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

I. Freaking. AM. This girl. I have struggled with social anxiety most of my life. I've never felt like I belonged to part of a group, and I've always felt like more of a shadow than a real person in the eyes of others. I'm taking medication for it now, but that doesn't stop the pain of those memories. So for me, Watamote was like reading a very embarrassing autobiography. I related to the main character, and it made me ashamed. First off, this anime is hardcore cringe comedy. You WILL have to pause the show at least once just because watching this girl fail is sopainful. You will scream no at your television, only for your plea to fall on deaf ears and Tomoko to humiliate herself anyways. It's not a feel good, chortle jubilantly whilst crunching on pocky sort of anime. It's a face-palm-and-shake-your-head-despairingly anime. If that doesn't sound like a roaring good time to you, then you should probably go watch Lucky Star instead.

Speaking of Lucky Star, that's just one of the many anime Watamote references. Ghost in the Shell, Haruhi Suzumiya, Death Note, and a plethora of other shows are visually mimicked from time to time for your viewing enjoyment. Okay, that's a nice shout out to otaku, I guess. And I suppose it helps emphasize Tomoko's otaku nature. But I can't help but feel like this show is more preoccupied with imitating iconic images rather than creating its own. That's the danger when you rely to heavily on shout-outs and references: you leave no room to make your own impression.

And that is Watamote's visual failing. The animation is never bad, but it never goes beyond bare simplicity. You are ANIME, art incarnate, moving masterpiece, you shouldn't settle for mere passing. Watamote fails to create any sort of distinctive style of its own. It's bland. If you do not create images that stick in the mind of your audience, then you are going to be forgotten. Ironically, that's a lesson Tomoko is very aware of, and yet her own show fails to put it to use. So I must award you no points for style.

Back to my own neuro-chemical failings: as someone with social anxiety, I understand what it is like to struggle to connect with people in a way that is meaningful. Watamote definitely got that message across. Unfortunately, it provides no light at the end of the tunnel, and thus ends up feeling somewhat hollow. Now, mental illness is a hard subject to portray, because it does not lend itself to a satisfying story-arc. You do not OVERCOME things like anxiety and depression. There is no final battle, no clear climax. Instead, it is a slow, uphill struggle. There is no end, because it's not something that ever goes away. That makes a satisfying conclusion almost impossible. A person can't just suddenly "get better" from internal struggles. If they do, it comes across as contrived and insincere (see the TV ending of Evangelion). Victory against mental struggles is so gradual that it can be hard to see, which is why it can be very unsatisfying for an audience to watch.

Watamote falls into the trap of trying to show character development in a way that is thematically satisfying, but distant from real life. The conclusion of the show has some last-minute growth from our main character, probably in order to give its audience a freaking bone after all that torture. However, as someone who has struggled with this same issue (and as such as the likely target audience of the show), I know that sort of change doesn't happen. I don't want to see the main character be able to put aside all their anxiety with the click of a button, because I know that kind of change isn't lasting. Poor Tomoko will be back to her regular behavior in a week, with no permanent improvement.

Instead of trying to make things look magically better, why not just give her small victories throughout? That's how real progress is made. It comes not from willing your situation away, but slowly learning to deal with it. Show her continuing to reach out to people in her own minute, faltering ways. Then, even if she fails, help build that gradual change in her perception that she is learning to deal with rejection and failure, so it isn't as crushing. At the very least, have her experience empathy towards others, and learn to focus less on her internal, selfish problems, and more on being able to sympathize with others.

I'm just ranting now. All in all, it is refreshing to see this sort of main character. I mean, how often do you see a female nerd as the main protagonist? Practically never. And despite my gripes, the show was fun to watch, even if it occasionally made my stomach turn. However, I wouldn't recommend this show to anyone who isn't hard core otaku. If you aren't some sort of social misfit, it might be hard to find common ground with Tomoko, and would make her very hard to relate to. Which funny enough, is pretty much her struggle within the show. Watamote is a strange little piece, and most people will probably just want to ignore it. But whether you acknowledge it or not, it's still there, waiting for someone to notice.