Girl Friend BETA – 01

With my schedule pretty much set at five shows plus one short, Girl Friend BETA was the last Fall show on my preliminary watchlist to check out, and, well, I’ll give it this: it’s a lot different from everything else I’m watching. By far, it is the most “slice-of-life-y” slice-of-lifes I’ve encountered this season, with very little in the way of conflict.

It’s just a typical school day from start to finish for Shiina Kokomi, member of the rhythmic gymnastics team. Ironically, she can’t get into a rhythm during morning practice because she is continually encountering other characters who want to have a word with her. During one of these conversations, the French exchange student Chloe drops a family photo, and it becomes Kokomi’s mission to track her down and return it to her before the day is out, or the world will end.

Well, the world won’t really end, it will just be a minor convenience. Still, in her epic search for Chloe, Kokomi canvasses literally dozens of characters throughout the school. Like the mobile game it’s based on, this show is packed with characters and many well-known seiyus, leaving me to wonder if the point of said game is to “collect ’em all.”

The separation between “girl” and “friend” in the official show’s logo also suggests this is more about making friends who are girls than having girlfriends, at least so far—though one such girl does make Kokomi blush, and when she finally finds Chloe and returns the photo, she gets a kiss, though Chloe’s French, so it’s not meant to be romantic. I actually like how Chloe’s seiyu tries to replicate someone for which Japanese is not their first language, though the effort is somewhat undercut by bad French.

Girl Friend BETA is kinda like Oberto Beef Jerky: You get out…what you put in. Many of Kokomi’s conversations feel a bit stiff and formulaic, and the sheer volume of characters can be daunting, especially in a season full of shows with large casts to keep track of. Still, there’s nothing particularly awful or offensive about Girl Friend BETA, and has the makings of a passable “rest” show to spool up whenever you just want to turn your brain off and simply enjoy a school slice of life.