Review of WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!
If you saw someone who is regularly alone, would you talk to or try to befriend him/her? Are you or did you used to be that lonely person? Or do you pity those type of people and tend to ignore them? Watamote is designed to give the viewer a taste of the daily life of such a person with an excellent mixture of reality and comedy. Prepare to enter the world of an introverted, socially inept girl named Tomoko, who desperately wishes to become popular and get a boyfriend. Depending on the person, Watamote can appear depressing, funny, or ridiculous. It may be difficult to laughat someone else’s misfortunes and embarrassment regardless of whether or not it is fictionalized. However, it can draw several emotions for those who can relate. It gives you an opportunity to laugh at your own faults or sympathize with the character as she experiences loneliness and launch laughable schemes to get noticed.
Story (9) / Character (9)
Tomoko is an Otaku who spends most of her time in the fantasy world. She visualizes her life being as glamorous as in her virtual dating games or favorite anime. However, she learns that popularity is not so easy to gain in high school. She survived middle school with one geeky best friend, but she must start from scratch as she attends school with complete strangers.
The reality and comedy is executed excellently as the anime follows Tomoko’s daily life in social isolation. Her awkwardness and nervousness is what brings forth the comedy, because her attempts at popularity are kind of weird and hilarious. Tomoko tries to become more feminine and attractive to boys by changing her appearance, copying actions from anime protagonists, etc. Some scenes were exaggerated to create laughter. Tomoko’s sudden reactions to certain occurrences, including being approached by a hot guy, are honest and comical.
As a person who suffers from social anxiety disorder, Tomoko struggles to talk to strangers. Whether it is a simple hello/goodbye or ordering fast food, she speaks softly and stutters as if it’s a pain. She shies away from several opportunities that could gain her a friend or improve her social skills. One part of the comedy comes from Tomoko bugging Tomoki (her popular soccer brother) to converse with her until she gets a boyfriend. The conversations are amusing with the weird subjects (e.g. Tomoko asking if he gets quickies from his female coach) and Tomoki showing his annoyance and disgust.
Tomoko’s inner monologues greatly expresses her character. They involve honest feelings from cursing the happy people of the world or inspiring herself to try harder to socialize the next day. Tomoko’s view of the world is that of a sim dating game or anime, causing her to have strange and inaccurate assumptions about the real world. Her time in the virtual world causes her to have perverted thoughts of what it’s like to have a boyfriend. There are two or three ecchi scenes as Tomoko does both inner and outer research on how to become more feminine.
Tomoko slightly improves socially towards the end, receiving a little recognition from schoolmates. The ending is hopeful but disappointing for those who will expect immediate progress. It is yet another anime that urges you to continue the story with the manga because of its incomplete ending.
Character development goes at a steady pace for a shut-in like Tomoko, which is the reason for the incomplete ending. A faster pace would make the story unrealistic, since popularity cannot happen overnight. Supporting characters give a great contribution to Tomoko’s development as she tries to gain self-confidence and hope for the future. Although the series strictly follows Tomoko, it goes inside the head of other characters and tells their thoughts of Tomoko. Some quotes from them are either funny or sympathetic.
Animation (8) / Sound (8)
The animation and sound are both memorable, underlining the anime’s moody atmosphere. The animation is highly responsible for bringing out the comedy by creating an over-exaggeration of awkward scenes. Visuals portrays Tomoko’s hallucinations and embarrassment with vivid colors, and her facial expressions constantly distorts to match her emotions.
Character design was distinctly good. Tomoko is drawn exactly like an unappealing emo character with dark circles under eyes, long black hair, and plain clothes. Other characters’ appearances are suitable for their nature. There are gray, colorless figures to express depression and loneliness in Tomoko’s surroundings. Characters sometimes have faces with no eyes. Background designs are colorful and well-drawn. There are sometimes aerial views of a setting (e.g. inside a restaurant). Settings are diverse and brings excitement to the series, because each setting adds yet another incident to Tomoko’s life.
The OP song is a heavy metal song that’s named after the anime itself, and the lyrics of "Watamote" describe Tomoko’s character: “I won’t accept this world until I make it to a future where I’m popular.” There are five ending songs throughout Watamote, and they all match the moods to the ending of each episode. Background music sounds like a video game, so it's not that special. The VAs were very good and fit each character’s personality. Izumi Kitta (voice of Tomoko) did an excellent job expressing Tomoko’s nervousness throughout the series.
Enjoyment (10)
Watamote is one of the best slice of life comedies I have ever watched. I sympathized with Tomoko on several occasions and found her breakdowns funny most of the time. The animation and supporting characters brought excitement to the series by highlighting the different emotions (sadness, laughter) of the anime. The pacing also demonstrated hope for Tomoko. I was disappointed with the ending, but I loved it so much that I moved onto the manga.
Overall, Watamote delivers a perfect combination of reality and comedy. It takes you on a ride through the life of a socially inept girl whose primary goal is to become popular. Sympathize with Tomoko as she goes through loneliness. Enjoy (and laugh) at her several crazy schemes to get people to notice her.
Tip: Watch the entire episode and enjoy the ED. After the credits, Tomoko and Tomoki converse for a few seconds about the main topic related to the next episode.