adaptation goes ahead and introduces them in the first episode, most notably with Nene showing up despite her and Junichi not seeing each other in years.
- Pretend to Be Brainwashed: While caught in a bondage trap being flooded with aphrodesiacs, Yui immediately begins making perverse requests of Junichi, despite the fact that Iris was able to resist for several minutes before turning into a drooling sex-addict. This is because Yui is already a Covert Pervert whose fantasies involve being tied up and groped by Junichi. All the trap did was give her the perfect excuse to indulge in it.
- Psycho Lesbian: Ranko is not happy seeing Yukana with Junichi, wondering what her friend sees in him. She tests him by trying to get him to cheat on Yukana, but he refuses. She then screams at him, and then says she's going to essentially rape him until he doesn't want anything to do with other women, but is stopped by Yukana who heard some shouting after following the two to his house.
- Schemer: Yui is always internally assessing, and looking for an opportunity to seduce Junichi. She will often manipulate or cheat to get things to go her way, but these plans are almost always thwarted either by an unforeseen accident that leaves Yui reduced to a fanservice-y punchline or by Yui herself, who will instantly halt her own schemes to help Junichi or Yukana if they're having trouble.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Yui makes a phone call to the maid cafe owner after objecting to the store manager's selection of erotic reading material for their maid cafe theme of reading to the customers for the day. After speaking to the owner, the manager then tells the girls the book reading theme is canceled for the day.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Yui reads a few pages from the The Testament of Sister New Devil parody, she gets understandably frustrated and leaves the room Junichi and her friends are in.
- Secret-Keeper:
- Junichi is forced to keep Ranko's secret that she's in love with Yukana, lest she punishes him by putting wrestling moves on him.
- Ranko and Junichi's three male friends keep Yui's identity as BoA a secret.
- Secret Test of Character: Ranko tries to flirt with and have sex with Junichi at one point, just to see if he's willing to stray from his relationship with Yukana. This is not because she likes him, rather she's in love with Yukana and doesn't want to see her friend and crush hurt.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Not only does Ranko's outfit expose nearly everything, she doesn't mind showing her goods to Junichi.
- Shout-Out:
- At several points in the anime, the newtype sound effect and visual flash from the original Mobile Suit Gundam is used for comedic effect, first seen in Episode 1 when Junichi catches a glimpse of Yukana's panties while asking her out. It's later used again when Shinpei realizes Yui is BoA, and when Nene and Ranko realize they can use the King Game to score a kiss from their respective love interests.
- After being invited by Yukana for karaoke in Episode 2, Junichi gets art-shifted and muses, "Just as planned."
- "Perverted Junichi" (the mental personification of his carnal urges) looks a lot like Hentai Kamen.
- In Episode 7, the female cast are requested to read from various ecchi light novels during a cosplay cafe event. The light novels include Hybrid × Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia (of which the café shares a similar name and Hiroyuki Furukawa directed both series) and obvious parodies of High School D×D, No-Rin, and The Testament of Sister New Devil.
- Also from episode 7, the Scary Black Man managing the Toranoana anime shop resembles Dutch. The shop also has a (blurred-out) cardboard standee of Megumin. Meanwhile, Yukana and Ranko cosplay as Madoka and Sayaka, respectively (with Ranko's cosplay doubling as an Actor Allusion).
- In the manga, Junichi considers trying to invoke Funbag Airbag by acting like a clutz, specifically pointing to the patron saint of Accidental Pervert, Rito.
- Single-Target Sexuality:
- Junichi and Yukana have eyes only for each other. Meanwhile despite knowing they don't have a chance, both Yui and Nene don't seem to have given up on him, and Ranko is forced to suppress her feelings for Yukana. It becomes Downplayed with Ranko during their camping trip, where she begins to also develop an attraction to Yui.
- Yui has only ever liked Junichi, and after her Love Epiphany, she speculates that she probably gained feelings for him in middle school but never noticed until it was too late. Even after she realizes that there's little chance of becoming his girlfriend, she will not give up on her feelings for him and will settle for being his mistress instead.
- Stock Sound Effects: A non-public domain example. Quite a few of the anime's sound effects come from Fizz Sound Creation's sound libraries.
- Stripperiffic: Ranko dresses so shamelessly Junichi wonders how she's allowed to enter the school premises.
- Stupid Sexy Friend: When plotting to steal her "pet dog" back, Yui imagines how she'll order him to wait on her hand and foot, but these Imagine Spots quickly turn into a fantasy about Junichi forcing or coercing her into sex. After snapping back to reality, a flustered Yui exclaims, "What the hell was THAT?!"
- Supporting Harem: The girls towards Junichi and Yukana are this. Yui and Nene have no shot with him, while Ranko suppresses her own feelings towards Yukana in a case of I Want My Beloved to Be Happy.
- That's All, Folks!: Used at the end of episode 5; turned into a Looney Tunes reference in the English dub, where Junichi refers to his situation being like "something out of an old cartoon" before delivering the line.
- They Just Dont Get It: Junichi's friends do not seem to understand the correlation between not getting a girlfriend and acting like blatant perverts out in the open.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Yui goes from being a vain, stuck-up narcissist who sees Junichi as nothing but her loyal dog to a Lovable Alpha Bitch who is completely in love with him. She winds up becoming friends with even Yume, Ranko and Nene, and on multiple occasions sacrifices her own shot at getting closer to Junichi to do the right thing on his behalf.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Dai Mitarai, after trash-talking Yukana and calling her a slut, gets into a fight with Junichi who's trying to defend her honor. Several times throughout the episode, he repeatedly pulls an I Surrender, Suckers move, where he pretends to be sorry for his actions, only to then recant and call them morons the moment he thinks he's free. When he's finally cornered by Ranko and Junichi's friends, she does a Groin Attack on him, and lets an angered Minoru lash out against him for his causing a little girl to cry earlier.
- Unknowingly in Love: Yui Kashii is a narcissistic Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who views everyone around her as her "servants" or "pets". Her favorite "dog" is Junichi, with whom she has been in the same class with since middle school. However, when Junichi suddenly begins dating the titular gal Yukana, Yui becomes angry, justifying it as "her dog" giving someone else attention that's entitled to its owner. Yui begins scheming to steal Junichi back by any means necessary, including seducing him, often becoming confused by how aroused she gets when trying to win him over and questioning why she even cares so much. Through convoluted circumstances, she eventually comes to realize that her jealousy is because she's in love with him and that she probably always has been, but didn't realize it until it was too late. This makes her undergo a Jerkass Realization and pledge to be a nicer, kinder person to try to earn Junichi's love. She realizes that it's probably too late now, but she refuses to give up and tells him she's willing to settle for being his mistress if necessary.
- Victory Pose: Ranko and Junichi's male friends texts a picture to him of themselves doing this after they beat up Dai Mitarai and his cronies in episode 10.
- What Does She See in Him?:
- Ranko doesn't understand what Yukana could possibly see in Junichi, at first believing that he must be manipulating or using her in some way. She somewhat changes her stance after seeing that he really does care about her.
- Nene's entire basis for believing Junichi would someday become hers was that he was an awkward, unpopular loner who would never find another relationship and thus would make good on their Fallback Marriage Pact from their childhood. When he starts dating Yukana, she desperately tries to figure out what got the two of them together, even at one point telling Yukana that Junichi isn't that great of a catch. Yukana turns this around by stating that, of all people, Nene surely knows what Junichi's good points are and that he's a great guy deep down. This completely crushes Nene's argument.
- What If?: There exist a few extra comics teasing the idea of Junichi getting together with one of the other girls, but they all turn out to be dreams the cast has.
- What Is This Feeling?: After she notices that Junichi and Yukana seem "close", Yui begins to feel uncomfortable about it. When Yui subsequently stops being easily manipulated into doing what she wants, as well as paying her less attention, she gets increasingly angry, seeing it as having her "dog" taken from her. In her following attempts to get him back, Yui sometimes stops and wonders why she cares so much, why seeing Junichi around other girls makes her feel so upset, and why being close to him makes her body get excited. This is severely downplayed in the anime, where Yui pretty much accepts how she really feels much more quickly.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ranko gets really pissed at Junichi in episode 9 when she's sitting in a restaurant with Yukana, Nene, and Yui, and Yukana starts unintentionally crying. She was ready to give him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown until he tells her he realizes he was being selfish towards her recently.
