Review of WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!
It’s always nice to see that a certain anime of a specific genre hasn’t followed the stereotype of almost every other anime under that genre. High school in anime appears to be like paradise, in my opinion, where teenagers spend their days having fun and participating in clubs, meeting up with friends, confessing their love to their crush, and so on. That’s why it’s always nice to see that there’s something that doesn’t follow the crowd, (which is quite fitting because of what this anime is about!) because to introverts like our main character and moi, high school is rubbish! STORY Kuroki Tomoko is a quietand super awkward girl, who is about to enter high school, where she believes that her life will change for the better; she will be popular, etc. However, due to her lack of social skills, she fails. Horribly at times. She uses theories she discovered from playing romance visual novels, reading shoujo manga, and she knows what to expect in situations where she tries to make herself stand out. Unfortunately, something usually gets in her way, and ruins her entire plan.
It’s an interesting plot setting, although the one large drawback it has, is that there’s no progression, at all. That’s why it is sometimes difficult to get through an episode, because she can’t learn from her mistakes, regardless of how hard she tries.
CHARACTERS
If there was a female anime character that I could relate to, it’s Tomoko. Many times I have tried to stand out in certain situations, I prefer to stay indoors as much as possible, I have a negative outlook on life, hell I even have bags under my eyes like she does! In terms of the whole introvert stereotype, it’s pretty much perfect. Her appearance, her speech, the way she acts in (and after) embarrassing situations, her dreams of becoming popular; they’re all really accurate, or at least I think they are.
The only downside is that she gets into those embarrassing situations much more often than other introverts. Unlike similar characters like Hachiman Hikigaya from Oregairu, Tomoko has a tendency to act without thinking, or in short, she has a lack of common sense. This is the main reason why she gets into embarrassing situations, which are really bothersome, especially because we, the viewers know that she didn’t have to get into these situations.
The secondary characters are pretty much irrelevant. The focus is on Tomoko most of the time, so there isn’t any real room for other characters to come into the spotlight. It isn’t even needed though, as it kinda emphasizes the feeling of solitude that Tomoko has. A nice touch, in my opinion.
SOUND & ANIMATION
I watched Watamote in Japanese dub, and I enjoyed it. Because of the lack of characters, the dub consists mainly of Tomoko’s monologuing, as she thinks of her fantasies, insults everyone in her mind (another completely normal thing for introverts) and as she creates various plans of how to get popular. Other than that, she talks almost incomprehensibly when someone is talking to her. Izumi Kitta did a good job on voicing Tomoko. I like the way how she slurs her words, making her sound like a drunk.
One thing that I loved, were the common references to other popular anime like ‘Another’, ‘K-ON!’ and the Haruhi Suzumiya series. These references just made me smile, and think “Oh come on... SERIOUSLY?!” A few of the scenes made me wonder how this anime got away with it! Sure, names of characters and groups were partially censored out, but seeing it is still ridiculously entertaining.
The soundtrack is, well, average. Because this show isn’t very dark, the music is quite humorous, with not so many tracks that stand out as being really good. Not a bad soundtrack, but nothing spectacular.
One thing that does stand out, is the opening. Screaming heavy metal music, and a mix of images that correspond to the different moods that Tomoko goes through in the anime, make an awesome opening. It is definitely one of my favourites.
The animation is where the anime expresses itself. One moment you have normal animation for a normal peaceful scene, and in a moment you have dark gloomy colours for the moments of Tomoko’s “mishaps”. Special effects and filters are also well used, creating unique atmospheres. The animation for Tomoko is also really good. As I already mentioned, the visual aspect of the stereotype is really good. Pale skin, gloomy expression, messy hair, and of course those eyes...
FINAL EVALUATION
Even though I praised the show, quite a bit, I still didn’t enjoy it as I had hoped to. Its biggest problem by far is the lack of progression, which makes some episodes quite boring to watch. Also, the embarrassing situations Tomoko gets herself into get a bit aggravating after a while.
The high points of the anime would be Tomoko, as she kept the show going with her personality, and also the changing styles of animation. The show had a lot going for it. If it had taken a more darker path, one that was REALLY depressing and dark, it would have been a lot better, but that’s how I feel about it.
7/10.
I don’t recommend this show to everyone, fellow introverts can check this out, as well as people who are quite patient.
For everyone else, the first 4 to 5 episodes and then you can decide on dropping it or finishing it.
Enjoyable, but could have done much better.