Jul 15, 2017
Both Japanese and western comedy have a tradition of duos composed of an idiot and a straight man. It is very rare to see the role of the idiot taken by a woman, and when it is, the woman typically has the persona of a bimbo or airhead.
In Aho Girl we have the role of the idiot portrayed by a character who is not a passive bimbo or moe airhead, but the aggressively stupid Yoshiko. In an novel way this breaks with the traditional portrayal of stupid girls in manga because there is little to no effort made to portray Yoshiko as moe
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or even sympathetic. She is an idiot, a burden to those around her, and any redeeming qualities she may have are overshadowed by the chaos she creates. Even in situations that would normally be fanservice when her skirt is flipped or she is sleeping in her underwear, the reactions of the other characters are disgust and disdain as opposed to nose-bleeding ecchi. The audience is treated to equal opportunity idiocy as Yoshiko's antics don't rely on her being a girl, but rather her being a moron who just so happens to be a girl.
As a foil to Yoshiko, we have Akutsu (usually just A-kun) who plays the straight man. When we first meet A-kun it seems like his treatment of Yoshiko is rather harsh, but as the story progresses, we can empathize with his frustration over his neighbor's antics. But, at the same time, he is not an overly empathetic character. In his interactions with other characters he is a bit of an asshole and not entirely an innocent victim of Yoshiko's stupidity. He's not an utter villain that we enjoy seeing suffer either, and because he is neither a complete devil or saint, what could be a one-note character takes on some depth.
Other characters orbit around the main duo drawn in by the gravity of Yoshiko's stupidity and unable to escape. Its a common theme for Yoshiko to burst into someone else's life and create chaos with the iron-clad assurance that she has a solution to a problem, even when there is no problem in the first place.
The art can be surprisingly dynamic without too much complexity. Communicating complex actions via expressions and non-verbal poses is really well done and aids the comedic beats and character portrayals. You can practically hear the wet smacking noises as Yoshiko chews with her mouth open and sprays bits of bananas as she talks. The 4-koma format is utilized well and provides beats between scenes or gags, though some jokes or story elements need multiple columns to get to one punchline.
Overall, there is no greater story or romance, making this a gag manga in the purest sense. This makes the manga easy to pick up anywhere and reading chapters in order isn't especially necessary. This simplicity is a bit of a rarity as so many comedic manga (even 4-koma types) insert serious arcs to varying effect.
If you are looking for a simple laugh, then Aho Girl is a good choice.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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