"Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" Review: The perfect balance of laughter and romance

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun

■ Public Media

TV anime series

■ Original Media

comics

■ Broadcast period

July 8, 2014 - September 23, 2014

■Broadcasting station

TV Tokyo

■Frequencies

half an hour

■ Number of Episodes

Episode 12

■Original Story

Izumi Tsubaki

■ Director

Mitsue Yamazaki

■ Production

Animation Production / Doga Kobo

■Works

© Izumi Tsubaki / Square Enix / "Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" Production Committee

■ Story

Sakura Chiyo, a high school girl who falls in love with the rugged high school boy Nozaki Umetaro, one day gathers up the courage to confess her feelings to him, but she doesn't express her feelings well, and before she knows it, she's helping him with a certain job as his assistant... Nozaki-kun is a popular high school boy who is also a shoujo manga artist, and the unique characters in this comedy about a male shoujo manga artist!

■Cast

・Umetaro Nozaki/Yuichi Nakamura/Chiyo Sakura/Ari Ozawa/Mikoto Mikoshiba/Nobuhiko Okamoto/Masayuki Hori/Yuki Ono/Hirotaka Wakamatsu/Ryohei Kimura/Yu Kashima/Mai Nakahara/Yuzuki Seo/Miyuki Sawashiro/Ken Miyake/Kenta Miyake/Mitsuya Maeno/Daisuke Ono/Yukari Miyako/Ayako Kawasumi/Saburo Suzuki/Mamoru Miyano/Mamiko/Marie Miyake

■ Main staff

・Original story by Izumi Tsubaki (published in "Gangan Online" by Square Enix)
・Director / Mitsue Yamazaki ・Series composition, scriptwriter / Yoshiko Nakamura ・Character design, chief animation director / Junichiro Taniguchi ・Chief director / Ryohei Takeshita ・Art director / Jiro Kono ・Color design / Kei Ishiguro ・Director of photography / Kunihiko Ito ・Editor / Mutsumi Takemiya ・Sound director / Ko Matsuo ・Music / Yukari Hashimoto ・Music production / KADOKAWA (Media Factory)
・Animation Production: Doga Kobo ・Production: Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun Production Committee

■ Main Characters

・Nozaki Umetaro: "You were painting for 4 hours without knowing?"

Despite being a high school boy, he is a popular shojo manga artist with his own serialized work. Under the pen name Yumeno Sakiko, he serializes a work called Koishiyo♥ in the shojo manga magazine Monthly Shojo Romance. He has many fans as a manga artist who delicately depicts the hearts of young girls, but Nozaki himself is insensitive and lacks tact.

Grade and class: 2nd year high school class B Birthday: June 6th (Plum Day)
Height: 190cm
Club activities: After-school club Hobbies: Manga production and searching for material Favorite type: Gutsy kids Favorite food: Rice Dislikes: Trendy foreign dishes (not because they taste good or bad, but because I'm scared of them because I don't know what they are. Once you eat them, it doesn't matter anymore)

- Sakura Chiyo "No, Nozaki-kun, I'll do my best!"

A high school girl who has a crush on Nozaki.
He confessed, but due to a misunderstanding on Nozaki's part,
For some reason, I end up helping Nozaki with the manuscript as his assistant...
She is a member of the art club, and her skills are highly regarded by Nozaki.

Grade and class: 2nd year high school class A Birthday: March 27th (Cherry Blossom Day)
Height: 145cm
Club activities: Art club Hobbies: Collecting cute accessories Favorite type: Nozaki Favorite food: Cheesecake, sweets Dislikes: Green curry

Mikoshiba Mikoto: "I'm your senior as an assistant, so you should respect me to the best of your ability."

One of the assistants who helps Nozaki with his manga.
He is very popular among girls because of his appearance and behavior.
Nozaki uses him as the model for a certain character that appears in "Fall in Love♥", but Mikoshiba himself is completely unaware of this.

Grade and class: 2nd year high school class G Birthday: February 14th (Valentine's Day)
Height: 177cm
Club activities: After-school club Favorite type: Kind, modest, innocent type Favorite food: Hamburgers Dislikes: Green peppers, bitter things

・Masayuki Hori: "You, Kashima, you're late!!"

One of the assistants who helps Nozaki with his manga.
He is the head of the drama club and is in charge of props.
He is ruthless when it comes to teaching his junior, Kashima, who is also a member of the same drama club.

Grade and class: 3rd year high school class C Birthday: November 28th (Good Knee-high Day)
Height: 164cm
Club activities: Drama club Hobbies: Watching movies, going to the theatre, traveling Favorite type: Girls with beautiful legs Favorite food: Tonkotsu ramen Dislikes: Amateur homemade food (especially sweets)

・ Wakamatsu Hirotaka "Senpai, if you're going to be nice to me, please be nice to me until the very end."

A first-year boy who is a member of the basketball club.
In junior high school, he was a member of the basketball club.
At that time, he admired Nozaki, a senior in the same club.
He has a very delicate heart.

Grade and class: 1st year high school class D Birthday: September 3rd (Sleep Day)
Height: 185cm
Club activities: Basketball club Hobbies: Basketball Favorite type: Younger girls with cute personalities Favorite foods: Curry and hamburger steaks Disliked foods: Shiitake mushrooms

・Kashima Yuu "For a moment, I thought the rose fairy had appeared."

A second-year girl who is a member of the drama club.
With his handsome features and gentlemanly demeanor,
He is extremely popular among female students.

Grade and class: 2nd year high school class G Birthday: October 31st (Halloween)
Height: 176cm
Club activities: Drama club Hobbies: Eating out and shopping Favorite type: All girls are cute (no idea about guys)
Favorite food: Saikyo pickles Dislikes: Extremely spicy foods

・Yuzuki Seo "Generally speaking, I think I'm a pretty considerate person."

A girl in Chiyo's class who is a member of the vocal music club.
He often speaks and acts without reading the atmosphere.
He often irritates the people around him.

Grade and class: 2nd year high school class A Birthday: July 7th (Tanabata)
Height: 163cm
Club activities: Vocal music club Hobbies: Exercising and hanging out with friends. Fighting games (arcade). Tactical/action games (home)
Favorite type: Funny people Favorite foods: Sushi, yakitori Disliked foods: Sakura denbu, edible chrysanthemums, and other decorative ingredients

・Miyamae Ken "Please email me."

Nozaki's current editor.
Although he has a brusque and cold attitude towards Nozaki, Nozaki himself admires him as a cool, handsome and reliable person in charge.

Age: 27 (I failed the entrance exam twice, so I'm two years younger than Maeno)
Birthday: September 22nd Height: 171cm
Hobbies: Reading Preferred type: An independent woman with common sense and a sense of responsibility Favorite food: Satsumaage, alcohol Dislikes: Sweets

・Maeno Mitsuya "I saw the new character! That was my idea. Ahahahaha!"

Editor in charge of Nozaki's "previous" volume.
He's good-looking but extremely frivolous, and he pushes his ideas onto the writer in charge, trying to force his favorite raccoon dog into appearing.
Editor in charge of the current issue of Miyako Yukari.

Age: 27 Birthday: August 1st Height: 176cm
Hobbies: "Work is my hobby... I guess?" Actually, I go to mixers, drinking parties, visit gravure photo shoots at other editorial departments, and just have fun in general. My favorite type: A girl who is easygoing, a little silly, a good listener, compliments me, has big breasts, and leaves no strings attached. Favorite food: Fashionable food. Dislikes: None.

Yukari Miyako: "Eh?! Umm, Maeno-san?! Adding another raccoon is a bit much..."

A female college student and shojo manga artist who lives in the same apartment building as Nozaki.
Due to his gentle personality, his editor, Maeno, has made raccoon dogs appear in all of his works.

Grade and class: First year of university Birthday: April 8 Height: 165cm
Hobbies: Online shopping and ordering things online Favorite type: Someone who makes me feel at ease Favorite food: Pomodoro Dislikes: Liver

■Subtitle

・First issue/That love is turned into a shojo manga.
・No. 2/Please welcome our new heroine♪
Issue 3: Violence vs. Prince Issue 4: There are times when a man must fight.
・Issue No. 5: A boy who "thinks" and "draws" about love.
・No. 6/I'll ​​cast a spell on you♥
・Issue No. 7 / Manga Artist Brain Nozaki-kun ・Issue No. 8 / The Troubles of the School Prince (Girl) ・Issue No. 9 / Are You Excited Enough?
・Issue 10/Bonds and reins grow stronger.
・No. 11/Let's eat rice ♥
-Final issue/If this feeling isn't love, then there is surely no love in the world.

■ Theme songs and music

・OP1
・It has to be you・Lyrics: Masayoshi Oishi・Composition: Masayoshi Oishi・Arrangement: Masayoshi Oishi・Singer: Masayoshi Oishi

・ED1
・Uraomote Fortune・Lyrics by Hige Driver・Composition by Hige Driver・Arrangement by Hige Driver・Singer by Sakura Chiyo (CV: Ozawa Ari)

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun - Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun Review

"Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" is an anime series based on the popular manga by Izumi Tsubaki, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo in 2014. This is a comedy anime that depicts the daily life of Umetaro Nozaki, a high school boy who is also active as a shojo manga artist, and the unique characters that surround him. Below, we will explain in detail the appeal and features of this work, as well as why we recommend it to viewers.

Story and Characters

The story of "Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" begins when Sakura Chiyo, who falls in love with the main character Nozaki Umetaro, ends up working as his assistant on his shojo manga. Nozaki is a popular manga artist who serializes his work "Koishiyo♥" in the shojo manga magazine "Monthly Girls' Romance," but he himself is very insensitive and lacks tact. This gap creates the humor throughout the work.

Nozaki is surrounded by a variety of characters with unique personalities. Sakura Chiyo has a crush on Nozaki, but she struggles as his assistant. Mikoshiba Mikoto is Nozaki's manga assistant, and is very popular with girls due to her appearance and behavior. Hori Masayuki is the president of the drama club, and is known for his strict guidance of his junior Kashima Yu. Wakamatsu Hirotaka is a first-year in the basketball club who admires Nozaki, and has a delicate heart. Kashima Yu is a beautiful girl who belongs to the drama club, and is a popular character among female students. Seo Yuzuki is Chiyo's classmate, and is known for her insensitive behavior. Miyamae Ken is Nozaki's editor, and is memorable for his cool attitude. Maeno Mitsuya is Nozaki's previous editor, and is known for his frivolous personality. Miyako Yukari is a female college student who is a shojo manga artist who lives in the same apartment building as Nozaki, and is troubled by Maeno's obsession with raccoons.

Animation and performance

The animation for "Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" was produced by Doga Kobo. The character designs were done by Junichiro Taniguchi, who faithfully reproduced the atmosphere of the original work while bringing out the anime's own unique charm. In particular, the scenes of Nozaki creating manga and the expressive movements of the characters are beautifully drawn. Additionally, the direction by chief director Ryohei Takeshita is also excellent, effectively expressing the themes and gags of each episode.

Art director Jiro Kono's background art is also superb, enhancing the atmosphere of each scene, such as the school and Nozaki's room. Color designer Kei Ishiguro's use of colors also plays a role in bringing out the personalities and emotions of the characters. Cinematographer Kunihiko Ito's camerawork is also skillful, skillfully guiding the viewer's eye.

Music and theme song

The music for "Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" was written by Hashimoto Yukari. The background music was created to match the atmosphere of each scene, with the light-hearted music especially memorable in the comedy scenes. The opening theme "Kimi Janakya Dame Mitai" is sung by Oishi Masayoshi, and is a song that evokes the theme of romance and humor in the series. The ending theme "Ura Omote Fortune" is sung by Ozawa Ari, who plays Sakura Chiyo, and is a song that symbolizes her character.

Recommendation points for viewers

"Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" is a comedy anime that focuses on the unique profession of a shojo manga artist, but it also depicts the relationships and growth of the characters. In particular, the humor created by the contrast between Nozaki's insensitivity and Sakura's unrequited love not only makes viewers laugh, but also evokes empathy. In addition, each character has a distinct personality, making it a work that can be enjoyed for their interactions and episodes.

This work is recommended not only for those who like shoujo manga and comedy anime, but also for those who are interested in human relationships and stories of growth. In particular, the scenes that depict the behind-the-scenes of Nozaki's manga production and the struggles of his assistants will be of interest to those interested in creative work. Also, the subtitles of each episode, such as "First Issue" and "Second Issue," are unique touches that allow viewers to feel the world of shoujo manga.

summary

"Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" is a comedy anime themed around the unique profession of a shojo manga artist, but it also depicts the relationships and growth of the characters. It is full of various charms, such as the humor created by the gap between Nozaki's insensitivity and Sakura's unrequited love, episodes that highlight the individuality of each character, and scenes that depict the behind-the-scenes of creative work. This is a work that is recommended not only for those who like shojo manga and comedy anime, but also for those who are interested in relationships and stories of growth. Please give it a watch.