I was actually really excited to watch this one after reading the other review here by "Revisionary", and I must say, this is one of those occasions where my expectations were surprisingly exceeded. The first few minutes of the anime set up the tone and what you can expect from the entire show, and the opening song is both catchy and engaging.

Of course, it's the entire cast of characters that make this show as great as it is. All of them, including the side characters who only appear once or twice, are not only interesting but also memorable. Even though there's only 12 episodes, each of the supporting characters have their own subplots, which although it detracts time from the main two characters, isn't a bad thing at all, as all characters end up feeling fleshed out and developed. On top of this, all of them have a relationship to at least one other character, and there's deliberate romantic tension that the show plays off without fail.

I can confidently say that this show is funny. I genuinely laughed and enjoyed the whole experience right from the start of the first episode. A large majority of the humour comes from how oblivious they all are to love and the situations involving it. Even the main character Chiyo Sakura, who is probably the most attentive in this area, has a huge tendency to over-analyze every moment with her crush leading to some entertaining moments. Bathos (setting up something serious and then having an anticlimactic resolution) is used quite a lot in Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, yet even though by the end I was expecting it, there seemed to be many times where it still caught me off guard and landed perfectly. Outside of this, there's a lot of recurring jokes, and the whole show is practically a parody on every romance anime. Overall, it has the kind of humour I really enjoy, and as it sets up its premise right from the start, there wasn't any moments that felt dragged out.

This show doesn't try to do anymore than it should, which is both a good and a bad thing. It sticks to its tone and humour throughout the entire series, but with the entire cast of characters as likeable as they are, you also can't help but desire them to go through more character growth or at explore some romantic potential. All the main cast, however, are so well written that they almost don't need character development to be engaging. All their interactions and conflicts play really well off each other, and almost makes it too easy for the show to craft comedy from it.

If you go into this show expecting a character driven romance with comedy, you might be disappointed. But if you go in realizing this is a light-hearted comedy with outstanding characters and their hilarious ignorance, you'll definitely enjoy yourself. In fact, I'd say the only major downside to this show is that it has adapted less than 50% of the manga, and we're still waiting for a second season 6 years later.