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

Absent of consistent tone but with some great moments. Watamote follows the life of an extreme social outcast. Whilst I myself am not the most socially literate being, I found myself unable to relate to nearly anything in the show. It is actually rather depressing to watch as a girl who clearly is beyond the normal level of social awkwardness isn't given any help by her parents, brother or classmates, making the show rather mean-spirited. Is a depressing show about the life of a shut in automatically a bad thing? No. But Watamote doesn't resolve any of the issues in the show, nor does it haveenough depth about the issues it is raising about social isolation. Instead, the show tries to be a comedy, and whilst some moments are very funny, the show is simply too dark and depressing to be watching for comedic purposes. If I want to watch a comedic slice of life show about slightly socially awkward girls, the anime world has me covered. If I want to watch a depressing slice of reality, the anime world also has me covered. Watamote is split between two genres that just don't meld together very easily.

I understand that the show has continuation in the form of manga, but the 12 episode anime just doesn't have any form of satisfying conclusion and falls into the trap of the dreaded unresolved 12 episode anime menace. A strong conclusion or some character development could have made this show go from a 5/10 to potentially a 10/10. But put quite simply, unless you are planning on continuing the show through the manga, there is no reason to view this show. It will only leave you with an empty feeling.

If the purpose of the show was to make the audience laugh at Tomoko, it doesn't work, I only feel sorry for her. If it was to relate to her, then perhaps she could have been made slightly less pathetic. If it was for catharsis, perhaps the show should have continued to the point of having a satisfying pay off. None of these things are really achieved. The one good point I will make about the show is the way the art and anime medium is used for effect, with Tomoko's emotions being portrayed in many creative visual ways.

Overall I give the show a 5/10. I would not recommend it unless you like shows that do nothing but depress and anger you. There is much wasted potential here and I partially blame the standardized 12 episode format for that. This anime needed to be longer so the character development could kick in. Nothing is achieved in this anime by the protagonist. Skip to episode 12 and she is just as pathetic as she was in episode 1, and that is just sad...