Story (8.23/10): The story of Nozaki-kun, as I call it, is rather simple. A girl by the name of Sakura Chiyo has a crush on this guy in her class named Nozaki. Having been in love with him for a few months now, (for reasons I will never understand completely), she finally musters up the courage to try and confess her love in the most Shoujo way imaginable. (Which is basically an empty classroom scene with the sun setting behind them.) Upon screwing up the words of what she was going to say, she finds out that Nozaki, the guy she is in love with, is actually a Shoujo manga writer and well...things happen.
As I had mentioned before, comedy in anime needs to have certain elements in order to be successful in any way shape or form. One of those elements is to have jokes and gags that just roll off of the story's plot. If a series feels like it's trying to be funny, then it really isn't in reality. This series succeeds in branding its own form of comedy and for pretty much the entirety of the show, rolls off its jokes rather well.
The show itself doesn't have a very complicated plot. You can sum it up with a bunch of friends from all over talking and interacting with each other, whilst making fun of any generic shoujo scene in existence. Nozaki-kun excels at doing this. It wil take any scene from a shoujo, (let's say a girl riding on back of the guy's bike), and turn it into something else, not only changing what the feeling or emotion of the scene, but also making it unusual whilst also making it hilarious at the same time. (Have a 2-manned bike.)
There are however a few downfalls I see with the series. The first being the whole "romantic subplot" between the main two characters, Nozaki and Sakura. While personally, I do find it cute that there is this adorable girl who swoons for a guy who only sees her as free labor, there really isn't much substance to it as it is clear from the very beginning that this guy cares only for his work, and nothing really else. The subplot wasn't bad by any means since the other main characters in the series get shipping partners (for the most part), it just didn't feel as needed or required for the series, since it wasn't really the main focus. In addition, the series had flaws with character introductions. There are 7 main characters in the series. The show shows about 4 of them in the first two episodes, then forgets about them to make room for more, then gets rid of them to add in the last one, before sort of cycling them through in terms of focus. See the problem here? The show I feel doesn't utilize its characters as much as it could've been. Don't get me wrong, the places where certain characters show up is gold, but I felt throughout the series that certain characters were lacking some screentime compared to others.
In the end, the show is really just good fun. The pacing is decent enough, there are plenty of memorable scenes in the series itself that you can LOL at, and the show is just all around enjoyable. Personally, I don't like the ending because in all seriousness, I want more of this show.
Overview
+ Fantastic comedy
+ Simple plot idea (to make room for the funnys, of course)
+ Good pacing
- Somewhat unessecary romantic subplot (very minor problem really)
- Didn't utilize characters as much as it could've
Characters (9.00/10): Alright, now we're getting to the best part of the show. In addition to easy flowing comedy, a comedy series must have memorable characters. The characters must be independent in that they have their own quirks and personalities that make them unique from any other.
Nozaki Umetaro, or simply Nozaki, is our sort of "main character" in this show apart from Sakura. As a character, he's rather bland in the sense that he speaks with little emotion, he always has a straight face, and doesn't really have any sort of hobbies. That is, unless you're talking about manga, which in any scene, sparks a hilarious amount of reaction from him. Nozaki is a character who is very focused on his work, even to the point that he gets excited over certain events and holidays just because he might be able to fit a similar sort of event into a chapter of his manga. He's quite an interesting character due to the amount of contrast he actually has. (I respect this guy for what he does.)
Sakura Chiyo, or simply Sakura as she's called in the series. (Honestly, I don't know which one's her first name.) Sakura is a very smitten girl. She's very dedicated to her crush and enjoys spending time with him and understanding more about who he is as a person, whilst getting dragged into hilarious scenes where she is asked for her opinion on a certain manuscript page which always ends in comedy. Personally, I find Sakura to be an adorable character due to her character design and her reactions to the amount of situations that occur within the series. (This is Higurashi Rena level of adorableness where you want to take the cute thing home.)
Aside from these two characters that are in every episode, we have the rest of the main cast featuring various hilariously inverted troupes of different Shoujo steryotypes. Kashima, the "prince of the school" (who's also a girl), Yuzuki, the "best singer ever" (who is rather brash and lacking common sense), Wakamatsu (who is introduced way later than he should be), Hori, and my personal favorite, MIKORIN! (Who behaves exactly like a shoujo heroine, hilariously. And yes, I do call him Mikorin, not Mikoshiba. Don't judge me.)
What makes these main characters memorable is not only the nice twist that they have in terms of Shoujo manga character twists, but also because each of them have their own character and resonate each other well rather than require another character in order to get their personality from. They're all independent, and that's what makes these characters memorable. On the flipside however, there are a few problems. The most noticeable one is the lack of character use. These characters are fantastic, that much is true. It's just that they're not used as much as they could be. Every episode focuses on a duo of characters aside from Sakura and Nozaki, shoving all the others into the "save you for the next one" category which I really see as lost potential. (Hell, Wakamatsu doesn't show up till 2/3 of the series is over.) In fact, you don't even get to see all of the characters in one place until the very last episode, and even then they're not in the same frame.
The side characters of this series are interesting as there are more main characters than there are side. All 3 of them don't serve too much in terms of actual story development, but rather get their own sort of 4-koma esque story where we get these little insights as to who these characters are with a little short side story (usually involving tanukis) at the beginning before the opening scene. They suffer the same problem as not getting as used as they could've been, but for what we did get out of them, they were quite entertaining.
Overview:
+ VERY memorable main cast
+ Sakura :)
+ Decent soundtrack
Overall Enjoyment (9.21/10): If the fanboying over the flowing comedy of this show, the hilarious artwork, and the sheer love for Sakura herself wasn't enough to state my personal opinion, well, here it is. Gekkan-Shoujo Nozaki-kun. I wasn't really expecting too much from it at the start cause it looked to be a Bakuman sort of show since it involved romance (kind-of), and a mangaka. And boy, was I glad to be wrong. Nozaki-kun was a very enjoyable show for me. The flawless comedy made me laugh at every moment due to how comedically executed they were, the characters themselves were fantastic and memorable, and I finally had a character that I would go gay for. (We all have those, I'm sure.)
Did I like it?
Absolutely. It was a great kickback show that didn't have a serious plot, staying true to its nature by just being pure comedy all the way through. Nothing turned stale whilst watching the show, and every episode gave a new comedic experience.
Is there anything I didn't like?
Well for one thing, MAENO! (Hate him as much as kyubey.) Wakamatsu himself didn't get many appearances, which was a shame since he was a part of the main cast and played a unique role. In addition, the ending was a bit more cliched than I would've liked, but, it's livable. (It would've been better if this didn't end because I haven't seen a comedy gold series since GJ-bu.)
Would I recommend it?
YES. Absolutely yes. This show might not appeal to everyone, but it's at least worth a try to watch. It has a very unique brand of "deconstruction comedy" where it takes a normal anime/manga genre, and uses the stereotypes from that genre to make scenes of comedy and hilarity from it. (Noucome does a similar thing for the harem genre) It should at least be given a try because it has a lot of good qualities about it and it does have a lot of positive feedback from its viewers. If you're looking for a good comedy series, this one will fit the bill.
Overall Score: (8.88/10)
