Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5 Review – Best in Show

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

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5 Review – Quick Summary

In Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5, “The Man Who Envisions Love,” Umetarou had a problem: his editor Ken Miyamae did not understand Umetarou’s character’s motivations in certain panels of the latest draft. So, Umetarou decided to live life as his heroine, Mamika. How will Chiyo respond? Will she play along? How about Mikoto? And why are so many angry girls chasing Umetarou around campus?

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

Favorite Quote from Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5

At least Chiyo found Umetarou’s stand-in holiday amusing. Capture from the Blu Ray.

I strongly suspect that Izumi Tsubaki, channeled her personal experience a lot in this episode. Umetarou’s memories of his previous editor, Mitsuya Maeno, seemed to involve a lot of angst – the kind that one has to earn. With experience. In this case, the experience was with a, let’s say, challenging set of ideas.

Some editors think it’s their job to make the writer shine. Ken Miyamae seems to take that approach, though I think he’s too gruff to ever admit it. Other editors, though, think it’s the writer’s job to make them shine. That seems to be the kind of editor Mitsuya is.

It got to the point where Umetarou would do practically anything not to implement Mitsuya’s suggestions, just because he didn’t want to hear the man gloat. That’s even if Umetarou had planned to do exactly what Mitsuya asked for.

The Valentine’s Day edition was a perfect point. Umetarou wrote romantic comedy. Of course he would include a Valentine’s Day story for February! But when the editor suggested it, he substituted a Japanese holiday, Setsubun, instead.

As he told Chiyo about his experience, she remembered that edition of his manga.“I wondered why they were throwing beans,” she said, referring to that holiday’s tradition (06:29). “It was funny, though.”

If I were Umetarou, I’d be pleased she remembered!

Best in Show Moment for Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5

Chiyo has such a sweet smile! Capture from the Blu Ray.

Setup: Context Matters

I think Chiyo and Umetarou make a good couple, even if a) she’s been unable to tell him her feelings and b)  he’s unaware of what’s going on at that level. There were some lovely hints in this episode that they are growing closer together. For one thing, they were completely in sync in their feelings for tanuki. They both hated them, at least as a gimmick.

That particular situation got so bad that as Chiyo read a manga that Mitsuya had insisted include so many tanuki, Chiyo remarked (08:04), “The tanuki transcends time and space, doesn’t it?”

She was not praising the tanuki.

Both of them were on the same page regarding tanuki. Capture from the Blu Ray.

For Chiyo’s part, she tries to indulge Umetarou as he goes off on his tangents. When he came to school in the role of Mamiko and offered Chiyo a bento, she froze. Not because she wasn’t delighted he had offered, but because she was trying to work out if that made her the male manga lead, Suzuki. She was trying to be supportive, and I thought that was awesome.

Though when he pointed out he had four more lunches to hand out, Chiyo thought, “Mamiko’s becoming a slut!” High school kids can be so judgemental.

Delivery: An Accidentally Touching Moment

But all of this setup my favorite moment. It was a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of thing. Umetarou had just finished exploring what it was like to have many girls as his enemy. To do that, he had to kidnap Yuu Kashima. But by the end of the school day, he wasn’t quite sure he had the right insights. That’s when Chiyo walked up as he was changing shoes at his locker.

She returned his bento box and wrapping. Then she said (20:45), “It looked so pretty and I felt bad for messing it up, so I made it my wallpaper.” Since she wasn’t trying to tell him she liked him or anything else she felt embarrassing, she gave him one of her honest, bright smiles.

It blew him away.

Chiyo’s sincere thanks took Umetarou off guard. In a good way! Capture from the Blu Ray.

The combination of her smile, plus the fact she had loved his lunch, seemed to touch the guy. 

To ice the cake, she added, “Oh, but I did eat it all! It was really good! Thanks for making it.”

He might have taken away the wrong message. Or maybe not. He offered to continue being Mamiko, which made me wonder — did he want to use that as an excuse to keep bringing her lunch? It’s hard to say for sure, but I do think they feel honest affection for each other. And that’s a great basis for a relationship!

What did you think of how Ken treated Umetarou? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: [Spoilers] Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun – Episode 5 [Discussion]
• The Glorio Blog: Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 5
• Lost in Anime: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun – 05

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