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

Social anxiety and awkwardness are something we can all pretty much relate to. Don’t lie. You know you’ve had your fair share of embarrassing moments, but, here, Tomoko takes social awkwardness to a whole different level – forcing us to relive those tragic, bleak moments of our lives, while allowing us to laugh at ourselves too. Watamote, short for “Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!,” which roughly translates to 'No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys Fault I’m Not Popular,' is a rather self-explained title about a teenage girl just getting into high school, with deep social anxietyissues, and her delusional expectations of what a high school life should be like.

Obviously, the extremity of her awkwardness was mainly input for the sake of comedy and jokes. It’s hard to say whether there are people like Tomoko because, unlike most people, Tomoko seems to lack the ability to read, or gauge, the feeling or mood of a social situation. Maybe her ignorance is due to her long-time isolation. Maybe instead of spending all that time watching anime and playing video games, she should have spent it on extra-curricular activities. Or MAYBE, she’s just fine the way she is.

I don’t know about you guys, but I always thought high school kids were pretty weird to begin with. Or, it’s not that they’re weird, they just don’t have a firm grasp of who they are yet (plus, we are more easily influenced at that age). It’s just a part of growing up. We can either embrace our loneliness and awkwardness, or we can work to be a part of other people’s lives. It all depends on the person and how they see it, I guess. However, the story doesn’t go out of its way to romanticize the idea that it gets better for Tomoko. If anything, her situation gets worse. But that’s what makes it funny . . . and also very dull. It works for Watamote if you can accept that dark reality, but repetition gets boring. In my opinion, the comedy relieves its shortcomings a bit. Some jokes were gold, others didn’t fully nail them, yet, her inner struggles were so sad I couldn’t help but giggle, though I was mainly laughing at myself.

Also, her relationship with her family was probably my favorite aspect of the show and a subject that I would like to touch upon. A lot of viewers seemed to have a problem with Tomoko’s parents’ “ignorance” and “insensitivity” towards her social anxiety. I, on the other hand, found it pretty hilarious. Because if they’re anything like my parents, they would have just brushed her off as crazy and made her do chores (which they do at some point) – the answer to everything, apparently. And, in a way, it’s true how small accomplishments can go a long way to change our moods and minor depressions, similar to the way that exercise releases endorphins, which causes us to feel good, or happy. Unfortunately, being an otaku gets along with physical inactivity. However, I wouldn’t take it personally if family members were to ever show that sort of “carelessness.” It just means they have a different view on what they consider problematic and significant. When you think about it, social awkwardness is actually very insignificant compared to larger world problems and something that can be easily cured with constant human interaction. Plus, Tomoko is still a freshman. Her journey of self-discovery has only just begun, and it’s a journey no one can take for her. Although, I doubt the author plans to stray away from the line of dark comedy anytime soon.

To sum up, Watamote is a “dark” comedy about a teenage girl, with very poor social skills, who is still struggling to find herself. The concept is really good, and I would recommend this series to anyone, though, I personally wasn’t overly enthusiastic to watch it every week.