(CR) Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (My Little Monster)

[zeniselv]

this anime is just fantastic, character are engaging and interesting and it have the perfect balance between comedy and drama, wich in both is doing a good job, the character design, the music, the voice actors, everything is just wonderful, i have a blast with every minute of each episode.

[Minoye]

Very nice episode. The music was good and well used, it added a lot of feel for all scenes.
Natsume was so funny, highlight of this episode for me.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Haak

It's funny how almost everyone is rooting for a SasayanxNatsume pairing (including me), even though there's been virtually no development that way (apart from the bikini photos bit which was only in the background)

Which is funny because no matter how I look at it, Sasayan and Natsume looks and acts more like a couple than Haru and Mitty without even trying

[D-KLAC]

ep.6
well give bit like hmm yea class rep glasses girl slowing falling for haru but give bit shy, no friends, & see shizuku as a challenge for haru.

then even all doing ask if haru got balls everyone go white bit shy overload kana-hana.

look at bit shizuku's past oh library with shizuku & haru give saying she more into her study than date & etc with add in wonder how did laptop comp girl even got into high school?

[HandofFate]

Natsume's voice acting is so strong sounding lol, overpowering everyone whenever she talks. For some reason I really liked her "yay pachi pachi" line when they were clapping to help the class rep in the library.

And that's saying something since most of the characters voices are pretty strong and clear as well.

The last scene with Mizutani & Haru was interesting. Didn't expect her to go back on the attraction to Haru like that. And its actually pretty realistic.

[Guardian Enzo]

Sasayan expresses his surprise that Haru and Shizuku still haven’t sealed the deal, because they’re both so honest. And they are in some ways – in his case expressed in a complete lack of tact, and in hers the way she always tells him exactly why she does what she does – but they both have aspects of themselves they’re running away from. My sense is that so far, it’s mostly a question of bad timing – Shizuku and Haru have each been ready to go to the next stage, but never at the same time (and how realistic that is, even for teens). Of course unless that changed sooner or later one of them is going to move on, and it seems Haru is the more likely – he’s already got another girl seriously in love with him, and a class full of girls admiring him from afar.

Haru and Shizuku are both interesting characters, and their relationship is complicated and original. They each have their own reasons for putting romance on the back burner. In his case, it was fear that he wasn't ready for a mature response to the “I love you” moment, which caused a temporary retreat (he’s already “run away when the moment comes” though not in the way his brother meant it). In her case, she doesn't like the way her feelings for Haru distract her from what’s always been her singular purpose – over-achieving for its own sake. For Shizuku studying is a crutch, and it’s one she leans on whenever things get a little confusing. Haru, for his part, was I suspect speaking from experience when he cautioned Oshima about the dangers of expectations – I believe more strongly than ever that one reason he fled home is that his father actually preferred him and placed huge expectations on him.

I must say, though, that the supporting threads are at least as interesting. I’m intrigued by Shizuku’s family – there’s some stuff going on under the surface that’s only being teased so far. Mom is and apparently always has been mostly absent, Little Brother is only shown sleeping or in dim half-awake visions – or shouting one word from off camera – and Dad seems tasked with the burden of raising the family himself. I sense that Shizuku’s obsession with over-achieving comes as a direct result of this odd family life and trying to gain the attention of a mother who’s never around – and one might guess she had to act as a mother to Takaya in his mother’s absence – and we've only skimmed the surface of this particular part of the story.

And then there's Sasayan and Asako. While I always find myself craving more screen time for these two, I also find myself wondering just why the heck neither one of them has initiated a romantic play towards the other. They've clearly settled into the same orbit around the main pair, and they seem like an ideal match – though admittedly, Sasayan probably has some emotional baggage that hasn’t been explored on-screen and Asako certainly has some that has. “Natural” is the word I’d ascribe to the pair that makes each appearance so delightful – they’re easy and fun to watch, consistently funny without trying too hard (Sasayan even less hard than Asako) and it feels natural that they should make a go of it as a couple. Later days, perhaps.

[Kirarakim]

For Natsume's first role, she's doing a fantastic job. Certainly hope her career blossoms.

As much as I like the main 2, I do hope the secondary characters get a larger role as I really like them. I am worried with these series being so short they won't get that focus.

[s2012k1993]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

My sense is that so far, it’s mostly a question of bad timing – Shizuku and Haru have each been ready to go to the next stage, but never at the same time (and how realistic that is, even for teens).

I saw it as an interesting dichotomy between one's 'intellecutal' pursuits and emotional pursuits. Shizuku holds a sincere interest in overachieving. It's something completely under her control and its gives her a sense of satisfaction. While emotional pursuits also give one a sense of satisfaction, it will stand in opposition to the intellectual pursuits, plainly because one has only a limited time in a day to follow pursuits. Clearly true for Shizuku, the opposition makes her choose. I suspect that is also the reason why she doesn't emotionally involve herself with Natsume. Haru, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be affected by this dichotomy because he seems to not have any 'intellectual' pursuits. Sasayan and Natsume are infintely more interesting because they have their baseball and online persona respectively (and definitely more that hasn't been explored). Their intellectual pursuits at least embue a sense of character in them, unlike the amorphous, naive and super-being, Haru.

[Hiroi Sekai]

Hanazawa Kana seriously voices the best characters.

This series keeps surprising me with how great it is. It wasn't one I was intending to watch at first, but it's turning out to be one of my favourites this season.

[ookamigirl]

Shizuku was all weird this time.
Guess she was torn between love and studying.
She did help Haru get accepted by others, but it sorta backfired with his popularity.
Oshima was totally crushing on Haru, but he's too much of an airhead to notice.
Haru's totally into Shizuku, that's just too obvious..
She kinda ruined everything when she told him she doesn't feel it anymore.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

For Natsume's first role, she's doing a fantastic job. Certainly hope her career blossoms....

It appears that Tanezaki Atsumi's very first role was in ep9 of Acchi Kocchi, last spring, as a "girl student" with one line.

But it also appears that she may have already been active in ero-games, mainly as "Kiritani Hana 桐谷華." Various sites and blog and forum posts suggest this, and one site says she had three ero-game roles in 2009, eight in 2010, twelve in 2011, and 21 this year, with three more slated for next year. This makes sense to me, since she is clearly both talented and skilled.

One indication that it is true is the fact that in the cast lists for the ero-game and drama CD of a show called Aiyoku no Yuustia, "Kiritani Hana" plays a role called Lavria in the game, and Tanezaki Atsumi plays her on the drama CD. All the other roles I checked on a seiyuu pseudonym site were played by the same seiyuu under different names, too (including Nanjou Yoshino, who is said there to have played roles in 65 different ero-games...naruhodo).

[hyl]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

It appears that Tanezaki Atsumi's very first role was in ep9 of Acchi Kocchi, last spring, as a "girl student" with one line.

But it also appears that she may have already been active in ero-games, mainly as "Kiritani Hana 桐谷華." Various sites and blog and forum posts suggest this, and one site says she had three ero-game roles in 2009, eight in 2010, twelve in 2011, and 21 this year, with three more slated for next year. This makes sense to me, since she is clearly both talented and skilled.

One indication that it is true is the fact that in the cast lists for the ero-game and drama CD of a show called Aiyoku no Yuustia, "Kiritani Hana" plays a role called Lavria in the game, and Tanezaki Atsumi plays her on the drama CD. All the other roles I checked on a seiyuu pseudonym site were played by the same seiyuu under different names, too (including Nanjou Yoshino, who is said there to have played roles in 65 different ero-games...naruhodo).

Interesting that you mentioned this, because i already knew that because of her very distinct and easy to recognize voice.
Her skills in voicing characters (especially for comedy like exagerated reactions or as tsukkomi characters) is top notch and i was already a fan of her work since last year.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

It appears that Tanezaki Atsumi's very first role was in ep9 of Acchi Kocchi, last spring, as a "girl student" with one line.

But it also appears that she may have already been active in ero-games, mainly as "Kiritani Hana 桐谷華." Various sites and blog and forum posts suggest this, and one site says she had three ero-game roles in 2009, eight in 2010, twelve in 2011, and 21 this year, with three more slated for next year. This makes sense to me, since she is clearly both talented and skilled.

One indication that it is true is the fact that in the cast lists for the ero-game and drama CD of a show called Aiyoku no Yuustia, "Kiritani Hana" plays a role called Lavria in the game, and Tanezaki Atsumi plays her on the drama CD. All the other roles I checked on a seiyuu pseudonym site were played by the same seiyuu under different names, too (including Nanjou Yoshino, who is said there to have played roles in 65 different ero-games...naruhodo).

Well I am happy she is getting an opportunity outside of ero games. I know a lot of seiyuu might start that way so it is good she can expand herself. Natsume is a very fun character.

[Excorsism]

Enjoyable episode, they're pretty much adapting chapter for chapter here. A little concerned about how they're going to end and if they go chapter by chapter, the series will end around chapter 15~ which is an odd place to stop at. C'mon second season!

On the subject of Natsume, thanks to the VA, I pretty much prefer Natsume's anime counterpart a lot more than her manga self. She really brings out her character and it'll be a damned shame if they don't get to the juicy parts, I'd love to see how she'd interpret them.

And what with the vomiting and "please don't like me" parts, it's evident that Natsume hasn't bothered with relationships at all because she seems to have issues with guys in general. Sasayan is still a complete mystery. Time to start keeping track of how many times we see Asako and Sasayan together, .

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Excorsism

Time to start keeping track of how many times we see Asako and Sasayan together, .

I think it's safe to assume that every time we see Haru and Mitty alone together, Sasayan and Asako are together as well

[Sol Falling]

So, while I enjoyed the first couple episodes of this I didn't bother looking up any discussion because it was clear from the beginning that the direction and execution of the anime would be worse than the manga. After a poor showing in ep. 5 and now particularly ep. 6, however, you'll have to excuse me for saying that the clarity/accuracy/coherency of the adaptation has fallen apart. As is almost universally the case when I happen to come across an adaptation of a series I am great fan of, I highly encourage any new fans of this property to eventually pick up the original story.

It's always awkward for me in these kinds of situations where I can see an audience is clearly enjoying something like an adaptation and even has high praise for it, but it becomes plainly obvious that the work itself is inferior to its original version. I don't want to discourage the praise/appreciation for what is there because of what it represents for the success of the adaptation. At the same time, it pains me to see people making generalizations so far off from reality.

(I particularly question if adaptations of any of these big shoujo romance series can really be called "successes for shoujo" when almost all of the adaptations I've been exposed to thus far, have shown a clear disrespect/lack of delicacy towards handling the source material. It honestly seems to me like a lot of these are just cheap/half-assed cash-ins with the appearance of good production values, and anime fans flock to them from surface-level judgements based solely on differentiation from generic otaku (i.e. harem, ecchi) series.)

Anyway, to substantiate some of my statements with specifics so I'm not just ranting at nobody: I'm pretty serious about shoujo (i.e. good shoujo). I also do enjoy a lot of otaku stuff (good otaku stuff). I would generally consider myself a fan of Hanazawa Kana, amongst other seiyuu. But I have to say that her voice-acting portrayal/interpretation of Oshima in this episode was terrible, and that is only one example of the direction/execution inadequacies of this episode.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

It's always awkward for me in these kinds of situations where I can see an audience is clearly enjoying something like an adaptation and even has high praise for it, but it becomes plainly obvious that the work itself is inferior to its original version. I don't want to discourage the praise/appreciation for what is there because of what it represents for the success of the adaptation. At the same time, it pains me to see people making generalizations so far off from reality.

Your views on this issue would be more relevant here: Faithfulness of adaptations.

I'll keep it short: I strongly disagree with your opinion. As an anime-only viewer, I could care less how the original material was composed. I will judge the anime on its own merits, and not on how well it supposedly adapts its source material. In my opinion, if consumers are unwilling to see both properties as distinct entities in their own right, then they shouldn't bother with the adaptation, whether it's from manga to anime or vice versa.

Popular icons like Batman and Spiderman, or even Saya of Production I.G's Blood franchise, are constantly reinvented and revised with each iteration. If we keep sticking extremely closely to the original, out of a desire to maintain the "purity" of the property, then where will innovation come from?

I enjoy the show so far, and it's by far my favourite of the trio of romance dramas I'm watching this season. In my opinion, it's insightful and internally coherent. And that's good for any story, be it an original or an adaptation.

[~Yami~]

hmm.. my Kana Hanazawa's radar is ringing loudly...
great clumsy personality by Ooshima...

Natsume's part is also something I look forward from this anime....
although the best part for me is :
"everytime I'm with you, my chest hurts. I can't concentrate. That's why I don't want to see you anymore" ----> BEST CONFESSION!!!!
"just to be clear, I no longer feel attracted to you, Haru" ---> BEST REJECTION

Mizutani Shizuku is truly the best

[Kirarakim]

I have not read the source material but I am enjoying this adaption to. Honestly though I sympathize with Sol because I've been there.

It's possible the anime while very good is not as strong as the original and for fans that can be disappointing. Although as an anime only fan for this series I see it as an introduction of a great work. If at the end of the anime I want more Ill check out the manga. People are enjoying the anime so I see that as only good promotion for the series whether it lives up to the manga in fan views or not.

My only disappointment is I heard Sasayan & Natsume have a larger part in the manga. As someone who is a fan of them in the anime I am disappointed I could be getting more of them but I'm not.

[-Sho-]

I also want Sasayan x Asako relationship development !