The human embodiment of Ignorance Is Bliss
"Even death can't cure idiocy."
— Yoshiko in episode 2 of the anime
Yoshiko Hanabatake is a high-school girl, and she is stupid. Like, a get-all-zeroes-on-multiple-choice-tests level of stupid. The only person who is close to her initially is Akuru "A-kun" Akutsu, a genius and Yoshiko's long-suffering childhood friend. At the tearful pleas of Yoshiko's mother, Akuru vows to make Yoshiko mentally evolve to "at least something human-like". Along the way, they are joined by a couple other girls—Sayaka Sumino, the class sweetheart submissive enough to put up with Yoshiko; and "Fuuki Iinchou", the supposedly tough disciplinarian who may be more of a pervert than she lets on—as they probe deeper into the true meaning of idiocy.
Aho Girl (アホガール, "Idiot Girl") is a gag yonkoma series hitting hard on the frontline between smartness and stupidity, written and illustrated by Hiroyuki ( The Comic Artist and his Assistants, Doujin Work) which was serialized from 2012 to 2017, starting out in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on November 28, 2012 and then moving to Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in July 2015 until its conclusion. In 2017, it was officially licensed in English by Kodansha Comics, and ended in December of the same year at 12 volumes.
The series received an anime adaptation directed by Keizou Kusakawa and released by Diomedea on July 4, 2017 as part of the Summer 2017 Anime season. The anime is available for streaming on Crunchyroll
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A little after the series ended, Hiroyuki published a short, 30 page spinoff focusing on Sayaka called Tenshi Girl (Angel Girl).
Aho Girl provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Yoshiko is a huge fan of the PreChure Magical Girl show. She is voiced by Aoi Yūki, whose breakout role was also a magical girl, and years later participated in said series.
- A-Cup Angst: Sayaka feels this the most, but Yoshiko has this too, especially whenever the Public Morals Chairwoman is around.
- Age-Stereotypical Food: Yoshiko has loved bananas ever since she first tasted one as a child. The fact that she still has a simple fruit as her Trademark Favorite Food emphasizes how childish she is.
- Alliterative Name: Akuru Akutsu, Sayaka Sumino.
- All Just a Dream: Akuru knocks out his sister and Yoshiko after they start screaming and crying in a movie theater. His sister later wakes up and he claims she fell asleep doing her homework, and she finds it completely done. She accepts that she had only dreamed she was at the movies. Meanwhile Yoshiko wakes up in her room, and concludes she must've learned how to teleport.
- Amusing Injuries: Part of the appeal of the series. Akuru does not hold back the force at which he disciplines Yoshiko whenever she's doing something stupid, which is often.
- Berserk Button:
- Yoshiko is a walking berserk button to A-kun.
- So far the only thing to make Yoshiko truly angry is when some gang members badmouth the Banana Frappucino and beat up Ryuuichi.
- Yoshie had hers pushed when Ryuuichi calls her an old hag.
- Black Comedy: Much like Seinfeld, this is a slice of life show where everyone is either a moron, sociopath or self-centered jerk (if not all three), with the most decent human being in the cast only being able to nervously chuckle at the mean-spiritedness of the world around her.
- Black Comedy Rape:
- Yoshie's attempts to copulate her daughter with A-kun is often Played for Laughs.
- Yoshie also says she took her husband's virginity after handcuffing him to a piece of furniture. Rape is heavily implied.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: While Yoshiko is obviously the boke, Sayaka ends up playing the tsukkomi just as much as A-kun.
- Book Ends: The anime adaptation begins and ends with A-kun giving Yoshiko an uppercut to the chin.
- Break Them by Talking:
- In episode 3, Yoshiko manages to make her homeroom teacher experience a nervous breakdown by making her realize that she's never actually experienced what it feels like to fall in love.
- Sayaka also does this to A-kun in Episode 5; when A-kun tries to get out of going on a vacation with the gang, she dissuades him of the notion he's the Only Sane Man by informing him that his anti-social and violent tendencies make him just as weird as everyone else. To A-kun's horror, she tells him and if he keeps insisting on being friendless, he will end up doomed to be with Yoshiko alone in the future.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Rinko Inui. She has a love of dopey-cute things and considers Yoshiko as such. Much of her interactions with Yoshiko involve treating her like a dog.
- Basically every named character in the show is a cloudcuckoolander, with the exception of Sayaka. And even then, Sayaka is sometimes implied to just be Overshadowed by Weird. After all, no normal person would willingly spend all their free time with Yoshiko.
- Color Failure: Happens to Yoshiko and A-kun's entire classroom when the former loudly shouts that she doesn't have poop marks on her panties.
- Comically Small Bribe: Yoshiko offers the Disciplinary Committee Chairwoman money to feel her boobs For Science!... a whopping 10 yen.note
- Couch Gag: The opening credits feature a gag and ends with a close-up of someone's reaction to the gag; the gag and the person varies with each episode, seen here.
- Cringe Comedy: Much of the humor of the series relies on this and the various character quirks push this to its limits;
- Yoshiko is Too Dumb to Live to the point where even little kids are nonplussed by her stupidity.
- A-kun is so vitriolic the only friends he could get are his next-door neighbor, Yoshiko (whom he thoroughly detests for her incredible levels of stupidity) and Sayaka, who hangs around him because she's enough of an Extreme Doormat to be Yoshiko's friend. The only other people who want to hang around him are a delusional Stalker with a Crush and a delinquent who looks up to him because of a misunderstanding (and whose friendship A-kun doesn't want).
- Sayaka is nice to a fault, to the point that she is an Extreme Doormat who gets easily taken advantage of by Yoshiko and her mom.
- Yoshiko's mom is a Sociopathic Gold Digger whose main goal is to get A-kun to marry Yoshiko so the mother won't have to look after her for the rest of her life.
- Ruri, A-kun's little sister, is arguably even dumber than Yoshiko because she routinely gets terrible grades despite putting so much effort into becoming a better student. And she's not just Book Dumb, she's also too inept for jump-rope or riding a bike.
- The Public Morals Chairwoman is A-kun's Stalker with a Crush who is prone to insane, lewd delusions about A-kun. She frequently gets embarrassed in front of him by Yoshiko, but just as often as not embarrasses herself by getting involved in insane plans to stalk A-kun.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The ending song is sung by Sumire Uesaka who's playing the Fuuki Iinchou.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Outright argued for twice in-series by Yoshiko's mother Yoshie, no less.
- In Chapter 14/Episode 3 Part 9, when attempting to look at Sayaka's panties, Yoshie ensnares her with handcuffs, while adding how she "claimed her husband's first time with this technique", and that "there is no escape". (Much to A-kun's chagrin).
- In Chapter 8, Yoshie tries convincing Yoshiko into seducing A-kun — via means of using sleeping pills with which to drug him — in the hope of Yoshiko getting pregnant to ensure that A-kun marries her. As if to remove any uncertainty, the very panel where she discusses this is titled "Use of Force." Subverted when A-kun catches suspicion and tricks Yoshiko into drinking the very drink he was supposed to get drugged by. And then he decides to confront Yoshie on it…This was the first time he ever wanted to send flying a woman who wasn't Yoshiko.
- Edible Bludgeon: Yoshiko delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown using bananas against a gang who had insulted the fruit.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Chapter 104 features a man gloating about how he's been molesting mature women on the train for 20 years. He makes the mistake with Yoshie (which is exactly what she wanted) and tries to blackmail him into marrying Yoshiko for exchange with not telling the cops. He's so appalled at such a method and frightened by her persistence that once she corners him, he surrenders himself to the police instead.
- Fan Disservice:
- Yoshiko's habit of going around half-topless or completely half-naked, as well as flashing her panties, could have been so erotic if it weren't for her sheer stupidity and shameless eagerness to seduce A-kun.
- Also, the 3rd monthly chapter has Yoshiko & the Public Morals Chairwoman fighting each other Keijo!!!!!!!! style in order to expand their boobs.
- Genre Shift: Downplayed when the manga transferred to Betsassu, where the mangaka ditched the 4-koma format in favor of a pure gag manga.
- Handy Feet: Episode 10 Part 39 has Yoshie taking off her shoe to use her foot to lift the skirt of The Public Morals Chairwoman, while grabbing her with both hands. To prevent herself from being seen without panties, The Public Morals Chairwoman in turn used her own foot to grab the panties from the nearest girl which is Ruri, btw, and put them on without the girl or Yoshie noticing.
- Insane Troll Logic:
- When Yoshiko eats some high quality bananas in episode three, she immediately decides on the spot to visit the farm it as grown on, and drags Sayaka with her. Unfortunately said farm was over 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) away, and she was going to get there by running on foot. At one point they stop to rest, and Yoshiko spends their money on some dolls instead of food and water. Sayaka runs away crying, since it was easier than trying to convince Yoshiko of her idiocy. After they greet and thank the farmer, Sayaka shuts Yoshiko up about running back home, and begs him to lend them some bus fare home, which he obliges.
- Sayaka inadvertently uses this against Akuru when he initially refuses to go to the beach with "those weirdos" in episode five. Sayaka argues that said weirdos are drawn to him, therefore making him one too. And if he can't be friends with them, then he'll only have Yoshiko as a friend for the rest of his life. He immediately changes his mind and agrees to go to the beach with them.
- Mirror Character:
- Despite his intelligence, Akuru is shown to be just as much of an outcast as Yoshiko due to his slavish devotion to studying. It's often pointed out that Yoshiko is his only friend, a fact which gets him mocked by Akane and causes Sayaka to befriend him out of pity. His aloof nature also causes him to be insensitive to other people's feelings, just like Yoshiko.
- Despite hating Yoshiko for being an idiot and her whole MO for studying being so that she doesn't end up like Yoshiko, Ruri routinely scores zeros on her tests. A-kun actually notes that it's sadder than Yoshiko's case because Ruri actually tries.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Much of the violence shown towards Yoshiko ends up like this. Sayaka showing off her panties to Yoshie and Yoshiko also does this, as the two women are blinded by a light as she lifts up her skirt.
- No Romantic Resolution: Sure, the Chairwoman got turned down for now, but she's back to being obsessed with Akuru shortly afterwards, and Yoshiko is still crazy for him. The series ends with neither of these cleanly dealt with.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- The Public Morals Committee Chairwoman cannot stand Yoshiko, but A-kun considers her to be a nuisance on the same level as Yoshiko. It doesn't help that the Chairwoman gets involved in schemes which are either as stupid as something Yoshiko would come up with, or are actually concocted by Yoshiko herself.
- Akane wants to be popular, desires a boyfriend and has a penchant for playing instead of doing her studies just like Yoshiko. A-kun brutally points out this similarity in his verbal beatdown of her.
- Only Sane Man:
- Poor A-kun. He tries to keep Yoshiko in line by any means necessary, including violence. However, he falls out of the role when the subject is his own anti-social nature.
- Whenever A-kun's not around, or whenever he's too enraged to do so, Sayaka takes this role. Her open kind nature keeps her being as assertive as she probably should be. When she tries to make the Student Council President to moderate her behavior towards A-kun, the President's My God, What Have I Done? response makes Sayaka back off.
- Nice Guy: When he finally appears, Yoshiko's dad is revealed to be as such, making the most of his situation of having a wife like Yoshie and a daughter like Yoshiko. When he gives A-kun a gift as an apology for having to put up with Yoshiko's stupidity, A-kun can only wonder how a mild-mannered guy like him managed to get stuck with such a stupid kid.
- No Name Given: The Public Morals Committee Chairwoman's real name is unknown, although she does get referred to by her title. The two recurring boys in playground are unnamed as well.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: A-kun and Yoshiko, with an extra helping of grumpiness for the former and idiocy for the latter.
- Serious Business: Episode 7 Part 26 focuses on Yoshiko helping the Kindergartners buy snacks for their field trip.
- Sex Sells: The Author Avatar attempts to invoke this in Tenshi Girl by forcing Sayaka and A-kun to bang each other, but they are having none of it.
- Shout-Out:
- One chapter has Yoshiko and the Disciplinary President start fighting each other with nothing but their increasingly swollen chests.
- Yoshiko approaches Ruri while saying she couldn't resist going against Ruri's pleads her not to approach her… and then says "But I refuse/Daga kotowaru."
- When Yoshiko drags the three kids to a "Pachi Ranger" stageshow, the eyecatch at the end looks like the title in the opening theme of Kyūkyū Sentai GoGo-V.
- Yoshiko and Ruri drag Akutsu to a theater showing a "PreChure" movie. The two girls we see onscreen have the same pink/blue color scheme as Blossom and Marine, and the blue one looks an awful lot like Homura.
- In episode 2, after Ruri is aghast at Yoshiko's revelation that not even death can cure idiocy, Yoshiko attempts to sway her towards the path of idiocy.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Bright and sunny exterior notwithstanding, there are few comedies as ruthlessly cynical and unforgiving of human frailty, weakness and flaws as this thoroughly mean-spirited show.
- Slipping a Mickey: Yoshie outright advises Yoshiko to do this in one chapter, giving her a bottle of knock out juice so that Yoshiko can have her way with him while he's unconscious.
- Stock Aesop: Yoshiko is the walking propaganda of the importance of education and the harm of an idle life; even very young children note it.
- Title Sequence: The opening animation of the adaptation is actually quite simple. Even though the characters change, it all takes place over a plain grey background with very little besides a silent scene between some of the characters happening. It still does its job of showing off the character interactions of the cast.
- Un-Confession: President finally musters up the courage to properly confess to Akkun in Volume 12. To no one's surprise except her own, he already knew about her feelings and rejects her, since he would rather not get into a relationship until he's at least 25 and accomplished.
- Unwanted Harem: Emphasis on unwanted. Thanks to Yoshiko's antics, A-kun has ended up attracting the affection of the Disciplinary President and his homeroom teacher. Not to mention Yoshiko herself.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Akane calls out A-kun on wanting Yoshiko to be the executive head for the school festival so she can "taste failure and learn her place", as that would result in screwing over everyone else in the class by ruining the festival just to teach Yoshiko a lesson that she'd likely not understand.
- World of Ham: Given that the genre of this work is comedy, it is not surprising. Everyone really likes shouting…
- Yonkoma: It used to be one, but a ways into the manga they stopped publishing in that format and used standard manga panels.
