Super GALS!



"The world's greatest Gal."

Super GALS! (2001-2002) is a 52-episode shoujo anime series, based on the manga Gals! (1999-2002) by Mihona Fuji, serialized in Ribbon magazine and eventually collected into 10 tankoubon volumes.

It mainly revolves around three high school "kogals": Ran Kotobuki, Miyu Yamazaki and Aya Hoshino, and their "adventures" around Shibuya, Japan.


 * Actor-Role Confusion: Sayo and co. believe the main actor in the Show Within a Show Odaiba Shark is the actual character. Whenever they meet up the actor pretends to be the character so not to break their dreams. Later when he's he plays a coach in a kids' show, Sayo shakes him (the character) as a look-a-like.
 * Always Second Best: Half of the time, Ran doesn't even remember that Yuya's name is in fact "Yuya" and not "Second Place". Also, Mami can never beat Ran at anything even if it's something she's trained to be the best at.
 * Amusing Injuries
 * Art Shift: When Sayo and Masato really get into pretending to be detectives.
 * Badass Longcoat: Ran, when she is wearing her signature long red coat.
 * Balloon Belly: Towa in episode 31.
 * Beach Episode: Technically, it was an indoor swimming pool... decorated to look like the beach. With sand and everything!
 * The manga chapter was actually set at a beach. The anime episode was set during the winter, necessitating the change of venue.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Miyu. It took a very stressful period and sexual harassment, but the one time she snapped, the harasser was on his knees begging for his life in less than ten seconds. And he was lucky enough that Ran was there to Bright Slap Miyu, or else...
 * Bland-Name Product: So many of the items available in Shibuya's stores. Also, so many of Shibuya's stores (for example, "Shibuya 10Q" stands in for Shibuya 109.)
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The blonde and red hair come from bottles, but still.
 * Compensated Dating:
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Ran, to some extent. Might be because of the fact that her whole family is made up of police officers.
 * Dancing Theme: A bit of it in the opening.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Described under Retired Outlaw. Can you say "gang connections"?
 * Decoy Protagonist: Ran, despite the fact her name is in the subtitle. While Ran is the one responsible for solving most of each episode's problems, her character at the end of the story is basically identical to her at the beginning.  The true protagonist is Aya Hoshino, who has a whole Romance Arc, overcomes her own insecurities, and ends up dating Shibuya's number one guy.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Episode 41's "Shibuya senshi, Mar-Q Moon"
 * Education Mama: Aya's parents. This eventually causes a Heroic BSOD when she is pressured to give up her friends in favor of more studying.
 * Genki Girl: Both of the Kotobuki girls, especially Sayo.
 * Fire-Breathing Diner: When Yuya challenged Tatsuki for Ran (although he didn't phrase it that way), one challenge was who could eat an entire plate of spicy curry. They both ended up this way.
 * Gratuitous English: Mainly from Ran and Tatsukichi. Sometimes reversed into Gratuitous Japanese in the English dub.
 * Gratuitous French: Mostly Tatsukichi, when Gratuitous English isn't esoteric enough.
 * Hachiko: "Hachiko's statue is a meeting place" is played straight by most of the cast, and taken over the top by Ran.
 * Happily Married: Taizo and Kiyako Kotobuki, Ran's parents. Alas, they appear to be the only ones in the anime.
 * Hello, Nurse!
 * Hidden Depths: Despite its bright and shiny exterior, the show talked about seriously heavy issues like crime, broken families, gang violence and sexual harassment in the workplace.
 * Japanese Delinquents: At the time Super GALS! was made, kogals were often seen as delinquents. Ran plays to the stereotype.
 * Kid Detective: What Sayo and Masato imagine themselves as. In truth they are just two kids playing detective and snooping around - at least, that's what Ran thinks, until Ran and Sayo's Freaky Friday Flip in episode 40.
 * There's three of them when Naoki (Tatsuki's younger brother) joins in, appearing in their detective song.
 * Lucky Charms Title: Each one of the episode titles has a heart and an arrow in it somewhere, in that order.
 * Megaton Punch: Ran does this numerous times throughout the show to various men.
 * Nice Hat: Sayo's hat, with all its keepsake buttons.
 * Noodle People: Super GALS! looks like it's about teen fashion (but see "Hidden Depths," above), with an art style based on the one used by fashion designers - detailed clothing and almost stick-figure people.
 * Numerical Theme Naming: Kind of a complex series of Japanese puns here. The department store Shibuya 109 was originally named as a pun on Toukyuu (10+9) in real life.  The 9 is becomes a letter Q in the show by reversing the tail -- but it's still pronounced "kyuu".  And finally Maru-Q Moon is named after the 109 store, Ichi-Maru-Kyuu, which is about as gyaru as it can get.
 * Ojou: Mami Honda, although that's her deep, dark secret when she's a Gal. Ran also gets turned into one for an episode.
 * Retired Outlaw: Miyu and ran with rival gangs when they were younger. This ends up causing some problems for Miyu.
 * The Rival: Mami Honda, for Ran, personifying the Ikebukuro/Shibuya rivalry of fashion hotspots in Tokyo. Yuya sees Tatsuki as a rival for Ran, but that one isn't reciprocated (or even noticed by Tatsuki or Ran).
 * Sadist Teacher: Gunjou.
 * Second Love: Yuya fell for Ran at first sight.
 * Second Place Is for Losers: Gunjou's attitude towards the athletic fest.
 * Show Within a Show: Type 2 with Odaiba Shark, and to some extent Type 3 as they meet the main actor from the television show on a number of occasions. Sayo, Naoki and Masato are completely mad fans (able to quote lines and episode numbers and names from memory; Sayo also believes the show is real) and have gone around re-enacting scenes at the locations where they were filmed.
 * In one episode they're able to solve a case by comparing it to episodes of said television show where the main actor of Odaiba Shark says it's similar to one episode where the villain was hiding in a factory outside of town and by freak chance they were...
 * Six-Student Clique: Namely when three of the boys are involved.
 * Stalker with a Crush: Miyu runs into one of these.
 * Stock Footage: the "Junior Detectives" theme song.
 * Third Person Person: Miyu talks like this. Serves as a noticeable difference between Present!Miyu and Past!Miyu.
 * Those Three Girls: The tan trio.
 * Ran's comparatively normal school friends, Rie and Satsuki, also qualify as Those Two Girls.
 * Except Rie gets her own (anime-only filler) episode in season two, centering on her relationship with a childhood friend. So Satauki is really the most forgotten.
 * Totally Radical: most present in the English dub, though the Japanese version is probably like this as well.
 * Uncancelled: The North American DVD release went through this. After ADV Films released the first 26 episodes over six volumes in 2003-04, they didn't release any more due to lackluster sales. A few years later, Right Stuf licensed the second season and released it as a single boxed set, although without English audio.
 * Verbal Tic: Sayo peppers her sentences with "datchu".
 * Verbal Tic: Sayo peppers her sentences with "datchu".