Review of WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!

Welllllllllllll..... A show with a high quality main character with potential. That is good. But, it doesn't really take things anywhere. Less good. This show has its moments. Its protagonist is definitely a character. But, hmm... for most of the show, I was only barely entertained for some reason! All episodes ranged from "mild like" to "neutral." Which is odd, because... the main character is highly melodramatic (a good thing in my book). The show itself felt like it went nowhere, though; it's highly episodic. If the main character wasn't the way she was, this would have been immensely difficult to finish. I think that's my problemwith Watamote: I was felt neutral while watching it, with occasional enjoyment. It wasn't offensively bad nor very good, it just floated along, despite its harebrained main character. I laughed, but not often; I cringed, but not often (I'm looking to cringe, in a show like this). There's also little character development, so if you weren't laughing or cringing, there's just not much chew on.

But it's easy to become hyper-critical. There were reasons why I gave this show a 5 and not a 1. The intro and outro songs are quality. I enjoyed the creative artistic direction. The voice acting for the main character is excellent! (subbed, can't speak for dubbed) Fits the character perfectly, brings even more life to her, and its goofy delivery was responsible for most of my enjoyment. I chuckle just thinking about it sometimes. And while many of the comedic or potentially cringeworthy moments didn't get a laugh/cringe out of me for reasons I can't explain, there were a few here and there that did. I think the average viewer would find the show funnier and more cringeworthy than my experience.

I have harsher tastes than the average viewer, so the odds are that you will like this show more than I did. While I enjoyed parts of it, I feel the MC deserved a better vehicle for character development than a mildly funny gag anime. I might give Watamote a rewatch down the road because I like its style, but I gotta say I'm disappointed I didn't like it as much as I expected to. It's not all bad and has its perks, and thing is, you'll know if the show's for you after 4 or 5 episodes, so despite my criticisms, it may be worth a try.