Quick Hits Jokes with more than one punchline Sincere characters and questions Characters only work together in a group not alone Some recycled animations Review Everyone has certain memories of high school that stick out. These can be heartwarming moments of success or shameful seconds of embarrassment. The importance of these memories may vary for each person but getting older and dealing with individuals who are all growing up while trying to find an identity is the basic fact of high school. This environment also makes for interesting although overused setting in shows and books. However there are some shows that use this over abundance of teenagdom to deceive the audience. Please tell me Galkochan is one such show. Set in an ordinary Tokyo high school Please tell me Galkochan is anime short series that focuses on a high school class. The primary stories involve three girls from different social circles who happen to be unlikely friends. This may sound like an average slice of life show but the genius of each episode lies in the disconnect between what the audience sees and what the audience hears. Visually Galkochan is within the conformity of a girl with a large chest a wealthy girl who happens to be an airhead and an otaku who is slightly mean but actually uncomfortable with her social life. What comes out of these girls and their classmates is the true heart of show. The students are making comments and pondering the myths associated with breast size size of nipples the correlation between male hair loss and sex drive how the weight of large breats effects the back or shoulders and even fear of using a tampon instead of a sanitary pad. The obvious assumption here is that this is just a show concerned with pandering to a male audience at the expense of the inconsistency of human biology. However this is far from the truth. Please tell me Is able to nimbly use these strange questions and turn them into jokes while calmly providing answers. image It is a true testament to Please Tell Me that the show does not waste any of its limited airtime yet the ten or so characters that appear in the classroom are fully formed. The girls in the class think that the boys are stupid while the boys in the class are secretly curious about what the girls think of them. There are social cliques in the school that naturally pair off small number of students but there is no external animosity towards other students. The realistic nature of the schools jokes and atmosphere lends itself to solidifying the idea that anyone watching the show can identify with one of the characters. This is a lot of praise for a short form anime but Please Tell Me deserves it. The minor complaints that the show has originate from the flaw of the format. The animation can feel repetitive especially with facial reactions with a background. There are story elements carry over the course of the episodes and some that disappear after an episode or two. The older sister of Galko seems slightly unessecesry as the jokes she is involved in fall flat. The characters spend so much time together on screen that when they are alone the show feels empty. Again these are issues that arise from the cramming of material into a six or seven minute episode making it hard to justify any negativity as more than a quick nuisance. Since the pace is so quick the flaws disappear and reappear before you feel irritated. This show is a surprise and a heartfelt one at that. The jokes self seriousness of the characters and the sincerity that is encompassed in such short episodes is outstanding. Watching the entire season should take just over an hour and it is worth every second. Just be prepared to relive some memories of your time in school.