Title: Gals! Volume(s): 10 Author(s): Fujii Mihona Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: CMX MSRP: $9.95 Genre(s): Comedy Rated: Teen (13+)

Have you ever felt like the world was against you? If the answer to that question is yes, then meet the protagonist of "Gals!," Ran Kotobuki. You'll get along just fine with her. Ran hates her life. Not in the dramatic "I hate my life so much I want to kill myself" kind of way, but more of a "Gosh, you people are always bugging me, I've chipped a nail, Mom and Dad want me to follow in their footsteps... whatever, I just, like, totally hate my life" kind of way. Ran's life is, all things considering, not bad. She has a good home, lots of freedom, and parents that love her. So what's the problem? Well, the problem is that for many years, every member of her family has been a police officer, and Ran's parents want to groom her to be one too. Ran, however, doesn't want to be a police officer. All Ran wants to do is go shopping, buy lots of stuff, and, of course, have fun the way a normal teenage girl should be having fun. Well, that's all well and good; problem is, though, that when Ran has fun, she usually gets in trouble, and if it weren't for the fact that her brother, Yamoto, was always the one who dealt with her cases, Ran would probably be in jail now.

Still, despite being a problematic child, Ran's parents see her as being police-worthy, and they still have faith that Ran will turn over a new leaf one of these days. Ran's response to this? "No friggin’ way is that going to happen!" However, Ran ends up showing a protective side of her when a schoolmate of hers, Hoshino, turns to prostitution for spending money. At this point, Ran does everything she can to get Hoshino out of that lifestyle, even going as far as to *gasp* help her brother file a police report. In the end, Ran gets through to Hoshino, Hoshino gives up her lifestyle to become "one of the girls" yet again, and everyone goes home happy. I guess I should get this out of the way now: "Gals!" is an excellent series. While the story isn't really deep at this point, what story we do get works, and it works well. Underneath the somewhat cute artwork, and the (sometimes) convenient story twists, "Gals!" is an excellent character study. The series is funny without being annoying, and some of the situations the girls find themselves in are serious without being melodramatic. Even the characters’ personalities are deeper than you originally think they are. While Ran may first appear to be a spoiled brat, as you read the story you realize that, deep down, she really is a good kid, and the only reason she's rebellious is because her parents want her to be something she doesn't want to be.

However, don't think that this story is all about Ran. No sir, the series is called "Gals!" for a reason, and that reason is because Ran's friends are just as interesting as she is. My personal favorite of the girls is Miyu, who was a street gang member, but is now just a normal high school girl thanks to Ran's brother, Yamoto. While most of Miyu's history is told in a extra story at the back of the book, it is a very touching flashback sequence, and when you read the extra story and then reread the main series, you actually understand the character and her relationship with Yamoto much better. And while cleaned-up Miyu is a complete opposite from gang member Miyu, it's not hard to believe that someone like Miyu can be redeemed the way she has. Finally there's Otohata Rei, who doesn't seem to really want anything to do with Ran, but you just know that he and Ran are eventually going to get together before the series comes to an end. This relationship is actually the weakest part of the story, which just goes to show you how interesting the series really is if you can discard the romance and still be entertained by the series. I also like the artwork. Unlike most shoujo series, the character designs in "Gals!" look unique enough to stand on their own, and the world they live in is detailed and realistic. When the girls are having fun, downtown Tokyo looks like a fun place to be. When they are in danger, downtown Tokyo doesn't look so friendly. And I should point out, I guess, that the author doesn't draw downtown Tokyo differently depending on the situation the characters are in. At all. Instead, the author decides to let the characters’ emotions and facial expressions set the tone for the scenes, instead of using fake shadowing and stupid flowers to remind us when something is either dangerous or cute. Oh sure, the flowers make an appearance here and there, but for the most part the artwork focuses more on detail than little shoujo gimmicks, which is a nice change of pace for once.

Unlike most CMX books, I'm going to comment on the translation for "Gals!," seeing as how I actually have some knowledge of the Japanese release, and I have a good idea of why people have a problem with CMX's translation. One thing that is noticeable is that the translation of "Gals!" has slang in it... a lot of slang. From "Yo girl," to "I'm digging you," to "You trippin’ girl," there is slang around every corner, and most of this slang is obviously American slang. Some people say that this translation contains far too much Americanization to be considered a true "translation," but the situation is more complicated than that. You see, the Japanese version had lots of slang in it too, with the only difference being that it was Japanese slang instead of American slang. Most of the slang the Japanese use is not slang American people would use. Likewise, most slang Americans use is not slang Japanese people would use. Instead of keeping the Japanese slang intact and include almost a book’s worth of footnotes at the end of the book, CMX decided to simply "adapt" the slang. This decision will bother some people; however, I think, all things considering, this wasn't the worst choice they could have made. I know purists will have wanted the Japanese slang to be translated, but let's be honest: for most readers, having to read all these notes for phrases they've never heard before in every freaking book would get pretty annoying, pretty fast. So while it might not have been an ideal solution for purists of Japanese manga, I think most people can agree that it was a "realistic" decision, one that isn't really all that fatal to the story itself.

Girl, you, this book, and me, like, totally have something major in common.

As for the quality of the book itself, it's up to CMX's "poor quality standards." Pages are still flimsy, binding is still questionable, and when I finished reading my copy of the book there was a dent on the back cover that wasn't there when I started reading the book. No joke. But translation quirks and questionable book quality aside, is "Gals" worth your hard-earned cash? Heck yeah it is! So far I've greatly enjoyed "Gals!" This is the first shoujo I've really enjoyed in a long time. Okay, okay, it's the first shoujo I've greatly enjoyed in a while. Okay, okay, I did enjoy "Othello." Never mind. The point is that "Gals!" is something that everyone should at least check out. I know there's this big CMX boycott because of the "Tenjho Tenge" controversy (which has been mentioned in every CMX review I've written so far... think CMX is sweating it out yet?), but by boycotting their whole line, you're missing out on at least one series that is worth reading. Despite the horrible cover CMX gave "Gals!" (which had me weary of even trying this book out), I found myself under "Gals!"’s spell, and I can easily recommend it to anyone who even has a small interest in shoujo with interesting characters and situations.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -