B Gata H Kei: Yamada’s First Time — The Complete Series Blu-ray Review

Posted January 10th, 2012 by Brandon A. DuHamel

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
Audio Codec: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Stereo (48kHz/24-bit), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
Subtitles: English
Region: AB (No Region C)
Rating: TV-MA
Run Time: 300 Mins.
Discs: 4 (2 x Blu-ray + 2 x DVD)
Studio: Funimation Entertainment
Blu-ray Release Date: January 31, 2012
List Price: $64.98; $69.98 (Limited Edition)

Also Available: B Gata H Kei: Yamada’s First Time Complete Series (Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (Amazon.com)

BestBuy.com:

Purchase Yamada’s First Time on Blu-ray at CD Universe

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Overall

The Series

Video Quality

Audio Quality

Supplemental Materials

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(All Blu-rayDefinition.com screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

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The Series

Every now and then an anime series comes along that is completely different form what you expected it to be and offers a very pleasant surprise; a nice change of pace, in other words. Such is the case with B Gata H Kei: Yamada’s First Time, from here on out, Yamada’s First Time. I went into this one expecting the usual sort of fan service anime series with pervy high school teenage boy and girlfriend, but what unfolded was a quirky, funny, and often touching look at awkward pubescent sexuality – with a naughty twist.

Yamada is the prettiest, most popular girl in school, but she’s still a virgin. Vowing to herself to rectify this situation, when the first year of high school begins, she embarks on a crusade to make 100 “sex friends.” She’s a girl with a one track mind for sure – she’s got sex on the brain 24-hours a day, and it drives her best friend Miharu crazy.

Yamada finally zeroes in on the one she wants to be her first, a shy “cherry boy” who’s obviously inexperienced, so she won’t feel so self-conscious. It’s the plain-faced Takashi Kosuda, member of the photography club and completely clueless when it comes to girls. But, as it turns out, Yamada’s confidence is all surface as well, and every time she tries to take things to another level with Kosuda, she either freaks out, or something crazy happens.

The series follows Yamada and Kosuda’s efforts to have sex over the course of two years and despite Yamada’s best efforts to fool herself that she just wants Kosuda to be her first in a long line on her way to having 100 sex friends, she can’t help, it seems, developing genuine feelings for the nerdy guy, especially when her high school rival Kanejo threatens to steal him from her.

Yamada’s First Time is not for the prudes out there. There is some seriously risqué stuff in here, like intimations of incest, in addition to some of the usual erotic fan service material like girl-on-girl fantasies, panty shots and at least one topless scene, but that is all window dressing. This is a truly inventive and comical series that, for the first time in my recent memory, actually uses all of these things with real purpose, as a means to an end, so to speak. It is all a highlight of the foolish, clumsy, pubescent teenage sex drive that ultimately results in Yamada on her comical quest leading to the most mismatched kids somehow finding a connection – and that’s really, dare I say it – sweet.

Video Quality

A fine high definition transfer free from artifacts of any sort, Yamada’s First Time is granted an AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encodement with a 1.78:1 framing that shows off the splendid color palette of the series and sharp graphic detail.

Audio Quality

Audio is equally engaging with two lossless soundtracks offered up. The Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Stereo mix, my preferred choice for viewing, has a wide stereo field with clear dialogue and natural sounding high frequencies. The English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 seems to be mastered a bit louder with more upfront dialogue and more use of reverb on many of the dialogue passage. Surrounds are actively engaged throughout, but more for atmospherics than for a lot of discrete sound effects. LFE adds a bit more “oomph” to the sound, but is not overwhelming.

Supplemental Materials

Two audio commentaries and a brief set of voiceover outtakes are worth going through, but otherwise this is rather thin on extras.

The supplements:

Episode 01 Commentary
Episode 11 Commentary
Outtakes (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:02:54)
Textless Opening Song “Oshiete A to Z”
Textless Closing Song “Hadashi no Princess”
Trailers

The Definitive Word

Overall:

An amazingly well written, laugh out loud piece of fan service that’s not for prudes, but will be rewarding for the rest who dare watch it, B Gata H Kei: Yamada’s First Time is a surprisingly original take on this tried and true genre.