Aho-Girl: A Clueless Girl (Japanese: アホガール, Hepburn: Aho Gāru; lit. "Idiot Girl") is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from November 2012 to February 2015, and later moved to the publisher's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, where it ran from June 2015 to December 2017; its chapters were collected in 12 tankōbon volumes. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by Diomedéa aired between July and September 2017.
Contents
Plot
The story follows the everyday life of high school girl Yoshiko Hanabatake. True to the title, she is known to be exceptionally stupid academically as well as socially. She constantly hangs out with and annoys her studious and serious neighbor/childhood friend Akuru Akutsu, whom Yoshiko's mother wants her to marry. Yoshiko becomes friends with the level-headed Sayaka Sumino, who, along with Akuru, try to keep Yoshiko in check. The Public Morals Chairwoman dislikes the free-spirited Yoshiko but when Akuru makes some casual remarks that compliment her, the chairwoman falls in love with Akuru and begins stalking him while repressing her perverted thoughts. Yoshiko also befriends Ryuichi Kurosaki, a delinquent who thinks of Yoshiko as a gang leader, a group of playground kids, a group of gyaru, and some other students and staff at school.
Characters
Major characters
Yoshiko Hanabatake (花畑 よしこ, Hanabatake Yoshiko)
Voiced by: Aoi Yūki
The title character of the story is a mischievous, cheerful high school girl who is stupid both academically and socially. She even gets zeroes on multiple choice tests.Ch. 1 However what she lacks intellectual capacity she makes up with spunk, ridiculous audacity and abundant energy when it comes to what she wants. She has light brown hair styled in long twin tails. She frequently hangs out with her neighbor, childhood best friend and classmate Akuru much to his annoyance. Her favorite food is bananas.Ch. 9 She fails to realize when people are annoyed at her, often mistaking it as a person's desire to play or become her friend.
Akuru Akutsu (阿久津 明, Akutsu Akuru)
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita, Makoto Koichi (young)
Akuru is a smart, reclusive and serious high school student who is constantly annoyed by Yoshiko's antics. The reason he and Yoshiko are classmates is because he chose to attend a local high school as the really academic schools were too far away for him to study properly. He scolds Yoshiko for her idiotic behavior, even resorting to punches.Ch. 1 He prefers to study, and does not have a girlfriend or any friends besides Yoshiko, although Sayaka agrees to be his friend out of pity, even though he has no desire to obtain more friends.Ch. 3 A recurring gag is that he is never able to get a perfect score on any exam, always falling a few marks short.Ep.7
Sayaka Sumino (隅野 さやか, Sumino Sayaka)
Voiced by: Sayaka Harada
Akuru and Yoshiko's classmate who ends up becoming friends with the two. She has blond hair that goes over her shoulders and wears her school uniform with white knee socks. She too is level-headed and assumes the straight-man role,Ch. 2 often moderating interactions between Yoshiko and others.Ch. 56, 66 She is kind and worries about being boring.Vol. 2 profiles She is very sensitive, especially when others point out her small chest, which appears slightly small, even after she pads it. She sometimes loses her patience.Ch. 3, 22, 66
Supporting characters
Yoshie Hanabatake (花畑 よしえ, Hanabatake Yoshie)
Voiced by: Yoko Hikasa
Yoshiko's mother who is constantly worrying about her daughter, but brightens up to the fact that Akuru pays attention to her and secretly hopes he and Yoshiko can marry, keeping it a secret out of fear of how Akuru would react.Ch. 2 She hatches several schemes to have Yoshiko flirt with Akuru but they often backfire.Ch. 8 At first she perceives Sayaka to be a threat to marry Akuru but after checking her panties are that of a child, she deems her safe,Ch. 14 but finds the Chairwoman to be a far more serious threat.Ch. 43 She is shown to be somewhat psychotic, given her drastic methods and the obscene nature of her schemes. Ep. 3 Ep. 5 Ep. 10
Ryuuichi Kurosaki (黒崎 龍一, Kurosaki Ryūichi)
Voiced by: Taku Yashiro
A delinquent guy whom Yoshiko interacts with, he becomes Yoshiko's disciple, calling her anego (アネゴ; "big sister").Ch. 4, 6 He tries to become friends with Akuru but fails because of his shyness, and ends up acting more like his underling.Ch. 29 While he may seem stupid, Ryuuichi has proven himself to be very smart as he once stayed home and studied even placing higher than Akuru who was shocked that Ryuuichi was skilled in academics.
Ruri Akutsu (阿久津 瑠璃, Akutsu Ruri)
Voiced by: Sayaka Senbongi
Akuru's younger sister who is in the fifth grade. She is worried she will become an idiot like Yoshiko as she struggles academically,Ch. 10 and that even her brother tells her to give up - even giving her a guidebook on how to get through life without a degree as a birthday present. She admires Sayaka because she helps tutor her a little bit.Ch. 18
Playground kids
Voiced by: Shiori Izawa
Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Hiroyuki, Aho-Girl started in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine on November 28, 2012. A crossover one-shot with Love Hina was released on August 27, 2014. The series finished its serialization in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on February 18, 2015, and was transferred to Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on June 9 of that same year, and concluded on December 9, 2017.
Kodansha USA has licensed the manga for English release in North America.
Anime
A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Diomedéa aired from July 4 to September 19, 2017, on Tokyo MX, Sun TV, and BS11. Keizou Kusakawa served as the chief director, with Shingo Tamaki also as a director, and Takashi Aoshima as the script writer. The episodes are 15 minutes long. The opening theme is "Zenryoku Summer!" (全力☆Summer!; 'Full Power Summer!'), performed by Angela. The ending theme is "Odore! Kyūkyoku Tetsugaku" (踊れ!きゅーきょく哲学), performed by Sumire Uesaka, who also voices the Disciplinary Committee President.
Crunchyroll simulcasted the series in multiple regions.
Reception
Volume 1 reached the 43rd place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of May 18, 2013, has sold 27,861 copies; volume 2 reached the 22nd place and, as of October 27, 2013, has sold 61,653 copies; volume 3 reached the 20th place and, as of April 27, 2014, has sold 62,692 copies; volume 4 reached the 22nd place and, as of August 24, 2014, has sold 55,158 copies; volume 5 reached the 34th place and, as of January 18, 2015, has sold 27,473 copies. Volume 6 placed 24th and sold 52,198 copies over 2 weeks. Volume 7 reached number 24 with 30,236 copies sold in its first week.