A cute love story about a study-obsessed girl and a borderline-abusive-but-hot-so-it's-fine guy. Worth watching!! · Waifora

My Little Monster Review

Name: A cute love story about a study-obsessed girl and a borderline-abusive-but-hot-so-it's-fine guy. Worth watching!!
Item: My Little Monster
Rating: 100
Author: dommywommy

Summary My Little Monster was frankly, amazing. I'm devastated that it was over so quick, but I have the manga now and I'm excited to read it cover-to-cover-to-cover-to-cover-to-cover. High points for the show include comedic writing, cinematography, characterization, story development, audio, use of music, and basically everything. Seriously, please give it a watch. You won't regret it. SCORE: 10/10

Story The story of My Little Monster revolves around Mizutani Shizuku, the study bug, and Yoshida Haru, the border-line abusive hot guy. The story started out on a high note and finished on an even higher note. After the first episode I knew I would be enthralled in this love story, as the two main characters were extremely fun to watch. Usually with these types of shows we have to wait for the entire season for the main characters to declare their love in a fit of awkwardness, but in My Little Monster it happens in the very first episode! All joking aside, I appreciated how My Little Monster sort of inverted the typical rom-com story formula. Rather than starting off as strangers and slowly working towards confessing their undying love for each other, My Little Monster’s main characters start off saying they are in love with each other and getting physical, then realizing that they may need to pump the brakes a little bit. It is worth noting that My Little Monster contains a cast of amazing side characters as well, ranging from Haru’s weird, kind of hot, deranged older brother to Haru’s weird, kind of hot, significantly-less-deranged older cousin. In my Horimiya review, my only complaint for the story was that there were too many side characters and they felt distracting, as they were not given proper development time and their presence felt very forced. My Little Monster does not share this problem, as every side character is given at least a little development and the cast is relatively constrained. Moreover, the side characters are scripted so well that they truly added to the main story, rather than subtracting/distracting from it. I’ve added the manga to my to-read list because I just cannot bear leaving this cast of amazing characters and this amazing writing! Here’s hoping the manga doesn’t suck!! SCORE: 10/10

Characters As is typical with the comedy/romance/slice-of-life genres, the main draw of My Little Monster is the cast of amazing characters. Each character has a different personality and is multi-dimensional, with very little ambiguity behind their actions and motives. Usually, I feel that side characters can sometimes distract from the main story, but this is not a problem in My Little Monster. Each side character is amazing and received proper attention, development, and screen-time so as to add to the plot without serving as a distraction. In the very first episode, I thought I would have a problem with one of the main characters because he seemed slightly abusive (I think he even threatened to rape the other main character), though he was dialled down significantly and tamed as the episodes went on. Most of the characters rely on very stereotypical anime archetypes, though I did not really see this as too much of an issue because they felt authentic and well-portrayed. All things considered, I thought the characters were a very strong point for My Little Monster, and I am hoping they are just as good in the manga when I go read it eventually. SCORE: 10/10

Visuals and Audio From the very first episode, I remember thinking immediately that the visuals in My Little Monster were strangely high-quality. Especially since I later found out that this show is from 2012. I was really impressed with the cinematography, which is not something that usually sticks out for me when it comes to anime. In fact, other than with Violet Evergarden, I don’t think I’ve ever actually noticed the cinematography in an anime show. I really appreciated the camera movement and transitions, as well as the use of varying types of shots (long-shots and short-shots), as this really enhanced the quality and feeling of the show. The character designs are also very good. I wanted to add a section for audio because this show really sticks out when it comes to the voice acting. My Little Monster has an amazing voice cast and I remember texting @KisaDi how much I was really digging the voice acting in the show! Special mentions go out to the voice actresses for Shizuku and Natsume, as their voice acting stuck out as being particularly well done. I really have no complaints when it comes to the visual style and audio of My Little Monster, which is really rare for me. My Little Monster definitely tops my list for the genre when it comes to the visuals and audio. Truly remarkable. SCORE: 10/10

Music The music in My Little Monster was, frankly, fantastic. In my Great Pretender review, I noted that there were some points where the music took away from the show because it was too distracting and intense and it didn’t always fit the mood. My Little Monster is a masterclass in how to utilize music properly in a show. Really, the opening and ending themes are both amazing (and have been added to my spotify playlist), and there is a LOT of good songs on the entire soundtrack. Specific songs I liked include Tetsukazu no Kanjou, Yamaguchi-sanchi no Kenji-kun, That Old Feeling, and Oh My Godfather (my personal favourite). Seriously, there is a LOT of good music on this soundtrack. Typically, I would only rate the anime in this section based on opening and ending, but I felt it specifically worth mentioning how good the side-tracks are for this show. Very, very, very well done. I would also like to make a note that the opening is particularly amazing, given that it is performed by the main character’s voice actress. I was really happy when I discovered this!! In fact, I’ve been listening to it on repeat this entire time while writing this review… SCORE: 10/10

Enjoyment If it isn’t obvious by now, I loved My Little Monster. I’m actually sad that it was over so quick, and I’m excited to read the manga. The romance was perfectly executed and dealt with some very important themes (including prioritization, struggle, boundaries, etc), which surprised me. This definitely tops my list of favourites for the genre so far, and I would rate it as equal to something like Violet Evergarden. In fact, I’m slightly upset because I have a feeling it will be hard for me to find another show that matches the quality and comedy of My Little Monster. If you have any recommendations, I would really love to hear them! This show was freakin’ amazing!! I enjoyed my 2-day binge. Frankly, I’m just happy I’m free to go outside again now that I’ve finished this show. ;-) SCORE: 10/10

P.S
If you enjoyed this review, please feel free to check out my other reviews.  Also, feel free to start a conversation with me about this series or any other great series you like! I’m new to anime/manga so I’m always looking for recommendations. I appreciate you reading until the end! Thanks so much and Happy New Year!