First Impressions is an Albedo's side-story originally published in Shanda Fantasy Arts's New Horizons anthology in September 2000, with art of Mike Sagara and written by Mike Curtis, of Shanda the Panda and Dick Tracy fame, while Gallacci serves as the editor. It takes place many years before the Battle of Derzon during Erma Felna's younger days in the EDF military academy in the planet Danet and it explains how Erma met her best friend, the resident Genki Girl and Lovable Sex Maniac Toki Zha, and their earlier misunderstandings due to their personal backgrounds.
This side-story provides examples of the following:
- Did The Planet Danet Move For You, Too?: When both Toki and Oshiro had sex over Erma's bunk, while we don't see the act, the whole scene is illustrated with both Super-Deformed versions of both characters walking against each other, mostly to illustrate how annoying was the whole scene for Erma.
- Foreshadowing: In the last page of the story, Toki recites the last lines of the lullaby Toki was singing when she was asleep. The song refers both a mate and their baby son, and Erma herself says she could use that song for her after changing the species of the people involved on it. This became relevant, chronologically-wise, much later during the Ish-tako sub-arc when Erma has a baby son by her own and her own boyfriend, Alfon Voga.
- Interspecies Romance: Between Toki, a Rodent, and Oshiro, a Feline. Albeit call it romance would be an exaggeration.
- Irony: The aforementioned lullaby song Toki sang in her sleep, as while Erma will have a son and her own Love Interest much later, on the other hand Toki will not, other than sleeping with other guys.
- Genki Girl: Toki, all the way.
- Lovable Jock: Both Oshiro and Toki, despite being female. They overlap with Innocently Insensitive because they looks like stereotypical jocks at first, but they never wanted to bother Erma on any way and they apologize later after Erma complained against Toki when she and Oshiro had sex in a very noisy fashion over Erma's bunk.
- New Meat: Erma was just a cadet in this time period and she was trying to fit herself not only in the academy but also in the more liberal culture of Danet.
- Retcon: Originally Toki was straight and her relationship with Erma was entirely platonic, but Gallacci retconned this in 2016 in a soft retcon he did, turning her into a bisexual, albeit she only bi for Erma exclusively.
- Right Through the Wall: Overlaps with Ceiling Banger, as both Toki and Oshiro had very loud sex in their bunk over Erma's head due to Toki being smaller than Oshiro.
