My Little Monster - Episode 13 (Completed)

Following a satisfying New Year for Haru and Shizuku, but a decidedly less satisfying one for Natsume, it seems as if everything has settled down and normality has returned for this final episode of My Little Monster, with Shizuku studying and some rare piece and quiet in her household.

That is, until Haru comes barging in on a hunt for something - not, for a change, something to punch, but something else entirely, although he doesn't have time to explain what and leaves his mobile phone behind in the ensuing confusion.  So begins a series of meetings between Haru and other major characters, each of which is a little more crazed than the last and each which sees Haru leaving something important behind.

Once it emerges that resident rooster Nagoya had gone missing, it seems that the subject of Haru's hunt is now clear, but given that Nagoya has now been found where is Haru himself?  Although Shizuku doesn't seem too worried about searching for him some of his other friends do go to the trouble of hunting around for him, she eventually runs into him only to find that the cause of his impromptu hunt is rather different than anyone had previously anticipated.

In a way, this final episode sums up the good and avoids most of the bad of My Little Monster quite deftly - it has some great, loveable characters who (for all of their flaws) you simply have to root for through thick and thin, and at times the situations and contemplative scenarios those characters are put into are either insightful or at least entertaining.  On the flip side of that, the wider series has some major male characters (not least Haru) who seem Hell-bent on ruining the entire series whenever possible by being generally detestable human beings.  No matter how much of that is down to the series trying to rely on its typical shoujo tropes, it still makes parts of My Little Monster unwatchable while others are greatly spoilt by the presence of some idiotic characters.  It's rather a shame that this finale was a bit of a half-baked affair which did nothing to resolve Natsume's dilemma or really put Shizuku's relationship to bed, leaving us hanging.  But would I want more of this series?  Honestly, I'm not sure, so torn are my opinions on My Little Monster as a whole.

My Little Monster - Episode 12

Although Shizuku's relationship is hardly all wrapped up with a bow, it is at least in a stable state at long last (further helped along by a little bribery on Shizuku's part to keep him from interfering with her time at cram school) - that leaves us free to explore things from Natsume's point of view for this penultimate episode of My Little Monster.

To some degree, it seems as if Natsume is caught between a rock and a hard place - setting aside the fact that she's fallen hard for Mi, on the one hand she still finds herself immensely irritated whenever there are guys on the scene, but whenever she's away from the crowd (and more specifically her friends) she feels overwhelmingly lonely; something that no amount of time spent online can resolve.

Luckily for her, a random phone call from Shizuku offers Natsume exactly the chance that she needs to invite herself over to her friend's place for the New Year, dragging Haru along with her to boot.  Eventually, the trio wind up meeting up with the rest of their friends for the traditional New Year shrine visit before taking to the batting centre roof to see the sun rise - a night which confirms Natsume's reliance upon her friends, but also an event which brings home her concerns about what Haru and Shizuku getting together will do to their friendship with him.  With her love for Mi looking ever more unrealistic in nature and her friends potentially drifting away from her, it's a decidedly despondent Natsume that we see closing out this episode.

With so much focus on Shizuku, we haven't really had a chance to dig in to Natsume's deeper personality, and thus this week's episode is arguably a much needed one which really gets under her skin and brings us another fascinating character - flawed, almost tragically so, but still fundamentally a girl who you can't help but sympathise with and root for.  With only one episode to go, I hope that her story gets some kind of conclusion, but it's hard to imagine the focus shifting anywhere other than back to Haru (who offered the only low points of this instalment once again) and Shizuku.  The fact that it has a number of strong characters to mine speaks volumes about the strengths of the show as a whole, which makes it all the more of a shame that other aspects of the series occasionally managed to undermine it so spectacularly.

My Little Monster - Episode 11

In this week's episode of All Men Are Horrible (If This Series Is To Be Believed), Yamaken continues to show more than a fleeting interest in Shizuku, even if he can't quite figure out why himself.

For all of his grandiose positioning of himself as some kind of elite who could get any woman he wants, there's no questioning where his true feelings lie, maybe for the exact reason that Shizuku is the one woman that he can't get.  Certainly, even his vaguest attempts to get closer to Shizuku are either cut off by the leading lady herself, or failing that quickly put paid to by Haru as he continues to stalk his sort-of girlfriend despite her repeated requests that he not do that.

As this scenario continues, we eventually reach an opportunity to delve into the past of both Yamaken and Haru from their childhoods, complete with some violent encounters and the revelation of some more light upon the relationship between Haru and his brother Yuzan, further explaining the former's insistence upon avoiding the latter.  With Shizuku turning up just as Haru is dwelling upon such things, it seems that this is the perfect time for him to spill out at least some of his feelings - the trouble is, it only serves to further baffle Shizuku as she realises just how "out of sync" she is with Haru.

If ever a series seemed to be trying really hard to make me feel bad for being a member of the male species, My Little Monster would surely be it - Haru is, in spite of the odd sensitive moment, an ever-more loathsome character as he ponders ripping off Shizuku's arms and legs to keep a hold of her (I kid you not) while generally continuing to act like a creepy stalker who won't take no for an answer, making him the kind of guy that would set alarm bells ringing in any normal person.  This makes Yamaken seem like a prince in comparison - just an egotistical one whose head probably wouldn't fit within the circumference of Saturn.  No matter how much I really enjoy the show's female characters, these kind of issues with the lead male cast are reaching the point where I'm not sure I can just ignore them or brush them aside any more - they're genuinely disturbing and just wrong, wrong, wrong in a romance-led series, shoujo or otherwise.

My Little Monster - Episode 10

Thanks to Yamaguchi admitting that he's harbouring feelings for Shizuku to Haru at the tail-end of last week's My Little Monster, Shizuku is having a tough time again as this tenth instalment of the series begins.

More precisely, Haru is acting more clingy than ever, refusing to let Shizuku out of his sight while seeming to be terrified of what might happen around every turn.  Perhaps this isn't the best time for a Christmas party then, but nonetheless Natsume invites all of her friends along in her own peculiarly quirky yet determined manner, even going as far as to decide to hold the party at the batting centre where Haru lives without actually asking anyone involved with said establishment.

With both Kenji and Oshima tagging along for the ride, there's plenty of potential for fireworks, but for the most part the Christmas celebrations are all good-natured, albeit a little too over-the-top for Oshima's tastes.  Eventually though (and thanks to Haru making a loud-mouthed proclamation to Kenji earlier) things do indeed swing back to who loves who, treating us to Haru at his most threatening worst.  Perhaps on account of not seeing what he seemed to have planned to rid Yamaguchi from his plans, Shizuku finally seems ready to confess her feelings - not that this does anything but make Haru's jealousy and clingy nature even worse still.

As has become the template for the series at this point, this week's My Little Monster combines Shizuku continuing to be a great character (and Natsume coming along quite nicely in that regard too, it has to be said) with Haru being an absolute dick with pretty much everything he says or does.  I know this is a tired old retreading of previous complaints, but it remains almost impossible to decipher what Shizuku sees in Haru, and although his behaviour does at least allow the more impressive parts of her determined character to shine it doesn't really help to create a believable romance angle - a pretty major handicap for, well, a love story.  It's reached the point where I'm hoping that the series doesn't have a happy ending for him - a hope that seems likely to be dashed on the rocks, but oh well... for now, I'll just have to content myself with the aspects of the series that do work really well, and thankfully there are enough of them to make the show as a whole enjoying despite Haru's best efforts.

My Little Monster - Episode 9

Never mind love, Shizuku has something else to concern herself with at the beginning of this week's My Little Monster.  No, not the fact that Haru has let himself into her house through her bedroom window (although to be frank, she should probably worry about that too), but rather the fact that her father's shop has gone under.  Hey, the economy is tough right now, don'tcha know!

Far from being shocked, distraught or upset, Shizuku takes things in her usual unruffled and pragmatic style, calling her Mum to pass on the news before dragging her father off to get things sorted.  Then again, given that this is the sixth time this has happened I suppose preparedness also comes into the equation here.  With her Dad sorted out, Shizuku finds some time to join her friends in a study session, arriving just in time to be reminded that a month ago at the culture festival she's promised to think over her relationship with Haru.  Except she hasn't thought about it at all.  Oops.

Once Haru is suitably distracted with trying to catch a crayfish to impress Shizuku, our protagonist actually finds herself with some time to think things over - something which she ends up doing in her own inimitable style, that being one involving having diagrams drawn on paper to explain her psyche.  The provider of this explanation is none other that Yamaguchi who, in spite of himself, seems to be developing some feelings of his own towards Shizuku.  In fact, love is in the air all around, as Natsume suddenly begins to act very strangely as circumstances catch her unawares...

Never mind Haru or Yamaguchi, I think it's pretty obvious from my 'blogging of this series that I too am an admirer of Shizuku, and by this juncture I feel as if watching her get a grip on her feelings and relationships is actually more interesting and enjoyable than the love story angle of the show (although of course you wouldn't have much of one without the other).  Thus, I'm continuing to love watching Shizuku's self-analysis and occasional moments of surprised or insightful inner monologue, as the rather tasty meat to what is proving to be an entertaining and occasionally amusing sandwich, spoiled slightly only by Haru acting as some kind of tomato.

And that's why My Little Monster is like a sandwich.  Or something.

My Little Monster - Episode 8

Although its school culture festival time, it seems that the main players in My Little Monster's drama are finding it hard to concentrate on their haunted house attraction thanks to, well, other attractions.

For Shizuku's part, our protagonist still can't really get her head around either her feelings or her actions, as one minute she lets Haru get closer to her before pushing him away - then again, Haru himself does a fantastic job of portraying all of the reasons that she might want nothing to do with him during the course of this episode between accidentally punching Shizuku in the midst of a jealous retaliation, threatening to "force" Shizuku to be with him and making a hostage of Oshima.

Revolving around all of this is Yamaguchi and Yuzan, who not only know one another but also have their own responsibilities for pushing Haru towards the aforementioned actions that he takes, while on the other side of the fence Natsume finds her heart practically punctured by a particularly cold shoulder from Shizuku after giving her some advice.  It's ultimately Shizuku who we return to in this episode, as she finally begins to realise where she's gone wrong on her part - an opportunity that she uses to confront Haru with her true feelings as they currently stand.

Just as watching Shizuku stumble through and learn from her experiences has become a weekly joy within My Little Monster, so watching Haru flush any good will towards him down the toilet is equally frustrating - no matter how many excuses you craft for him, his behaviour throughout much of this episode is downright abhorrent, with multiple counts of violence to varying degrees against girls and yet another effective threat of rape.  Although Shizuku clearly needs a foil to bounce off against in an "opposites attract" kind of way to help lead the show's emotion and drama, did they really need to set this intelligent girl off against quite such an unlikeable (to put it mildly) male lead?  I would wager they didn't, but so goes the world of shoujo anime I suppose....

My Little Monster - Episode 7

Shizuku might have made herself perfectly clear in terms of how she now views Haru (even if her words don't exactly ring true compared to her actions), but Haru isn't exactly the kind of person to take a hint.

Thus, any disappointment on his part is short-lived before he redoubles his efforts to win over Shizuku, confessing to her once again and following her around rather like he did earlier in the series to the point where Shizuku complains that he's constantly invading her personal space - something which Haru doesn't really take kindly too.

With the culture festival building up around them, the only thing to pique Shizuku's interest outside of studying is the chance to make some profit on the side out of her classes stall - an opportunity which requires a prime position within the school, but a situation which is ruined by Haru's usual quick temper when it comes to anyone so much as laying a hand on Shizuku.  As the festival draws nearer, Shizuku's feelings wax and wane despite her inner turmoil when it comes to Haru, and just when it seems that she's about to give in to her emotions up come those barriers again.  Haru certainly has his fair share of problems, but it's fast becoming clear that Shizuku has obstacles of her own in the way when it comes to being honest with herself.

Although I'm continuing to enjoy My Little Monster for a number of reasons (Shizuku, Shizuku and Shizuku being the top three, with Natsume also bringing a lot to this particular episode), I am a bit worried by Haru's revolution into a... "less than likeable" character - watching him invading Shizuku's personal space so insistently despite her making it clear that it made her feel uncomfortable is hardly the most edifying sight in the world, and it's another of those moments within the series that makes it hard to cheer on the main couple when one of the two parties is not really deserving of the other.  It's a good job that Shizuku's own forceful personality rescues this to some extent, but it does make her feelings for Haru hard to fathom overall, which in turn takes a little of the sheen away from My Little Monster's otherwise enjoyable viewing experience.

My Little Monster - Episode 6

Considering the doe-eyed look she gave Haru towards the end of last week's episode, it's hardly surprising that Shizuku is finding it difficult to shake her worries about Oshima from her mind, regardless of how unaccustomed she is to such emotions.

For Chizuru's part, her sudden and unexpected feelings for Haru still take second place to her complete lack of friends at high school, as she laments the illness which prevented her starting at the school late and thus leaving her outside of all of the groups of friends which had formed.  Once Haru hears about this (while bemoaning how wearing glasses didn't net him the position of class rep) he proposes that his group of buddies band together to help out Oshima - something which Shizuku wants nothing to do with.

With Haru calling out Shizuku on her blunt and unhelpful nature, and Shizuku having a few things to say to Haru in return, there's a decidedly obvious cooling in the relationship between the two as they effectively refuse to talk to one another, with Shizuku effectively using that relatively small row as an excuse to run away from her feelings (despite still effectively blurting them out apropos of nothing).  While even Oshima can see what's going on, both Haru and Shizuku seem clueless in their own unique ways, and once the latter decides that it's time for her to refocus herself fully upon her studies it appears to be Haru's turn to be left out in the cold just as he's about to reconcile his own feelings for her.

Yes, that's right, My Little Monster has turned the state of its main romantic pairing on its head once again - now we're back to Haru being the one in love while Shizuku is the one coolly (and cruelly) brushing him off.  I have to wonder how much more mileage the series has got in terms of depicting these shifting sands, but for now I'm continuing to enjoy the series rather a lot - Shizuku's blunt honesty and strength of character never ceases to be one of the highlights of the series, and Oshima's proper introduction has actually revealed her to be far more than a generic insert character in an attempt to set up a love triangle as she has some strengths of her own.  With Haru and even Natsume also bringing something to the table, the strong character roster is certainly a big part of My Little Monster's appeal right now - I just hope it continues to have a strong enough plot to back them up.

My Little Monster - Episode 5

With the promise of a date on the cards, Haru is already thinking ahead to what that date might involve.  In fact, he's probably thinking about it a little too much...

That aside, it's the second term of the year, and as all and sundry return to school Shizuku seems as determined as ever to best Haru in any test results as we learn a little more about exactly why the latter is so smart despite never studying and missing virtually the entirety of his middle school years.  Any thoughts of dates are quickly extinguished however at the appearance of Haru's older brother Yuzan once again - despite Haru making good on his escape, it seems that it's Shizuku that Yuzan is after.

While teasing his younger brother mercilessly via text message as he hangs out with Shizuku, we learn the real reason for Yuzan's appearance on the scene - put simply, Haru's father wants him to return home after kicking him out for being a disgrace to the family during those aforementioned difficult middle school years.  However, given that he's now attending school and making a decent fist of things, Yuzan feels that the time is ripe to prove that Haru is more than capable of staying where he is, while also realising just how important Shizuku's role in Haru's "rehabilitation" is.  Thus, his plea is for Shizuku to effectively look after Haru; a plea which does nothing to dissolve the sense of trust the younger sibling has for his elder.  Just when it seems as if everyone's goals are aligning, has a rival appeared to challenge Shizuku?

For all of its pretty traditional shoujo plot points and concepts, this felt like a strong episode of My Little Monster.  I know I've mentioned it before a few times now, but in particular Shizuku is often a breath of fresh air within this genre - sure she still swoons over Haru a little, but never to the point of allowing herself to be manipulated and told what to do by him, proving herself to be a strong and decisive character who can make her own decisions and figure things out for herself rather than becoming a simpering wreck without the male lead around to help her out.  I think it's this that really makes My Little Monster a joy to watch - I could take or leave a lot of the other characters, but I can't help but root for Shizuku's happiness as she figures out the new feelings and experiences which are arriving thick and fast for her, making for a journey that is proving to be pretty fascinating to watch for the most part when the show is focusing sufficiently upon her.

My Little Monster - Episode 4

Now that what seemed to be a fast-growing love has been cast into confusion, it's time to effectively start all over again in terms of Shizuku and Haru's relationship.  But how will she even start wooing him over?

It certainly seems that giving him handy advice isn't the best way to grab his attention, as her assertion to him that he should smile more to stop people being so scared of him all the time works entirely too well - the next thing we know Haru is the apple of every girl's eye as they realise that he isn't quite the violent beast that they assumed him to be... most of the time, at least.  Needless to say, this leaves Shizuku experiencing her first bout of jealousy as she feels left out in the midst of all of the female attention directed at Haru.

In the midst of all this comes school sports day, with some bullying of one particular girl bringing out Haru's darker side as he brutally attacks everyone involved in picking on the girl in question, causing Shizuku to jump in to the rescue.  Indeed, we spend much of the second half of this week's episode digging a little deeper into Haru's personality, whether it's his propensity to violence at times like the aforementioned example, or his hatred of (and seemingly odd relationship with) his brother.  In short, Shizuku realises that she knows next to nothing about Haru, and as he's largely reluctant to talk about himself in the slightest it seems that he's going to be a tough nut to crack.

After feeling disappointed with last week's episode as it seemed to undo some of its earlier good work, this latest instalment felt a bit more like it - there were only flashes of humour here and there but they were all worthwhile and well received on my part, while the promise of digging in to the mysteries of Haru's behaviour seems promising provided there's something sufficiently substantial behind it all.  All that aside, Shizuku's refreshing frankness and overall demeanour continues to make her one of the autumn anime season's best characters, and the show is almost worth watching for her alone.  Ultimately though, we need a little more depth to our male lead in My Little Monster, and the series feels as if it's ready to provide it.

My Little Monster - Episode 3

With both of its major parties confessing their love for one another, it seemed as though things were moving entirely too fast to the point where even Felix Baumgartner couldn't hope to break their speed records.

"Thankfully", that state of affairs is soon resolved, with Shizuku retracting her confession under the pretence of having lied about it, and Haru suggesting that he was relieved that she was only joking in the first place.  It's back to square one in other words.  Despite this, Shizuku's outlook on life has certainly changed in a way that can't be hidden, as she allows herself to be dragged into a weekend outing with Haru, Natsume and Sasahara to buy a coop for the show's resident rooster, who is now about to become a class pet.

This "mission" is in danger of being severely disrupted however, as Shizuku finds herself running straight into the bullies who had been bugging Haru back in episode one - a scenario which looked to turn nasty before things were turned around to at least some extent by Shizuku, who took advantage of their insistence that they wanted to talk and make up with Haru to use them to build the self-assembly chicken coop by themselves.  A day's work well-done, Haru and Shizuku head home together, leading to yet another confession from the latter with no signs of a retraction... but does Haru really love Shizuku in that way?  He seems unsure, but a promise to start over again and give him another chance to confirm his feelings from Shizuku seems like a perfect solution - at least, it does until something, or rather someone, prevents him from going home at all.

After a decent start ("that" comment aside) and a reasonable second episode, this third instalment of My Little Monster had some really sweet moments and some funny little asides, but also slid a little deeper into typical shoujo territory by halting the quick romantic progress of its main protagonists in favour of confusing things and slowing the pace markedly.  This may prove to be a wise decision in the long-term, but at the moment it seems a little disappointing; a disappointment which only gives us any comfort via Shizuku's continuation as a wonderful character and a feeling of progress when it comes to Haru's behaviour and attitude (as well as some relatively subtle filling in of his vulnerabilities).  I still like its characters for the most part, but it feels as if the show's story is starting to slip away from its grasp - something that it needs to rectify if it wants to do anything memorable.

My Little Monster - Episode 2

The opening episode of My Little Monster did more than enough to establish where the affections of the crazy yet lovable (when he wasn't threatening people, at least) Haru lays - so what about Shizuku's feelings?

Certainly, Shizuku is really struggling to get to grips with her emotions after Haru's confession and kiss, meaning that she finds herself increasingly distracted from her normal studies and work, seeking to do anything to get away from the pounding in her chest and the thoughts swirling in her head - emotions which Haru's continued presence certainly doesn't help with.

It seems that just such a potential distraction might have fallen into Shizuku's lap in the form of Asako Natsume, a good-looking girl by her own insistence (she's modest too, if you haven't noticed) who is nonetheless as thick as two short planks when it comes to studying - a situation which leaves her needing to resit her latest tests (as does Haru, because he forgot to write his name on any of the papers), in turn threatening to ruin a chance for her to attend an offline meeting of her online community, in itself a rare opportunity for this friendless girl to make some friends.  Natsume's pleas to Shizuku all fall upon deaf ears however, as our protagonist has no interest in helping anyone out, and has no idea why this girl is making such a big deal about making friends anyway.  It's a lesson that she slowly but surely begins to learn however, between Haru's continued attentions and Asako's desperation to pass her make-up tests... is it just what she needs to get a handle upon her own feelings?

While it would be easy to dismiss My Little Monster as "typical shoujo fare" at this point (and to be honest it pretty much is), I have to confess that Shizuku steals the show and manages to prevent the whole series from falling flat - watching this cold-hearted girl who has no interest in anybody other than herself grow, mature and develop is really rather enjoyable, particularly given her own narration over the story as it unfolds which in itself helps build her up as very much a likeable character for all her foibles.  Whether this, coupled with the show's rapid-fire pacing, will be enough to continue to drive the frankly implausible relationship between herself and Haru (who is a difficult character to believe in, let alone root for) remains to be seen, although at least Natsume's addition to the cast seems to balance things out a little more.  I'm still on-board so far for all of the controversy surrounding episode one; I really hope that My Little Monster doesn't let me down in the long run.

My Little Monster - Episode 1

It's new anime season time at last, and there's no shortage of goodies to choose from this autumn.  My first pick for the season is a little bit of shoujo, courtesy of Brain's Base's adaptation of Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, or My Little Monster if you prefer Crunchyroll's title.

Our protagonist for this series is Shizuku Mizutani, a serious girl (to the point of being nicknamed Dry Ice) with only one thing on her mind - studying and studying hard to achieve whatever life goals she has mapped out for herself.  This is in stark contrast with the occupant of the seat in class next to her - or at least it would be if they ever turned up, something which Haru Yoshida hasn't done since picking a fight on his opening day.  These two chalk and cheese characters are forced together when Shizuku is bribed into taking some class notes to Haru - next thing she knows, Haru is kidnapping her at every opportunity while referring to her as his friend, a concept of which he seems to have a rather confused idea.

When Shizuku stands up for Haru against some of his other supposed "friends", it seems that she steals his heart in the process - after confessing his love to her, one month later we find Haru back at school and following Shizuku around at every turn.  Given his rather... "wacky" way of thinking about and handling things, this causes nothing but trouble for our protagonist, and between one thing and another she tells Haru to get lost.  This is exactly what she needs to return to her studies and claim her place at the top of the class in her mid-term exams... this isn't enough to make up for what she quickly realises is missing from her everyday life - in short, she misses Haru, and things only become even more complicated from there.

If you're used to slow-paced, slow-burning romance-led series like Toradora or Kimi ni Todoke, then be prepared to fasten your seatbelt for My Little Monster's opener, because a lot happens.  A ridiculous amount, in fact.  Although this leaves us with a first instalment that feels rushed and compressed to the point where it could almost be a single episode one-shot OVA, it's also rather refreshing to watch a shoujo series that isn't incredibly ponderous and shy about its romantic angle - by the end of this episode we're left in no doubt as to everyone's feelings, and we have a male lead who is more than forward enough to avoid the whole "will he or won't he" rigmarole that has become the norm in this genre.  That aside, I also hugely enjoyed both of the show's main characters throughout this episode - Shizuku is well-balanced between self-centred and focused student and genuinely nice girl who has never had a chance to shine, while Haru's lunacy is broadly endearing even though his character archetype has been done to death and no male lead is ever going to get bonus points for threatening to rape someone in my book.

With so much covered in one episode, the only real question is "where do we go from here"?  I genuinely hope that the show's plot doesn't stagnate at this point and continues to keep at least a respectable pace, but provided it can accomplish that I get the feeling that this series could be a whole lot of fun with a bit of heart to boot.