Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun – Quick Look

The cutest comedy of the season.

Sidekick’s First Impressions

I’m unable to blog anything new this season due to college starting in less than a month, but since no one on the blog gave any love to one of my favourites of the Summer season so far I thought I’d at least give it an introductory post to anyone not yet acquainted with this charming little series.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, or Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun, is about Chiyo Sakura (the girl with the cutest ribbons pictured above!) confessing her love to her crush Nozaki-kun, only for him to misunderstand…one thing leads to another as she finds out he’s actually a mangaka and she becomes his new assistant. Comedy ensues. Lots, and lots, of comedy. It’s great.

I tried reading the manga awhile back, but the 4-panel format didn’t really work for me, so I was a bit apprehensive when I first started watching, but Dogakobo’s got it. They’re easily the best studio adapting 4-komas out there (they brought us Love Lab!) – there’s a flow to the jokes, great comedic timing, competent, colourful animation, there really is so much to like about Nozaki-kun. The comedy itself is actually very well-written as well! It is essentially poking fun at shoujo manga cliches through Chiyo and Nozaki’s (them on the photo at the left!) moments together and it works fantastically, even if you’re not the biggest fan of shoujo in itself, a la Ouran High School Host Club. The characters introduced in the first 2 episodes so far have been great as well, especially Chiyo and Nozaki, who have amazing chemistry together, showcased during the comedy skits throughout the episode (the bicycle one is my favourite!).

I think an important part to the success of Nozaki-kun is the juxtaposition between Nozaki’s manga and Nozaki himself. He’s big, manly-looking, but throughout the first episode we clearly see that he’s not the person Chiyo has envisioned him to be, and that she has so much more to know about him. It makes the moments between Chiyo and Nozaki something truly charming and fun to watch, when Chiyo herself is all sorts of adorable (and quite the neurotic one too!).

Another important aspect to Nozaki-kun’s success in winning me over is the sound. The music is understated, but surprisingly romantic and effective in setting the mood whenever necessary and employed at all the right moments. What impressed me the most was the voice-acting – Ari Ozawa as Chiyo was absolutely brilliant, especially considering how this is the actress’ first major role. She manages to truly bring Chiyo to life and listening to her voice was a real blast, and it really made tons of the skits hit comedy gold for me. Special mentions to of course, Nozaki-kun himself who plays a pretty good deadpan role, and of course Mikoshiba ‘Mikorin’ played by Nobuhiko Okamoto was fantastic as well.

Also, it features the best OP of the season. I’m even including Tokyo Ghoul and Terror in Resonance’s OPs when I say this. It’s just brilliant. Please listen to it non-stop like I do so we may suffer the same fate. The visuals for the OP are amazing as well. Take a look, be charmed, and watch Nozaki-kun. So yeah. Watch Nozaki-kun.

Watch it. Please. Thanks.