NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Funimation Blu-ray (September 2019): Firstly, in 2011, we reviewed High School of the Dead on Blu-ray, then last month Prison School on Blu-ray, a couple of weeks ago Sekirei and this, My First Girlfriend is a Gal is another 'erotic comedy' (from the manga series by Meguru Ueno) single-season Japanese TV series (aired from July 12, 2017 to September 13, 2017) also having extensive 'fan service' appeal. In fact it seems as if the story is simply a vehicle for the frequent fan service input of mild eroticism, nudity, semi-nudity and body exploitation.  "Gal" is a translation of "Gyaru" used to define a fashion subculture in Japan of peer-conscious girls in their late teens and early twenties. There are 10 episodes in My First Girlfriend is a Gal of about 24-minutes each and it includes an 11th OVA (original video animation): My First Cultural Festival. These OVAs can be an after-thought to potentially extract more profit from the loyal niche following of a series. They are generally released directly to the video market without first going through a theatrical release or television broadcast. The titles of My First Girlfriend is a Gal are:

1. "My First Time Begging for It"
2. "My First Karaoke"
3. "My First Spray-On Gal"
4. "My First Serious Gal"
5. "My First Half-Assed Gal"
6. "My First Time at Yame's House"
7. "My First Job"
8. "My First Trip"
9. "My First Fight".
10. "My First Confession",
(OVA) "My First Cultural Festival"

There the first eight episodes housed on the first of two Blu-rays (a dual-layered) with the remaining two plus OVA plus some extras on the second, a single layered Blu-ray. This has a strong bitrate and the 1.78:1 image, being digital animation, seems a faithful representation. It doesn't look like the higher-end animation quality - it has lots of still shots, poorly moving small mouth movement, repetitive sequences and fast cuts. It actually looked occasionally impressive in-motion as far as the transfer goes. The Blu-ray animation is modest but being digital - not much can go wrong with the HD transfer. This is 1080P (progressive) and an adept transfer quality where others have been 1080i (interlaced) which would be how they were, probably, originally broadcast.

NOTE: Fan service refers to sequences generally include to titillate the viewer or eroticize a character. This typically includes scantily-clad costumes, up-skirt panty camera angles, cleavage and nudity (in baths or showers). The term 'Ecchi' - the Japanese pronunciation of the letter "H" - and can extend further to more overt sexuality. It is essentially erotic softcore with naked breasts, buttocks, long bare legs (but not exposed genitals), at times, shown in a humorous way. Japanese erotic content is rated "H" while in the rest of the world uses the more common "X" rating.

On their Blu-ray, Funimation offer the options of a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 channel stereo in the original Japanese (16-bit) or Dolby TrueHD in the English DUB (24-bit). There is infrequent scenes with aggressive violence. The catchy music is credited to Yashikin with the opening theme "Hajimete no Season" performed by Juno no Afilia. The Ending Theme "Gal Chikkyu Love" is performed by Erabareshi. Funimation offer mandatory English subtitles on the Japanese track (and on the English DUB signs, txt and song lyrics are translated) persuadably to protect the Japanese releases - that are also Region 'A' -locked Blu-rays.

The Funimation first Blu-ray includes a giggly and fun audio commentary for episode four with English DUB director Dave Trosko, Alejandro Saab (Junichi's voice in the series), Alison Viktorin (Yui) and Jamie Marchi (Yukana Yame) on the first Blu-ray. The second, single-layered, Blu-ray includes a video commentary with the Trosko, Saab and Brad Smeaton who voiced Shinpei and the feature in a small split-screen in the bottom right corner. There are 'Textless' opening and closing credits (running 1.5 minutes each) and some trailers. This package is 2 Blu-rays but there is an older, more expensive, dual-format with two DVDs with the same content.

It appears that there are so many anime Blu-rays like this available - two disc, with the complete, mostly one-season, series. They focus on inexperienced adolescents get involved in maturation with the opposite sex (frequently females with oversized breasts and unnaturally long legs), there are plots dealing with intimacy and relationship 'crushes' after a series 'accidental' erotic encounters. My First Girlfriend is a Gal is heavy on the 'fanservice' with powerful young female characters, a less-confident male protagonist and extraneous supporting characters. They attend high school, get part-time jobs to afford a beach vacation together and confront bullying - among other themes.

This series has some, generally, overt and frequent 'fan service', but not fetishized (Prison School), super-hero strain (Sekirei) or apocalyptic (High School of the Dead) and My First Girlfriend is a Gal leans to more realistic adolescent problems involving maturity (note that all titles start "My First...") with blossoming hormones and interaction with the opposite sex. I would says it is still for adults only with the story always being infused with overt cheesecake-style 'T and A' (see bottom captures). If I receive and review more of these anime, I will probably do a genre page with a rating and/or a top 10.

Gary Tooze