Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun

Episode 10

Poor Hirotaka Wakamatsu just can't catch a break. Yuzuki Seo torments him in basketball club, and even misunderstands his attempts to challenge her to a duel in episode 6 for a romantic confession. Of course, even if Wakamatsu doesn't acknowledge that himself, she may be right. He certainly has a thing for "Lorelei" of the Glee Club, not realizing she's also the blunt, rude girl he can't stand.

All this angst is ideal for Nozaki, whose editor has asked him to spotlight the romance between the two characters Nozaki has (gender-flipped) based on Wakamatsu and Seo. Wakamatsu is off on a maybe-date with Seo, and his few attempts to come off as superior to her carry the humor of this segment. After that, we see Kashima attempting to learn how to sing for a play, followed by Kashima trying to rehearse with Hori—until their disparate feelings for one another unnerve them to the point of going off-script.

Episode 10 of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun manages to showcase three stories in lieu of the usual two, and while the jokes are there, they seem fewer and farther between than in previous episodes. Almost all the gags that do appear nail the humor perfectly, but the episode's pace gives the viewers way too much time to catch their breath. The strength of previous episodes was in their rapid-fire sight gags and constant "oh-no-she/he-didn't" shock humor.

If this were any other show, this episode might still be considered hilarious, but Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun set too high a standard for itself early on to maintain the same level of quality throughout the entire series. Almost every episode does hit that mark, but episode 10 is just a little below standard. I never thought I'd miss Hori punching Kashima "to the moon" for example, but seeing so much of Kashima in this episode and not seeing Hori get angry at her leaves their interaction almost flavorless.

Of course, any fan of the series so far will enjoy these segments. It's no indication that the show won't continue to be brilliant—there have been slow episodes before, like the first Wakamatsu/Seo spotlight in episode 6. It's just an odd experience to be laughing less while watching this series. At the very least, the jokes don't slow down because the show is trying to cram drama down your throat, as is the case with some other comedies that only sometimes pull off that drama/comedy balance. Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun gets points for establishing its focus—comedy—and sticking to it. However, by making that choice, the show also opens itself up to greater scrutiny during those times when it fails to deliver quite as well as it did before.

Rating: B+

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Amy is a YA fantasy author who has loved anime for nearly two decades.