Writing 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".