***Warning, following may contain spoilers for Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Chiyo Sakura (voiced by Ari Ozawa) has found the courage to confess to her long-time crush, Umetaro Nozaki (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura). Under pressure from nerves and a lack of confidence, Sakura screws up. She proclaims her feelings not as a lover, but a fan. Nozaki stares at Sakura before realizing what any fan would want, an autograph.
Stunned by what just happened, without thinking Sakura agrees to join Nozaki at his home. There, she realizes Nozaki has actually had an eye on her for some time. Not in any romantic sense, though. Instead, he has admired Sakura’s artistic skills and wishes to make her one of his assistants.
Nozaki is a manga writer who goes by the pen name of Sakiko Yumeno. And he isn’t just any manga writer. He is the creator of the famous, and Sakura’s favorite, romance story Let’s Fall in Love.
Disappoint her confession ended in failure, Sakura accepts Nozaki’s offer.
Series Positives
Early on, I thought Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun was a tad predictable. To a degree, I wasn’t wrong. It just wasn't in the way I was expecting. This show’s greatest asset is its ability to be unpredictably predictable.
“What?”
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| Nozaki and Chiyo |
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun was funny, well written, and completely it's own thing. It borrowed elements of other anime and then spins them to make something only Gekkan Shoujo could make.
The Characters
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is a character comedy. So, it had a lot of factors stacked against it. There were a lot of characters, so the show needed to develop a personality for each of them. Since this was also a romance between Nozaki and Sakura, they needed growth between them. But not too much so it makes everyone else irrelevant.
Along with the two mains, there were five other characters of note. They were, Mikoto Mikoshiba (voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto), Yuzuki Seo (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro), Yu Kashima (voiced by Mai Nakahara), Masayuki Hori (voiced by Yuki Ono), and Hirotaka Wakamatsu (voiced by Ryohei Kimura).
The show introduced a lot of relationships. Some of them romantic amongst the supporting cast. So, was allotted to do that. Yet the two mains couldn't be overshadowed. Adding to it all, the series was only twelve episodes long.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun gave its best shot. As it turns out, its best is pretty damn good.
Other character comedies with a much smaller cast and a lot more time have fumbled where Gekkan Shoujo has thrived. Everyone played a part, everyone had a personality, and everyone was their own person. The show wasn't afraid to mix things up and it didn't need to rely on Nozaki or Sakura being on screen the whole time. The quality and range of characters made Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun one of the funniest anime I've seen.
Series Negatives
The show was able to do so much in the short amount of time that it has. Too bad Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun’s length was still a hindrance.
This series could have been and should have been twice as long. The amount of potential material was grand. There just wasn't enough time to do all that needed to get done. Or at least get it done without making a few hiccups.
Episode Flow
The beginning of an episode will never tell you where it will end. This isn't a complaint. In fact, it was quite appreciated. This allowed the show to remain random and unexpected. It led to greater jokes and hilarious payoffs.
While the payoff was almost always a success, the show didn't do the best with build up or flow. There were rarely any smooth transitions from one joke to the other. Many times, it was unclear where we were at the beginning of a scene. It was never frustrating, distracting, or awkward. But it was noticeable and because of that, some jokes just didn't work.
Again, I think that this is due to the short amount of time Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun had to work with. All things considered, it still did a way better job than most.
Final Thoughts
This show’s a lot of fun, I mean truly fun.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun set itself up to be a typical high school romantic comedy. Then it delivered something far more memorable.
A few pacing issues aside, the writing was phenomenal. The cast was outstanding. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun has well-earned your time.
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