Typical rom-com manga plotline. Girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, girl attempts to confess to boy, boy completely misunderstands what she’s actually trying to say and instead of accepting or rejecting her love, hands her an autograph made out from a famous and popular girls’ manga artist, who actually happens to be him.
Wait, what?
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun follows the misadventures of the eponymous Nozaki-kun, a popular shoujo mangaka, and the poor unfortunate assistants he recruits to work for him. True to its placement in the romantic comedy genre, this means adding a plethora of other characters and their romantic misadventures, too.
©Izumi Tsubaki/SQUARE ENIX
In this volume, Wakamatsu causes some havoc in the drama club, Nozaki attempts to use his friends as references for manga characters (and regrets it), and Nozaki Mayu’s judo-themed art blog leads to some interesting interactions on both sides of the screen.
This is the second full volume past the ending of the anime series, and Volume 6 definitely skews more towards some of the couples than others. Sakura’s really not getting anywhere in her pursuit of Nozaki (no one is surprised here), but readers get a better idea of the relationship that Wakamatsu and Seo have, despite Waka’s intense denial.
As with some of the other volumes, Kashima and Hori really steal the show in Volume 6. Kashima figures pretty prominently in quite a few chapters — Mikoshiba asks her to be his fake girlfriend, and she tries to learn to act “wistful” for a play by ignoring her favorite Hori-senpai. Her mix of reactions and her dedication to having Hori’s attention is hilarious.
But as I mentioned earlier, this volume also has a ton of Seo and Waka, my second-favorite couple after Hori and Kashima. Readers learn exactly how much attention Waka pays to Seo on a daily basis, how well they know one another, and how easily they talk casually on the train.
As usual, there are also some chapters dedicated to shoujo manga and manga-related jokes, including an entire chapter on the editorial department at Nozaki’s publisher as they decide on a cover for the following month. Readers interested in learning about manga publishing in Japan will probably enjoy this part a lot!
Volume 6 has a few fun extras, as well. At the start of the book are a few full-colored pages themed around Mikoshiba’s love for bishoujo figurines. The end of the volume includes an English-language reprint of a booklet produced for the Japanese edition of Volume 6, which included a figurine of Mikoshiba (posed in a pretty obvious parody of a bishoujo figurine.)
Volume 6 is a blast for Hori/Kashima fans, and there’s less of the weird smutty stuff than in Volume 5. I definitely recommend this series for some light-hearted escapism for those feeling down about recent events, and Volume 6 maintains the series’ tone and hilarity.
Story: 4 out of 5 stars
Art: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | IndieBound | RightStuff
This review contains affiliate links. While Girls in Capes does make revenue from purchases made at affiliate links, reviews are not paid, and all reviews contain the staff writers’ honest opinions of the work.
