Gorilla God's Go-To Girl

Episodes 1-2

It's a good thing that no one in the world of The Gorilla God's Go-To Girl is in the habit of paying attention to family names, because if they were, then they'd all immediately know which animal god would give them their blessings. Take Isaac, for example: his last name is Sheehan, a homophone for “chien,” which is the French word for dog. So even if his puppyish behavior didn't give it away, his name would absolutely let someone know that his blessing was from the Dog God. Poor Sophia Reeler (Riller) would have been spared the surprise of her Gorilla God blessing if she'd realized that “riller” sounds a bit like “gorilla,” and Eddie Pheles might not be so sly about concealing his blessing, which I would bet money is from the Cat God, “pheles” sounding a lot like “feline.” But wait, that means that Louis, the amazing super junior knight, is likely to have been blessed by the Squirrel God based on his surname – and if one this is set to shake up the assumptions people make based on blessing, that feels like it might be it, squirrels being better known for running into the road than brilliant battle prowess. I may have to rethink my opinions on the way the show's logic works…

Or not, because as of these first two episodes, this is pure goofy fluff. That doesn't mean that it won't change later on, but I'm enjoying the silliness inherent in the story right now. Not everything needs to be deep and meaningful, and while there certainly are things that the plot can do with Sophia's gender norm-defying powers, for the moment, it seems happy to revel in the little things. And really, Sophia's issue may not be so much that her blessing from the Gorilla God makes her ridiculously strong and want to eat bananas, but rather that it makes her stand out at school, and we all know that the safest way to get through high school is to fly under the radar.

Unfortunately, her chances of that went out the window not because of her blessing (or not just because of it), but because the three hottest guys in school want to be her best friends. I'm not sure I've ever seen as reluctant a heroine in a reverse harem situation, and Sophia doesn't even appear to have the oblivion factor in her favor – she knows that Isaac, Eddie, and Louis want to spend time with her. They've made it blindingly obvious (although that never stopped Katarina from missing things), both because two of them genuinely like her as a person – the jury's out on Eddie – and because they're all junior knights. This is where Sophia's insistence that the boys keep her training on the down-low backfires, because all the jealous mean girls of the school see is three desirable young men wanting to spend time with a girl who isn't them.

Louis might be a little more aware of this than Isaac, who is an absolute stereotype of a pup. Not that that's a bad thing; Isaac is very endearing, and since my dog needs to be either touching me, on top of me, or have at least eyes on me at all times, I may be predisposed to enjoy Isaac's portrayal. But Louis seems cognizant of his status, not just at school, but as a knight. He's in charge of helping to train Sophia's cohort, and he does want to spend time with his juniors. But he's also the youngest person to become a junior knight in history, so he must know a little something about standing out in ways that might not be comfortable. Sophia's the only female knight ever, so that puts her in a comparable position. While I don't doubt that he's attracted to her – she did give that squirrel bread in episode one, after all – I think he's also a bit more situationally aware.

I'd make a joke about Eddie's reticence being very catlike, but four of my cats are sitting around me in a circle as I type this, so I'll not buy into that stereotype.

If these first two episodes have a downside, it's that they really don't look great. Shortcuts are taken to the point where Sophia and the boys (and the mean girl) stand out as the only ones with any color on them, and full animation is avoided when it can be. The use of the Gorilla God hovering behind Sophia is funny almost every time, though, so it's not like aesthetics have been completely tossed out the window. Mostly, this is simply fun and not aspiring to be anything more. I just hope that by the end, Sophia appreciates her blessing at least a little. Because if you can't fly under the social radar in high school, being able to run 40 kmh away from it is the next best thing.

Rating:

Gorilla God's Go-To Girl is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Sundays.