Manga Absolutely hilarious
This series is my most pleasant surprise of 2014. It succeeds on multiple fronts. The way it parodies shoujo manga and its creation is great. For example, a proposed bicycle scene gets shot down as there are rules against two people riding on a bicycle, so a tandem bicycle is explored, and even taken further later on when a scene with a four-seater is sketched, and the heroines all argue for the best one. In another chapter, a friend tries to help the mangaka by setting a up a real-life reference for a scene using household materials like pens and erasers, only for the mangaka to interpret the scene literally, so the sketch has a pen and an eraser sitting at a table. When he tries again using figurines, the characters are sporting swimsuits and impressive busts, even the guys. The unexpected directions the series takes with its parodies, and the degree to which it takes its ribbing, makes each page a fun read to the end. While some knowledge of shoujo manga helps, the gags manage to stand on their own.
Even stronger are the cast and the interactions between them. Each character has quirks that work off the quirks of others, and some provide twists on the usual archetypes you see in a series like this. For instance, the main girl, Sakura, looks like your standard heroine and everywoman, but she's only interested in the main guy, Nozaki, to an extreme degree, and whenever the subject of love comes up, she always obsesses over him. Wakamatsu is your usual character who flips between having utter contempt and endlessly praising another character... except Wakamatsu here is a guy. Again, it's the unexpected ways they interact and the degree with witch that happens that makes it great. Nozaki saying that he'll try to surprise Sakura is interesting on its own, but when those surprises include stealthily being her seat and tricking her with a fake hand, it's hilarious. When his best surprise is walking home with Sakura and he doesn't even know it, it's hysterical. As the series is all about the gags, the characters get very little in the way of development, romantic or otherwise, so Nozaki is still oblivious to Sakura's love, Wakamatsu hasn't realized the truth about his target of affection, and so on.
In the end, the strengths of Nozaki-kun far outweigh its weaknesses. This is highly recommended if you're looking for some good laughs.
Manga A romance about friendship
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun is a great romantic comedy because it's really not about romance. It's about the characters and the friendship they built with each other.
The greatest strength of the series are the characters. All of them have their own quirks, hopes and dreams and they complete each other very well. Chiyo Sakura for example: she is passionate, positive and willing to put up with her friends' quirks, such as Nozaki's obliviouness and Seo's antics. Plus, while in regular anime everyone and their mother have cute designs, Chiyo is cute because of her attitude, that feels natural for her.
While there is lots and lots of Ship Tease, it shows it's just normal, in a sense, that it's to be expected. After all, they're just teenagers, they're still discovering the world. And this can be a hilarious process, given the numerous Crowning Moment of Funny present in the series.
However, in doing it, they have each other, so even if the couples don't stay together in the end, they can still be friends. And sometimes that's more than enough.