Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is your not-so-typical shoujo anime. The story revolves around Shizuku Mizutani, who has chosen to repress her feelings and focus solely on her academics so that she won't have to be disappointed again, and Haru Yoshida who has no interest at all in academics and serious issues when it comes to controlling his feelings.
The pair meet when Shizuku is asked by her teacher to bring some handouts around to Haru's place since he's been absent from school for a long time. What she doesn't know then is that her visit is about to change not only hers, but Haru's life as well.
This might be one of my favourite short school-life anime, not because the plot is so very different, because let's face it, it's not, it's the same boy-meets-girl story we've seen so many times before, but because of the characters. Yes, we've seen the "bad boy turned good" type of guy before but Haru still has his own special charm, he is just that emotionally inept that you can't help but love him. Shizuku on the other hand is quite different from any of the female lead charachters I've come across thus far. She is fully capable of taking care of herself and her life does not revolve around boys or popularity (or friends for that matter) but she's still neither the tsundere nor the otaku with the weird hobby, she's just Shizuku, and that's what I like about her.
If it wasn't for the fact that this show lacks that teeny tiny bit extra to take it over the edge it would have ended up with a full score, but as it is now it just feels a little bit too short, as if you're missing out on something good that was supposed to come in the next episode or so, which leaves it at 4,5 out 5 otakus.
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