Back into the groove!
Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Izumi Tsubaki
Translation: Leighann Harvey
Lettering: Lys Blakeslee
What They Say:
There’s a whole lot of crazy going around!
Has Chiyo’s affection for her beloved shoujo manga-ka Nozaki finally soured?! She’s bullying him out of the blue…and even plotting his destruction when the ball sports tournament rolls around…! To make matters worse, it seems no one’s immune to the madness! Wakamatsu suddenly confesses his love to Seo, the person he dislikes most…! And even Hori finds something to love about Kashima?! What’s going on?!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While the past few volume of Nozaki-kun haven’t been the worst, they haven’t been the best, either. Too often did it feel like author Tsubaki was experimenting with her characters, trying to find something new to provide while not quite finding that special something. And while that’s not necessarily bad, it’s made for some middle ground storytelling, with only the occasional gags really landing.
This time around, it feels like Tsubaki’s really come back to form, chapters landing their jokes more often than not. In part, this is due to the premise of each chapter alone coming off as novel in their own right. From the get-go, we begin with some observational humor as the gang makes note of how longer-running series have to struggle with updating minor details like cell phones while keeping the continuity of the series’ time frame. And from there, the gags only continue to land in an oh-so-satisfactory manner.
With the more tertiary characters like the manga editors, plus Mayu and Miyako, whose worlds tend to feel miles away from the main Nozaki cast, it’s always been difficult to establish a convincing setup not to mention a gag for said setup to develop into. But with this latest volume, we really begin to see these characters in a less confined light. In the case of Mayu and Miyako, it’s mainly due to them literally venturing out of their normal comfort zones which may feel a bit contrary to their characters, but does end up delivering far more than the alternative. And with editors Ken and Maeno, whose backstory of having known each other since their school days, we finally get to feel that backstory make some use—Ken’s recollection of past awful Maeno-centric memories better fleshing out his comical hatred-yet-tolerance of his more outgoing peer.
Similarly, the series mainstays of school-centric shenanigans also feel like a fresh coat of paint have been applied to them. Everything from ghost-summonings, unlikely bullies, and shojo-moments-turned-sour are all there and in full force. Of note is the special amount of attention given to the pairings of Hori/Kashima and Wakamatsu/Seo. While a gag series can never truly commit to their pairings actually getting together, Tsubaki does do her best to push the envelope of “dating but not really” for both couples, resulting in some solid humor to round off the volume.
In Summary:
Volume 7 of Monthly Girl Nozaki-kun is a nice return to form, breathing some life into the series just in the nick of time. Author Tsubaki skillfully turns shiojo tropes on their head in the most humorous way possible both within Nozaki’s Let’s Fall in Love manga as well as the series itself, taking long hinted couples into new levels of “together, but somehow still not” directions. Definitely the most fun I’ve had with the series in a while.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: May 27, 2017
MSRP: $13.00
