ehalcomb: Watamote (No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!) || Review

I usually don't actively seek out comedies to watch. I generally don't find western comedy enjoyable and I've just assumed, wrongly, that eastern comedy was generally the same. I have seen anime with comedic tones in the past, like One Punch Man, but at the time I had just thought these were exceptions. Watamote has taught me differently and I can't thank it enough. Some comedic scenes in this show were so spot on that they almost had me in tears. The show would be nothing though without its character and it has plenty of it.

Tomoko Kuroki is a first-year at her new high school and she has the inability to socialize at all without some kind of companion with her. In middle school, her companion was her best friend Yuu Naruse but she has since gone to a different high school, thus leaving Tomoko with only herself to try to make it in, what she sees, to be a cruel world. The main and only character with a big role is Tomoko herself. She is the lifeblood of Watamote as the show is seen through her expressionless eyes. I say expressionless but really it only seems like that to someone who isn't Tomoko. In fact, she is exceptionally expressive and will hammer the audience with exactly what she is feeling by even relating her situation to other recent anime. She mentions Parasyte, Tokyo Ghoul, and many others. There is even a scene that parodies Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart. This show really doesn't care about the fourth wall but that's where some of it's charm comes from. Most of the aspects that I love come from Tomoko, however. The comedy doesn't come from the situations she gets herself in but more from her reaction to those situations. Because the show is episodic in nature, being that Tomoko creates a new plan to become popular every episode, the writers can really take her character to many extremes. Overall, Watamote's story is one focused on comedy so there isn't a whole lot of growth but it isn't void of it either.

It is sad to say that Watamote doesn't have that memorable of a soundtrack. It isn't bad by any means and I really enjoy the OP and ED but everything in between is relatively bland. The animation doesn't stand out but it accomplishes what it said out to do. It does have a very great way of showing Tomoko's character. When she feels alone and invisible, she might become completely gray or even invisible with a thin outline. On the flip side, if she feels stand out and awkward everyone else will become gray and part of a mass of judgement that makes Tomoko look very awkward and uncomfortable. Again, nothing special but fine.

Watamote is a comedy that took me completely by surprise. Because of my past with comedies in general I was wary at first but am glad that I watched it. I do hope there is a Season 2 soon, though, because the ending wasn't quite what I wanted.

Watamote is hilarious and interesting.