A review first posted on Deremoe in September 2014
I’ve never enjoyed such a cute romcom in my lifetime the same way I did with Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun.
It’s about this guy named Umetarou Nozaki, which illustrates Manga under the pen name Yumeno Sakiko. That, and how he uses his experience in real life for the Manga series that he illustrates.
After I have watched the whole series in full, I now further understand why the series is entitled as such — it’s not just about Nozaki being the main character, but it’s the fact that Nozaki really dedicates himself as a manga-ka. Notice the fact that Nozaki uses his IRL situation to make his series that it does even bother his friends and his lovelife. This guy, ladies and gentlemen, is a real example of a person who treats his career as if it was his wife (I’m talking to myself as I type these words). I’m glad that he’s no Gary Stu (unlike Mahouka’s Tatsuya) since I’ve been wary of that nowadays, speaking in terms of his misunderstandings and such. Come to think of it, the only problem I had is this: Why in the world a person who has zero experience in lovelife excels in wooing a shoujo Manga fanbase? I think that’s a fallacy, more so a hole in the character’s description.
The series also has its colorful cast of supporting characters — Mikoshiba is the sorta-Otaku guy who uses his sim-dating experience as a basis for his surroundings, thus sharing his traits with Nozaki (the caveat is that he’s much of an outspoken tsundere that falls flat when praised); Kashima showed a different side of Mai Nakahara to me as well, since I was not expecting a damn thing like that to happen, more so if she was teamed up with Yuzuki (who is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro).
The other supporting characters, like Wakamatsu and Hori, added more laughs to theseries as well — especially when Hori is so angry that he does hurt Kashima; although I do have some sort of a problem with those instances.
Finally, there’s Chiyo Sakura. I must say, she’s the cutest girl I’ve ever seen on Japanese Animation so far. She’s the straight girl of the series and I don’t have a problem with that. I believe I don’t have a problem with that. I believe so, I think. I certainly think.
Lastly, let’s not forget Mamiko and Suzuki — especially the fab Suzuki. I can hear Mamoru Miyano’s fab voice leaking and if I were a fangirl I will say that “It’s so delicious.”
The animation done by the great guys at Dogakobo certainly made a long way to appeal to my visual tastes — I’m certainly out of words for those aspects, especially in that instance before the bicycle scene and the time where Chiyo was given Yumeno’s autograph.
I have no problems in terms of story direction since it wasn’t even made that way — I can re-watch it even if I mix up the second to the eleventh episodes. The only focal point of the story is that (1) Chiyo falls in love with Nozaki, (2) Nozaki misunderstood that, and (3) how their relationship will go through.
One thing I also liked about this series is that it gives a basic outline of what a manga-ka does — without the perversion that I’ve seen on Mangaka-san to Assistant-san, or the super-extended course of Bakuman. It also hits up on the clichés of shoujo Manga and shove it in its butthole (if it has one), thus making this my must-watch series each time I end up taking some terribad series — and that IS a good thing if you want to save your sanity while enjoying your Anime-viewing experience.
I’ve never given a 5/5 for an Anime series so far but this time, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun hits the sweet spot. I will definitely recommend this to everyone. I’ll even recommend this to local Anime channels.