It was certainly a show that exceeded my expectations.
It’s a true character growth driven story of becoming a better person.
On its surface it’s nothing mind-blowing and appears to be a standard Romcom about an unpopular guy who somehow meets the legend of the class and gets a harem that you've seen countless times yet this assumption is very misleading and Tomozaki, despite appearing as such, is not at all like that.
All the girls introduced are not meant to be part of his harem and the show has wrongly been labeled as such. They are characters that get development themselves, as well as aiding the development of our MC while not coming off as too cliche or tropey. They really feel like people that you could meet in real life.
While you may argue that the situation that our MC, the top player in Atafami finds himself in is very hard to relate to, you have to acknowledge the effort he puts in to change himself. I'd say that the beginning doesn’t seem promising at all but the more we level up the greater it becomes. Everyone deserves a second chance if given the opportunity, right? Then even he should be able to fight to change himself for the better and we, as the audience should understand where he is coming from and not mock his efforts. Such a view is very misleading, and could lead to incorrect assumptions. No matter what, the fact still remains that in order to achieve something, even winning a mere game, you have to put your entire heart and soul into it - something I find admirable.
It's a show that is neither a generic Romcom nor a harem. Its main appeal is the theme of self improvement through hard work and desire, something that would be praise worthy to many and becomes apparent in how our main hero grows as a character and as a human being.
Growth doesn't happen overnight.
It's a long process that requires a lot of time and soul put into it.
This is the message the show tries to convey and we can see how the behaviour and self esteem of Tomozaki evolves the more he levels up and the audience that learns from his mistakes and the quests given by our main girl, Hinami Aoi.
The quests that the main girl gives to MC may seem trivial but are actually helpful in the grand scheme of things. It's one of the main criticisms that the show has received - that it’s cringy, unrealistic and out of touch with reality which is clearly wrong. We should remember that Tomozaki is a loner that has troubles with social interaction therefore these trivial goals that she sets up for him are actually very meaningful despite being so small. The type of a goal doesn't matter, what truly matters is the effort you put in order to achieve said goal.
The animation of this show is very minimalistic with no dynamic movement. At times it serves as a means to move from point A to point B. The majority of the content delivered is through the dialogue of characters. It's decent. While it's certainly not top tier, it's no doubt bearable to watch.
There were few memorable OSTs that played during crucial scenes but often than not it was a sad piano to create the atmosphere or a very light hearted soundtrack to rekindle hope. Overall the music wasn't as memorable but not that bad. I'd like to point out that even the lyrics of a song matter in this show so keep an eye on that.
From a show that started with an interesting premise that at first became something to make fun of, Tomozaki changed for the better and so did the viewers who were watching his development unfold.
It's a series that while not revolutionizing the genre made something unique and intriguing enough to follow by showcasing real character growth that rarely ever happens these days.
If you wish to see a tale of a man who changed his life from the better, struggled but with effort and heart reached his goals, then I recommend watching "Bottom-Tier Tomozaki".
