Tsubasa agrees to Rena’s tutoring to achieve top ten scores on his final exams. But Minami grows jealous.
Episode 7 — “Final Exams Are Super Hard”
Hmm.
Have you ever wondered why slice-of-life anime comedies spend so much time on their characters’ reactions to conversations, small moments, and personal questions? Yes, it’s how this medium reveals character development so quickly. But that’s the answer to how. This episode from Hokkaido Gals shows you why anime producers do it. Character development drives the plot progression in the slice-of-life genre. Period. Action-oriented stories do the opposite, making the plot drive character progression. Both characters and plots need movement to engage an audience’s interest, but focusing on different areas defines the scale of the stories for the genres. Look at the plot of Hokkaido Gals this week: Tsubasa studied with Rena-senpai for three days, and Minami started feeling jealous. Not a lot of moving parts!
But the strong character development in the previous weeks laid the emotional foundation behind Minami feeling left out and jealous for the first time. We saw no curveballs from our cast as they dealt with the novel situation of not hanging out with each other as much. Minami always had many friends, so we saw she wasn’t lonely. Sayuri stayed true to her gaming ways, even almost sabotaging her exams by playing too much instead of sleeping and studying. Plus, Rena abused her librarian credentials and asked for a cosplay date in traditional Japanese garb. Tsubasa also stayed true to his character by keeping things to himself so he wouldn’t make his friends guilt-trip themselves.
That flaw in Tsubasa’s personality will spark the eventual confrontation between Minami, her feelings for Tsubasa, and Tsubasa himself. Seeing how relationships progress is the fun stuff in slice-of-life romantic comedies. I’m already excited about a scene where Minami reconciles her fandom of Rena with her pangs of jealousy. Hokkaido Gals, show us the goods!
Hokkaido Gals Makes Me Go Heh.
Recap. Straight to horny jail if Tsubasa fails to get into the top ten of his class. Horny jail is, according to Grandma, back in Tokyo. That might be news to the local degenerates. Tsubasa admits this is the first time three girls have distracted him from his studies. What the heck was his life like back in Tokyo? Distraction Number Three: Good morning! Rena-senpai is too much of a temptation as his next-door neighbor. Rena noticed Tsubasa got in trouble for her snuggling in the doorway. Perceptive vixen, this one. Has he been struggling with his studies? Facts not in evidence! Grandma has been getting jealous of him spending time with beautiful Hokkaido gals and is not angry about grades slipping. Is this Tsubasa’s superpower? Making girls jealous, even his grandmother?
Har. Tsubasa called Rena’s history hobby a “fetish.” Did he feel something sensual in how Rena rubbed his tea ceremony robe? Only Rena knows. Nice. Rena saw how Tsubasa’s grandmother reacted, so Rena offered to tutor the boy. Remember: she’s the number one student in her grade, besides being voted the most beautiful in the school. Rena knows how to flirt with her eyes and a smirky pout. Tsubasa formally asks for Rena’s help because he wants to stay in Hokkaido. For reasons! Two reasons. Hoho. Sketchy abuse of authority. If this were another kind of show, private time in the library storage room would lead to NTR, humiliation, and impregnation. Hokkaido Gals hints at the fluffy vanilla form of emotional cheating.
Hokkaido Gals Study Hard but Play Harder
Oh, right. Minami is friends with everyone, so she’ll even have a freckled girl to talk with in the girls’ bathroom. Uh oh. How will Minami react to Tsubasa walking to school with her school idol, Rena-senpai? Ah. Fandom won out. The school celebrity lives next door to Tsubasa, putting him in the appreciation splash zone. Uh oh. Minami felt something she’d never felt before. It’s jealousy. She doesn’t know that yet, though. Aw. Minami knows Tsubasa can’t study with her for final exams. Parental guardians are strict! Tsubasa should have been open and honest about wanting to stay in Hokkaido to stay close to her and Sayuri. No jealousy pangs would have developed dark emotions otherwise. But! Drama is incoming because Tsubasa thought he would “burden” Minami with his troubles. Stupid teenagers. Without them, we would have no romantic comedies.
Har. Rena-senpai even has a code word to enter the library storage room. Goryokaku Fort is the star fort in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Hokkaido Gals is still acting like a tourism bureau promotion. Welcome to the naughty librarian committee member doujin scenario. But before pleasure comes the math. Studying mathematics, that is. Rena sounds like a professional student. She knows the kind of questions that teachers put on exams. How did she find this out? Ack. Tsubasa can tell a relative stranger why he needs to study so hard. Doesn’t that sound like when he talked to Sayuri on the bus during the school ski trip? That boy is consistent, but the ones he grew closer to want to hear these things. Oho! Rena wants a date as compensation for tutoring! Wily vixen!
Judgment Day for Hokkaido Gals
Uh oh. Minami isn’t studying as hard as she could for her final exams. I still want to see Mr. Fuyuki’s hair to confirm he’s the source of his daughters’ ahoge. Har. Mama Fuyuki keeps selling that Kirin Guarana juice. Ho. Minami asks her mom about “a heavy feeling in your chest that makes it hard to breathe.” That’s jealousy! Hey, Hokkaido Gals! Does that count as studying alone if it happens on a conference call? Good luck, Tsubasa. Rena-senpai wants to go on that date with you!
Test day begins! Minami is happy because she doesn’t have to study anymore! Sayuri played games too much and didn’t study enough. Uh oh. Between exams, Minami saw Tsubasa disappear down the library hallway. We know he entered Rena’s private domain, but this will become a future point of drama. Tsubasa never should have kept secret from Minami his studying with Rena, but now there’s a distance between them.
Final exams are over, but the stress begins now — worrying over the results! How did the Hokkaido gals do? Sayuri Akino landed where she had hoped she would: in the middle of the class. And Minami Fuyuki? Near the bottom. Of course, Tsubasa Shiki had to tell Rena first about his exam scores. Number three! Eat that, Grandma! He also need not have worried about Rena’s scores dipping because she spent extra time with him. Number one again for Rena Natsukawa! And she only missed three points, in total, over five exams. Get ready for your date, Tsubasa.
The Historical Period Cosplay Tea-Time of the Soul
Oho. The boy got ready for a historical date with Rena, all right. Suspicious. Was “tea” the historical euphemism for cosplay sexy times? Poor Grandma. She didn’t get her way because she must have thought buckling down for exams would continue afterward. That’s not how horny teenagers work, Grandma, even disciplined ones. Aw. Tsubasa’s samurai mode revs Rena’s motor. Haha! Here’s how the drama starts! Mama Fuyuki spotted Rena and Tsubasa on their date! Rena is too charming for the pure, pure boy’s heart. Minami is in trouble! Kyaa!
Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! (道産子ギャルはなまらめんこい, Dosanko Gal wa Namaramenkoi) streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio and English subtitles.
How do you feel about this new love parallelogram forming? I blame Grandma for pushing Tsubasa into Rena’s arms! The Shiki family might prefer her as a future prospect instead of the expressive gyaru Minami. How will Minami reconcile her jealousy about her idol Rena-senpai? Let us know in the comments below.
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