The insanity of the not-love-lives of Nozaki, Chiyo, and their friends continue…
Creative Staff
Story: Izumi Tsubaki
Art: Izumi Tsubaki
Translation/Adaptation: Leighann Harvey
Lettering: Lys Blakeslee
What They Say
Love is just around the corner for Nozaki and the gang-or so it seems…
The appearance of a young maiden from a private school stuns the Nozaki squad with some rather perplexing beliefs about…love? While the new girl is befriending Nozaki, Chiyo is playing the field with other attractive men-who aren’t Nozaki! Meanwhile, the elder Seo tries again to win a date with his longtime crush, Yukari-’tis the season, after all. And love might be in the air for one Seo sibling, but how will the other fare when Lorelai’s biggest fan, Wakamatsu, at long last learns Yuzuki’s true identity?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The grand tradition of Nozaki-Kun continues with this volume. We are given a handful of inane situations, and then we get to see our perpetually inept cast attempt to work their way through it. This volume opens with Nozaki and Mikoshiba meeting a girl visiting their school who is certain that everybody who talks to one another must be dating or involved in some way. And, of course, Nozaki plays along with her fantasies, creating extra mayhem. Other storylines in this volume involve Miyako trying to figure out how people start dating naturally and not just in dramatic shoujo manga ways, Kashima being hypnotized into forgetting Hori, Seo once again attempting to reveal the truth of Lorelai to Wakamatsu and failing, and Chiyo getting sucked into one of Mikoshiba’s dating sims and desperately attempting to date the character that reminds her exactly of Nozaki. That last story in particular was funny to me because the way Chiyo approaches the game is exactly the same way that I approach a game that gives me choices like that: she identifies her goal, refuses to deviate from it, and once she’s done, rather than try to play it a different way, she just wants to replay the exact same scenario. That one hit a little close to home.
In Summary
Eleven volumes in, Nozaki-kun continues to go strong. It’s a hard series to review, really, because, at this point, it is what it is: a 4koma comedy featuring a bunch of characters trying to learn about love and having zero idea how to do that, leading to a bunch of silly situations. And either you love it, or you don’t. Me personally, I love it. I fell in love with the series when I saw the anime a few years ago and have been religiously following the manga ever since. If you have been following along and continue to enjoy it like me, then this volume should entertain you just as much as any. Highly recommended.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: T – Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: February 19, 2020
MSRP: $13.00
