May 6, 2019
Not sure how to put this, this series is dreadfully underwhelming for me.
But let's give credit where it's due, the experiences that the mc Tomoko endure in her everyday life is very relatable. Can't argue with that. The writers get the small details. Although I'd say it still could be better. When we're talking about social anxiety there's a lot of things that can be poked fun at, which brings me to the next point...
For a comedy/slice of life watamote is good enough, I did get enjoyment from the humor... at the first half. Then it gradually becomes more repetitive and annoying. And that's not
...
to say episodic format sucks, I enjoy nichijou even though it's just the same pointless slice of life comedy. There are LOTS of potential in watamote, but yet the more I watch it the more I get disappointed. The story sometimes tricks you to think there's a plot when there isn't, and there's nothing wrong with that if just the writers can fully utilize the humor potential of the premise. Which watamote just... doesn't. Instead it opts for repetitive jokes and cringy moments. I mean come on, you can get to youtube and find a lot of short animations by amateur animators poking fun at social anxiety and they still feel rich in content compared to whatever this is.
The characters. Oh dear lord the characters. Let's forget everyone else for now since no one (besides the mc) in this series seems to matter that much. Let's talk about the star of the series itself, Kuroki Tomoko. As I said earlier, she's a very relatable character if you have social anxiety but holy crap is she delusional af. At the first half she's funny and relatable, as you get to the second half of the series she becomes insufferable. For someone who desperately wants to become popular she sure doesn't learn at all from her experiences. Character development is nonexistent in this series so yeah, don't expect that.
Tomoko actually has access to someone who can help her (Yuu) but instead she's just there to, what exactly? Absolutely nothing but to portray the difference between her and the mc, in other words, absolutely useless. Imae-san... the one character that has the potential to drive an actual development, but she was at the very end of the series and cut short before we know anything about the relationship dynamic between tomoko and her. I'm particularly interested in Imae because she reminds me of my friend back in college, she would talk with anyone, even the weird ones, and she indirectly helped me improve my social skills and made me become more confident. Shame they decide to end it there.
The art and sound I think are the only ones that redeem this series. I really like the animations and the portrayal of the characters' expressions and feelings. The sound is solid too, the effects help make the humor in this series by a lot. So at least they have those going for them.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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