[NiJ] Summer 2014

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episodes 5-7 Review

As much as I hate to say it, with so many lovable and colorful characters, even a series as meta as Nozaki-kun can start to feel predictable in its gags after a while. After all, those who are genre-savvy enough – or, at least, familiar enough with the series – can guess what it is they can expect once the premise has been introduced.

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Monthly Girls' Nozaki-Kun

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episodes 02-04 Review

While a series that leans against the fourth wall and pokes fun at a specific manga genre isn’t exactly anything special to write home about (though I seriously beg to differ in the case of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun), when it comes to its cast, this show has the ‘colorful and interesting cast’ part in spades. Episodes 2 through 4 are pretty much dedicated to introducing new cast members, each one just as interesting and unique as the next.

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Aysera

Eyeshield 21

Sena Kobayakawa was never known for being the smartest, most popular, or strongest kid in school, but what does make him stand out from his peers is his undeniably fast running speed and agility. Unfortunately, Sena’s only been putting his talents to use as a gofer for his bullies. That is, until he gets forcibly drafted into being the running back (codenamed Eyeshield 21) for his school’s American Football team, the Deimon Devil Bats. Despite numbering in only 3 members total, they aim to not only compete in the Christmas Bowl, the national championship of Japan’s high school football league, but win it.

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New in Japan

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Episode 01 Review

You would assume, from its title and watching the first minute of the show, that Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun would be a something along the lines of your stereotypical shoujo romance anime. And you’d be right, in a sense. Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun does kicks off with our high school girl protagonist, Chiyo Sakura, confessing her feelings for the titular schoolmate Umetaro Nozaki in the typical, blushy-blushy, “oh, I’m so nervous I hope he likes me back” way, but that’s about where the shoujo-ness of this series ends. Once Umetaro gives his response to Chiyo’s confession, you’ll know instantly that Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun isn’t going to be at all anything involving shoujo bubbles and sparkles (unironically, anyway).

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Aysera

Psycho-Pass

The story of Psycho-Pass takes place in Japan in the year 2113. Akane Tsunemori has recently assigned to Unit One of the Criminal Investigation Division in the Ministry of Welfare’s Public Safety Bureau, and is tasked with hunting down criminals with the other members of Unit One, apprehending them, and, if needed, eliminating them on the spot. As Akane and her team take down more and more criminals, they begin to notice a subtle connection between all of them, and eventually become entangled in not only the web of the criminal mastermind known only as “Makishima”, but a conspiracy involving the criminal justice system itself.

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