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

Watamote is one of those occasional titles I come across where even with all the years I've watched anime, I'm not sure what to completely make of it. The series appears to be a sort of black comedy focusing on how pathetic, and sometimes selfish, Tomoko's character can be in regards of her perceptions to high school life based off her otome dating sim games that she is known to regularly playing and those perceptions getting shot down when she realizes things in reality don't play out as they do in her games. She's a social outcast, has a disheveled appearance, doesn't have very manyfriends, gets nervous talking with those unfamiliar to her and has a rather rocky relationship with her family; with all of this played off for laughs and also being played as somewhat serious as a character exploration of Tomako having to look into her own personal flaws with why she doesn't get the reactions she would seek to get for her attempts at snagging popularity with the school student body.

On the one hand, the premise for this is a unique one that shows some occasional wit as it believably portrays how a social outcast like Tomoko might perceive social situations based off any interest portraying a rather idealist take on reality (her dating sim games in this case) that isn't as what said interest perceives. On the other hand, the series lacks any gradual development in Tomoko's character as we don't know what led her to develop her present personality and habits, as well as any gradual changes to her character as she realizes the reality of the social situations she perceives. This does kill a bit of my interest in the title's premise as I would want to know more about Tomoko's character and see any gradual growth from her in order to better relate with her character. Instead we just see her mostly failing in her ventures and other than some occasions that hint to possible changes to come for Tomoko, there is very little for me to try caring for any possible chance at her changing for the better as the series seemed to delight more in tormenting her character.

Visually, the series milks good use of its animation in depicting how flawed Tomoko's character is. Her character design is a unique one in that it isn't of the typical "pretty girl" variety seen from many recent titles as Tomoko is depicted with a frumpy and disheveled appearance, as well as show off some rather creepy and unsettling facial expressions depending on her emotional state. A number of visual gimmicks are portrayed to enhance major scenes depicting Tomoko's social isolation. While the series isn't on the visual scale of titles like Nagi no Asukara and Psycho-Pass that aired last year, it makes effective use of what it offers for its visual presentation and doesn't try going for elaborate animated sequences in its focus on Tomoko's isolation.

While offering a unique premise for its comedy, Watamote suffers in the fact that it doesn't offer enough development in Tomoko's character to get the most potential out of its premise and for me to better relate to her character, instead seeming to relish in its torment of Tomoko for its comedy. Still, it would seem that there are those that like the unique direction of Watamote's comedy and have considered it one of 2013's top titles as a result of it. Baring this in mind, it seems the series is one of those "your mileage may vary" titles based on what you hope to get out of Watamote's premise.