Manga Review: Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Volume 8, by Izumi Tsubaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: July 2017

Volumes: 10+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 7. 9.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The air around shoujo manga-ka high school boy Nozaki rings loud with greetings between acquaintances old and new!


Mikoto Mikoshiba hides the fact that he works as a manga assistant, but Hirotaka Wakamatsu finally discovers his secret, and the two meet anew...?! Meanwhile, Wakamatsu meets Yuzuki Seo's older brother, Ryousuke, for the first time!! What will come of the psychological warfare that ensues?! Later, Masayuki Hori's true feelings for Yuu Kashima come bursting out!! And everyone at last gets to meet the youngest Nozaki sibling, Yumeko!!

Review:

There's a lot of inter-relationship drama in this volume. We get acknowledgment of who knows about Nozaki's manga and who helps with what, and who knows about it. As some of these things get cleared up and some of the puzzle pieces connect, there's some confusion and understanding.

Waka also gets to meet Seo's older brother in this volume, and there's some confusion regarding their relationships/dynamics with Seo, and then some horror and pity and understanding. Since Seo is one of my favorite characters, this was a lot of fun to read. Kashima is another favorite of mine, so having her involved, and then seeing her attempt to grow closer to Hori, is a lot of fun.

Waka also invites Nozaki's younger brother as a buffer on a group date. There's some misunderstandings here, as Waka is clearly seeming to forget the reason for going on a group date. Also, Nozaki's younger brother is quite a hit.

These volumes are so much fun. I've grown fond of all of the characters at this point, and it's fun to see them all interact and misunderstand each other and all the chaos that creates. It's great.

Manga Review: Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Volume 5, by Izumi Tsubaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: February 2017

Volumes: 10+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The Umetarou Nozaki party heads for the sun and surf! When the group tags along for the drama club's training camp, summer fun runs amok, and seasonal gags abound, whether at the beach, at an inn, or even in the bath!! And if that's not enough drama, the story of the spring day Chiyo fell in love with a certain rather dense young man is finally told!

Review:

In this volume, we acknowledge that Sakura has done very little in terms of progress with Nozaki. She attempts a few different tactics, but it's debatable whether that does anything. Meanwhile, Nozaki continues trying to use his real life as research for his manga—for instance, at the beach. We see some ridiculous scenarios he sketches out that coincidentally play out in real life again.

I have moments where I don't remember which character is which, and which characters know who. But now that I know who the editors are, I quite love their interactions. We get to see Ken-san try to instruct Nozaki for a cover illustration here, and Maeno's unhelpful input.

Another good moment was the last chapter, where we get to see Sakura before she really knew Nozaki, but just crushed on him. How her friend attempts to help her confess—and we know how that turned out.

This series is so much fun. I'm glad I 'm catching up with it now, because I really want more.

Manga Review: Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Volume 4, by Izumi Tsubaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: 2016

Volumes: 10+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

(Volume 1)To the eyes of classmate Chiyo Sakura, high school student 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 mangaka's assistant?! Never in a million years! As Chiyo quickly discovers, Nozaki-kun, the boy of Chiyo's dreams, is a manga artist...a hugely popular shoujo manga artist, that is! 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!

Review:

So, in this volume, Nozaki tries to figure out how to do a good surprise, Wakamatsu is unknowingly in love with Seo's singing, Nozaki uses an accidental sleep-over as inspiration, and his little brother shows up a few times.

We also got a glimpse of background story in this volume, first when Nozaki first moved out on his own, and then when his editor switched to Miyamae. It's definitely a lot of fun seeing Nozaki's faults, given how everyone views him. For instance, when it is again pointed out that he doesn't understand space between characters, and tries using boxes to explain it all. It was also fun seeing how wary he was of Miyamae, because of how bad Maeno was; what a difference editors can make.

I don't know what happened, but this series has grown on me very suddenly, and now I want to catch up very badly.