Gals! is a manga series written and illustrated by Mihona Fujii. It was published by Shueisha and serialized in Ribon shōjo manga magazine from 1998 to 2002. The manga was also published in the U.S. by CMX. In 2019, Mihona Fujii announced that the series will continue from November 5 on Shueisha's Manga Mee app, taking off from the manga's ending.
An anime television series adaptation produced by Studio Pierrot titled aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between April 1, 2001, and March 31, 2002, running a length of 52 episodes. The first 26 episodes had been licensed and dubbed for North American distribution by ADV Films under the name Super Gals! and was distributed on DVD from 2003 to 2004. The Right Stuf International announced at Anime Expo 2006 that they had licensed all the episodes, including 27-52 and released a subtitled boxset containing the remaining 26 episodes on January 16, 2007. A box set containing all 52 episodes was also released in 2010.
Plot The series revolves around the kogal (generally known as gyaru, or "gal") subculture in Japan. The title character, Ran Kotobuki is the self-proclaimed "world's greatest gal". As a teenager in Shibuya, she is determined to live out the gal lifestyle for the rest of her life, and she has gained a reputation as the most respected gal in all of Shibuya. However, she comes from a family of police officers—her grandparents, her parents, and her older brother are all officers, and her younger sister is set on following in their footsteps. Ran has other dreams for her future, but as frequently shown, she has acquired the family's sense of justice and spirit. Her two friends, Miyu and Aya, also have their own problems and circumstances.
The sequel manga follows the original manga's ending storyline. Ran, Miyu, Aya, and their friends still hang out in Shibuya after they graduate. Ran is still deciding on her career, and Miyu is now part of Kotobuki family after she marries Yamato. Miyu decides to search for her missing mother along with her friends, Yamato and his family, so she can tell her that Miyu will always love her and showing her new life. Aya is now a university student alongside Rei as they attend the same campus.
Characters The first nine volumes of the CMX translation have the family name first.
Main
Ran Kotobuki is a strong-willed, athletic, and attractive gal with orange hair with a red streak who rules the streets of Shibuya. Although she comes from a long line of police officers, she is ditzy and absent-minded when it comes to school and the only subject she gets good grades on is physical education and her poorest subjects are mathematics and literature. When she was in elementary school, she was enthusiastic about becoming a police officer, but quit the ambition after learning that she won't be able to dye her hair or wear her favorite accessories. She is usually obsessed with anything that is trendy or catches her eye, usually brown-nosing guys who find her cute to buy them, and is also quite gluttonous, but inside her heart, she has a strong sense of justice that runs in her blood and is extremely intimidating and tough when she's in combat mode. She is a role model to the junior students at Hounan High for her social status as a magnificent gal for justice and her very understanding nature for teens who are learning to cope, but some look upon her with jealousy and anger. Despite being an underachiever, Ran is smart and has a good memory on what she is interested in (such as shopping). There is a running gag in the manga that some of her friends say that if only she used that (memory, concentration, etc.) on studying, she'd get somewhere in life. She also has a foreign friend, Vivian Lin, a Taiwanese celebrity who looks amazingly like her, whom she met during a school trip to Taiwan (only shown in two stories of the manga). Ran wishes that she has soft hair, but according to Rui Otahata, Rei Otohata's cousin, her hair is damaged and dry due to the amount of bleach she pours on it. Her favorite color of her silhouette is red.
Miyu is an independent, headstrong, and kind-hearted classmate with blonde hair with an orange ombre of Ran and one of her closest friends. However, behind her romantic and cute cover lies a dark past. When she was in third grade, her parents divorced (her father is currently remarried) and she lived with her mother, who paid more attention to looking for a new man rather than to see Miyu grow up (she despised Miyu because she reminded her of her divorced husband). She once was the leader of a street gang called the "Resistance", often wreaking mayhem and irritation during middle school and had a rough-mannered and threatening personality that Ran despised. One day, Yamato (by then a rookie cop) saved her from a tough situation, and his dedication to helping with Miyu's problems made her fall in love with him. Because of that, she left the life of crime and became more polite after Yamato told her his wish for her to be good and eventually became great friends with Ran. However, she remains an incredible fighter and can get back to her previous violent self when someone completely upsets her and when she becomes uncharacteristically furious. In conversation, she has a habit of referring to herself in the third person, though occasionally uses first person in more serious situations. Ran often remarks how Miyu is "lovey-dovey" with Yamato and there is a running gag on both series when they are interrupted when they are trying to kiss, usually by Ran. When her mom eventually moved out, she moved into a new apartment and married Yamato in Hawaii in the manga. Her favorite color of her silhouette is yellow.
Aya is one of the top students with black hair in Ran's class, but she was secretly doing enjo kōsai to earn money according to the first chapter/episode, since her parents were very strict about her being in number one in academics and wouldn't let her do any part-time jobs or go out. Ran found out and confronted her about it, fortunately making her realize that she was doing the wrong thing before Aya could actually "do it" with somebody. Since then, Aya became good friends with Ran and Miyu. She is a shy but honest and studious individual who enjoys academics while also longing for excitement every now and then, which is thankfully provided by Ran. Aya strengthens and changes during course of the series. She's usually a crybaby when it comes to sad or happy moments, but she grows braver and learns to stand on her own. She has deep feelings for Rei Otohata but her shyness leads to complications in their relationship, especially as Otohata initially dates her due to pity rather than affection, but the two eventually manage to establish a genuine relationship by the end of the series. Her favorite color of her silhouette is blue.
Rei Otohata is a student at Meisho Daichi High School (Champion High School in ADV's dub). He is also known as "#1", because he was featured in a magazine as being the coolest and handsomest teenage guy in the area. He rides a motorcycle and is good friends with Yuya. He has a cold and detached demeanor, and is constantly annoyed by Ran. He has trouble expressing his feelings towards others. He initially likes Ran but tends to hide this well, but later reciprocates Aya's feelings for him by the end of the series.
Yuya is also a student at Meisho Daichi High School, and he is known as "#2" or "Second Place", as he was the runner-up to Rei in a popularity magazine poll. He and Rei are friends. Early in the series, he develops a crush on Ran, even role-playing how it would be nice to date her, but Ran is oblivious to the fact. The crush gets worse when Tatsuki joins in and confesses successfully to Ran. As time passes, he helps Mami Honda out to the point that Mami starts falling for him, even though he still has a crush on Ran. Near the end of the series, he gets over Ran, and ends up dating Mami.
Tatsuki Kuroi (also nicknamed Tatsukichi) is a wild and kind student at Machida West High School, and he calls himself "the parapara king of Machida" (also known as "Machida Black", since the "kuro" in his last name means "black"). In the manga he is also called Blackwell (the literal translation of his surname). He is often nicknamed "Monkey Boy" since his personality is very similar to that of a monkey. He becomes Ran's boyfriend, although she studiously avoids anything remotely approaching intimacy other than hugging or holding hands, thus calming him. He likes to use English words and phrases in his conversations. Sometimes he says a phrase in English then he will say then same phrase in Japanese, or he will say a phrase beginning in Japanese and ending in English, and then he will say the same phrase again, switching the Japanese and English parts (example: "Black nichiyōbi", "Black Sunday", and then "Kuroi Sunday"). He also likes to call Yuya "brother" in English.
Supporting
Ran's and Sayo's older brother. Unlike Ran, he has a sensitive and passionate personality that shows through his job as a cop, and is usually on duty at the Shibuya "koban". The only thing that annoys him is when Ran causes trouble in Shibuya and he has to bring her to the police station. His love interest is Ran's best friend, the much-younger Miyu Yamazaki, whom he first met when he was a rookie cop and when Miyu was a troublesome and violent gangster. It was he that helped her to be good, since he was the only one who believed in her. In the end, he helped Miyu move into her new apartment and married her after she finished high school.
Ran's and Yamato's younger sister. She dreams of being a detective like her father has. Sayo and her boyfriend, Masato Iwai, often roleplay as conspicuous detectives, drawing the attention of onlookers and inciting frustration from Ran who is bothered by their antics. She is very energetic and enthusiastic about everything she does, but she is slightly accident prone and often falls face down when she tries to run away or exit in a dramatic fashion. She ends her sentences with the phrase . In the end of the series she is still with Masato and they both go the same high school that Ran goes to.
Ran's father is the local Chief of Detectives. He disapproves of his daughter's lifestyle. He tries his best to make Ran say that she wants to be a police officer, and often tries various tactics to get her to do various jobs helping the people (like refusing to giving her money). He is also famous for employing a technique called "Taizo's Giant Swing of Fury" on Ran when he loses patience with her and once on Sayo.
Ran's mother who is also a police officer. It is a running gag throughout the series about her mysterious age, as she appears to be much younger than her husband. She is much more patient with Ran and the entire family in general- she never seems upset by Ran's choice to be a Gal as is very supportive of her children. Towards the end of the manga, she tells Miyu that she considers Miyu her daughter, showing just how nurturing she can be.
Mami is a gal from the neighboring Ikebukuro district where she is known as the "Queen of Ikebukuro". She has a fierce rivalry with Ran and participates in several competitions with her. She develops feelings for Yuya after he comforts her during some of the matches. She later forms a truce with Ran. In the anime, she comes from a very rich family.
Harue is Mami's best friend. She was once a member of a gang called the "Eagles", which was broken up by Miyu's "Resistance" gang. She once sent in a nasty email to everyone in school about Miyu and her past.