Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun Manga Review
By: Robiko
April 3, 2019

Overall: 8

Plot: 6

This series is one of the, we can say, famous shoujo which most of us know. When you mention Ao Haru Ride, Kimi ni Todoke, the name of this story will also come up. After watching it a second time, I realized why I forgot how the story goes. Well, except for the chicken the characters used to take care of. This series made the reader expect for more, more revelations, more twist, more explanation on why characters acted the way they are. It is a story of a young boy, who don't have a clue on how to act properly, who left his home out of strong hatred, and was revived by a girl who saved him from the darkness he was in. Along the story, it became a loop of confused emotions, a question and annoyance on how weak the feelings are conveyed. Maybe that is the reason why it feels like it is really slow paced. The concept of the story is good, but the reason on why the story moves forward just disappeared.

Characters: 7

If I were to pick my favorite character, I will choose Yamaken. Aside from the fact that he is handsome, rich, and intelligent, he also show that he really love the girl. He always gather his courage to show it, to protect her, even that means facing what he is scared of. Not like the protagonist of the story who always run of nowhere just to hide from confrontation. Honestly, the only proof shown by him that he love the girl is the way his face became so red. Oh, is it called love? Maybe his never ending confused feelings really got through me, and it is hard to just believe what he says. Lucky that the girl is head over heels to the guy and there's no other option she wanted unless it is him. It is just kindof sad that I never saw the guy fully show his sincerity, his love, to the girl. Not once.

Art: 10

There is no doubt that the way the characters expressed their emotions are great. The feelings of the characters at that certain time has been properly shown. I really love the art of this story. It is lively, detailed, sometimes scary. What I love to see the most is the clothes of the characters which always look cool and fashionable. It made me feel like I want to see them in real life, like literally them. Oh well, art really make a difference.

Enjoyment: 9

If Yamaken is not there, I won't enjoy the whole series. If he's been highlighted on most of the episodes, that would be really really good. I think, he deserve more scenarios, a chance to show his feelings, but he got dumped right on his face. There are fun parts on this series, the way teens enjoy their life, the way they feel happiness on little things. It is simple things but its quite enjoyable to see.

Ending: 8

If you are the type of person who wanted a happy ending, an ending where the characteras are sure not to let go of one another, then this one is for you. The way the creator lock the story by the marriage of the protagonists is great, for a shoujo genre. Since that is the most cliche, but wanted endings. But for me, it is not simple. The conflicts that was initially shown in the story must be solved first. Yes, it was solved but it is kind of incomplete since there's nothing that really happen. It's just like, yeah, lets just forget about it. Well, I'm glad to see all of the characters happy with their individual life at the ending of the story.