“We're going to launch a manga magazine! A team of girls with zero experience in manga editing are off and running toward their dream of creating the biggest manga magazine in Japan! They seem to do nothing but run into problems and failures... But still they're working hard every day!” The first comment on Crunchyroll's page for ep 1 reads "Be honest, who thought this show was about a transvestite/hermaphrodite?". A damning indictment of what anime fans are conditioned to expect these days, if every I saw one. But no, Mangirl! is a portmanteau of "Manga" and "Girl" - because it's a bout a girl trying to set herself up in the manga business. Think Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, with the BL replaced by unbearable moe cuteness, and angst replaced by questionable hiring techniques. Works for me. I liked the manga production side of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, and while Mangirl tackles the subject with a lot more speed (it's another short-form show - three shows into the new season, and I haven't watched a full-length episode yet) and a large dose of frenetic humour. While still managing to impart the rather grim economics that come with setting up a new anthology mag. Who says anime can't be edumacational? THE GOOD: Short, sharp fun, while still making a point, of sorts. THE BAD: It's no Poyopoyo... ...but then I'll be saying that about everything. But Mangirl! is off to a great start. Mangirl! is streamed by Crunchyroll.
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