Review of WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!
Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui is, for the most part, one of the most realistic anime I've ever watched. Story - 7/10 There really isn't all that much of a story to be had in this anime, but it's good for what it's worth. We follow Kuroki Tomoko, a 15 year-old shut-in who is entering her first year of high school and makes it her master plan to become popular and enjoy her high school life surrounded by friends and admirers... Needless to say, absolutely nothing goes her way, and Tomoko oftentimes unintentionally puts herself into some of the most painfully embarrassingsituations I've witnessed in a piece of entertainment, and these situations are the only real downside to this anime. I found a select few to be amusing, but the majority of these embarrassments made me feel quite uncomfortable. Where I found the story shined instead were the moments where Tomoko was alone to her thoughts. The viewers really get a feeling for how she thinks and operates, which works very well in an anime in which we're pretty much following a single character throughout the whole thing. WataMote also seems to really enjoy getting our hopes up for something to finally go Tomoko's way, only to flip that hope completely on its head as if it were mocking us for wanting her to magically have something work out for her, because folks, let me tell ya; that ain't how things work in the real world.
Art - 8/10
I enjoyed the art-style to WataMote. Two highlights to point out are Tomoko's character design and the lighting. Tomoko's design stuck out to me because we aren't often given a character who looks visibly downtrodden and disheveled 95% of their time on screen. This adds a lot to the realism of her character. The lighting also caught my interest because it isn't something normally done. Usually, in other anime, scenes are lit quite smoothly. However, in WataMote, sources of light produce shapes of color that give the aesthetic of the anime a lot of character.
Sound - 8/10
I love the opening and main ending theme! Both of them feel very unique in their own regards. The opening, for example, both fits the show perfectly and doesn't fit it at all at the same time. On one hard, it is an exposition of Tomoko's inner frustration and anger towards the world. On the other hand, metal isn't exactly a style of music you'd typically associate with a comedy about a 15 year old girl. And the ending theme fits the show and stands out in that it sounds very cute and upbeat, while at the same time containing intentionally off-key vocals that sound almost frantic and hysterical at times, even throwing in the sound of the singer pretending to vomit. As for the background music for the rest of the show? It was nice and fit the scenes they were meant to fit.
Character - 8/10
Aside from Tomoko, not many of the characters stood out to me too much. Which I suppose is completely fine, seeing as how it is a show almost exclusively about Tomoko. Speaking of Tomoko, let's talk about her. She is a lonely, depressed girl who wants nothing more than to have some friends. Sure, she has Yuu-chan, her sole friend from middle school, but we don't get to see too much of her seeing as how she goes to a different school and isn't always able to find the time to hang out with Tomoko. I know a lot of people have said that Tomoko is "the most relatable character in anime", but I do have to agree on that. A lot of people who watch anime (myself included) have eerily similar thoughts and fantasies to Tomoko. We aren't always too fond of living in the real world, not all of us have very many people who we can say we love and enjoy spending time with, we judge outgoing and think of numerous reasons as to why they're the scum of the earth, etc. etc.. I did really like Tomoko's little cousin Kii-chan who comes to realize that Tomoko is just a lonely girl looking for affection (which seems almost ludicrously wise coming from a 12 year-old), and Imae-san, an older girl who attends the same school as Tomoko who takes notice to how hard she tries to find happiness and attempts to help her. All in all, I enjoyed Watamote's characters.
Enjoyment - 7/10
Aside from the cringe-fest scenes that I mentioned earlier, I found my self quite enjoying WataMote. It may not be anything mindblowing or exciting or hilarious, but you'll find a nice mixed bag of comical, touching, and slightly emotional and/or depressing scenes.
Overall - 8/10
As I sit here alone on a Saturday night typing this review in a dark room with my face lit only by my computer screen, I'm chuckling to myself at how similar this situation seems to so many scenes in WataMote. I agree: most relatable anime ever created. And a pretty darn good one to boot.