Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun - 06

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I want to know if I'm the only one who was getting Haganai vibes from this episode.

I haven't noticed it until now but Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is a little bit like Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai - Hagani for all you North American readers - in a shojo package. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun hasn't had as a strong a resemblance to the afformention series until just this episode.

I don't know why I didn't noticed this before, when clearly all the signs were there. An outcast group of characters who are in fact loners, the occasional bouts of comedy and actual romantic development really does make it a shojo Haganai on paper. This episode just epitomised everything in terms of comedy.

There was an air shamelessness around it that makes people like me feel guilty. For anyone who likes to think they are more intellectual and above blatant humour (like me), this episode really shouldn't do anything for you but the fact is , it had me smiling all the way through. The dysfunctional cast in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun play off each other so well, that the dynamic of the comedy truly is a great part of the series.

If you weren't all that impressed with the comedy, maybe your HanaKana fan and you loved the episode just for that. Our new addition to the central cast, Chizuru, was the main character of the episode and she's yet another oddball who doesn't have (m)any friends. Perfect role for the ever so popular moe VA and even though she was the main focus of this episode, she played into the big picture story at the end as well.

Now the romantic twists in this episode were something else. A retraction of confession from Shizuku and a realisation of love from Chizuru. Two major turn of events in any romantic comedy occurred in just a single episode in an almost untimely manner. Had I not read the manga prior to watching the anime, this would have thrown me a little, though it does go well with the craziness of the episode. Chizuru's realisation was one of the more sane moments but Shizuku's nonchalant way of retracting her confession went hand in hand with all the comedy in this episode.

Certainly at this point this really is a 'will they, won't they' romance in a completely new package. Definitely enjoyable with a familiarity and a nice way to end the episode. The comedy was still the highlight and the ending didn't take away from that. In any case, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun was just hilarious this week and I loved every minute of it's shameless banter.