Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!

[Spoiler Warning]

There is a scene in Watamote where the main character, Tomoko, experiences what she believes to be public molestation. She panics, unable to even breathe or call for help. The train suddenly stops, and the passengers begin to take their leave. Tomoko then realizes that the object pressing against her is simply a bamboo sword belonging to the girl behind her. After much public embarrassment, she finally breaks free, and moves on to yet another miserable day of her life.

To say that Watamote is an uncomfortable anime would be an understatement. Every minute involves Tomoko failing at something in the most awkward way ... imaginable, to the point where you can't help but pity the poor girl. It's not even amusing. It's just depressing.

Tomoko is a high school girl that simply wants to be liked by her peers. She wants to be seen as attractive by the opposite sex. She is so lonely and socially inept that even hearing a "goodbye" from a classmate is seen as a massive success. Her younger brother doesn't care about her problems, her parents think she's a pathetic pervert, and her only friend (who she rarely even sees) is oblivious to Tomoko's blatant emotional issues. She is alone with nobody to help.

Does she bring some of these problems upon herself? Maybe. Does she try too hard to be somebody that she's not? Definitely. But who can blame her? The only time she had anything even remotely resembling a normal life was when she was a toddler. Of course she's angry. Of course she's fed-up with her lifestyle.

Unlike the source material which presents itself entirely as a gag manga, the anime teases us with signs that Tomoko might actually be changing for the better. But nothing ever does change. She squanders all her opportunities, leaving both her and the audience with a bitter sense of hopelessness. What's the point in enduring so many embarrassing scenes when there is no payoff at the end? Are we meant to be masochists?

The humor of Watamote is akin to kicking a kitten, and worse - a kitten that you sympathize with. It's a punchline where there is no punchline. The goal is make us laugh at somebody in a pitiable situation, to feel happy that our lives are not quite as bad as Tomoko's. Is that comedy? Is that entertainment? For others, perhaps, but all it did for me was bring back awful memories and remind me of everything wrong with teenagers. Some scenes were so uncomfortable that I had to take a break or avert my eyes for a few moments. That's not what a comedy is supposed to do.

Some of the jokes can be quite funny, though. If you've ever listened to porn or something equally embarrassing on your computer, only to realize that the headphones weren't actually plugged in, well, Watamote will remind you of such times. The best moments are when the humor is restrained and situational. The dialogue between Tomoko and her brother is also well-written and reminiscent of most actual brother-sister relationships; I just wish that there was more of him.

It's also very easy to relate to Tomoko's situation if you've ever dealt with social anxiety. Sure, her feelings are blatantly exaggerated for comedic effect, but the way people act around her is very much real. Teenagers love to gossip. They love to ignore and exclude anybody that isn't a part of their group. Watamote hits this fact home, reminding us just how idealized high school life is in anime. It is the opposite of escapism.

As for the art and animation quality, Watamote is an above-average anime. Each scene is made even more depressing by the dark, often blue-and-grey color scheme. The animation is consistent (though there isn't much of it) and, for once, a shut-in character does not look like a supermodel. Tomoko looks disheveled, tired, and unclean. As she should. The animators don't even hold back on making some scenes look utterly repulsive (including a failed experiment with make-up, and a colony of ants making their home in Tomoko's hair... ugh). There's definitely some talent here, and it shows.

The sound is more of a mixed bag. Kitta Izumi does a fantastic job of voicing Tomoko's character, but the background music is barely noticeable and the opening is some mixture of awful screamo and generic J-Pop. It's a cacophony that I never wanted to sit through more than once (although I'm sure that I'm in the minority). At least the ending sequence sounds more in line with the tone of the series: delightfully disgusting, and cute all the same.

If nothing else, Watamote should be commended for daring to be different. This is not your ordinary anime. If it was an ordinary anime, Tomoko would be male and she would have a harem in love with her for some inexplicable reason. There is none of that. Watamote wastes no time on romanticizing the high school life, and instead portrays it for what is in reality. Few anime out there have had the courage to do the same.

But for all the awful, depressing things we see happen to Tomoko, what do we get for it at the end? Nothing but a sad glimpse of a girl desperately clinging to the hope that some day, she might attain a normal person's happiness. A dream that we all know will never be fulfilled.

What happened? Watamote was a series about this socially retarded girl who came across with some social situations and acted retarded. Then what happened? This same thing over and over. Social situation, then retardation. This happened few times, then few times again and in the end few times happened few times too many, and that is what happened.

Main points where this anime fails are pacing, character development and plot. 1-cour series can achieve a lot, but Watamote didn't even try to get anywhere. Many criticize Slice of Life series for being pointless, even state that Slice of Life is meant to be pointless, but ... in Watamote's case, it's mainly just waste of potential. Watamote had the key elements to be the NHK with OreImo funfun, but someone thought it would be cool to start repeating the same stone age joke till nausea, and it sure was. (Stone age and nausea, not funfun).

The characters are meeting my picture of laziness. Kuroko is pathetic, a no-life loser and more importantly, a characters which is easy to develop in whatever direction. ... NOPE. Let's have a character who is the same person always, and an annoying one too! This formula works in fighting tournament shonen, but not here. Never here. Her brother reminds me of an alpaca. Always that stupid fucking face. By alpaca I mean that one guy from Twilight. There is other character too, but they won't matter, except that one senpai girl from the last episodes. She is interesting, why won't they make an anime about her instead of this little fucker?

When it comes to the animation and art, Watamote does a good job not being like all the other recent school series, so it passes. If we ignore the glorious op, the music is forgettable. Same thing with voice acting when ignoring her (you know, her) squeaking voices. Nothing impressive nor disappointing in the production, just the typical neutral nothing.

This review contains no spoilers.

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui, or in short Watamote, is a comedy anime about an otaku girl with null social skills and her attempts to become more popular now that her high school life has begun.

What started as a fun show filled with hilarious jokes and awkward yet relatable situations (albeit exaggerated to the extreme) quickly turned repetitive and monotonous as more episodes came in. It's one of those times where wrong expectations can kill an anime: I actually expected character development. Unfortunately, that never happened.

Let's start with the characters. Tomoko is our main character, a ... girl with abysmal social skills or self confidence that is addicted to anime, manga and videogames. Her younger brother, Tomoki, a 'normal' guy who always has to put up with Tomoko's weird behavior, often putting a dent on his patience. And finally (yes, already), Tomoko's middle school nerdy female friend, Yuu, who not only did a 180° turn for high school, but also grew up noticeably in many ways. Note that she's not in the same high school as Tomoko anymore, however.

Three characters and a few episodic ones not worth mentioning, and that's it. Most if not all the episodes revolve around Tomoko's attempts to becoming more popular through a bizarre and ineffective method (often using her otaku 'knowledge') that always seem to backfire, much to her dismay. The other half of the times she's feeling out of place and lonely... and that's it.

It was funny at first but then it became tedious to watch. The delivery is just too similar every single episode, nothing really happens or improves. Watamote is filled with parodies (probably one of the better aspects), delusions and awkward situations that in the end turn to despair. While the mix of sadness and comedy was nicely done most of the times, it also grew thin as the series went on. Like I already said, if I knew from the start that I should have NOT expected any development, maybe I would have liked Watamote more, yet I kept waiting for something to happen and in the end I was only disappointed time and time again.

I enjoyed greatly the first 1-3 eps, then the enjoyment decayed a little more every episode up until the anti-climactic finale. You know something's wrong when by the final episodes you keep checking how much time is left until it's over, or when you start to fall asleep while watching.

Animation, voice acting or sound. Nice job on those, got no complaints. Though the OP is a little overrated and unfitting. Those chains are never broken in the actual anime.


Detailed analysis GO!

General:
Atmosphere 8/10 --- Successfully showcased an otaku's life, although exaggerated for laughs.
Characters 5/10 --- Too few, too little development. Tomoko was likable at first but she became a little annoying over time (because she never really changed and kept expecting different results).
Story development & ending 2/10 --- You could start watching any episode and not be able to tell if you're in the beginning, the middle or by the end. By episode 11 she greets her teacher in the exact same way as it happened in episode 1, that basically tells you that NOTHING actually changed, not one thing. The ending was also pathetic

Technical:
Art 8/10 --- No complaints.
Soundtrack 8/10 --- Okay OP, cute ED and a fitting soundtrack.
Voice acting 8/10 --- I think Tomoko was done greatly. I couldn't picture her sounding any different.

Personal:
Priority (How eager I was to watch the next episode) 7/10 --- I never watch airing shows. I prefer to watch them once they're completely out. At first I would be hyped about a new Watamote weekly episode, but halfway or so... not that much.
Memorability 4/10 --- Really didn't care when it ended. I won't be remembering this one.

Final score:
6/10 --- Okay


Overall Watamote is a decent comedy anime (especially if you can somehow relate to how accurately they represent Tomoko's problems) and if I had to rate only the first 1-3 episodes I'd give it an 8 or even 9, but sadly taking into account the entire show I must drop it to a 6, and even then I think I'm being generous (If I had to rate the last 6 eps alone... heh).

Tomoko is not a saint, so expect some slight sexual themes and minor fanservice. I'd rate it for 12-13 years teens and older.

That's all I got for now, I hope you enjoyed this review!

“Really Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time” ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (book)

High school can be tough. It is, no one denies that fact. As the years go on and one gets closer to senior year, the number of assignments and homework starts to pile up. Some may dismiss all of this and just live wildly. Others might not (like me) and do in fact do their homework like a good boy or girl (Santa gave me presents last year because of that). ... High school is not a popularity contest, popularity was something that you thought was super important in middle school, but gradually lost importance as the years rolled by. You enter high school with your group of friends that you made in middle school and everything is nice and dandy, right?

Well, maybe not for everybody. And certainly not for Tomoko Kuroki, our main protagonist. Watashi ga Motenai no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! (No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular!), or WataMote for short, is your not so generic slice-of-life anime featuring our main female protagonist Tomoko Kuroki as she struggles with her high school life. But, as with most high school animes, she doesn't struggle with class since teachers in Japan are mythical creatures, but instead with her underwhelming popularity and her overwhelming desire to increase her nonexistent popularity. Sounds simple right?

A socially awkward person since a young age, Tomoko seeks to rectify her lack of friends upon entering high school. She has spent countless hours playing otome games in order to learn the mystical and sublime art of talking to men. However, two months into high school and Tomoko is as lonely as ever. Without a clue as to what is failing due to her belief that high school makes her instantly popular, Tomoko, who by the way has a very positive image about the way she looks (meaning to say that she thinks she's a total hottie), takes a good long look at the mirror for the first time in who knows how many years, only to find the exact same opposite of what she thought of herself.

This is where WataMote kicks off and generally what drives the series through twelve very painful to watch episodes as Tomoko tries her best at becoming popular. Why is it painful, you ask? Let me give you what I believe to be the most cringe worthy moment of the entire anime. After entering a crowded train, Tomoko feels something rubbing up against her. She starts feeling nervous and scared, believing it is a molester. The thing rubbing her then goes farther down, and Tomoko starts fearing for her life. As the train arrives to its next stop, Tomoko goes out running, only to be stuck by this thing rubbing against her and unable to move with dozens of people watching. We then hear a voice of a young girl apologizing that her naginata equipment got stuck on Tomoko. After experiencing a tremendous amount of public embarrassment, Tomoko breaks free and goes on with her life as usual.

WataMote carries a comedy tag to it, but to say that this show is comedy would be kind of an insult. I actually felt sorry for her on many occasions, like on episode three when her umbrella breaks and she gets stuck taking shelter with two boys. After making a run for the bathroom, she return to the shelter only to find the boys gone and decides to take a nap to wait out the rain. When she wakes up (still raining), she finds a new umbrella beside her and goes on home, silently wishing that , for once, a boy would do something nice for her, all the while not noticing that it was these same two boys who bought that umbrella for her. It's really disheartening and it pains me to watch at times because of scenes like this one.

Getting back to the topic at hand, WataMote has in total twelve episodes. The story is episodic in nature with the over arching story being, as said above, Tomoko's resolve to become popular. It's a story about character development and you really want to see her get some friends, but at the end of the day you realize that the character development is almost nonexistent. WataMote just doesn't end, it basically tells you to deal with it or just go and read the manga. I know its twelve episodes long, but a little closure for our main character would have been much appreciated.

As for characters, there's a few that caught my attention. First off is, of course, Tomoko. A fifteen year old recluse that borders into being a deranged person, craving for acceptance. With heavy bags under her eyes, she is supposed to symbolize many shut ins that exist nowadays. I've already said enough about her for you to have a clear picture of her, so let's just move on.

Tomoki is Tomoko's younger brother. A talented soccer player, Tomoki is what Tomoko isn't: popular. He often questions Tomoko's sanity and weird behavior and is often annoyed by her personality. Tomoko usually goes to him for advice on how to talk to men seeing as he is the only male character in the series she can talk to normally.

Yu Naruse is Tomoko's best friend from middle school. No wait, she's her only friend from middle school. She first appears in episode two having invited Tomoko to hang out, given that she went to a different high school than Tomoko. A recluse at heart, Yu actually managed to garner popularity by changing her appearance, ranging from dying her hair to breast implants. Tomoko is at first afraid that she isn't the same Yu from middle school, but soon finds out that she still enjoys everything that she did in middle school, such as watching anime, reading manga and playing video games. As such, she like Tomoki is what Tomoko isn't: popular.

On the topic for animation nothing to say here really. Its good, but nothing that stands out. The studio that worked on WataMote is studio Silver Link, known for their work in Kokoro Connect. The director for WataMote is none other than Shin Oonuma, known for his role as director in shows such as ef: A Tale of Melodies/Memories and Kokoro Connect. Bottom line, it gets the job done, but its nothing spectacular.

Similarly, the soundtrack for WataMote was nothing amazing. It just sounds like any other slice of life anime out there and none of the tracks stand out except for the opening. Watashi ga Motenai no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! by Konomi Suzuki and Kiba of Akiba is the opening that spans across all twelve episodes of the series. This opening is, in my most humble opinion, a true masterpiece. A song filled with heavy metal and angry vocals accompanied by dark grim images of Tomoko in chains symbolizes just how angry and lonely Tomoko is in correlation with the rest of the world. It really shows the main underlying theme of the show which is Tomoko wanting to break free of her social anxiety. Beautiful to watch, one of my favorite openings of all time just because of its connection with the show.

The series sports various endings indeed. The main ending theme, Dō Kangaetemo Watashi wa Warukunai, is featured in all but four episodes. Episodes two and five use Musō Renka and Yoru no Tobari yo Sayōnara respectively, both performed by Velvet,Kodhy. Episode six uses Natsu Matsuri by Utsu-P & Toka Minatsuki, featuring vocals by Hatsune Miku (yay) while episode eleven utilizes Sokora no Chaku-Gurumi no Fūsen to Watashi by Velvet,Kodhy.

This review has gone long enough so let's wrap it up. I initially started watching WataMote because, from an outsiders perspective, Tomoko looks a bit like a friend of mine. I wanted to watch the show and then show her how Tomoko and her looked alike. But after watching a few episodes, I knew Tomoko and my friend were nothing alike. I honestly cannot comprehend the purpose of this show. Is it a parody on recluse and otakus or just a very mean black comedy show? I don't know and I prefer to leave it that way because it adds a certain charm to it. Speaking of charm, this show contains some scenes that parody other famous animes like Death Note and Ghost in the Shell. See if you can find them all!

With all that in mind, it is time for my final verdict.

I don't know if I enjoyed WataMote or not. It certainly was disturbing, painful, and sad to watch. Animation is good, but nothing spectacular. The music is meh with the exception of the opening and the character development is, well... meh as well.

Overall, I give Watashi ga Motenai no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! a final score of 6.2 out of 10.

This is my second review here on MAL, so any feedback, as usual, would be very welcome. Have a great day, and you can be on the lookout for my next review.

Watamote gained extensive popularity very quickly around the internet for its "relatable" stories of geekdom and social awkwardness. Because of this, I was prompted to watch the series to see if I would enjoy it as much as it's been glorified. As I watched it, I didn't feel humored at all. Watamote's reputation covered up its many flaws as an anime.

Story: 4/10
The plot of Watamote follows Kuroki Tomoko as she enters high school, expecting to be wildly popular among the boys. Of course, this turns out to be far from the truth as she is completely introverted. The show simply proceeds to show ... Tomoko's sad attempts at becoming a more social person. In order to stay true to the manga, there is no development in the storyline. It's merely a series of Tomoko's failures in the real world. Now, this should be hilarious and relatable, but I ended up feeling absolutely pitiful by the end of it. No one should be that introverted and lonely. While there probably is some out there that can connect to her, I barely could. Some moments of the show I laughed at Tomoko's poor decisions, but most of the time I felt uncomfortable. It ended up leaving a negative impression on me.

Art: 9/10
This is probably one of the factors of the show that greatly appealed to me. The animators didn't skimp out and their price was nicely paid. Watamote's art is filled with ambience and bright colors. The character and setting designs are lovely to look at, even though most of the background characters were just gray bodies. The animation was high quality and nicely done.

Sound: 8/10
The sounds of Watamote are above average. Some fields of it were definitely great while others felt bland to me. The voice actress for Tomoko did a fantastic job of conveying her personality. It really sounded like an introverted teenage girl, especially during scenes where Tomoko had to interact with other people. The opening sequence is pretty... unique compared to other opening songs and I usually skip it, save for one episode where the transition from anime to opening song was AMAZING. The ending sequence is sung by Tomoko's voice actress and pretty cute, but not good enough for me to get hooked on. Songs and voices together, Watamore has an above average sound.

Characters: 7/10
While the plot for Watamote was pretty stagnant, I gotta say, the characters are pretty interesting. Tomoko has a lot of personality as a person. Even though she's still socially awkward and strange, she brings a lot of humor to the show. Her wild ideas and fantasies end up creating the craziest situations. It's a deal breaker that she gets absolutely no development, but she's filled with great interest as a main character. A couple of the side characters were fun as well, especially Tomoko's non-empathetic younger brother, Tomoki, who has to sit through hearing about Tomoko's sad life. Despite the zero-development, the characters are somewhat enjoyable, but not enough to be lovable.

Enjoyment: 5/10
At first, Watamote was interesting, but as the episodes went on, my feelings for the show went from interested to pitiful. I couldn't help but feel extremely uncomfortable while watching Tomoko fantasizing about being popular while being totally introverted. At the end of each episode, I felt sorry for her instead of feeling entertained. I could not enjoy it all after the second half. Watamote should have been filled with dark humor, but ended up filling me with uncomfort.

Overall: 6/10
Watamote honestly could have been really good. The manga is hilarious, but the adaptation was not. While the characters and animation are great, the upsetting blatant storyline and "humor" keep me from liking it as much as other people do.

I'll be Honest, I had the intention of dropping this anime halfway through.
but I continued to watch just to be sure about the shows ending and justify my words for a review. because Watamote is a show that couldhave been So much more!

And i'll state right now that i'll be diving a tiny bit into spoiler territory, but no further then episode 2.

The premise of Watamote is that our protagonist Tomoko is a girl with an extreme case being the gamer/otaku type along with a huge dose of teenage Anxiety, Unable to make any form of social contact with anyone besides close family, she Hates ... the world, she hates people and mostly she hates herself for what she is.

On one hand I see certain things in Watamote that I've experienced myself up till the age of 15, being the outcast, playing games and watching anime on my own all summer break, having no friends around, living in the fear of not knowing how you need to change your life in a meaning full direction.

On The other hand The anime apperantly finds it a form of comedy to NOT have her develop from this depth in her life. There are some legitemate moments where I'm invested in the way scene's are handled. But sadly a lot of the scenes turn into cheap laughs from emberassing scenes. and this is where he shows biggest problem lies. it doesn't know if it wants to be a cheap comedy or an actual progressing story. at one moment i'm facepalming and I pauze the video with the " I'm done with this shit. " line to follow, while an episode later I'm getting invested in the story again.

Thats why I want to adress episode 2, because it features Tomoko's friend Yuu from her previous school. and both these girls where on the same page. However Yuu developed more socially and Physically compared to Tomoko. But the interesting thing is Yuu, despite her developments has nobody to talk to about her anime/otaku hobby and this pains her. I'm flabbergasted the anime did not take the route to expand on that further. Those two characters using eachother to improve themselves on the fields they are weak in would be a great plot device! the same goes for a number of side characters Tomoko encounters in the serie, there are so many chances to include a likable side character she finaly had the courage of talking to into the maincast to help motivate her but it just doesn't happen. returning us to square one every single episode.

So instead we have to deal with Tomoko going through a nervous breakdown with uncontroled barfing for the umptieth time which just gets boring because it happens to much.

I actually got more interested in the side characters as I kept watching.
I wanted to know more about Tomoko's mom, her brother or her friend Yuu, because we hardly get to see any detail about them.

I wanted to like Watamote but it just doesn't go anywhere. leaving us with ultimatly nothing more then a timewaster.

Watamote is a very bizarre anime. But it is not bad.

The anime is talking about a lonely high school girl because of her severe social weakness. This girl spends every day of her life trying to become a popular and beloved girl and to have friends and boyfriend. Unfortunately, she cannot become so no matter how she tries, because she has no experience. She always has embarrassing situations that make you feel sad for her and you desperately want her to overcome the obstacles she faces.

The idea of ​​anime is unique. Because it does not want to make you enjoy it, but wants to make ... you hate everything that happens in it for that girl. As it does nothing for her favor, but putting her in situations that make her hate her life and herself more than before. All this anime wants to do is make you sympathize with her by giving you an absolutely uncomfortable feeling.

The big problem with this anime is that it never develops the character of the girl. it does not want to address the problem she suffers from, rather it wants to destroy her in a more correct sense. I hated this a lot, to be honest. It would have been wonderful if it had focused seriously on the bottom, as I said before, this idea is unique. It just needed to be done in a good way. This is a big flaw I know, but since I am attached to the girl, I cannot rate it based on my enjoyment.


Let's talk about the girl's family. This girl has her parents and a little younger brother. No one in that house is taking care of her or even knows about the problems she is experiencing. They do not treat her badly, no, but to not care about your daughter and not knowing anything about her is a fatal mistake many parents make. I think her parents think of her as perverted or something. As for her brother, he does not give a shit. Although the anime did not mention this, for me, her family's lack of interest in her is the main reason for what she suffers from. This may be considered a personal opinion, but we all know how the family affects its children. Either positive or negative. As for friends, there is that girl named Yuu who was studying with her in middle school. This girl has appeared about three times I think. In fact, I do not consider this girl a friend of her, because she does not know much about her and little meets her. She spends most of her time with her high school friends. This character exists only to make Tomoko jealous(she doesn't really want to make her feel like that) and cause the anime wants to show us that Tomoki is a lonely girl who has nothing special in her. So Tomoko has no friends. Although a little girl showed up once, who is the daughter of her mother's friend and who respects her a lot. But in that episode in which this girl appeared, she learned that her big sister (she calls Tomoko big sis) actually needs help and decided that she will do what she can to help her but she disappeared and did not appear after that.

The majority may consider this anime a comic, but to me, it is not. Because it is only trying to mock social patients and make them a fool as if they were the ones who chose to be like that. For people who have or suffer from the same problem or even people who have good hearts, they will understand the concept of this anime. As for people who are not, they will think that it is stupid. But I hope you see it carefully and put yourself in the shoes of this girl because there are a lot of people that society does not care about and always blame on them even though they actually should care. We humans cannot reach a better place if we do not help each other.

'GET POPULAR OR DIE TRYING' is the proper tagline for this anime. Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! or shorter words, WataMote, follows the life of a paranoic, young girl in despair; Tomoko Kuroki. SHE JUST WANTS TO BE POPULAR! What makes this anime particularly fun to watch is the mindset of Tomoko, which is very interesting. But I guess these kind of people DO ACTUALLY exist in real life. If I ever encounter one, I would like to be their friend(Seriously). Get to the PROS and CONS, now!

PROS:
+ Cute and unique protagonist(Tomoko kuroki is said to look ugly...really? She looks ... darn CUTE to me. While she does not look anything unique, but her "mindset" or the way she thinks/her fantasies/her reactions can be fun to follow.)
+ Creative jokes which are geniunely hilarious (I've lost count the number of times I laughed while watching this...)
+ Epic opening and a cute ending song(an unexpected rocking opening accompanied by a cutely themed ending are pleasant to hear)
+ Rewatch factor is medium-high(This is probably only for me...but at one point, I think I would rewatch this, just for the funny scenes)
+ Take a drink, some snacks and chill(This is the type of anime that you should sit down and relax and don't require so much brainpower to think. Just Chilllll...)

CONS:
- Typical slice of life(nothing fancy, just your everyday life of a teenager)
- Latter half gets very dull. (While it was genuninely funny earlier, but latter half gets unfunny and quite lame.)
- Supporting cast are meh.(Tomoko kuroki is awesome, but supporting cast are boring. The LOL thing is, Tomoko's brother also have the dark eye patches...)

Conclusion: Watamote is a particularly fun anime to watch. Unique protagonist, some cool tracks to listen to, funny jokes but then got onto the FAIL side on the latter half. But even with all those flaws, it was worth spending my time on it and may be worthwhile to you(the reader) as well.

Well, I wrote a review 3 weeks ago but it was incomplete. Now, the anime finished so I edited my review.

Story: 6/10
The story is very simple, like any comedy anime, but this plot is nearer to reality because in real life we find similar cases where girls want to be popular. However, the first three episodes were fine, a little exaggerated but enjoyable, funny and easy to relate to. I didn't like the twist from episode 4 to episode 9; Tomoko goes from being a girl who wants friends, to a pervert. She also goes through more misfortunes and the anime becomes drama-like. What ... I also dislike is that somehow they make the other girls of the anime seem like uptown girls (or very feminine girls) and Tomoko as the only abnormal - that, was too exaggerated. Suddenly, in episode 10 Tomoko is no longer a pervert and the story returns at its initial point but without the comedy in episodes 1-3.
It would have been great to explain something about Tomoko's relationships with her family (not just with her brother), and could give a good reason as to why the character is shy when conversing - that way, it would be easier to identify with the character as well as the story.

Art: 6/10
Well, I don't usually focus on art, except when changes from the manga are remarkable. I think they improved Tomoko's design. In the manga she looks misshapen, so anime style looks better. The only thing I disliked is the way her head was shaped and the fact that she's short compared to everyone else. Tomoki's design looks like Oreki's (from Hyouka) and Hachiman's (from Yahari Seishun). A cool combination of the two.
I have noticed that in the first and last episodes some characters are faceless, and Tomoko's classmates look too simple and similar to each other. It isn't annoying but, in this case with only few characters developed, I expected more.

Characters... well, character: 4/10.
In the first three episodes Tomoko is shy, very shy, and clumsy, but still tolerable. However, in fourth episode twist she becomes an unpleasant character. She's still clumsy, shyer than before and a hateful pervert all the time and. Tomoko comes up with something sillier every time. I couldn't understand her... If she wanted friends she should have done a little effort to be able to have a proper conversation and think about what she says rather than doing no effort at all, since I didn't see any. Some of Tomoki's features had the potential to make a cool character but, they were wasted so, he finished as a filling character. Tomoko's best friend... Well meh, I don't like her because she has nothing special but I don't dislike her either. It would have been great if these two characters developed because it's too difficult make a cool and promising story with only one character developed. And with a character like Tomoko it's more difficult.

Enjoyment: 6/10.
Although this anime is entertaining, Tomoko's misadventures are enjoyable, but the detail in episode 8 onwards isn't entertaining. I wish Tomoko had done better actions to make friends, like maybe look for other type of help? Or something that a normal antisocial person would do if they wanted to become social. It would make the anime more realistic and MAYBE more entertaining.

Then, the ending was too ordinary, I expected funnier stuff :/. To finish this review, I only recommend this anime if wish to remove boredom. If you're looking for a realistic story of a person without a social life, you won't find that in this anime. I also recommend to see it bit by bit, might be boring to watch all episodes in one day.

I honestly couldn't watch all all Watamote. The anime just felt too awkward to understand and I had been lead to think that the anime was funny. The problem might be more my tastes, but the anime itself is a bit painful at times.

The anime follows the life of High School girl Kuroki Tomoko, who I can probably sum up with one line from her brother, "is she stupid?" It's quite frustrating to watch the things that she does in an attempt to make herself more popular. She is an absolute social outcast who doesn't really understand much about real life other than what she ... faslely learns in dating sims and dumb things she puts together from online forums.

The first two episodes of the show were funny, but then some of the things that she started doing that started to annoy me. The scenes are draw out to a point where the would have been funny but it is instead a bit painful to watch.

I can't really recommend it to anyone, but if you do watch it, let me give you one last piece of advice. DO NOT WATCH THIS ANIME WHEN THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE AROUND. THEY WILL GET THE WRONG IDEA.

Simply put... this anime is a mixed bag.

The story revolves around a girl just entering High School and explores her delusions of grandeur and lack of common sense regarding simple things. The MC is dense beyond imagining and has a very warped sense of reality due to what I can only surmise is an undiagnosed mental illness. On top of that she suffers from severe depression. Needless to say, this MC is unique... and that isn't a bad thing necessarily. The appeal of this series is the MC interacting with the world. It is like watching an alien from 3rd Rock from the Sun and ... there is hilarity to be had.

HOWEVER... this series is incredibly depressing. It was hard to get through. The torment this girl goes through in just wanting someone to accept her, acknowledge her, talk to her, hug her... is really hard to stomach. Her episodes into exploring her misunderstandings about the world leave you cringing as you watch as everything goes awry. You should be warned... this anime is not for the light hearted.

The character that surprised me was her friend. Out of the blue her middle school friend calls her, a few episodes in, and wants to hang out. The way she is remembered by the MC is as a geeky, unattractive girl. The reality is that her friend bloomed into an attractive and popular girl entering high school... but retained all of her qualities from when she was unpopular. This makes for a unique character. I will be honest, I was expecting the friend to either bail on the MC or have something happen... but she was just really nice. It goes to show you that you can't judge a book by its cover.


As a side note... the MC has the same eyes as L from Death Note. Just Saiyan.



The art style is rather unique and does an amazing job of expressing the many moods of the MC.

The soundtrack to this is amazing. The intro and outdo fit perfectly and it sets the tone for the show.

The parts where this anime really makes it worth watching are the moments like the end of episode 11, where she gets a hug... and other heart warming scenes that make you go "awwww." Trust me, in the right context, you will understand the power of a hug from someone in a bear costume.

Would I recommend this anime? Well..... no. Probably not. It is worth a watch if you have some free time and want to see a 12 episode show. Its on Hulu. While it isn't bad and Im glad I saw it... it just isn't one I would be like " OH MAN, YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS SHOW!" As it stands it was a mediocre show with some great moments sprinkled in. Virtus Signum gives this a 6/10.

If you are reading this review because you have not this anime yet and need something to help you decide whether this anime is right for you then all I can ask is to take into consideration what you are about to read is my opinion which may be contrary to your's so use a little discretion for your own sake and as for the people who have already seen this show, you guys are just along for the ride I guess.

Story/Characters:
the story revolves around Kuroki Tomoko who is a typical high school introvert who has few friends and hardly talks to anyone but has ... a desire to become popular. Now Kuroki is a pretty damn relatable character and an entertaining one at that with all the funny shit that goes on in her head like various anime references. As far as characters go I had absolutely no problems with them as I kind of liked most of them.
Now my big problem with this anime which to me is a big hindrance is the ending, there kind of isn't an ending nor any resolution to the show, no over arching story, and with that I feel there is a lot of wasted potential as Kuroki's dilemma of being the unpopular girl never really gets resolved, she never comes out of her shell and her character never really develops which doesn't spoil much considering that the only thing in this show that actually progresses is time and personally I felt kind of disappointed in the end.

Art/Sound:
The art and animation is definitely the one thing that holds up though out the entire series, the character designs are simple yet detailed especially Kuroki who kind of looks like a goth chick at times. The animation with all the shot angles was creative and smooth for the most part.
The soundtrack through the show was kind of forgettable but the opening song defiantly wasn't and makes up for it a little.

Sub/Dub:
I don't have much to say except that the dub is one of Sentai Filmworks better works but isn't all that big a deal so I couldn't really care less about either version of this show.
One fun fact about the english dub is in one of the last episodes, the show makes a reference to an anime called "Another" where Kuroki is Mei Misaki (the chick with the eyepatch) and I thought it was kind of funny considering both of those characters were voiced by Monica Rial; the same VA.

Final verdict:
I'm rating this anime a 5/10, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anyone but I wouldn't say it was a bad anime either.

"..and her story that doesn’t really matter"

This quote taken directly from the end of the anime, sums up every problem I had with it. The story follows a 15 year old girl named Tomoko Kuroki, who spends too much time playing dating simulators and watching videos. As a result, she is an unsociable loner, and suffers from social anxiety. Though the plot seemed interesting at first, it rarely moved on, and when it did , it just followed the same premise over and over again, which was putting Tomoko in some sort of awkward or embarrassing situation. I didn’t mind this repetitive formula at first, ... because the character and situations were very entertaining, for the most part, but then it just kept building and building until the very end which had no real payoff, as she never changes her ways.

I believe this problem stems from the writers trying too hard to be unpredictable and un-cliche. All throughout the anime, the writers play with your expectations that come from other anime formulas and they decided that ending the show with a young girl trying to make the most of her adolescence by learning from the embarrassing events in her life was just too cliche.

If this is the case and the writers just truly wanted to stand out and be unique, then they could have ended it with something better than what we got. Because the ending we got was a teenager who blames all of her peers for her problems out of sheer jealousy, and will continue to do so, instead of learning from her mistakes and experiences. Sure, this ending isn’t cliche, but that’s because it isn’t interesting and doesn’t give any sense of closure. The only explanation that would make sense of all of this would be if the ending was setting up for a season 2. Even then, it’d still be pretty bad.

Every embarrassing event Tomoko went through left me with this expectation of her to learn something from them. When I finally reached the end, all I got was disappointment that I could have literally skipped episodes 2-11 without missing anything other than a few humorous scenes. And that’s another thing. The comedy in this anime is really awkward. And when I mean really awkward, I mean REALLY awkward. Sure, I laughed at it, but for the wrong reasons. I laughed only to try to make myself feel more comfortable with the awkward situation because if I didn’t it would just be flat out sad and torturous.

The art and sound were good for the most part. I think appropriate would be a better word, as most of the time the music and art style just matched the tone of a scene, instead of being pleasant. I’ll admit I found it really hilarious when the music would match Tomoko’s mood and would go from sounding pleasant, to going off pitch and sounding horrible.

Throughout the anime Tomoko goes from an interesting character with a lot of potential, to an unlikable disaster. I think she was written with the intent to be relatable to, as we’ve all had our insecurities and embarrassing/awkward stages in our lives; this is what makes the anime funny. The writers seem to be pushing the viewers to try to sympathize with Tomoko, for instance, the scene where she sits and eats alone. The truth is, we all hated this part of our lives and we knew we were being unreasonable by blaming everyone else but ourselves, and not even attempting to make friends or talk to others.

This is where the issue of Tomoko never changing or maturing really comes into play. Halfway through the show, her thoughts just begin to sound like childish whining and complaining. Why should we sympathize with her if she isn’t willing to change or grow up? Where is the lesson to be learned from all of this? That it’s okay to be unreasonable? The lesson is so unclear, that I decided that there just never was one to begin with.

That being said I believe this anime could be enjoyed if watched with a different perspective than that of other shows. The serious lack of story progression and character development seems to follow the same formula for a comedy or sitcom where funny things happen, but the plot never really progresses at all. If watched from this perspective I believe that are some genuinely funny moments that we could relate to and laugh at.

To sum it all up, I was never really “bored”, while watching this anime because it always had situational humor. However, the same could be said about any junky cartoon show or comedy. Unfortunately, I look for more when I watch anime, and this barely average one continues to leave me disappointed and unsatisfied.

And remember..

"Seriously, it doesn’t even matter"

Just a few things to note before jumping into this show,
-It is the funniest thing you will ever watch if you can relate to the introvert protagonist, if not it's just painful.
-There is essentially no plot progression whatsoever. The characters never make substantial change or their achieve goals. (plus prospects for a season 2 aren't looking good, so it's likely to stay that way.)
-The jokes get old after about the halfway point for me, so now that I know the plot goes nowhere there is really no reason to watch it again.

I still recommend this series because it does such a good job portraying what ... it's like to feel socially crippled... and for that I shall remember it fondly.

Absent of consistent tone but with some great moments. Watamote follows the life of an extreme social outcast. Whilst I myself am not the most socially literate being, I found myself unable to relate to nearly anything in the show. It is actually rather depressing to watch as a girl who clearly is beyond the normal level of social awkwardness isn't given any help by her parents, brother or classmates, making the show rather mean-spirited.

Is a depressing show about the life of a shut in automatically a bad thing? No. But Watamote doesn't resolve any of the issues in the show, nor does it have ... enough depth about the issues it is raising about social isolation. Instead, the show tries to be a comedy, and whilst some moments are very funny, the show is simply too dark and depressing to be watching for comedic purposes. If I want to watch a comedic slice of life show about slightly socially awkward girls, the anime world has me covered. If I want to watch a depressing slice of reality, the anime world also has me covered. Watamote is split between two genres that just don't meld together very easily.

I understand that the show has continuation in the form of manga, but the 12 episode anime just doesn't have any form of satisfying conclusion and falls into the trap of the dreaded unresolved 12 episode anime menace. A strong conclusion or some character development could have made this show go from a 5/10 to potentially a 10/10. But put quite simply, unless you are planning on continuing the show through the manga, there is no reason to view this show. It will only leave you with an empty feeling.

If the purpose of the show was to make the audience laugh at Tomoko, it doesn't work, I only feel sorry for her. If it was to relate to her, then perhaps she could have been made slightly less pathetic. If it was for catharsis, perhaps the show should have continued to the point of having a satisfying pay off. None of these things are really achieved. The one good point I will make about the show is the way the art and anime medium is used for effect, with Tomoko's emotions being portrayed in many creative visual ways.

Overall I give the show a 5/10. I would not recommend it unless you like shows that do nothing but depress and anger you. There is much wasted potential here and I partially blame the standardized 12 episode format for that. This anime needed to be longer so the character development could kick in. Nothing is achieved in this anime by the protagonist. Skip to episode 12 and she is just as pathetic as she was in episode 1, and that is just sad...

Watamote is one of those occasional titles I come across where even with all the years I've watched anime, I'm not sure what to completely make of it. The series appears to be a sort of black comedy focusing on how pathetic, and sometimes selfish, Tomoko's character can be in regards of her perceptions to high school life based off her otome dating sim games that she is known to regularly playing and those perceptions getting shot down when she realizes things in reality don't play out as they do in her games. She's a social outcast, has a disheveled appearance, doesn't have very many ... friends, gets nervous talking with those unfamiliar to her and has a rather rocky relationship with her family; with all of this played off for laughs and also being played as somewhat serious as a character exploration of Tomako having to look into her own personal flaws with why she doesn't get the reactions she would seek to get for her attempts at snagging popularity with the school student body.

On the one hand, the premise for this is a unique one that shows some occasional wit as it believably portrays how a social outcast like Tomoko might perceive social situations based off any interest portraying a rather idealist take on reality (her dating sim games in this case) that isn't as what said interest perceives. On the other hand, the series lacks any gradual development in Tomoko's character as we don't know what led her to develop her present personality and habits, as well as any gradual changes to her character as she realizes the reality of the social situations she perceives. This does kill a bit of my interest in the title's premise as I would want to know more about Tomoko's character and see any gradual growth from her in order to better relate with her character. Instead we just see her mostly failing in her ventures and other than some occasions that hint to possible changes to come for Tomoko, there is very little for me to try caring for any possible chance at her changing for the better as the series seemed to delight more in tormenting her character.

Visually, the series milks good use of its animation in depicting how flawed Tomoko's character is. Her character design is a unique one in that it isn't of the typical "pretty girl" variety seen from many recent titles as Tomoko is depicted with a frumpy and disheveled appearance, as well as show off some rather creepy and unsettling facial expressions depending on her emotional state. A number of visual gimmicks are portrayed to enhance major scenes depicting Tomoko's social isolation. While the series isn't on the visual scale of titles like Nagi no Asukara and Psycho-Pass that aired last year, it makes effective use of what it offers for its visual presentation and doesn't try going for elaborate animated sequences in its focus on Tomoko's isolation.

While offering a unique premise for its comedy, Watamote suffers in the fact that it doesn't offer enough development in Tomoko's character to get the most potential out of its premise and for me to better relate to her character, instead seeming to relish in its torment of Tomoko for its comedy. Still, it would seem that there are those that like the unique direction of Watamote's comedy and have considered it one of 2013's top titles as a result of it. Baring this in mind, it seems the series is one of those "your mileage may vary" titles based on what you hope to get out of Watamote's premise.

As you may notice, I have not watched all of Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! (Or as the sane call it, Watamote)- and that is simply because it is the most hard to watch anime out there. I have seen brutal horror animes and read Punpun just to name a few close comparisons in hard to finish, but in the end I honestly can say that Watamote is an anime that I can just not complete under any sane circumstance and I congratulate people who have gotten through the whole thing. But this is not because of what is put ... into the show is bad, but rather.... Well, It's better to leave it to it's own section at the end.

I'm going to get the criteria I usually save until the end out of the way so I can talk about what makes this show so unbearable to watch in the "Enjoyment" section:

STORY: 6
Watamote has some sort of progression, a slow introduction of a gradual cast of characters, plot points in each episode that are coherent- but it doesn't seem to ever want to go anywhere. I suppose this is normal for "Slice of Life" animes, but Watamote seems stubborn in keeping you in one place. Each episode seems to drag on for eternity, to the point where it almost feels real time from day to night- and not in the show's favour.
ART: 7
The first I was introduced to this anime besides from a basic outline of the plot was the opening- and wow, it caught my eye. It's art style is stylized enough to stand way out from the crowd, yet firm enough to remain easy to look at and not a strain on the eyes. However, once the actual anime starts, it begins to show it's seams and laziness once in a while. But overall, the artstyle is very pleasant to look at- and while the opening is definitely the best animation you'll be seeing on the show, the rest isn't exactly a tax on the overall quality of the show.
SOUND: 9
Probably the best part of the anime. Watamote isn't afraid of going all over the place with it's soundtrack- from the extremely unfitting metal/hard rock roots that are still absolutely amazing to listen to, to probably the only Hatsune Miku song I really like, to upbeat pop and sometimes jazz. Some music and ambience even seems like it's fitting in a more horror based anime- I just love the way Watamote isn't afraid to just experiment with it's soundtrack and not have one distinct style. (Almost) every track is a pleasure to listen to, and the ones that aren't are either joke tracks or play for a brief duration in the show. I'd highly recommend a skimming through the OST.

The voice acting is also good too, and fitting to the characters they play. They express a lot of emotion and feeling just through voice sometimes. (English Subtitles/Japanese Voiceover)
CHARACTER: 4
Every character is a stereotype. In short, this is fitting based on the fact that this anime is sort of a "lens" into how the main character views the world, but it really just ends up feeling lazy and generic as each character shows up and you see the extent of their one dimension within 5 minutes. A small girl is cute but observant, Tomoko's friend is hot and popular but used to be nerdy, etc etc. It feels like it was done in a total of 5 minutes.

The one exception is Tomoko. While I do not like her character that much personally, I appreciate the depth and thoroughness they put into the character. She is expressive, and a lot of her feelings are relatable to some points in our lives.
ENJOYMENT: 2
And here we go. If you don't already know based on the plot of this show (and my apologies for not briefly explaining it earlier, I wanted to keep you in some sort of suspense!), Watamote is about a socially awkward teenager and her escapades of never getting a lucky break. It's the equivalent of going on youtube and searching up cringeworthy videos- however it's even harder and less enjoyable to watch than that because it's an anime that was made specifically to pander to an audience who wants to watch this, and because of that, is constantly trying to push your buttons and force second hand embarrassment. Tomoko cheats at a card tournament for elementary school kids despite being in highschool, gets caught unknowingly by her parents listening to audioporn with a "back massager", and frequently ignores personal hygiene and all effort to keep herself together- all while asking the world why she isn't popular. And while it is true that we sometimes miss the obvious and look past basic things that cast us in a negative light, Watamote will purposefully amp it up to 10 and make you bite your nails down to the core while watching it.

But there is some truth to a few of the things Tomoko does. While a lot of the experiences she goes through panders only to a small group of extremely socially awkward people, there was a few relatable moments where her introversion caused more harm than good (My favourite is when she mentally maps a floor plan and potential actions of people around her just so she can avoid bumping into people she knows at mcdonalds).

But overall, I have to say that Watamote is probably the least enjoyable anime I've watched. It makes my whole body tingle unpleasantly and curl up as Tomoko spends a large amount of an episode arguing uselessly with people on the anime's equivalent of 2chan, looking through binoculars to spy on undressing women with middle schoolers, and jokingly hitting on her (comparatively) normal brother to the point of implying incest as the joke flies way over his head.
OVERALL: 6
A few of my friends who have also watched the show all have different interpretations of it- Some say it is a in depth study of social awkwardness, some say it's just a comedy, and some say it shouldn't even be viewed as funny. But I say no matter what it is, it's a pain to watch. It's not the art that makes it bad, it's not the sound that makes it bad, sometimes it's not even the characters that make it bad. It's the pure essence of cringe and second hand embarrassment that makes me not recommend this show to anyone who wants something that isn't spine tingling and hard to swallow.

I know some people probably do, but I don't watch anime because I want to be forced to look away from the screen because my body is tensing up so hard from watching a socially awkward character fail miserably at something. I had a hard enough time with that in highschool.

So you're an unpopular girl with no friends, social life, or desire to do anything that relates to people. Welcome to the same scenario as Watamote.

~PLOT~
Being that this is a slice of life show there is no real plot. Girl is unpopular, trys to do something to stand out, fails, repeat. I personally have no issues with this, It's just that you can see the problem or the fail before it even starts. I also like how the show makes parody scenes from diffrent anime such as death note, evalengelion, and others that I haven't seen yet because I'm lazy.

~Characters~
Theres actually only 3 characters that ... even play a part in this show
Tomoko - A very shy 1st year high school girl that is trying to make friends and be popular.
Tomoki - Her younger brother and the complete opposite of tomoko. He's actually more of the asshole character but I understand his view since I have siblings of my own.
Yuu - Tomokos only friend. she comes and goes like every character so theres not much to say about her.

~Sound and Animation~
Let me sum this up and say this " dat opening." This is both the best animation and the best track in the whole show. The animation only shines in the times they make parody refrences to diffrent shows, but thats it. The sound and animation any other time are basic. The dub isn't bad either but I have not watched the sub. The dub is satisfying enough to watch and leave it as is, but it's odd and Has it's moments.

~FINAL~
Watamote defiantly had potential in the first few episodes but slowly died down and got old later in the show. Everything just got old. I did enjoy the show however and it is a nice change to what I was watching. The show however Just didnt amuse me As I thought it would. I don't hate it, but I'm not a fan. The only other thing about this show I didn't like was the ending, do you know why? there wasn't one. The show just ends with no progress to her. It isnt like an elfen lied/ deadman wonderland end with plot holes the size of the fucking sun. But the show never wraps things up completely. Enough to keep you satisfyed, but they left it open enough that they look like they wanted to make a sequal.

Rating - 6

This series doesn't really follow a story arc, but unlike other series where it kind of works, it actually hinders the quality of an otherwise interesting story.

It's about a girl called Tomoko who just cannot seem to catch a break. She had high expectations for her first year of high school, but things do not seem to go as planned. She has trouble to talking to people and is also generally ignored by the populace. Whenever someone does try to talk to her, outside of her immediate family, she gets incredibly nervous and shy. The show revolves around her attempts to increase her popularity ... at High School so she can meet new friends, get a boyfriend, and enjoy her High School years.

While this may sound like an interesting underdog story, it has quite a few downsides.

Tomoko receives little character development in this character story. She becomes less nervous talking to people, and gains a little confidence, but never actually develops in a meaningful way.

Her character and her goals also are a little inconsistent. In the first half of the story (Roughly episodes 1-7), one of her primary goals is to get guys to notice and/or like her. It makes sense since her character is written to be extremely sexualized, with even a fantasy scene in one of the first few episodes of her being gang-raped. However, after the 7th episode, she seems to be more interested in getting the attention of girls and even comes across as a bit of a lesbian. This comes out of nowhere and seems kind of odd.

She also seems to be disinterested in getting a boyfriend and more interested in just finding friends but in the first half of the series, she liked being alone generally but was really looking to find a guy. Yeah sure, she always wanted attention, but seemed to have switched from primarily male to primarily female towards the second part of the series.

The Story was deliberately written in the way of not having plot progression. There were many chances for the writer to take the story down an interesting path, only to have it dropped or ruined by the main character who pushes the bounds of suspension of disbelief. The story has no ending, despite building up to one, and the only closure the series has is a vague "Who cares, be happy with yourself."

I held Tomoko in various states of like and dislike depending upon her actions, situation, and setting. She is a sympathetic character, someone who we've all been to some extent and someone who we'd all want to help. She also can be selfish, mean and weird. However, I believe the audience wanted to see her ultimately succeed and towards the end, it seems that she might get what she actually wants. The opportunity for a happy ending is ruined by, in my opinion, a poorly taught lesson used as an excuse to show some panties and jiggling breasts.

Saying all I have said, the writer is skilled at writing characters, and the support characters are surprisingly normal when compared to Tomoko and that was a great juxtaposition. The story is well connected, with characters coming back in later episodes, and the episode ideas were interesting enough that it was a hard series to put down. Tomoko is sympathetic, her brother is a realistic example of a sibling, her middle school friend was genuine and at the end, it seems someone actually notices her. It played out fairly realistically and if it wasn't for the writer snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it would have been a satisfying tale. However it didn't, so it's just an okay series.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched anime at all though. There was fair too many anime culture references, specifically from the Haruhi series. I noticed an Another reference as well. I probably didn't get all the references myself, so it's probably a series best left to watching later. I think people who have watched more anime than myself might have found find it funnier.

All in all, I am giving it a 6. If this series had followed a more stereotypical story arc within it's context, it could have been great. But changing the character, goal, and completely messing up the ending makes it just another average anime.

First of all, even if the score is a 5, I don't wan't you to think that this is an "average" anime. This anime deserves the 5 for having really good pros to watch it, but also some awful flaws. It is funny at a time, then painful at the other. It can be really cute, then suddenly fall into creepyness. It can be hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out... (Katy Perry could certainly do a review of this). This is retard let's start this shit ffs.

As it is supposed to be a comedy, I'm going ... to start talking about the lulz. Here it REAAALLY depends on your type of humor. The humor displayed in this show was pretty good if you are a goddamn masochist. I'm not saying that it was painfully bad, it was painfully funny. Gags were 70% awfully pitiful situations suffered by the main character Tomoko while trying too hard to socialize. This are funny...-ish, but also so fucking awkward that if you are not really similar to the main character (hence the "relatability" of the show"), you will feel more sorry for Tomoko's bad luck than actually aroused by the gag. The other 30% were made up of the delusions created by Tomoko's crazy, uncivilized mind. Tomoko is introvert to such an extent that her delusions are out of this world, and honestly, I did laughed quite a lot with those.

Concerning the art, it was actually quite great and unique. Shades of grey and colors resembled perfectly Tomoko's feelings at moments, animation was constantly aboive the average and I find particularly original the cubist-ish deformation that Tomoko suffered when she was let down. Sound was pretty mediocre, but the rest of the art was great.


Now, let's get into the main point of the series, aside for the humor: it's supposed "relatability". I was engaged to watch the anime due to the huge worship around Tomoko's character on the internet. People found it very relatable, and was waifu of many. I personally found the show WAY too exaggerated to ever be relatable to ANYONE, at least that I know. And I can tell you that I'm definitely not a popular guy, but hell, Tomoko was too much to handle.

Tomoko, as a character, although it has literally zero to negative evolution throughout the series, it's really interesting, but just an hyperbole of social anxiety. Time has passed too fast for her, and her egotistical though introvert attitude has made her not capable of establishing any new friendship with anybody in high school. What I definitely could see as the main point of the series (hence its title) is that Tomoko is constantly blaming on society for not paying attention to her and her superiority delusions. Her limited knowledge of human socializing and her days of gaming and watching anime have made her a "solo player", and dehumanized her to a point that she sees becoming popular as no more than a checkpoint on a video game, instead of considering that real life is an evergrowing "final boss" whose effects you can't control. Furthermore, the fact that makes the show much more suffering is that people are actually really kind to her. In reality, she would probably get bullied, but the fact that no one is coercing or bullying her, but just pitying on her and leaving her apart, makes it nearly impossible for Tomoko to blame anyone more than herself for her situation. However, no matter what, she keeps doing. Tomoko is quite of a horrible human being, but also a hopeless, defenceless one. Everyone would be like Tomoko under those conditions of social isolation.

In the end, who is to blame in this show? Tomoko? Society? Her parents or her brother? Her best elementary school friend Yuu-chan for being more popular than her? Imae-chan and Kii-chan for seeing her as a helpless stray dog? Probably everyone, or anybody at all. The fact is that this isn't anymore about the show. People like Tomoko exist in society nowadays, and the fact of leaving them apart is just as wrong as bullying them. Every human being deserves to be treated nicely at the least, but you know what? Let's get further from this point. Think about it the next time you are in school or in college when you see someone on their own for several days. Don't just be polite, but try befriending him or her just as you would do with any other person. Not being condescending, not being agressive, just being friendly. Maybe beneath that defensive armour of lonelyness you will find an awesome human being, forgotten by society long time ago, who may reveal it's own nature to its peers. Seriously, is that easy.

Overall, you may love this show, you may absolutely hate it, but you should understand it's purpose besides comedy: to show the reality of a person with social anxiety, and to teach how NOT to deal with it.