Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!

After living 50 simulated high school lives and dating over 100 virtual boys, Tomoko Kuroki believes that she is ready to conquer her first year of high school. Little does she know that she is much less prepared than she would like to think. In reality, Tomoko is an introverted and awkward young girl, and she herself is the only one who doesn't realize it! With the help of her best friend, Yuu Naruse, and the support and love of her brother Tomoki, Tomoko attempts to brave the new world of high school life.

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! chronicles the life of a socially awkward and relatively friendless high school otaku as she attempts to overcome her personal barriers in order to live a fulfilling life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kuroki, Tomoko Main

Kitta, Izumi Japanese

Kuroki, Tomoki Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Naruse, Yuu Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Imae, Megumi Supporting

Nonaka, Ai Japanese

Nemoto, Hina Supporting

Kurose, Yuuko Japanese

Satozaki, Kiko Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Hatsushiba Supporting

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Kuroki, Mother Supporting

Hayamizu, Risa Japanese

Ishimine, Jun Supporting

Toriumi, Kousuke Japanese

Kuroki, Father Supporting

Iwasaki, Ryou Japanese

Kaneko, Hayato Producer, Planning

Ishizuka, Masatoshi Producer

Aitani, Atsushi Producer

Nakagawa, Jirou Producer

Reviews

Dec 19, 2024

sanander

Recommended

WataMote is one of the biggest surprises for me and I regret I did not watch it ten years ago when it came out.

If you've been watching anime for any period of time, you have probably already heard about it. Our main character, Tomoko, had since long become a meme and a caricature of a female shut-in with her baggy eyes and disheveled hair that had never felt the touch of a brush. She plays otome games, she listens to Yandere BF ASMR, she fights with her family and she does not have any friends at school. "She's just like me" is what you're expected ... to think.

What makes WataMote truly great is how gruesomely real it is. While the show frames itself as a lighthearted SOL comedy with many references to SOL titans such as Haruhi and K-On, in most cases Tomoko's blunders make you pity her, rather than laugh at her. Her social anxiety is made palpable through audiovisual hints, changes of art style for a moment, sudden changes in ambient noise from soundtrack to the hum of the street. She sweats and blushes and cannot speak loudly enough for most people to hear, forcing them to repeat their questions while she stumbles out a "Hai" that is not even picked up by the subtitles. In many of the less positive reviews I see people saying how uncomfortable they felt, a lot of the MC's feelings and situations painfully familiar to them. It is a testament to the incredibly realistic portrayal of what neurodivergent people struggle with in real life. And when Tomoko breaks down crying in her room once again, thinking to herself "I want to be normal", it is hard not to feel sympathetic to her.

This is a show that does not pretend to be a serious exploration of social anxiety, and yet it is. For something so whimsical to be so wonderfully grounded is mastery, and deserves all the praise that it got over the years.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 12, 2024

Alaw151

Mixed Feelings

Every now and again, I'm reminded of WataMote, and it's difficult to parse my own memories of being a socially anxious teenager at the time I watched it from my feelings on the show itself. WataMote perfectly captures the combination of embarrassment, slight trauma and the twinge of endearment a lot of people associate with that period in their life

In a sense it's the perfect anti-slice of life series, that loves to play with the tropes of the genre, acknowledging the escapism viewers usually come to this type of show for, and reflecting them in the actions and desires of Tomoko. She's an intensely ... fun main character and watching her navigate popular scenarios for slice of life shows with her misplaced sense of superiority, social awkwardness and depravity.

For the most part it succeeds quite well at being a cringe comedy, but like many other similar shows that tow that line it occasionally falls into being more off-putting than anything else. There were certainly a few episodes where the main joke fell flat, or felt a bit repetitive making the show at times a bit exhaustive to watch.

From what I've heard, the manga went on to develop the character and the cast around her a bit more. While a part of me wishes this was something we could have seen in the anime adaptation itself, or in a future season, WataMote is a pretty fun watch that a lot of it's audience is going to find at least to an extent relatable for better and for worse.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 23, 2024

ToroHaru

Not Recommended

This anime kind of sucks, the main character is appalling and unrelateable, and I am also a girl. A girl with a little brother, and although I know I can only speak for myself, she acts really weird with her brother and it is hard to watch. Even the brother is bland. The only character that seems attractive (personality) is Tomoko's (mc) old friend who, being harshly honest, the mc doesn't deserve.

Too much of the dialogue is centered in main characters head, which makes the viewer lose interest fast as all she seems to do is complain about is her self pity. Which is ... embarrasing, awkward and not funny. There isn't any character development; nothing about the at style is worth noting. I can't think of any reason why someone would want to watch this show... Thank you for reading

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Sep 16, 2013	259 replies	by SanessyAdversary »» Jan 1, 4:36 AM
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