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.