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The romantic manga dynamic of a popular, outgoing girl paired with an introverted, more passion-focused classmate isn’t uncommon. We’ve seen the concept used with great success in series like My Dress-Up Darling and The Guy She was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All. What tends to ensure a series like this is enjoyable comes down to the characters involved. While Otaku x Gal is just starting its North American run, the nature of lead heroine Yua Narumi in the first volume already makes it feel like so much fun.
Editor’s Note: There will be some minor spoilers for the first volume of the Otaku x Gal manga below.
Things begin with Yua already making a very good first impression. The series begins with lead Koichi Otakuraestablishing that he is an otaku, but that he’s hiding it at school. However, while Yua seems like the typical “gal” kind of character who might not be paying attention to someone outside of her sphere, she immediately refers to him by the nickname Otaku-kun and brings up how she saw his artistic abilities. It’s then that she asks for his help. She wants artistic and trendy nails like she’s seen online, but when she tried to do so herself failed. She hoped maybe he could help. When she shows him what she attempted to do at the source, Koichi was also immediately impressed. Since he’s familiar with painting gunpla and models, he agrees to try. Which, in turn, leads to their new friendship.
Basically, it’s a similar sort of setup as My Dress-Up Darling, only with more ordinary, daily life applications of Koichi’s passions ending up being practical for Yua’s daily life.
What helps the situation here is how genuine Yua is as a person. She approached Koichi initially due to being impressed by his artistic abilities. She wanted to consult with someone she felt was talented and respected. When he agrees to assist, she’s incredibly thankful and kind. She immediately considers him a friend, and likewise gives him full credit and hypes him up when showing off the finished nails to others at school.
While that respect, kindness, and tendency to reach out to others are all initial positive aspects of Yua’s personality, the first volume of the Otaku x Gal manga also shows how willing she is to stand up for people she likes and appreciates. Even if that also means disagreeing with a close friend. When her and Koichi are going to go shopping after school, her friend Riko refers to him as an otaku and makes fun of him. Riko even suggests it would be “cringe” if Yua dated him. In turn, Yua immediately defends Koichi and calls out Riko for her inappropriate and disrespectful comments. She stands up for him, waits for him, and they go about their planned outing as usual.
Later, even though Riko and her disagree, Yua also stands alongside her when she’s being bullied and puts together a plan (with Koichi) to help her out. (Including with a rather hilarious back-up plan if her initial strategy fails.) So the series also establishes her loyalty to and consideration for others.
While Koichi is also the focus of the first volume of the Otaku x Gal manga, Yua really feels like the selling point. It feels like these initial chapters are dedicated to showing off her personality and what a kind and considerate person she can be. It’s like it’s designed to help get you to keep reading so you can get to know her better.
Volume 1 of Otaku x Gal is available now, and Square Enix will release future volumes of the manga series outside Japan.
