GEKKAN SHOUJO NOZAKI-KUN
STATUS
RELEASING
VOLUMES
Not Available
RELEASE
Invalid Date
CHAPTERS
Not Available
DESCRIPTION
The boy of her dreams...is a girl's manga artist?! To the eyes of high school student Chiyo Sakura, classmate Umetarou Nozaki--brawny of build and brusque of tongue--is a dreamboat! When Chiyo finally works up the courage to tell Nozaki how she feels about him, she knows rejection is on the table...but getting recruited as a manga-ka's assistant?! Never in a million years! But for someone who makes a living drawing sweet girly romances, Nozaki-kun is a little slow on the uptake when it comes to matters of the heart in reality. And so Chiyo's daily life of manga making and heartache begins!
(Source: Yen Press)
CAST
Mikoto Mikoshiba
Chiyo Sakura
Yuu Kashima
Yuzuki Seo
Umetarou Nozaki
Masayuki Hori
Hirotaka Wakamatsu
Mayu Nozaki
Tomoda
Yukari Miyako
Ken Miyamae
Mitsuya Maeno
Ryousuke Seo
Saburou Suzuki
Mamiko
Yumeko Nozaki
CHAPTERS
RELATED TO GEKKAN SHOUJO NOZAKI-KUN
REVIEWS
cameeroo
98/100With its quirky cast & nonstop gags, this is definitely more than just a "shoujo manga about shoujo manga"Continue on AniListWriting a review for an ongoing manga might be too early to declare any concrete opinions about it, but I'm really enjoying what I've been reading so far, so I think the Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun still deserves some recognition and appreciation. I was first introduced to the anime and I instantly fell in love with it, charming me with its hilarious gags, that seem to go on after every scene, and its loveable characters. But it only has one season (well, aside from the special episodes, which by the way is just a good as the actual anime), so how else could I cope from this? Just like any sensible weeb out there who has nothing else to do: by reading the manga.
When I first picked it up, I was surprised and slightly disappointed because I wasn't aware that the format of the manga was in 4-koma (also known as four cell manga). I didn't have a good experience reading 4-koma when I was younger, but boy, was I so wrong about that. This kind of format is perfect for Gekkan Shoujo, and I just realized, no wonder the anime had non-stop funny scenes, it's all because of that. So thanks to this, it changed my impression of 4-koma and I might check out other good ones known in this genre. Basically, the gist of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is a high-schooler named Chiyo Sakura who just confessed to her crush, Umetarou Nozaki, by telling him that's she's a fan of his and wants to be with him all time. Nozaki reacts by giving her an autograph and inviting her to his place...to make her help in doing betas for his shoujo manga, misinterpreting her confession as an application for a mangaka assistant. And that simple joke would be the core of endless gags throughout the entire series, expanding into other characters, and evolving and breeding more ridiculous situations. It had tackled otaku culture, love confessions, mangaka lifestyle, artist struggles, school clubs and activities, character stereotypes, friendships, families, rivals, work relations, and even mundane everyday tasks, and I think the list can go on forever, especially when these topics intersect with each other and give birth to new ones. But what I probably love the most about this manga is the characters. The colorful cast is made up of eccentric people with unique personalities. Sure they fit into typical anime tropes (like the clueless idiot, the tsundere, the "prince" of the school) but they don't stay boxed up in their labels forever. The clueless idiot turns out to value their work more than anything else, that's why things like romance involving themselves don't cross their mind, and the tsundere is actually struggling in interacting with the opposite sex so they try to improve by using manga and dating sim games as reference, and other silly stuff like that. I think it also helps that the author is a woman because of the breaking of gender roles, toxic masculinity from the guys, and unnecessary fan service from the girls. Some male characters are even shown as motherly (one guy is great in cooking and doing chores, and dotes on another character as if they're his child) and some female characters are shown as rowdy and brash. The girls have no idea what a girls' night out is, so they ended up talking about boys' underwear, while the guys spent their night playing dating sim games and talking about the romantic parts of the story. And these punchlines are executed in a way not to mock anyone as the butt of the joke, in fact, it's endearing when they turn out to be like that, instead of some stereotype. And of course, what is a story about a shoujo manga without it having its own shoujo manga elements? I gotta say, this is one of the few mangas where I genuinely root for hetero couples to end up with each other. There's always a thrill on the romantic pairings in this manga, always teasing us with the "would they or won't they" trope, and suddenly surprising us with a genuine act of love they're not even aware of. And since none of them has had an actual love experience before, it's very amusing to watch them go through trial-and-error to try and understand what it feels like to be in love (so, you know, Nozaki would have new content for his manga). This manga has been going on for almost a decade now, and no one really knows if Nozaki and the gang are gonna graduate from high school soon, yet Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is still going strong with its shenanigans. New characters have just been introduced and a lot more is yet to happen on how things have progressed with this wacky bunch. I see a bright future in this manga and I really hope more people get to witness that. Is this worth reading? Definitely. It's an easy read, being a 4-koma manga, that will make you laugh every time you turn the page, thanks to the loveable cast and quirky humor. You don't need to be a fan of "girls manga" to like this, because this is certainly more than just a "shoujo manga about shoujo manga". chiyorin
100/100Gag manga at its finest: a silly premise executed wonderfully through amazing charactersContinue on AniListSpoiler-free
This is my favourite manga. I’ve read this a total of 4 times, and every time I re-read it I continued to laugh, hard, at the never-ending jokes on each and every page, and fall in love even more with the silliest, goofiest cast of characters I’ve ever seen in a story. And every time I’ve re-read it has solidified my opinion that, in my as-unbiased-as-possible view, this is the peak of comedy.
STORY GSNK has a pretty quirky premise from the get-go. Girl confesses to boy, boy misunderstands it and boy… turns out to be a shoujo manga author? This premise, already a gag in of itself, is the set-up for many more jokes to come, and as the manga progresses, the types of jokes become more diverse while maintaining their hilarious absurdity. GSNK is about a group of friends who draw manga, act in the drama club, cheat at basketball, otaku culture, play dating simulators, and much, much more.
The story is simple. There are no major developments, no long story arcs. And such a story is perfect for a comedy manga. GSNK has almost no development, but it does not lack development, for the simple story is exactly why the comedy can be lighthearted and so extremely funny. The jokes in this manga subvert stereotypes, are relatable (especially to fans of manga and anime as a whole), and are pulled off incredibly well.
CHARACTERS The characters are goofy, silly, dumb and very lovable. It’s a large number of main characters (7), but in total a small cast (maybe 10 supporting characters, for a total of less than 20 recurring characters). All of our main cast seem somewhat stereotypical at first, but those expectations are subverted as they prove to be much more unique than they seem, having many of their own personality traits. Interactions between the characters are filled with chemistry and synergy as they create absurd scenarios.
Sakura, Nozaki and Mikoshiba’s (our main main three) interactions are especially well-written in my opinion, which you can tell from my profile picture and username. Plus, the fact that I can even love Maeno (though it’s probably just me), the character designed to be annoying, simply because he’s so funny, really emphasises the fact that the characters are so extremely likable.
THEMES Tsubaki-sensei has consistently broken down many gender stereotypes throughout the series, and I want to commend her for that. Most of the characters do not act how their gender is typically shown to be - for example: Male Mikoshiba is surprisingly shy and hence is the inspiration for Mamiko, the heroine of the shoujo manga Nozaki writes. Female Kashima looks masculine and is admired by the girls in her school, earning the title of “Prince of Roman Academy”. Male Nozaki is basically peak malewife as a superb chef and housekeeper.
GSNK has also been LGBTQ positive, treating non-straightness as commonplace and normal while also using it for punchlines in iconic jokes. One of the most well-known and popular jokes is in chapter 8, it’s very supportive of queerness and is such a good representation of shipping culture at the same time. Go read the chapter if you haven't yet!
ART The art of the manga has done wonders for the comedy. It's easy to read, especially with the 4-koma format, and pleasing to the eye. Tsubaki-sensei is also good at changing the art style between the main story and the shoujo manga that the characters write. The art is adorable and I have no complaints with it at all.
CONCLUSION This manga is the funniest thing I’ve ever read. It’s a ride of a good time and great laughs, paired with lovable characters. I couldn’t recommend it more, and I promise it won’t let you down.
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SCORE
- (4.1/5)
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