Joshikousei: Girl's High

Title:Joshikousei: Girl's High
High School Girls
女子高生 GIRL'S HIGH
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - ARMS
HIKAMI Kyoko
ISHIGE Sawa
NABATAME Hitomi
NOTO Mamiko
R1 License - Media Blasters
R1 License - Subtitled Only
SHIMIZU Ai
YUKINO Satsuki
It's a new year and Eriko has just become a high school student. Together with her friends Yumi and Ayano, they sneak into their new school to check it out. During a bunch of misadventures (Especially where their skirts get cut above the waistline, they bump into Akari, Kyoko, and Ikue who mistake them for Senpais and ask them for advice. Eriko tells them how their allowance goes up 10 times and they only get their period once a year. (Yikes!). After dismissing them , they find out they are in the same class!

Animation by GENCO & Geneon Entertainment
R1 by Media Blasters

[TV series, 2006, 12 TV episodes of 25 min each plus one shorter "episode 0" of 10 min]

ANN is hosting the first episode (subbed/streaming) - Click here to view
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 7 7 6 7 7 Ggultra2764 [series:1327#1552]
I have to admit that I was a bit uneasy upon first hearing about what Girl's High was like. I have a low tolerance of fan service heavy titles and hearing that Girl's High had a fair amount of it plus raunchy humor made me unsure what to think when I rented it from Netflix. After having completed the series, I would say that it wasn't as bad as I had initially thought in terms of content. But still, I wouldn't consider it the greatest title I've seen as it is a bit of a mixed bag with what it delivers. The show does a mix of twisting around common plot setups found with similar slice-of-life titles like Girl's High and looks into the less pure side of being at an all girl's school. This title shows off the less pure and innocent side of experiencing life as a Japanese high school girl as this group of friends go into things such as talks about their periods, have awkward situations when getting physicals, crappy clubroom conditions, a near date rape situation and trying to one-up a rival classroom by making use of bribery and sex appeal for the school culture festival. It also takes crack shots at conventional plot setups such as Ayano getting battered during her lovey-dovey moments with her boyfriend as her friends are singles, a fake situation of one of the girls dying from a terminal illness and self-centered male teachers who aren't so helpful to the girls. The characters were believable enough in personality as they weren't too perfect nor too promiscuous with how they handled themselves, as well as looking cute enough with character designs.

However, the series does have a number of issues that work against its premise. The fan service does get downplayed in later episodes though it still works against the series as there are blatant panty and crotch shots of the girls, as well as the occasional chest shots that serve nothing more but to arouse any of the show's male audience. There's a two-part arc in the middle of the series that tries to emphasize dramatic tension yet I found the reasons and motivations for this to be rather weak and unconvincing. In addition, some of the show's attempts at humor felt a bit over-the-top with the slice-of-life approach that Girl's High gives off such as Akari's bizarre costumes or the contest that takes place during an amusement park episode.

If you don't mind the show's fan service and occasionally raunchy humor, Girl's High does make for a decent quick watch with its not so conventional take on the lives of high school girls. But if you can't stand fan service nor raunchy humor, then it would be best if you stay away from watching this show.

Last updated Sunday, January 23 2011. Created Sunday, January 23 2011.
Watch 8 8 8 7 7 7 Dreamer [series:1327#2279]
Here's another one I watched a while back but failed to comment on. I rewatched it so I can give a proper review.

Art, Animation & Character Designs
The artwork and animation wasn't too bad. Character designs were all cute... since they were mostly girls. Actually, I would say that the character designs seemed a bit above the average cut.

Music
The OP was your typical pop piece with female vocals. Nothing special and not of my tastes however bearable it may be. The rest of the music was...... ehhh. Happy pieces that didn't do anything for me.

Series and Episode Story
Aside from the sometimes.... no high amount of blatant panty shots.... with the camera squarely focused on the crotch, it was still a decent series. For the most part, it was simply about some HS girls and their antics. What I actually found entertaining was the fact that a lot of it seemed down to earth... meaning that HS girls for the most part really do behave as portrayed by our characters. I mean, in today's high school setting. That's not to say all do, but a great majority fit the bill. With that said, that's what made this refreshing.

Overall, it was a entertaining piece but with no real substance. It's good for a one time around.

Last updated Sunday, May 10 2009. Created Sunday, May 10 2009.
Rent Stretch [series:1327#628]
Only in Japan... "Girl's High", as my fansub was entitled, is a startling example of the differences between what can be aired on TV in Japan versus the US. Lots of crotch shots in the first episode made me uneasy and left me wondering where this would go. Even more shocking were the jokes about... girl problems. The language was sometimes blunt ("That bitch has such a tight asshole!") and the humor got kind of scatological. But it really was funny at times (and the succeeding episodes are less controversial)! What I found most amusing about episode three was the slapstick violence, which comes out of nowhere, reminds me of City Hunter, and cracked me up. There is an "Episode 0", which is basically the first half of episode 1 minus the OP sequence--some sort of extended teaser, I guess. I loved episode ten, which dealt with the belief in Japan that girls who wear glasses are cute. A running gag is that Ayano, possibly the most shy and ordinary looking one of the girls, has somehow attracted an ideal boyfriend to herself, which annoys the others to no end. Each episode opens with a brief parody of some other genre, and when I saw this one, I could only LOL and exclaim "Nice!" The plot sort of reminded me of American situation comedies of the past. The ED sequence is kind of neat--the animation that is, where the character's faces reminded me of counterparts from "Kite" or "Mezzo DSA" for some reason. In short, Joshi Kousei is dumb, silly, and kind of risque. There never was much of an ongoing plot, yet this show had an inexplicable charm to it (at least that's what I thought). Therefore, I liked it, and was always looking forward to more episodes. Indeed, as I waited for the list of newly available fansubs to appear on my computer each morning, I would frequently say to myself "Girl's High! Girl's High! Girl's High!"...

P.S: I've rewatched Girl's High a second time, which might suggest how much fun I found it to be. Ah, yes--camera angles that have the effect of shoving the viewer's face into a girl's crotch... not your parents' situation comedy! This show would have definitely been better if the makers hadn't resorted to such a cheap form of fanservice at times. Not quite as funny the second time around, but still a goofy, fun show, as long as you are not offended by hijinx of this sort. It was definitely a mistake to go doramatiku for episodes five and six, but thankfully the show soon gets back on track (and Momoko reappears in a more amusing manner later on, so the episodes do serve a longterm purpose). The colors could have been chosen better; they seem to bright and garish for my tastes. There are some pretty popular VAs in this show, like SHIMIZU Ai and YUKINO Satsuki. The six girls are likeable because they are neither sleazy tramps nor brilliant, flawless paragons of virtue--they really could exist (except maybe the wacky Kouda, but she provides the bulk of the comedy). The ending wasn't exactly on a heartstring-tugging level like Azumanga Daioh, but still I'm sorry to see these girls go. This is one of the few shows which I even ordered a copy of the original manga (and if you think the anime is suggestive, guess what...).

P.P.S: I'm currently rewatching Girl's High a third time! Though the jokes aren't reliably LOL funny, the cast has an endearing goofiness to them which always leaves me wanting more.

My favorite line: "You're a bio-hazard for wearing so much perfume" --Himeji


Last updated Tuesday, February 19 2008. Created Friday, April 21 2006.
Rent Forbin [series:1327#1573]
Analysis : Most Episodes watched (Including the end)
  • Drama : Low/Med (The Sister Episodes are higher)
  • Comedy : High (Really Disgusting but high)
  • Action : None (Unless you count Shiratori getting hit)
  • SciFi : None (Sorry but Cellphones don't cut it)
  • Ecchi : Med (No breasts, but it comes close enough).

And yet another Subbed only title. /sigh
A very funny series. Really STUPID but funny. I enjoyed most of the episodes that I watched.

Episodes :
  • 1: Eriko and friends sneak into their school early. And they get caught by a bunch of fellow students.
  • 2: Physical exam day. More pantsu than Ichigo 100! This is not for the faint of heart!
  • 3: The Love Hotel Episode: One of the girls gets tricked into a Love Hotel, but it doesn't turn out the way the guy expects. Another 95% Funny episode (The rest is high drama). And almost panty free! Though the Preview more than makes up for what is missing. Poor Hime-chan.
  • 4: The sports fest episode: Pretty funny especially the Baka girls...hehe
  • 5: Yuma's sister: It starts out as funny as the first episode then halfway turns extremely dark and sad. What happened to my girl's high?
  • 6: Yuma's Sister Part 2 : Ok drama done and bring back the funny!
  • 7: The Love Contest : This one was as funny as an episode of Magikano. But it is just so wrong! Hehe
BTW Stretch : Girl's High is it's real name, the fansubbers did not add that.

Last updated Monday, August 27 2007. Created Sunday, April 02 2006.

Other Sites
NameURL
Japanese Series Web Site http://www.girls-high.net/

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