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| It's all for the manga. |
This show came out of nowhere this season to become one of my favorites. Sakura decides to confess to her crush Nozaki. Nozaki, being the clueless guy he is, thinks she is just fangirling over his secret status as a successful shojo manga author, and invites her to become part of his artistic crew. Each episode has quite a few LOL moments. You would think the show would dwell on Sakura and Nozaki's romantic relationship. But the show actually focuses more on Nozaki's circle of friends who he has incorporated into his work, either physically as technical help, or spiritually as inspiration (or both). Mikoshiba is a smooth-talking, popular high school boy, but he is actually the model for Nozaki's manga heroine. Kashima is smooth-talking, "prince-like" high school girl, who serves as a model for Nozaki's manga hero. The show has a lot of fun making fun of manga tropes by gender-swapping the inspirations for the manga characters. Seo, Wakamatsu, and Hori, round out his group of friends and all their relationships get even more time than the Sakura-Nozaki relationship. The comedy evolves from their each character's personalities and relationships, which go against manga-trope expectations. It's all sounding academic right now, but just watch the show and bust a gut laughing.
