Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

From the first episode you might think that its another shoujo about a CRAZY delinquent boy getting dropped into a studious girl's lap, and might lose interest. However I think Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is unique in that it doesn't try to make it's lead male into this delinquent boy who happens to be percieved wrong by all of his classmates, and is actually deep down a sweetheart who is a hero with all of his morals in the right place. In Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun Haru (the male lead) is literally an almost sociopath, minus the fact that he hasn't actually killed anyone, yet, and allof his classmates have had the time to acknowledge this. Although there are plenty of shonen that have made comedic use of following an "evil" delinquent boy who has messed up morals like beelzebub and kyou kara ore wa, its quite rare in shoujo and I think the story of Shizuku (the female lead) reaching out to this troubled boy (out of obligation at first) is sweet and also hilarious and worth watching. Often art in shoujo has a particular style that is hard to transfer to anime successfully. However I think its obvious that this anime had the funds to make their art work properly and there weren't as many "chibi" + flowers scenes which are generally often present in shoujo, so it made this anime more realistic and watchable for me. I gave sound a high score because there are these "classy" characters that go to an expensive all boys school, and every time they show up/mess up/ do something silly it plays this public domain classical music and its hilarious. (they make use of the public domain music because of the lack of funding, it was correctly placed and super funny). Character wise Haru and maybe also his brother are the most in depth more 3 dimensional characters, who get tens because its hard to write an manga/anime character that is 3-D. The rest of the characters are more two dimensional, however some of them are 2-D for a reason. Shizuku is a girl that does nothing but study, which is unrealistic, however it probably reminds many girls with maybe good but not perfect grades of themselves in high school, who might regret being too serious. Although if there's no crazy delinquent beau around too force you into a less serious strain of activities, there is no crazy delinquent beau around. (There wasn't for me, and I happen to be attending a good college, but like most girls I like to watch anime in which characters, who are either very similar too me, or only have one trait because they are 2-D and thus easy to relate to, get to experience something more romantic.) I really like anime and manga that are humorous and I tend to not like a shoujo unless it's stupid funny in a good way, I enjoyed this anime a lot and would recommend it to other people.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun [My Little Monster] is a Rom-Com that fails to deliver. It continues to go in circles while not coming forth and facing its problems. At the same time showing us meaningless love interest with the side characters. Will they? Won't they? Why haven't they? It's a decent at most. I just fail to see, why others give it such high praise. If you enjoy, ‘Rom-Com; than this is for you. Be warned 'Abuse' and 'Odd' situations ahead. I’m a bit dumbfounded how I wasn’t able to enjoy. I love Romances but when watching this one, I found myself struggling at times and leavingbriefly hoping I'd enjoy it later. The first episode was a great step forward towards on establishing a relationship but only took more steps back if anything. Never doing anything. A bit of spoilers a head. Gomensai. Read at your own risk. Story: 6 The show is centered on Haru and Shizuku as they form a peculiar friendship of their own. From episode one, we're told Haru has a thing for Shizuku. Insisting to her that he ‘Loves’ her. Only to get rejected right there and then. There was no establishment that they were even good friends before hand but it was promising start nonetheless. As we got to see how their bond and relationship beginnings to form and unfold before our eyes. Both of them are stubborn as they try to come out their shells while making friendships with their classmates mainly Masahiro and Sasahara. I'm left at awe at times how some of the side characters fall in love with others just because of a simple action or meaningless small talk. When others try to give advice to Shizuku and Haru, I fail to see where they’re coming. Feels forced, in hopes of only advancing the main love interest. There were cringe worthy moments, that could be questioned as abusive. Just a heads up. Art & Sound: 7 | 6 The animation does have it's drop in qualities but it isn't too apparent. I like the characters designs for just about everyone, giving them all a distinct look. It's music does fit the tone at times during it's more dramatic situations which I found to be pleasant. However, the Opening and Ending OST aren’t really all that great in my opinion. Characters: 5 Haru is the most intriguing character from the start and the driving force of the show. Lively, hot-headed, with a full head of steam. It's surprising how they don't address the fact that he enjoys, beating and wealing on others. That should have been more of focus rather than comedic relief. I didn't find it that funny, when he wailed on some people, which included his love interest at times. Furthermore, Haru can be so dense and gullible. It blows my mind how a prodigy when it comes to exams can be like that. He’s always seems to make act without giving it much thought on how it might affect others. Shizuku is the studyholic placing it above anything or anyone else. Let it be family or friends, studying comes first. Through the progression of the show, she opens up to others but has great difficulty when it comes to Haru. She can’t seem to figure him like her homework problems; they’re are simple while he’s a complex problem to her. Sadly, I didn't find the side characters all that appealing. None then did anything to stick out. All were bland and poorly written. We have Natsume who the ‘Baka’ and the annoyance of the show. Due to her poor choices of posting on internet forums. Sasahara is just their to give advice if anything else while being a comedy relief. The show didn’t let the side characters develop at all that much. Enjoyment: 5 I found myself trying to watch this anime but had myself struggling often at times. The most I got out of it were from Haru goofy actions and behavior. Final Thoughts/Overall: 5 If you want an unfinished Anime than this is the one for you. It a poor adaption which was made for watchers to read the Manga. It only rose questions like, "Will those two end up together?". Nothing was ever adress through the series. It set itself up for a Season 2 that won't likely come.

This could also have been titled Domestic Violence:Origin Story. Shizuku is smart, focussed, hard-working. Unfortunately, one day she crosses paths with Haru. He is violent, jealous, and has no understanding of, or interest in, how anyone else thinks or feels. In other words, someone who Shizuku should stay well away from. He is an incipient abuser who needs therapy, not a girlfriend. Unfortuntely, Shizuku falls in love and forgives every red flag. Haru's default reaction to every stress is violence. See a friend talking to Shizuku? Attack. Encounter his brother? Grab the class president by the throat and hold her hostage. The worst of it is thatnot only does he never understand the harm he is doing, not only does everyone keep forgiving him, but the victims blame themselves. He's misundetstood. He had a hard childhood. It is their fault for not trying harder to understand him. Having reasons for abusive behaviour does not excuse that behaviour. Every violent criminal has "reasons" they think justify their acts. They never do. This story just disgusted me as I saw Shizuku's fate laid out, a spiral of self-recrimination and coping as Haru crosses one boundary after another in his fits of jealous rage until she ends up as one more domestic violence statistic.

An extremely disappointing series that had a lot of potential with vibrant characters that goes absolutely no where At first glance, TNKK seems like a cute and different kind of story. The female lead, Shizuku Mizutani, is top of her class but not without a price. She's cold and emotionless, only caring about studying and becoming successful, very much the anti-shoujo stereotype of being obsessed with love. She meets Haru, an intimidating boy with natural smarts that outmatch hers, a vivid outlook on life and an extremely wild, aggressive streak. The two are natural opposites - id and ego - who are destined to fall inlove and grow together, to better themselves, right? Nah. TNKK falls short of being a slice-of-life type of romcom, with half-hearted life lessons and story arcs that don't lead to actual character growth. Beyond the first episode or two, the story isn't exactly "touching" either. There is this back-and-forth love story for the majority of the 13-episode anime which was extremely tiresome all too soon. Characters are introduced, such as 3rd party love interests or the main characters' relatives, that are irrelevant to the plot, get no character depth, or are rarely seen or heard from even though they are engaging and exciting. No plot lines get resolved and there is next to no character development. If anything, Haru and Shizuku regress into their 1-dimensional roles and become side-characters to others, such as Yamaken or Natsume (who, unfortunately, do not get their stories resolved either). It ends up being a chore to care about the two main characters. All in all, I just wouldn't recommend this series unless you REALLY have nothing better to watch. It has a few cute or sweet moments, but don't expect another Toradora or Chuunibyou. Having not read the manga, I can't be sure as to how well it goes along, but as a stand-alone anime, 13 episodes have left me wondering why I even bothered watching this show. And the fact that it can't hold its own, to me, is a mark of a bad show.

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