Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku? Apparently No One Told Them That

With niche hobbies comes the fear of being ostracized for liking them. Or at least that’s something most people worry about. The Yamabukis of the world don’t concern themselves with the thoughts of the hoi polloi. Anime is mainstream now. Being an otaku is also mainstream. Gone are the times when you hid that you liked anime from your partner. Now we watch anime with them. Even so, it’s the otaku dream to be loved by a hot girl who’s also a weeb. That dream is the plot driving Gals Can’t be Kind to Otaku?

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Anime Is Mainstream. But…

But how mainstream is it? That question seems redundant, but consider this — we celebrate athletes, but not equally. A professional basketball player is a role model — a professional sharp shooter is a meme. Liking Demon Slayer makes you a normie. Liking Yosuga no Sora bars you from getting a US visa. Takuya Seo is an otaku who’s aware of those distinctions. Society would accept him if he watched shonen anime. But he watches Glittermon, a shoujo anime made for little girls.

Horrified that people will learn about the shows he likes, he hides his love. Yet when his adoration for “little girl anime” (that’s a double entendre) is revealed, his class’s resident gals are the ones who seem to vibe with it the most! In fact, they’re way too chill with it. So chill that Takuya begins to suspect that they may also be closeted weebs! And that makes him wonder, can a gal be kind to otaku?

A Solid Hook Set

When you’re fishing, and you feel a bite, you quickly raise your rod tip to set the hook. Most fish get away because the hook wasn’t properly set. So anglers tend to exaggerate the hook set and lift their rod as high as possible to ensure that the fish stays on. Gals Can’t be Kind to Otaku? is the anime version of that exaggerated hook set.

It’s boisterous, exaggerated, and draws your attention. OtaGal uses relatability to draw viewers in, but it does so with gleeful abandon. We’ve all shared Tatsuya’s concerns. The lucky among us also shared his joys. And the few who don’t share any of those things have thought about close friendships/romances with people who have similar tastes. Otaku ni Yasashii Gal wa Inai!? wonderfully depicts those feelings through TMS Entertainment’s colorful art.

There’s no grand plot or idealistic romance. This is a show about people who hide their passions yet bond over them. If you told me this was a slice-of-life about three weebs, I’d believe you.

What Do You Mean Gals Can’t be Kind to Otaku?

There are two things that, even though I understand them, cause me untold grief.

The first is Pluto’s demotion. That rocky sphere is smaller than some of the solar system’s moons, so it’s not a planet. But whenever I see Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, my fist clenches.

The second is the number of men who believe women are mythical beings from alien worlds like Proxima Centauri b or Daytona Beach, incapable of enjoying the same things we do. The thought that a utukushii girl could like the same crap men do is somehow absurd. Gals Can’t be Kind to Otaku? laughs at that notion. Kei and Kotoko may be above-average attractive, but they’re normal girls. In anime, “normal” is a godsend. I know that you can think of at least 10 teenage waifus that are more put-together than a 30-year-old with two PhDs. That idealism is laughable and not in a pleasant way. OtaGal doesn’t commit that mistake. Its main heroines are the kind of girls you’ll meet anywhere. That’s its biggest strength.

Want to know why My Dress-Up Darling was so successful? It succeeded because Marin and Gojo are “normal” people. They bond over mutual interests, they support each other, and they’d plap, plap, plap until the moon dips below the horizon. You’d think this would be something other anime/manga could emulate, but no. We normally get idealistic or wishy-washy garbage. So when something real pops up on our screen, it becomes a mass-appeal event.

Judging by OtaGal’s first episode, the show won’t fall into the idealistic. We’re getting a rom-com between “normal” people. That’s worth celebrating.

Hooray for Gals!

A rom-com’s success is based on its waifus. And thanks to Kei and Kotoko, Gals Can’t be Kind to Otaku? will, at the very least, succeed in merchandising. Until recently, I was unaware that much like wolves or velociraptors, gyarus are clever girls that travel in packs. Luckily, that gives OtaGal fans the gift of choice. If you want a prim and proper beauty who also happens to be #bestgirl, you have Kei Amane. If you don’t like perfection, Kotoko is there for you. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

Appearances aside, the dichotomy of these two when paired with Takuya’s blend of meek and pushy will entertain. One episode in, and the vibe of these three is enough to make you smile. It’s a gradual buildup — it’s real, honest, and endearing. And in a season where one in every three shows is a romance or romance-related, that endearing factor makes it shine. This anime should be on your watch list.

Gals Can’t be Kind to Otaku? Deets

Morishiro-chan writes the Gals Can’t be Kind to Otaku? manga. The series features illustrations by Sakana Uozumi. Coamix’s Monthly Comic Zenon has serialized the manga since its August 2021 debut and compiled it into 12 tankobon volumes. Yen Press began publishing the English version of the manga in October.

Crunchyroll streams Otaku ni Yasashii Gal wa Inai!?

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