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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun Review

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, a series that is not just the funniest series of the summer, but also the funniest series in years!

At first glance, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun might appear to be just another cliched rom-com, but that is not the case. It is actually a hilarious parody of the many genre tropes and cliches present in the genre, and it is about how writers are find inspiration for characters in their stories from people they know, all of which produces possibly the funniest anime of all-time.                                                                                   Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, or Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, follows Chiyo Sakura, who has a crush on schoolmate Umetarō Nozaki (the title character), and when she confesses her love to him, he mistakes Chiyo for a fan and gives her an autograph. When she says that she always wants to be with him, he invites her to his house and has her help on some drawings. Chiyo discovers that Nozaki is actually a renowned shōjo manga artist named Sakiko Yumeno. She then agrees to be his assistant in order to get closer to him. As they work on his manga, titled Let's Fall in Love, they encounter other schoolmates who assist them or serve as inspirations for characters in the stories, and comedy ensues!
The Good: Perfect chemistry between the cast, Lovable characters, Always hilarious!, Appealing and consistent animation, Pitch perfect parody, Perfect comedic timing, Great situations for humor, Fun opening, Relatable aspects for writers, Great slapstick humor, Strong performances, Non-stop laughs for me,

Plot: 9.0/10- Unlike Clannad or Toradora, which are both a drama with heavy comedic elements, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is intended to be a pure sitcom, and thus the plot's main goal is to create comedic situations for the characters, and it most definitely succeeds.
Destroying Expectations in Hilarious Fashion... 
Almost every episode creates a situation, which either parodies classics tropes and cliches, or causes sets up the perfect situation for comedy. Even though the series is technically a romantic comedy, the romantic element is very light to make way for the great humor, because there are no true romantic moments during the series.

Characterization: 9.7/10- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun has the best cast of comedic characters of any anime, even rivaling my previous favorite, Ouran High School Host Club.
Despite the title, Chiyo Sakura is the true main character of the series, and she is a very fun and likable character. She has a crush on Nozaki, yet he is completely oblivious of the fact. Her interaction with Nozaki is often hilarious and cute at times.
Umetarō Nozaki, often referred to as Nozaki-kun ("kun" being the honorific used for male friend) is the writer of the popular shoujo manga (girl's comic), Let's Fall in Love, which he publishes under the name Sakiko Yumeno. However, no one except for his friends that help with the manga actually knows he writes the manga. To Nozaki-kun, almost every situation involving high school life is inspirational material for his manga. However, he is often oblivious to the awkward situations he creates when trying to research. Also, as many of my writer friends can attest, he uses his friends' characteristics for the basis for the characters in his manga, which often results in even more hilarity. Overall, Nozaki-kun is nice, albeit oblivious, guy, who is almost a parody on the typical male protagonist, while still being a real character in the series.

While the main characters are great in their own right, it is the supporting cast that ultimately delivers most of the laughs, including, Mikoshiba, Seo, Kashima, Hori, and Wakamatsu. They are all fantastic characters with hilarious quirks, and they often defy the usual archetypes. Their interaction almost makes the series what it is.

Acting: 9.7/10- Despite being in Japanese, the entire cast seemed to have excellent chemistry and comedic timing. They all played off of each other perfectly.

Art Style: 8.8/10- While not exactly remarkable, Dogakobo's animation is surprisingly detailed for a comedy series. The character designs are pleasant to look at, and the exaggerated animation for the comedy blends well. Also, there is no fanservice. 
Seo, the most hilariously inconsiderate character ever.
Soundtrack: 7.2/10- Yukari Hashimoto and Media Factory's music is nothing special, but when the need arose, it fit the scenes well with fun comedic themes.

Humor: 10/10- Almost every episode had me in stitches from laughter! Pure comedy anime are not all that common, and the good ones are few and far between, but Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun hits the mark almost every time.
Kashima and Hori, hilarious duo.
Of course, humor is subjective, so you might not enjoy the series' brand of humor. That being said, the humor ranges from hilarious misunderstanding, slapstick, parody, and awkward situational humor, all of which is clean humor, without any fanservice jokes. The humor in the series is clever enough as to not rely on the same on ecchi humor that we have seen a thousand times. Also, being familiar with the shoujo makes some of the humor even better, and watching this summer's Ao Haru Ride (Blue Spring Ride) along side Nozaki-kun, made the occasional manga parodies even funnier, thanks to the added context.

Opening and Ending: 8.8/10- The series' opening is perfectly fitting of the series. It is fun, fast pace, and the visuals show all of the principal characters, as well as some of the recurring gags. The ending fits the series well, and it is fun to listen to at times.

Non-Otaku Appeal: Due to the lack of a dub and occasional reliance on parody, the viewer needs to at least have a rudimentary of anime before watching the series. However, if you are a writer, there should be a surprisingly amount of appeal.
Gotta love the movie references in this episode!
Entertainment Value: 10/10- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun was the highlight of every week during the summer season. Each episode entertained me from beginning to end; it was pure entertainment at its finest.

Overall: 9.4/10- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is the funniest comedy anime that I have ever seen; simple as that. The characters are lovable, the antics are always hilarious, and the humor hits the mark. It is the best anime of the summer, hands down. Of course, humor is subjective, and if this is not your type of comedy, then the series might not resonate with you as much.

Closing comments: If you are a writer, a fan of comedy, or just want to laugh, do yourself a favor and watch Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, you will not regret it.

Recommended for: Writers, Comedy fans, Rom-com fans, Parody fans, Ouran fans,

Please do not forget to check out the first part of my summer anime review, by clicking here, and be sure to check back tomorrow for the second part of my summer anime review as well.

To read more of my anime reviews, you can click here.

You can watch the first seven episodes on Hulu by clicking here, and if you want to watch the full series, or live outside of the US, you can click here to watch the series on KissAnime.com.

Also, if you have reviewed this anime, leave a comment with a link to your review and I will post it here (providing it does not contain any explicit content).
Best Comedy Cast Ever...
If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

12 comments:

  1. Great review! :) My sister likes this anime and had me watch the first episode. I plan on finishing it at some point, especially since I hear it's funny.

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    1. Thanks! :) I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did.

      -James

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  2. Good review!! Glad you liked it. I need to watch the next episode once I can find it. :)

    ~Misty

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    1. Thanks! If you are having trouble finding the other episodes, there is a link on the post that you can use. Or use this one. :)
      http://kissanime.com/G/128631?l=http%3a%2f%2fkissanime.com%2fAnime%2fGekkan-Shoujo-Nozaki-kun

      -James

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  3. I nominated you guys! Check out my blog to find out more! http://gingergraphs.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-liebster-award-longtimecoming.html

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks for the nomination. I don't do awards on the blog anymore, I will answer the question in the comments of your blog.

      -James

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  4. I can't believe I actually saw this whole thing before you posted this, haha!

    YES! This was a great show! I don't think I found it quite as funny as you did, but it did have some fantastic humor throughout! The characters were memorable and colorful. I liked watching the thinking process of a manga writer; that sure created some good moments! There was literally nothing annoying in this show at all! :) I wish there was a dub, as I'm sure I would love it twice as much if I could rewatch it that way...hopefully someday soon though! Thanks for recommending the show to me!

    ~Jamie

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    1. I know! I am so glad that you did though!

      If it is dubbed, I would be interested to know how good of a job they do it sometime. Plus it would give me a reason to rewatch! :D

      -James

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  5. I haven't heard of this. Maybe because I intentionally avoid titles that have overly Japanese titles that are hard to pronounce. LOL. This seems hilarious though.

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    1. Haha, technically, the title is only Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, but I prefer the Japanese title since it sounds better. If you want a good laugh, Gekkan is definitely worth watching it. It impressed me for sure!

      -James

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One rule: No strong profanity. If you want to link to one of your posts, please do; I am always interested in other reviews and such.

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