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Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 8 – Quick Summary
In Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 8, “The Prince (Girl) of the School’s Problems,” Masayuki Hori was happy to help Umetarou Nozaki draw backgrounds for the manga. There was just one small problem: Umetarou’s directions were not specific. “Whatever/wherever” did not help Masayuki know what to draw! So he tried to help Umetarou sketch the backgrounds or at least give better directions. Can you guess if he was successful? The result might surprise you!
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 8
He had to admit that Yuu had fashion sense. Capture from the Blu Ray.
I’ve always had a bias against misunderstandings driving a plot. This series is one of the few where not only do I think they’re okay. This show makes them sing!
Yuu Kashima seems to really like Masayuki. She tries to understand what he wants, and she’s constantly frustrated because in some ways, she’s as dense as a cinder block. One day after school, she tried to escape practice – again – and Masayuki threw his school bag at the back of her head.
Before I go on, I want to make it clear that I don’t condone violence of this type. But no actors were hurt in the filming of this episode (as far as I know), so it’s all good.
The bag hit her so hard that it broke open, and Masayuki’s copy of Umetarou’s manga fell out. Seeing it, Yuu drew the most logical conclusion: Masayuki wanted to dress as a woman (there were a few logic steps between the manga and the conclusion – I’m being brief here). So, Yuu started putting women’s clothing in Masayuki’s locker. She started with a blouse, moved on to a skirt – you get the picture. When she had finished, he had an entire outfit.
He was trying to explain to Umetarou and Chiyo Sakura why he was so frustrated with her efforts. But, hands steepled in front of his face, he had to admit (09:47), “When I put them all together, it turned out to be very well-coordinated.”
He might be frustrated – but he still had good taste!
Best in Show Moment for Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 8
It’s not an elegant solution, but it makes sense from a certain point of view. Capture from the Blu Ray.
Setup: Chekhov’s Box
I might not embrace misunderstandings (though this show is an exception). But I love running gags, and I love jokes that fully embrace their own absurdity. My favorite moment is a great example of both!
Umetarou might be an excellent character artist. But when it comes to backgrounds, he’s as bad as Chiyo and Mikoto Mikoshiba. Which is to say, he’s terrible. Masayuki’s job within their group of manga friends was to draw the backgrounds. And generally speaking, he loves helping out. But Umetarou had a bad habit that has started to grate on Masayuki’s nerves: Umetarou gave vague or unintelligible instructions on how to draw backgrounds.
Masayuki finally got Umetarou to agree to some tutoring. Masayuki said he could just wing it to start with, but Umetarou objected. After all, he was a professional! Of course, the results were not professional.
Something seems a little… off. Capture from the Blu Ray.
In the first try, the lead male character looked to be floating about half a meter off the ground. Umetarou’s solution? Draw a box for the character to stand on. What’s funny is that filmmakers use this technique for actors like Tom Cruise.
In another panel, the female lead looked awfully tall. Umetarou said that was because it was her turn to stand on the box. The next panel, it was the male lead’s turn again. Apparently, they shared the box. In the next panel, three heads block most of the view of the lead female character, who looks terribly short.
Delivery: All the Students on the Box
“All the people in the class, except for Mamiko, are on the box,” Umetarou explained.
A cool side note: If you look at the sides of the screen, you can see the manga drawing paper’s rulers. I like authentic details!
Masayuki had had enough. “Ugh, screw the boxes!” he said (14:06). “What high school student always carries around a box?!”
“Sorry! Let me add an explanation!” Umetarou said.
Umetarou thought he’d come up with a good explanation. So close… Capture from the Blu Ray.
By this time, we knew that the explanation would not involve redrawing the backgrounds to fix the perspective problem. The next scene showed the female lead holding up a box and saying (14:14), “Boxes are really popular among us these days!”
“That’s not solving the issue!” Masayuki said.
The show started with the small joke and leaned hard into it. And I loved every minute of it.
What did you think of Yuu putting on a bull mask and running through the halls with Masayuki on her back? What were your favorite moments in the episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 8: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: [Spoilers] Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun – Episode 8 [Discussion]
- The Glorio Blog: Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 8
- Lost in Anime: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun – 08
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
