Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun Overview:
In Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun, Sakura Chiyo has a crush on Nozaki but when she tries to confess she mistakenly tells him she is his fan. To her surprise he gives her an autograph. It isn’t until later she realises that Nozaki is actually a famous shoujo manga artist and she’s just been recruited as an assistant.
Surrounded by a cast of zany characters this show follows Sakura’s quest to get Nozaki’s attention and Nozaki’s ongoing search for manga inspiration.
Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun Review:
Previously, Nozaki landed himself a place on the list of boring title characters. The guy is seriously dull as an individual having almost no variation in his expression or tone at any point and essentially just being the rock around which all the other characters interact in this anime.
However, just because I find the title character a little bit lacking doesn’t mean this isn’t a fun anime. The support cast for Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun are phenomenal and even Nozaki and Sakura’s interactions stay pretty fun even if they are repetitive with her making puppy dog eyes at him and Nozaki completely missing the point.
However, the show seems to acknowledge that its set up isn’t very original and often links the events in the character’s lives to the events Nozaki is using as inspiration in his manga. The reversal of gender roles from characters in reality to the manga works well as a point of humour with the Mikoshiba (Mikorin) being the unknowing model for the heroine of the manga he assists Nozaki to produce.
Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun also seems to understand that a little goes a long way.
As a main character, Mikoshiba would annoy me. However, in the support role and with Sakura and Nozaki’s fairly deadpan reactions to his silliness, he works quite well at injecting some needed colour and energy into the series and doesn’t overstay his welcome.
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The same is true of the rest of the cast who slowly get introduced as the story goes on. When on the search for a Prince type character, Mikoshiba introduces Sakura and Nozaki to Kashima, star of the drama department and super annoying human being to the director even as it is clear he has quite the crush on her. Their antics deliver physical humour and liven up the screen with short bursts of action.
When looking for a side story, Sakura introduces Nozaki to Seo, a classmate where the gap between her angelic voice and her personality couldn’t be wider. Through a series of events that could only happen in a manga or an anime, Seo ends up on a date with Wakamatsu, a stressed out guy who can only sleep when listening to a tape of Seo’s voice even though Seo is actually the cause of his stress.
For a comedy anime that really is just a series of set ups and punch lines and repetition of its core jokes over and over, Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun manages to keep things fresh enough through the slow introduction of new cast members and comedic elements, and through its overall set up of Nozaki being a manga artist which allows for discussions about the nature of some of the set ups which gives them slightly more impact.
While this one isn’t going to win my heart over for best anime ever or anything like that, it is a pleasant watch and while it might be a bit silly it never crosses a line into just ridiculous. The support cast each have their charming and annoying points but because of the range of characters the focus never lingers to long on any one of them and overall it is quite an enjoyable viewing experience.
I’d love to know your thoughts on it is you’ve given it a watch.
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Karandi James