Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi
Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

Dosanko Gal is a pretty great manga... up until the point where it became a harem. I have to admit I really enjoyed the manga in the beginning— there was a cute girl doing very cute and funny things, and an MC who maybe didn’t seem hopelessly dense when it comes to love. But alas we can’t always have our cake and eat it too.

Unfortunately I had too high of expectations when I thought this MC could actually recognize and realize the main girl’s feelings. No matter what type of romantic or sexual advance main gal makes, our virgin boy always somehow dismissed it ... or turns it platonic. For example, in one chapter, our main gal straight up sends a photo of herself in the bathtub to MC, yet he has the audacity and lack of brain capacity to respond with, “You’re very serious about taking care of your beauty! I really admire that!” Like NO sir, she was trying to get you to fuck her, not praise her skin routine. It is like this with practically every girl he encounters— main girl #1, main girl #2, and probably main girl #3.

Despite MC being as dense as a brick, and despite the manga steering into a harem route (which I personally think is unneeded), there are still enjoyable things about this manga. Every main girl is genuinely a likeable character. They all compete for MC’s love and affection while still being friends and maintaining a good relationship with each other which is pretty respectable. And somehow I also still think that MC is an adorable and loveable character— he just needs to work on his density.

Other pros: Good art, funny story, light ecchi (not too much and not too little, just the way I like it), very regionalistic as Hokkaido culture is apart of the manga.

Overall, could this manga be improved? 1000000% yes. Should you still read it even though it has flaws? Yes, yes you should.

First off, I am still a huge fan of the Oneshot and first some chapters of this manga, rating both of them 10/10. My initial review for the serialization was a deserved 3/10. More on that below. Now, ...

THE MADMAN (author) DID IT. Turned a solid 3/10 into a good 6/10 before it ends by pretending that ~30 chapters never happened. What a turn of tables. It was around chapter 90 when the author realized what a hot pile of dogshit they created. The "story" and "characters" make no sense anymore. There is no endgame. THANK GOD, randomly, in the midst of an "arc", literally ... mid sentence, we get a clear cut- Huge timeskip and Fuyuki is a whole different character again. Same with Tsubasa. So much (important-)stuff got pulled out of thin air from off-screen with zero foreshadowing and sense to then be resolved off-screen in an instant. The cut is pretty harsh and it is clear that the author did not know how to proceed anymore, it was a tangled mess. It was quite honestly embarrassing to read at times so acting like it all never happened was the correct choice. The senpai will forever be some of the worst writing in a shounen romance manga but whatever.

This isn't 100% garbage but it can objectively not be rated higher than a 7 (the whole senpai arc...). I recommend reading the first some chapters and a skip straight to around 90. This is not a joke. There is no real character or story development that is worth reading 80 chapters for. You will get the same thing without having to see the author forget about who his own characters are at times, characters turning bipolar randomly, minor characters randomly being majorly important for something they did off-screen 30 chapters ago and some of the worst ass-pull "story"telling ever. Again, this is not a joke. It makes this whole thing a better experience.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, my initial rating was a deserved 3/10. It is the author's first published work. The Oneshot was great. The start of the series was, too. But everything went downhill fast. I do not blame the author (first work) entirely. It could've been an editor (most probably) pushing the author in the wrong direction.

The manga instantly turns into a Harem. This is a non-issue for me. Fuyuki and Tsubasa are still really enjoyable as characters at this point. Until one or two "arcs" into the series. Even if students, all characters behave like unreasonable 5 year olds randomly. Whole relationships randomly change around. Characters behave differently. There is timeskips everywhere. HUGELY IMPORTANT PLOT happens off-screen (HOLY SHIT THE ASSPULL "STORYTELLING"). The author is abusing his characters, straight up. The story is turning in circles but not really because characters, their mental and happenings get teleported around and circle around somewhere else randomly. Every 3 chapters you gotta ask yourself "who are these characters?", "what is happening?", "why are we back in school suddenly?", "This character that was mentioned once fleetingly suddenly is major and did something REALLY important off-screen and 20 chapters ago (the Senpai)".

This is a preliminary review because there aren't any other ones and I think this manga deserves some attention. It should be ignored once we have more chapters and in-depth reviews.

This is something of a love-letter to Hokkaido (something like Japan's version of Michigan's Upper Peninsula) wrapped up in a High-School RomCom. At least that's what it is so far. The MC is an overly earnest boy from Tokyo in a fish-out-of-water role. He's a little prim, but not the usual loser-kun found in these mangas. The initial FMC is a bold and bubbly girl with a big heart who helps him get his feet ... planted. She's a bit more frivolous than what he'd normally go for, but he finds himself blurting out how beautiful she is within minutes of meeting her. From there, he's just trying to fit in and make some friends.

So far, this is a light-hearted story with minimal drama. The art is gorgeous, especially when focused on the FMCs. There is some light ecchi, but it's not really overdone. The writing, especially the way it highlights the cultural differences, is pretty sharp for this kind of work, and the characters have reasonably logical motivations. This is looking to be a fun read and I'm definitely tracking this one for updates, which appear to be fairly regular, right now.

For the people that can enjoy a carefree shounen romance/harem, Dosanko Gal is a must read.

Dosanko Gal is probably the first harem/romance Shounen series that I actually, genuinely like and would back up if anyone would try to diss about. It's a genre i like to go back to from time to time (for my liking of romance and the easiness in that sense that comes from a shounen-like, carefree love triangle/harem manga), but i always leave acknowledging that it is shallow, unrefined or even vapid.

That is definitively not the case for Dosanko Gal.

Sure, it uses various tropes from that niche, but in a ... flat out better, natural and believable way. For example the Protagonist, Natsukawa Tsubasa, being a relatable person through the pages, but being not nearly as dense as other protagonists from Shounen Romance (almost a sedative quality when compared to some unsuspecting, borderline imbecile main characters), and, actually being believable for other characters to fall in love with him, as he actually HAS qualities, talents and good not-so-exaggerated looks (opposite of plain blank slate characters that girls fall in love just because, that exists for the sake of being boring).
The way Dosanko uses the tropes from the genre by the book, but without making it frustrating or plain stupid, makes even though the series being technically a harem, it still behaves like a romance that flows naturally and not looking like a harem at all. The characters are well built-up with their own personalities, insecurities and desires, all of them visibly developing throughout the story not only as persons, but also romantically developing, a concept that Shounen Romance/Harem pratically doens't know exists. Also, no ''dere spectrum'' crap, so no shortcuts or caricature characters that feel annoying or unfleshed.

The art of Dosanko is kinda fickle, sometimes going from astoundingly beautiful to just regular in some pannels, but it is certainly one of the best in it's genre, mainly in the fashion department: the clothing is, simply put, gorgeous. The outifts chosen by the girls are almost garments used by models, made by fashion designers, the passion of the artist oozing from the pages, something that fits the ''gyaru asthetic'' that would not be so common for normal Highschool Students. That is also present in the character's designs, the main girls being beautiful, full of makeup and stylish - although it fails sometimes, as the main girls are so pretty that when a scene comes when someone else's beauty is acknowledged (specifically for a certain character), it is made lighter and less truthful by the fact that all of them look sensational.

As I said before, the romance in Dosanko Gal flows naturally. The characters really build relationships between themselves that are layered and realistic, those relationships evolving through the chapters. I believe the manga charmed me the most for the fact that, unlike harem/romance shounens, the characters fall in love with each other in believable ways too, taking chapters, activities and self-revision moments for the fall, not a simple ''he is a good guy'' type of bad writting. It is not a slowburn by any means, what is not immediate is how deep they fell in love. I was already sold on it already on the first few chapters and pratically devoured that other thirty.

Dosanko Gal is certainly one of the best, if not the best, light harem/romance Shounen i touched, and it still releasing even.

The very obvious and glaring problem with this manga is that it has no other purpose or goal other than working as a glorified travel brochure for Hokkaido. Every single thing —from the characters, to the romance, to the conflicts— is mediated by the necessity of, at some point, inserting a scene that goes like "look at how cool this tourist attraction is!". Initially, it's not much of an issue: you, as a critical reader might realize that the characters are as bland as a fictional water flavored ice cream; this is because none of the characters are written with the purpose of exploring a ... human mind, instead, they exist as tropes which serve the only goal of constructing the simplest of plots; an excuse, in other words. But that's OK, any manga reader has come across millions and trillions of unoriginal stories and boring conflicts (the love octagon, the family trauma, the search for purpose; we've seen everything).

The problem is that it gets egregious the closer it gets to the end (or well, to the now, as it's still being published). It doesn't even have so much of a story now; it's just the tourism pamphlet interpolated by panels of the main couple going "OMG I love her so much", "oh god, I'm so glad I am with you, Generic-kun!", "can't wait to see what the future will deliver for us", and more and more phrases with absolutely zero substance. Not even the story gets saved aesthetically; it feels like the artist just looked at an Uniqlo or Mujin catalogue, or perhaps the blandest of K-Dramas, and decided to base the whole artstyle over it. It has zero identity —no, actually, scratch that; it has the identity of a corporate advertisement. Because that's what this is. The only thing separating this from a TV ad from Nike where we see an athlete winning the race because of the shoe of the moment is that this one goes on from +100 chapters, somehow.

I give it a 3 only because it manages to not be offensive to the reader, which is the bare minimum.

PURE CINEMA!!! Best romance ending I´ve ever seen!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ever since stumbling onto this manga I always believed it had potential for it to become a really good romance manga. Most of it because Ikada sensei has a very distinctive art style and gave it a unique setting compared to the vast majority of romance manga.
In between chapters there´s trivia involving the hokkaido traditions and customs, which is fun to read and know about.

The story follows a 17 year old boy named Shiki Tsubasa, recently moved from Tokyo to Hokkaido "The land of the Gals!". From here on our MC meets three beautiful Hokkaido gals named ... Fuyuki Minami, Akino Sayuri and Natsukawa Rena. This is where new friendships are made and possible love interests can bloom. This story goes into the Harem troope however much like the ´quintessential quintuplets` there´s only a single winner.

The art style hooks you up from the first minute showing you the beautiful landscapes of hokkaido to the city like life of Tokyo.
Each character design is distinctively drawn without making you think is just a copy and paste of another different character. And yeah the female characters have plot if you catch my drift 😉

The character development across the manga is really good, for example the mc at first is timid and blushful kinda like a princesso, but later on as he grows bonds with others and overcomes obstacles he becomes more assertive, extrovert and mindful of others. And not just him the other characters also grow as a person, with and without the mc´s help as they discover new emotions and goals for themselfs.

Like a lot of romance manga´s there always comedy, drama, love trriangles, heartbreaks, etc to be found as well, which in this manga it covers it very well. The only exception is in one of the arcs there´s an unnecessary drama because of a misunderstanding between the characters but is later sorted out.

Overall, I´m very happy to have read this manga. The journey has been trully amazing at times like a roller coaster and to top it all off the ´Ending` is the Icing of the cake. This manga will be among my top 10 of favourites.
I can´t wait for what Ikada sensei will come up next!

I'm going to be blunt about this, I'm disappointed in Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi or Hokkaido Gals are Super Adorable (Dosanko Gal moving forward). If you go to the manga page on this site, you'll notice it has 'Romantic Subtext' as its theme. Don't be misled by it, because this manga is anything but.

Dosanko Gal starts off strong. Our protagonist Shiki Tsubasa has just moved to Hokkaido and doesn't know his way there yet. Then he meets a gal (gyaru) named Fuyuki Minami and as it turns out they are in the same school and in the same class even. We basically have ... Minami showing Tsubasa the rope around, introducing snacks, drinks, things, events and many more that one can only find in Hokkaido for the first 20 chapters. This manga should have stayed being just that.

The problem starts to rise as new characters (heroines) are introduced. It's as though the author shifts gear instantly to make it a harem series. Nothing wrong with harem, but the way the author introduces new characters doesn't feel natural, it feels haphazard. Like, couldn't you have made it less obvious? You can't have a harem manga with no conflict, which is another problem this manga has.

I like to call this 'pseudo conflict'. This manga makes the most trivial issue as the foundation of a conflict. When reading, I find myself asking, well, myself, 'how in the world is this a conflict?' a lot of times. Not to mention, the way a conflict is solved is always in the worst way possible. It leaves no satisfaction when a character overcomes a conflict. The transition between arcs is always rough. You wouldn't realize a new arc has started and you wouldn't know an arc has ended.

The characters themselves don't feel natural. They feel artificial. I'm not going to tell which girl likes Tsubasa because that will be a spoiler, but they are very vague with themselves. Always second-guessing themselves. It's frustrating to read. Because the characters don't feel natural, the dialogues don't feel natural either. It's a domino effect.

All in all, Dosanko Gal isn't the worst. It's bad because it started off really good.

Final verdict, 6/10.

I'm gonna write it short and sweet, straight to the point. The manga is pretty much 8-9/10 up until chapter 32. Its tone was so enchanting and light-hearted I could keep on reading it the way it was forever. However, from chapter 33 onwards the story shifts from being centered around MC's relationship with main love interest and their fun times together to other stuff which brings the whole thing down to 6/10 throughout most of the remaining chapters. There are still some interesting chapters here and there and some fun to be had with the series, but after that tone shift it almost feels ... like there's no coming back. That being said, i will definitely read this manga to its very conclusion and i'm sure i will have some fun and heartache while reading it, so I'm confident it will be worth the time.

I definitely recommend giving it a read if you want to find something wholesome and light-hearted with a bit of romance.

***Minor Spoilers***

As of writing I am at 33 chapters in of about 51 currently available. I have read in other reviews that this is turning into a harem manga. While it does have some notions of that genre laid throughout the story, but it does not hinder the story in the slightest.

Basic synopsis is a city boy from Tokyo moves to Hokkaido. Moving from the big city life to the less populated prefecture of Hokkaido seemed to be culture shock for the MC. He meets a girl whom he becomes instant friends with and they develop of one another throughout the story. With two ... other girls on the side that have taken interest in our MC.

Character development is pretty smooth and seamless. However, the MC is one dense dude and doesn't take hints very well on numerous occasions.

Overall I have fun reading this and I am excited to continue it. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Romcom manga's and slice of life stuff. definitely deserves a 8.5/10

The manga just finished recently and I must say, it was good. The story is a slice of life romance between two people, Tsubasa and Minami. Most of the manga occurred in school so it might as well be school life genre.

The romance is a slow burn, with some hints of drama to shake things up, particularly with the introduction of the other girls. It's kind of obvious that they stood no chance so it's painful to see their attempts. And given that the romance was a slow burn, even the failure of the romances from the other girls took a lot of time to ... have closure. That might put you off, so please be aware.

There's a lot of advertising for Hokkaido, which I guess is okay. It's not really annoying, but if you're not into that, then at least you know.

Towards the end, the manga went lightspeed. I won't spoil, but you might end up very surprised.

Overall, the manga is good but it has it downsides as well. If you are fine with them, do give the manga a try!

Thanks for reading my review and God bless.

*Spoilers sorry*

I was having a lot of fun with this series until all of the rejections started getting passed around, and I couldn't really get my head around all of the character motivations and actions.
It was fun at first to see such an unforeseen series of events between the main girl, gamer girl, and MC but after all of the smoke settled from that camping arc I was left confused and wondering "well now what?". And since that point my interest in the series slowly waned over time.
Best girl lost in the latest chapter so I'm probably not going to stay updated with this ... series anymore which is a shame because it had a really great start and some fun moments.

Hokkaido Gals is, on one hand, an unexceptional 少年 high school harem romance and on the other a relatively satisfying read. Regarding its unexceptional qualities, there are fireworks, cherry blossom viewing equivalents, misunderstandings, fireflies by a lake, ridiculous and sexually tense scenarios, a test of courage, female love interests who are large-breasted, kind, and romantically proactive, confessions, a class trip, and a ski trip.

On the other hand, its relatively condensed structure does not overstay its welcome, except perhaps in the currently on-going epilogue, and it hits some surprisingly effective emotional beats. Kai Ikada tries to avoid the common pitfall of female leads in which ... all their conversation relates to the male MC and generally succeeds. When the girls alone are highlighted, they are portrayed as having friends and family, being friends with each other, and having unique interests. While these interests are superficial and their conversation generally loop back to romance, they are mostly portrayed pursuing individual interests or enjoying time with others first before there is a discussion about the male MC.

There’s also something to be said of the male MC. While he fits into the ‘milk toast’ protagonist category of kind and polite, he’s also relatively forthcoming and decisive compared to the Kazuyas and Keitaros of the manga and anime world. He’s also at the center of an unexpectedly emotional, non-romantic plot beat between chapters 30 – 50 that actually made me cry. I’m still confused by this today.

Ironically, my chief gripe against the series is that the characters are not that physically adorable. Ikada really exaggerates breast sizes to absurdity, which comes across as pandering and unnecessary, as are the frequent panty shots. The author must also have a thing for bangs. One character gets a makeover in later chapters which, in my opinion, looks worse than her original design despite all of the characters thinking otherwise.

In all, Hokkaido Gals for me has been worth the read as a fun harem romance. It is cozy, and it doesn’t derail for too long. Its misunderstandings are believable and resolved relatively quickly. Its ending has been unsurprising but satisfying, though a bit drawn out compared to the rest of the series. I recommend it for any fan of 少年 high school romance.

I really want to give this a 10/10 but it doesn't compare to masterpieces like Vinland Saga, Berserk, FMA, obviously. But as far as romance manga go, this is a 10/10 in my eyes. The artwork is stunning, with the author occasionally inserting gorgeous full-color pages. The story is fairly unique and has an absolutely adorable and emotional finish, as well as good conflict. I enjoyed reading this quite a bit and was so hooked I binge-read all 119 chapters in two days. If fanservice really bothers you, this might not be for you, but the fanservice is mild and the rest of the art ... is, as stated, stunning.

This manga truly stands out in numerous ways. Personally, I find the character development to be exceptional—kudos to the creators for that! The narrative is so engaging that if I were to visualise it as a graph, it would show a thrilling pattern of ups and downs, which adds to the overall appeal of the story.

The manga features three heroines, each with distinct characteristics and meanings that resonate with me in different ways. Their individuality enriches the story and adds layers to the overall experience. The side characters in this manga play a pivotal role in elevating the story from good to great. Each one ... brings a unique perspective and depth, enriching the main narrative and contributing to the overall themes. Their interactions with the protagonists often give away motivations and emotions, adding sweetness to the plot. These characters not only provide essential support and conflict but also highlight the strengths and vulnerabilities of the main characters, making the story even more engaging and relatable.

While there are a few elements that didn't resonate with me as much, I remind myself that it’s fiction. Sometimes, it's perfectly fine to let our imaginations roam free and explore unconventional ideas.

My rating is 8.9

Finally a manga that takes place in the real world but doesnt take place in Tokyo, the story is about a guy moving from tokyo to a highschool in hokkaido in the middle of the winter there he meets a gal girl that is cheerfull and likes to tease him so they become friends (obvious spoiler: she is a romantic interest) in the next chapters the manga introduces another romantic interest and the story continues (i am writing this review too early i am in like chapter 7.3 the manga will prob add more girls)

Plot: (7/10)
Art: (8/10)
Characters: (7/10)
Overall: 7/10

it doenst take place in tokyo sth ... seen once in 5 thousand manga, read it.

I don't usually write reviews, but this one somehow deserves it in both good and bad way.
I have read it till 75 chapters(latest at the time of writing this and probably nearing the end of our story), and in general the story is really good and enjoyable till the latest 10 to 20 chapters.
Around the time when the story revolves around(mild spoiler) fireworks and our MC going back to Tokyo. After that it goes bad, it seems like the author is trying to prolong the story for no reason.
Sure it gets to the point of having a harem but it was natural and ... enjoyable and it wasn't forced.
But at that turning point it seems like every character loses braincells or something, everyone sees that our MC likes the FL( Fuyuki) but even than they still pursue him and trying to force him or something.
It doesn't help the fact that Fuyuki doesn't respond to his feeling just because she values friends. While at the same time Akino already told her that she is going to fight for him. Like WTF? You can see that she is ready to fight and probably wouldn't say a word if she lost.
Not even adding the misunderstanding part of the story which is staple in romances and the fact that FL is on the front cover of the manga so we the reader already know who is going to win xD

There are some other stuff but the review would be too long.
I do understand that these are high school kids but some parts still doesn't make a lot of sense.

TLDR: In general story is good and enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone interested in romance stuff, BUT get ready to be slightly annoyed or pissed off later in the story because it seems like the author tries to make some drama in it. Honestly the story would work perfectly well if the feel of the story stayed the same throughout the whole manga. If it wasn't for that annoyance it would have a perfect score

Made me fall in love with Hokkaido

Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi is an exceptional manga. It paints a truly beautiful picture of Hokkaido and makes you fall in love with it. The manga has a ton of fun facts, quizzes, and more about Hokkaido and its interesting culture. In the story, the characters also visit a few interesting spots from Hokkaido. These scenes are in full color making them breathtaking and magical. The author takes you on a trip to Hokkaido that hopefully, you won't forget.

The characters are super cute and interesting and the main character isn't bland at all. Tsubasa has a very realistic ... feel. I especially like his family struggle, makes him much more real. All the girls are very different in their personalities and designs which makes for a fun experience reading.
The art is gorgeous. The girls and scenery pop and make you want to stop and stare at it for a bit. Truly astonishing work. Though at the beginning the author had some trouble with body proportions.
The story is also well-made.

Definitely worth a read.

Hokkaido Tourism ad with some romance, and a bit of harem. It's not novel nor good but it's an easy read, doesn't drag the plot and honestly, it works. Makes you want to visit Hokkaido.

Overall it feels like comfort food. You are sick and you don't want something too complicated or full of drama. There's cute girls, a protagonist that's actually not as bland as the typical main character for this kind of shows, heaps of fanservice that doesn't feel out of place because it is part of the main course and a lot of information on hokkaido history, gastronomy and landmarks.

This review is marked preliminary, but the manga reached its final chapter before I wrote this review.

This manga was one of those manga I started and was not sure if I would stick with it or not, but as the story and the characters grew, I liked it more and more. The start of the story is very much about fan service and putting the characters in situations that at times fell flat. However, as the story played out, while the fan service remained, the plot points became more interesting to me and I found myself looking forward to reading the newest chapters when ... they popped up on Manga+. I think the greatest strength fo the manga was that it understood how high schoolers act a nd how dramatic they can make things seem. The manga felt very authentic in places and I always appreciate that. It's greatest weakness was how random and forced the fan service seemed at times. Sometimes it made me wonder if we really needed some of the moments or if they could have been achieved less awkwardly.

If you're looking for a story with a good character arcs and an ending that's tonally sound, then you'll want to give this manga a chance. If you're looking for something that feels less juvenile, then you might want to try something else.

Honestly its a entertaining manga.
Its your typical rom com with the fmc and mmc. Both liking each other but with 0 progression. But there exist a constant idea of the next chapter having a ending and progression between the two.

The art is good tier, the artist for this is a literal god, its worth a read just on the art alone. The plot is also good as it is not rushed but actually planned out and the two grow with time. Ill be honest its been a couple months since ive read it but its a great story. I dont have as much ... time as i used to with life being all busy.

With my updated mangas to read, this is one manga id choose when i only have 1-2 chapters to read per week. When im busy and need to relax the simple plot and great art lets me rest and enjoy a break from crazy battle manga. Its honestly entertaining. the plot development is just a nice part to the god tier art.