Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1 Review – Best in Show

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1 Review – Quick Summary

In Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1, “This Love… Is Being Turned into a Shojo Manga”, Chiyo Sakura had finally worked up enough courage to confess her love. She found Umetarou Nozaki alone in a classroom after school. That was her perfect chance! She stammered, tried to regroup, and finally blurted out that she was a huge fan. At his confused look, she tried again, until he thought he finally understood. What happened next will shock you! At least, it certainly shocked Chiyo!

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1

Chiyo’s expressions are sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, and sometimes furious. And they’re always entertaining. Capture from the HiDIVE stream.

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the expressions and comedic timing in this show. Even among a cast who routinely show great expressions, Chiyo’s expressions are the best. It helps that she is such an honest and expressive young woman.

After her botched confession, she still accepted Nozaki’s invitation to visit his house. His invitation thrilled and terrified her. She promised she would do her best. So he happily gave her some inking work to do on his manga.

This was not what she had expected. 

When she was leaving, she expressed shock that he was a manga artist.

“Huh?” he said in surprise (05:30). “You spent the last four hours filling in beta and you didn’t know that?”

That’s the show’s humor in a nutshell. And I couldn’t be happier!

Best in Show Moment for Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1

If she wants to get through to Nozaki, she’s going to need to be more blunt. A lot more blunt. Capture from the HiDIVE stream.

Setup: Nozaki’s Not Rude…

I am not a fan of humor based on misunderstandings. I would have made that statement emphatically before watching this show. But Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun did such an expert job with building the conditions for the misunderstanding that I got over my prejudice quickly — about the time Umetarou handed his autograph to Chiyo.

The show’s humor isn’t just humor based on misunderstandings, either. It’s also perspective, and character, and even some physical humor. The timing is spot on. Even the music’s perfect! This season, I had a hard time picking which series to review. I settled on this one because I thought we could all use some laughs.

In a sense, most of the episode setup my favorite moment. My favorite quote above showed that within the confines of his own understanding, Nozaki’s bright. He was surprised that Chiyo didn’t know that he was a manga artist. He was even more shocked that not knowing his profession, she would still sit with him for hours and apply ink to his drawings — and he could not figure out why. He’s smart, but he misses details. Just like Chiyo!

Well, she was a pretty good sport about the “beta” thing. Or maybe she was just shocked. Capture from the HiDIVE stream.

As they discussed an upcoming scene in his manga, she waxed poetic about how great it would be for the heroine to ride behind the hero on his bicycle. She spoke dreamily of how she would feel his warmth through his back.

Nozaki shot down that idea because apparently, in that region of Japan, it’s illegal to let a passenger ride on a bicycle built for one. Disappointed but undaunted, she helped them came up with different scenarios, like the hero pushing his bicycle with the heroine riding it. Or my favorite, the harem bike with seats for the hero and three girls. The idea that girls would fight for the second seat seemed simultaneously logical and ludicrous.

Delivery: …He’s Just Not Observant

That’s just the way Nozaki’s mind worked. He took what he could see and ran with it. When the manga came out, he had written the scene with the hero offering to push his bike so he could walk beside the girl so they have more time to talk.

Comparing this touching scene with how completely blind Nozaki could be, Chiyo thought, “N-Nozaki-kun thought of this, too…”

My favorite moment was when she worked up the courage to ask how he earned the experience to write female characters so well. Shocking her by admitting he’d never been in a romantic relationship, he innocently asked if she liked anyone. She said she did.

“At first, I was attracted to him because he was tall and manly. I asked him out, but he didn’t notice… but because of that, I’ve had more chances to talk to him. But I think he just sees me as someone convenient,” she said (17:18).

Nozaki’s question was reasonable. And he was completely oblivious to its self-implications! Capture from the HiDIVE stream.

“What’s so good about a guy like that?” he asked, angry on her behalf.

And that’s their relationship, right there, in a nutshell. While re-watching this series to review it, I hope to understand even more clearly why it works so well for me when other series missed the mark.

What did you think of Nozaki’s two-seated, four wheeled bicycle? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: [Spoilers] Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun – Episode 1 [Discussion]
• The GlorioBlog: First Look: Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun
• Lost in Anime: First Impressions – Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 1: This Love… Is Being Turned into a Shojo Manga
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 2: Say Hello to the New Heroine
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 3: Violence vs The Prince
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 4: There Are Times When Men Must Fight
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5: The Man Who Envisions Love
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 6: I’ll Cast a Spell on You
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 7: The Manga Artist’s Brain, Nozaki-kun
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 8: The Prince (Girl) of the School’s Problems
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 9: Do You Have Enough Excitement?
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 10: What’s Strengthened is Our Bond and Our Reins
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 11: Let’s Rice
• Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 12: If This Feeling Isn’t Love, Then There is No Love in the World