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Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun[1] is an odd little series that I didn’t really expect to enjoy, and one that I fear may overstay its welcome at any time.

I tend not to like yonkoma[2] adaptations, particularly at full 23 minute episode length. It tends to result in multiple short stories per episode, and the risk here is that more gags create more opportunities to bounce off a show.

This is particularly a concern if the initial episode is weak. I suspect that this is why I bounced off Daily Lives of High School Boys and also Sabegebu.

The counter position is that once momentum is established, there’s more of a chance that I’ll persist through a weak gag.

Thus far Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun has held my attention by being genuinely funny. The satire of Visual Novels in one episode was beyond hilarious, and most of the episodes have raised a smile.

The biggest problem I see is that the set up relies on the introduction of new characters for the comedy rather than on story. That and not even attempting to advance the “romance” between Nozaki-kun and the adorable Sakura beyond Sakura’s Can Not Spit It Out moments[3] in the first episode.

That said Sakura is a fabulous deadpan snarker, and is usually fun to watch.

Six episodes in and I’m still enjoying Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun but this show will always be one episode away from being dropped.

I’ll finish with the OP as usual:

[1] AKA Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun as CrunchyRoll has it.

[2] Literally “4 panel”. The term yonkoma identifies manga constructed as 4 panel strips, similar to say Calvin and Hobbes or Garfield.

[3] The plural is deliberate. At least twice in the first episode… and nothing since.