Back to Moog's Profile Moog's Profile

They did everything right with this one, and everyone who has seen the previous two seasons should watch this, or at least if they want to experience the most relaxing and beautiful OVA ever. I know you do.

In this hour-long episode, the Yuru Yuri girls travel on a camping trip, which totally hasn't been done before by anyone. The first thing you'll notice is the new animation. It's beautiful. If you exclude the five minute Engrish opening scene, the OVA radiates an aura of calmness and serenity, which actually diverts quite a bit from the usual show, but it's done in such a way that ... you can't do anything but enjoy it. Whether the girls are toying around at school, or chilling up in the mountains, the episode is pure eye candy (camping episodes are perfect for eye candy material and mandatory nature shots!) and the sounds are so calm that it'd cure insomnia if you'd choose to sleep to it. It's like they put the Yuru Yuri characters in Non Non Biyori (check that anime out if you enjoyed this).

I'm very glad that the OVA touches all the things that made the show great, from the running gags, to the supporting characters, and all the other details that ties the show together. They paid attention to it all, and they didn't go overboards with it either, so it totally feels like Yuru Yuri without it feeling too forced.

So yeah, we get a new OP and ED, an hour-long episode with our favourite moeblobs, and one of the most relaxing, fun and beautiful OVAs I've watched, so of course I'll recommend this to Yuru Yuri fans. It'll get you hyped for season 3.

10/10

I haven't enjoyed a slice of life anime this much since Azumanga Daioh. This is what slice of life is all about. I'm so fucking glad this thing exists. Non Non Biyori is heartwarming, funny, relaxing, and it captures the perfect feeling of beauty and nostalgia. The whole atmosphere the anime radiates is magical, and you owe it to yourself to watch it if you enjoy beauty and the simple things in life.

The anime follows Hotaru Ichijou, who has just moved from Tokyo to some isolated village in the middle of nowhere. Here she meets the other four characters that are to become the main ... cast, and that is where the magic begins. They all attend the same school and the same class, because there are only like five kids in the entire village (not entirely true). This already creates a cosy atmosphere, because you have a definite set of characters that you can focus on without any distractions, and they are so masterfully written that their interactions with one another becomes a pure joy to follow. Besides the main characters there are also adults that are in some way connected to them, so there are already well-established relationships and ties, but some of these you won't learn until after a few episodes. As usual with my reviews I won't go into details about the different characters, because I believe that you should experience it yourself. You will most certainly come to love them, I'll tell you that.

As with all Slice of Life anime, there isn't any story present. It's all about capturing mundane everyday activities in an interesting and engaging manner, and Non Non Biyori gets full scores in this regard. The characters are all very well written, and they all contribute to the overall atmosphere and feel of the show with their own spice. The anime pays an equal amount of attention to all of them, so you're not stuck with Hotaru Ichijou only if you were worried about that, which is good because I personally find her to be the least interesting character. You get to see all the aspects of the different characters' everyday life, and it really helps you connect to them. And it's so cosy! I don't think I've ever felt this cosy while watching another anime before. There is something about the beautiful music, art, and characters that just does something to me that most other anime fail to. At times I don't know whether I want to laugh along with the characters or tear up from the sheer beauty of the show, so I find myself doing both. If I could put it one way, I would say that Non Non Biyori conjures some sort of powerful nostalgia that you didn't know that you had, so you instantly feel at home whenever you follow the girls along with their shenanigans.

Non Non Biyori is a wonderful show that is the embodiment of what Slice of Life is all about, so if you're looking for something fun and relaxing then I'd highly recommend it. I wholeheartely believe that this anime is a great example that anime can be taken seriously as an art form. I was almost starting to lose hope, phew. If anything, this show raised the bar too high, so now I'll have an even more difficult time finding good SoLs. Curses.

Ah yes, Azumanga Daioh, the anime responsible for spawning a metric fuckton of high school comedies trying to mimic the magic of this show. Some uninformed people might be tempted to call Azumanga Daioh "generic high school comedy," but in the early 00s it was far from that, and to this day it still stands as the pinnacle of the slice of life genre.

Slice of life is a tricky genre to get right, because essentially it tries to capture mundane realism in an entertaining fashion, and many shows don't get the latter right at all; nobody wants to watch an anime of something lame that ... they might as well experience in real life, so what's the key to a compelling slife of life story? Good characters. This is where Azumanga Daioh excels. The show revolves around six eccentric high school girls and their two teachers, and along with skillful voice acting, beautiful audio and visuals, it radiates a charming and relaxing atmosphere that never gets old. I know, it's easy to disregard Azumanga Daioh as boring today if you read the synopsis, but you're wrong.

There is no story in Azumanga Daioh, but the character-driven writing makes up for that, and J.C.Staff captures the essence of Azuma's four-panel form manga masterfully. In short, whatever "story" you get is pretty much a large variety of situational scenes, events, and mundane chatter among the main characters, and that is more than enough. You get attached to the characters from the very beginning, and the more you get to know them the easier it becomes to immerse yourself in the anime, and that's what slice of life should be about, right? It's not an anime that tries to be edgier-than-thou or filled with slapstick cheese--it's simply a relaxing show that you can sit down and enjoy, and because of its episodic nature there's no continuity, so anyone can sit down and watch it. It's an anime that I'd recommend to most people, regardless of their experience with anime. Most people have probably already seen the famous viral clip of Osaka kicking off her shoe at anyone from Fidel Castro to Italy's Marco Materazzi anyway, so you might even get some "ah, so that's where it's from!" moments as well. Those are always fun.

I vaguely mentioned sound and art earlier, and it deserves some comments. Because slice of life is so mundane in nature, I think that it's vital that it has stunning audio and visuals. It sets the overall atmosphere and tone of the show after all. There's nothing breathtaking about Azumanga Daioh's visuals, so too bad if you expected delicious eye candy. Go watch K-On! or some other moe blob show. While the art isn't great, it really compliments the audio (great music and seiyuu!) so overall I wouldn't criticize it too much. Getting lost in details is stupid, and the overall vibe the anime radiates is still top-notch.

Azumanga Daioh has aged well, and it is still as hilarious, engaging and relaxing as it was back in the early 00s. This is a timeless anime classic, and judging by the current trend of high school comedies it'll probably stand as the epitome of the genre for many more years to come. Give this anime a shot if you haven't already. Seriously.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is an anime that I believe anyone will enjoy, but I would recommend it especially to viewers who are looking for a romance anime without necessarily wanting to go on a powerful emotional rollercoaster; in fact, in many ways this show is a parody of your typical shōjo romance anime, and it's handled wonderfully. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is high school comedy done right.

The anime follows Sakura and her endless struggle with confessing her feelings to her schoolmate Nozaki, who also happens to be a shōjo manga artist who goes under the pseudonym Sakiko Yumeno. Nozaki mistakes her for a fan, but invites ... Sakura home and eventually she becomes his assistant. This is where the anime really begins. What this show does so well is how fluidly it introduces its character cast and their lives as high school students. The anime is filled with running gags, cliché shōjo elements turned upside down, witty jokes and scenarios, and the great characters really make it all come to life.

The characters are definitely the highlight of the anime. The show introduces a quirky and colourful cast of unique characters that compliment each other nicely. They create great dynamics throughout the anime and it's nothing but a joy to watch them interact with each other. I'm not going to spend time describing what each character is like, because I want you to find out on your own, but I'm sure that you'll love them just as much as I did, especially if you are into slice of life or high school comedies. What Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun does is that it takes time to develop the side characters as well, instead of just treating them as one-dimensional sidekicks that don't serve much purpose except for just being there. I feel that many shows walk into this trap, but this anime isn't just about Sakura and Nozaki, but about all the characters in the cast, and the show isn't afraid of focusing its attention away from our lovestruck heroine and towards the other characters and their lives as well. This is key to developing compelling characters, and while this is not always a must as far as comedies are concerned, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun really succeeds in this regard, and you will want to follow each one of them.

When it comes to art and sound the show also delivers. The artstyle is colourful and pleasing to the eye; the characters are distinct and neatly designed, and the music compliments the setting and atmosphere nicely. In fact, the music can be so good and evocative at times that I managed to have emotional responses to scenes that were meant as jokes. The seiyuu do a wonderful job at portraying each character, and the opening is one of the catchiest I've heard in recent anime, and the ending radiates a very nice and appropriate feeling.

To conclude, you've got a hilarious parody of the shōjo romance genre in a typical high school comedy setting, and it's beautifully executed. It has wonderful characters that are a joy to follow, and countless situations that will have you laughing. I definitely recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys slice of life comedies. It doesn't redefine the genre in any way and it won't blow you away, but it doesn't have to. If there is a 2014 anime that is worth checking out, it's Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun.

A solid 7/10

It can be difficult to explain to someone why this manga is worth reading - simply because it's a difficult manga to describe. I guess you could recommend it to people that are tired of trite and banal harem stories, because Abnormal-kei Joshi is unlike most harem manga that you'll encounter, that's for sure. It can be described as a dark manga that incorporates elements from the psychological, mystery and horror genre, and it features a cast of very bizarre characters that keep the protagonist busy with their shenanigans.

The protagonist of this manga is Shinya, a seemingly average high schooler--if not a bit cold and ... cynical--who happens to dislike girls, but ironically he's surrounded by the strangest and most fucked up girls you could imagine. The manga mainly revolves around him and his strangely entertaining interactions with these characters, but the plot becomes a bit more apparent when rumours about a mysterious serial killer starts spreading. Going any further than that would be treading into spoiler territory. All I can say is that the interactions between the characters are very intriguing and worth following.

The art of Abnormal-kei Joshi really appeals to me. It has a simplistic and minimalistic art style that compliments the atmosphere, and the characters are distinct and neatly designed. It probably won't blow you away, but it's pleasant to look at nonetheless.

The characters are (surprise, surprise) definitely the highlight of this manga. It features a group of very bizarre and eccentric girls that Shinya has to deal with. They are by no means realistic in means of personality; in fact, they're exaggerations of typical character tropes, and they are executed very nicely by the author. Shinya himself is also unique in the way that, unlike most harem protagonists, he's not a retarded moron. He's sharp and seemingly cold, and few things manage to surprise or frighten him. Because he is far from as twisted as the rest of the characters, his personality also serves to balance and create contrasts between the other personalities in the manga. I'm not sure if this was the original intention of the author, but it works well.

To conclude, Abnormal-kei Joshi is a unique harem manga with bizarre characters and fucked up shit, and I'd definitely recommend that you check it out. It has a very peculiar vibe that I appreciate and I hope that other people are willing to give this relatively obscure manga a go as well. That being said, it is definitely not a manga for everyone, but if you've read this far, then you probably knew that by now already. The main gripe I have with this manga is that it updates SO slowly - to the point where I'm completely thrown off by the time another chapter shows up. If you're reading this in 2015 or later, chances are that you aren't very many chapters ahead of me, somebody who's reading this in 2014.