Though care has been taken to minimize story related spoilers there may still be spoilers present within character analysis. You have been warned.
Based on a popular manga series of the same name Tomo Chan Is a Girl is a romance comedy and slice-of-life anime that gives us the opportunity to see what will happen if one day a girl long used to being seen as a tomboy whose very nature and hobbies is as far from what a teenage girl would be like were to one day try her hand at one of the key moments that define that age in the form of the confession. But to her eternal dismay even before getting to that point, she realizes that her childhood friend and crush not only not see her as a girl but worst only see her as the childhood friend that he had known for ages.
While romantic comedies that feature slice-of-life elements are ones that have become the staple of anime seasons as of late the winter season of 2023 really has proved to be one where this genre has really excelled. On the surface, while Tomo Chan is a Girl is a very genetic romantic comedy after watching the first episode I have to say that in addition to its standard romance comedy moments supplementing it was a very diverse cast of support characters that while proving unique within its narrative was married to an excellent development of their characters that served to complement these moments excellently. While Tomo’s quest to make her crush see her as a girl formed the heart of the narrative and was an aspect that I really enjoyed seeing the changes that her friends went through as they got swept up in her quest proved equally entertaining and showed well that a relationship between two people can also have profound effects on those around them as well.
Just what would become of our tomboy who’s determined to enjoy one of the highlights of being a teenager by transforming into a girl that she never knew how to become?
Tomo Aizawa
Tomo Aizawa is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of its main narrative. A high school freshman and the childhood friend of Misuzu and Junichiro Tomo on her initial appearances was shown to be a friendly, positive and confident person by nature that is perhaps one of the first examples of a girl who doesn’t fit the nature of one that I have seen ever thanks to both her hot blooded nature and her strong aptitude for sports that few girls her age would be interested in. While most girls her age would either be worrying about getting their first boyfriends or be hitting the books so as to score highly in the class rankings for Tomo until the realization of her feelings towards her childhood friend sports was all she had to worry about. Her passion for it was to the point that you would be forgiven if you had met her and didn’t realize that she was a girl, such is her passion for it and how competitive she is in it, which is rare for girls her age. However, her love for sports was not the only thing that served to make her seem less girl-like to her peers with her base personality also being one that can surprise others that don’t know her too well with Mifune and Ogawa’s reactions to the expressiveness of her feelings and her displays of anger being the best examples. For all her faults, however, Tomo was someone that was very loyal to her friends and cared deeply about their wellbeing which is best shown in the strong bonds that she has with Jun, Misuzu and Carol.
As the series progresses and Tomo’s character is expanded upon it can be seen that while Tomo is someone that is perhaps a tad over-expressive and too quick to show anger at times she’s also someone that understands full well how lacking she is in terms of knowledge that most girls her age would have some knowledge of. Indeed, in the words of her best friend Misuzu Tomo is by far one of the few girls that she knows that might have switched genders at birth by mistake because her knowledge of romance and how to act like a girl are nonexistent. Tomo’s development as a character while somewhat hamstrung by this aspect that stemmed from a combination of her family’s strong martial beliefs and their focus on things that are useful in their eyes I thought was executed rather well. While Tomo’s expressive nature and her tendency to get angry at the drop of hat are things that never really change within the narrative I felt that in its place was the expansion into what it meant to be friends and the meaning of the bonds that are forged between them as well the expansion into her knowledge of not only the world of romance but also of the kind of fun that she had long been missing out as a result of her unique upbringing. When these were used in combination, I felt that this finally gave Tomo the push that she needed to realize that while its fine to develop an interest in exercise letting that cloak you to the point where you’re labelled as a tomboy rather than a girl is not a good thing because it blinds you to the kind of joy that can come from making new friends and deepening the bonds that you have with your existing ones. A revelation that I felt while serving well to impose a limit on her quest to become an exercise fanatic also allowed her to experience the kind of unique joy that being a teenager permitted.
Junichiro Kubota
Junichiro Kubota is one of the main characters of the series narrative and is the main male lead of the series. A high school freshman and a childhood friend of both Tomo and Misuzu Junichiro from his initial appearances was seen to be a friendly, polite and kind person by nature that as a result of their long forged bonds as both childhood friends and next-door neighbors saw Tomo, not as a girl but rather his best buddy which for anyone other than Tomo would no doubt have earned him a hard slap to the face. While Jun was someone that was intelligent and caring he was also someone that was noted to be rather slow when it comes to feelings that within the narrative synergized well with his inability to read people’s moods.
This within the narrative also contrasted well with both his quiet nature and how competitive he can get when it came to getting Tomo’s attention something that ensured that there’s always a battle between him and his childhood friend/rival Misuzu. Despite the endless amounts of arguments that ensure between them however, Jun nonetheless was someone that cared deeply about his friends and was someone that wasn’t afraid of using his strength to protect them if it becomes necessary as shown when he soloed the bullies that were waiting to ambush Tomo and coming to the rescue of Misuzu and Carol when they were in danger because in his words he wanted to use that strength to protect the smile of those that he holds dear to his heart.
In terms of character development while similar to Tomo in that both developed their unique personalities as a result of their upbringing and their interactions together as neighbors Jun I felt developed a belief that was rather unique to him in the form of the fact that he cared little about gender differences and was someone that preferred doing things together as one group. This unique sense which was a byproduct of the times that he and Tomo spent together when they were children that while creating plenty of pleasant and some would say interesting memories also served to create within him a desire to treasure them and contribute to creating an obstacle within their relationship that could only be overcome when both Jun and Tomo work together to face it together. This shared sense of development that centered on both Tomo’s attempt to change herself and Jun’s attempt to overcome the fact that Tomo is no longer just his childhood friend but also a girl as well I felt was used really well and made great usage of the changing of perception theme that was central to the series narrative and ensured that their bond was one that was never uneventful.
Misuzu Gundou
Misuzu Gundou is one of the main characters of the series and is a childhood friend of both Tomo and Jun. A high school freshman and a classmate of Tomo whom she considers to be her dearest friend Misuzu in her initial appearances was shown to be a calm, polite and direct person by nature who while very composed was noted to be someone that was not very expressive. Despite this, she was noted to be someone that was intelligent, perceptive and was someone that was highly logical which synergized well with her love of reading. Despite her icy nature and her preference to not draw attention to herself unlike her best friend her confident nature and her intelligence made her a surprisingly popular person within the class despite her desire to avoid people that allowed her to not only get the most relevant news first but also allow her to easily get a read on the classes mood a talent that she makes use of fully to fuel her inner talent for creating romance plans for her best friend Tomo. However, despite the peculiar sense of popularity that she found herself with it can be seen through their interactions that at the start of the series, the bonds that Misuzu treasured the most were the ones that she had forged with her childhood friends Tomo and Jun. While the bond that she shared with Tomo was a strong one and was one that she was shown to value immensely the same could not be said of the bond that she had with Jun whom she was shown to view with a degree of disdain. This is best shown in the level of maliciousness that she displays when interacting with him and in the way that she always competes for Tomo’s attention when Jun tries to. Despite this odd relationship between the three, however, she was shown to be proud of the fact that she was their childhood friend, a fact that she isn’t afraid to use on others to remind them of this when pressed. A fact that I felt was a good foreshadowing of the kind of complex issues that lurked within Misuzu’s heart.
As the series progresses and Misuzu’s character is expanded upon it can be seen that beneath her icy nature is someone that’s very conflicted on not only the bond that she shares with her dearest friends but also on the path that she should take when the choice came between bonds and her desire to help her friend accomplish her most desired goal. While the many plans that she creates in order to allow Tomo to change herself are many and varied ones that showed well both the level of intelligence and logic that she possessed to Misuzu these also served as an effective means to not only help her friend but also herself as well. For while Misuzu is eternally grateful to Tomo and Jun for the friendship that they had provided her through the bond that they share she is also mindful of the fact that this bond also came at the expense of Tomo not being able to live the kind of life that girls her age would have lived a fact that served as her primary sense of motivation for helping Tomo not because she wanted to see her be with Jun but because she wants to see her dear friend live the life she had been missing. This fervent desire to help her friend however while giving her an unparalleled degree of focus when it came to creating her plans however also served to create something of a conflict within her due to her perception of those around her as nothing more than methods that can be used to achieve her goals a perception that was only changed when she and Tomo become friends with the class idol Carol who though her innocent nature and desire to make friends made Misuzu realize just how much off track she had gotten with her plans as well as the value that can come from having friends and accomplices that one can use to help her.
As a character, I felt that Misuzu was one that was both well-designed and developed with her ability to formulate simple but effective plans to enable her dearest friend to get one step closer to her goal and its pairing with her inner struggles as she sought to find the best possible way in which she can atone to Tomo for depriving her of the key moments that a teenage girl should be able to live on top of trying to end the pointless feud that she had with Jun and trying to maintain the bond that the three share being especially well done. In addition to her character arc, one other aspect of Misuzu I really liked was the strong bond that was formed between her and Carol that I felt really synergized with Misuzu’s desire to help Tomo and Carol’s strong desire to forge her first friendships. The two of them working together within the narrative while always entertaining also I felt provided excellent support to the main dish of Tomo and Jun’s bond.
AMV
In terms of animation, I felt that the overall animation was done relatively well and while the locations and situations that the cast visited and got themselves involved in were not especially large or complex ones, I felt that overall, they were animated pretty well. The one’s that stood out the most within the series to me were Carol's massive family home and Tomo’s family dojo with the latter showing well just how Tomo ended up getting the personality that in the present is causing her so much grief. Though the series isn’t a combat anime I actually liked seeing both Tomo and Jun use the strength and knowledge that they gained from learning martial arts on the bullies that unfortunately exist in schools no matter where you go. Seeing their plans not only get foiled by them but also get schooled by those that use their strength for good was a nice bonus to the series on top of Tomo’s desperate desire to make her crush see her for what she is. One aspect that I felt was done especially well in terms of animation was its usage of effective facial animation that within the narrative served to enhance many of the scenes that featured strong displays of emotion which had the effect of improving the impact that such scenes had on the audience. While each of the three main female leads within the narrative in the form of Tomo, Misuzu and Carol had plenty of scenes that achieved this I felt that in Misuzu’s case, these scenes also served to showcase the level of maliciousness that she secretly had within her that was downright scary to those that didn’t expect her to be like that.
Music wise the series made use of one opening and ending theme which was Kurae! Telepathy and yurukuru * love that was performed by Maharajan and the trio of Rie Takahashi, Rina Hidaka and Sally Amaki who portrayed the characters of Tomo, Misuzu and Carol respectively. The series' opening theme Kurae! Telepathy I felt while certainly, a catchy tune was also one that through the aid of its visuals showed well not just the kind of struggles that Tomo goes through every day in her quest to make her crush see her for what she was but also the level of competitiveness that both of them share that ensures that while both are trying to change themselves that in competing with each other all they’re really doing is sabotaging their own efforts to the dismay of their friends. In contrast to the opening theme the ending theme for the series yurukuru * love, I felt was much more muted and slow-paced and through the aid of its visuals did well to invoke the feelings of slowly developing feelings between two individuals as you forge the very first feelings of attachment towards a member of the opposite sex as you interact daily hoping that they feel the same when the time comes to reveal it.
Voice acting wise I felt that overall the series main voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters whether they were main or support ones with Rie Takahashi, in particular, doing an excellent job portraying the series main protagonist Tomo Aizawa that managed to perfectly portray both her highly aggressive nature that would tick off at the drop of a hat and the gentler more girlish Tomo that comes into being when following the plans her friends create to help her achieve her goal. However, what proved to be the most surprising in terms of the vocal talent for this series was Rina Hidaka’s portrayal of Misuzu which featured a level of maliciousness that I never knew she was capable of portraying and Sally Amaki’s portrayal of Carol that managed to inject a perfect balance of innocence and comedy into her character that when combined with her co-stars served to make their interactions within the series a constant joy to behold. This was especially true in the bond that she shared with Misuzu that’s akin to a dream pairing of cunning and maliciousness with the innocence of a pure and perhaps clueless maiden.
Overall conclusion
In overall I felt that Tomo Chan is a Girl was a pretty enjoyable anime that had among its main strengths an interesting premise, an engaging and well-balanced narrative, well-designed and developed characters, excellent voice acting and fun romance moments between the main leads that while sweet were also ones that served to introduce a surprising amount of depth into its cast.
On the surface, while Tomo chan is a Girl’s main premise was not one that was particularly groundbreaking when compared to what we already seen within other titles of this genre one thing that I felt this series did a particularly great job in was its usage of the theme changing one’s perception. While humanity are many things one thing that they are not are beings that’s capable of changing their perception and adapting to new situations and beliefs that come into existence within the world that they live in easily especially when such changes are also connected to the treasured memories that they had created with their dearest friends and the bonds that were forged from that. Though the series main pairing of Tomo and Jun made great usage of this theme through their daily interactions that provided both great comedy but also an insight into the depths of their bond I felt that this was also replicated to greater effect within the relationships of the supporting cast, particularly within the relationship between Carol and Kousuke as well as acting as one of the cornerstones of Misuzu’s development as a character as she slowly began to change as a result of seeing how much those around her were changing. This focus on the emotional connections that can form between friends that grew up together I felt contrasted well with the physical pummeling that Tomo often gives Jun when he fails to see the effort that she had put in to change herself for that moment.
Overall as a final score, I would say that Tomo Chan is a Girl easily deserves a score of 8/10 for while it proved to have an excellent balance of comedic action that was paired well with Tomo’s desperate desire to learn what romance actually was I felt that this was complemented well with the deep development that went into improving upon the support characters most notably Carol and Misuzu that I felt served well to create a sense of parallel development that ended up providing excellent support for Tomo in her quest to achieve her wish just as they managed to achieve theirs.