***Warning, the following may contain
spoilers for Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Shizuku
Mizutani (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu) has only one interest in life, studying.
Whatever's happening and whatever other people may be doing or thinking has no
bearing on her.
One day,
Shizuku must deliver the class printouts for a student who hasn't shown up
since his recent fight. Unable to come up with an adequate reason to refuse the
request, Shizuku heads of to get the job over and done with.
Shizuku
meets the recluse and rumored dangerous student Haru Yoshida (voiced by
Tatsuhisa Suzuki). Because of his reputation, Shizuku's astonished when Haru
greets her as a friend. In fact one of his first friends.
After the
faithful meeting, Haru rarely leaves Shizuku alone. All this comes to a head
when Haru confesses his love for Shizuku. Since the only thing she has ever
cared about is academics, Shizuku has no idea what do. She returns Haru’s
feelings but doesn’t know how honest they are.
Shizuku, the
Ice Queen, and Haru, the Monster, must work together to find out their feelings
for one another.
Series Positives
I think this
one’s all right.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun actually has a
lot of unique and interesting ideas. For a high school romance, that is.
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| Shizuku |
For
better…or for worst, I never knew what was going to come next. Because of this,
the show managed to remain entertaining.
Atmosphere
The
atmosphere was what made Tonari no
Kaibutsu-kun unpredictable. Not to mention a fresh change of pace. The show
had a distinct tone that worked well.
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| Haru |
The art
style was more akin to one found in a much more down to earth, deep, and, dare
I say, gritty anime. While there are several serious and heavy bits, the core
of the series was still comedy.
Kaibutsu-kun took itself serious enough
at the right times. Making what’s going on particularly worth watching. That
said, never in the show did it feel as though everything was about to go wrong. Always around the corner, something was waiting to break up the tension and it
more or less worked.
Relationship Building
Another
thing that helped set the tone was the relationship between Haru and Shizuku.
From the
beginning of the show, the two had already confessed their feelings for one
another. I was actually impressed by this because it was an interesting and
uncommon twist on the formula.
What I mean
is, while they both said they liked one another, each had their own initial
idea of what that meant. Plus, they didn’t say it at the same time.
Thus, the
story was no longer about if they liked each other. It was about them trying to
convince the other their feelings weren't misguided. That they were, in fact,
well-founded feelings of affection.
Like I said,
it was definitely an interesting angle and it did make for some pretty moving
scenes.
Series Negatives
The first
half the show was great. The second half
was not.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun goes downhill and
it goes downhill quick. Everything
managed to remain tolerable, but the last few episodes were pushing their luck.
Had the series continued further, it would have drifted into the realm of
pointlessness. As well as boring. The OVA proved this.
Shizuku’s Feelings
There was
something about this that didn't sit well with me.
I did like
how the story built up the relationship between the mains, but it did, at
times, feel one sided. Throughout the show, Haru had feelings for Shizuku which
continued to grow. Shizuku, on the other hand, did admit her feelings. But
almost immediately, she stopped putting in the effort.
The show
made it a point to let us know that Shizuku was in love with Haru. But this was
all because the series said this was the case. There were times when it felt
like she couldn’t give any less of a s#$%. And for no real reason either. She
had a ton of attitude shifts that came out of nowhere.
I’ve seen
her character type work so many times in other romance anime. Except here it
was awkward and less thought out.
The Side Characters
What a
worthless group of people these were.
I just did
not care about anything that had to do with them. With the sole exceptions
being Asako Natsume (voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki) and Nagoya the chicken (you
didn't misread that), nobody did anything of interest.
The show
just didn't use them until the absolute end. And that was f#$%ing stupid. All
the side characters finally became “relevant” when the story was wrapping up.
This wasn't the place to focusing on side plots. This was where the series
should have been solidifying the relationship between the mains.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun went even further
by having the nerve to introduce new characters. Then it tried to pretend that
these new characters were actually important. Except we have not seen them once
before, whatsoever.
So by the
end, there was just so much going on and none of it was all that interesting.
Final Thoughts
The first
half of the show was fantastic. The second half, not so much.
Still, from
beginning to end, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
remained entertaining. The romance was unique and done well. There were a lot
of funny moments, making this quite the feel good anime. The mains, while both
having their own issues, did work together.
So it's up
to you if you want to see Tonari no
Kaibutsu-kun, or not. Got some free time with nothing better to do; hey no
harm, no foul. There are plenty of moments that make this one a well-justified
watch.
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