(L+CR) It's Not My Fault I'm Not Popular (WATAMOTE)

[Eratas123]

I apologize. I'll try not to do so again.

[Blonto]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

There are indeed, but this show is nothing like them. If it were, that guy with glasses would've recognized Tomoko in WcDonalds and invited her to join the group, and later there'd have been a touching with them in a park as cherry blossom petals fall around them. But instead WataMote actually sticks to the premise and keeps the character a friendless loser who'd probably freak out if her classmates invited her out.

I'd argue that's the reason the main character is a girl. Can you imagine otaku to be interested in this story if it was about a guy in the same situation? I can't.
And I think another reason the main character doesn't go through some change is because if there's one driving force in anime that's stronger than horniness, it's the religious adoration of the status quo. It's much easier to write a story that goes nowhere, than it is to write one that changes in a meaningful way.

Yeah, ok, they're sticking to their guns in regards to the plot. We have a friendless loser who makes 0 progress trying to have a social life. Is this idea really something you can base an entire series on instead of like, a one-shot with a dozen disturbing comics of a person incapable of adapting? Endless eight also stuck to their guns, didn't make it less frustrating to watch.

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

The first three volumes of the manga have sold 1.5 million copies total, so I'd say yeah.

...

[Guardian Enzo]

I don’t know too many details about mangaka, but I’m guessing she (I’m not even 100% sure she’s a she) knows something about depression. I grew up with a family member who suffered from it, and the moment when Tomoko threatened to commit suicide if Tomoki didn’t converse with her for an hour a day was one of many jokes that didn’t feel like a joke, because it’s a very unpleasant and real part of living with a depressed person. Tomoki seems like a nice enough kid, guilty of nothing more than being "normal" – and popular – and it sucks for him to be caught up in his sister’s darkness when he’s clearly unequipped to deal with it. The episode is full of those sorts of authentically uncomfortable moments – sometimes I didn’t laugh, and sometimes I laughed and felt bad for laughing. There’s something in the experience of seeing Tomoko as an animated, speaking girl that makes the experience altogether more painful than the manga.

[ookamigirl]

I was really feeling sorry for that poor girl.
She sure had a lot of resentment...
It was sad watching her detached life.
Seriously, this is just too depressing.
Think I'm gonna skip this one.

[Kirarakim]

I don't know I didn't laugh at all (well except at the OP). I found the premise more depressing than funny.

[Solafighter]

They really animated it..

Not bad at all. The voice of Tomoki fits very well.
The OP is pretty well done, too.

Her brother, I can't stop thinking about it... This voice...
It's him!

Sorry, but Kousaka and his voice actor have always fused in my head. Can't keep them apart.

[Eratas123]

Except this time, his little sister isn't getting his help in life therapy

[mystogan]

Originally Posted by Eratas123

Except this time, his little sister isn't getting his help in life therapy

a slight correction it's not his little sister, it's the older sister, Tomoko is the older sister of Tomoki

[Eratas123]

Right, sorry about that In either case, Tomoki seems to be a nice enough guy, if annoyed at his sister's antics and melodrama. The fact that he came to get her and knew where she would be says a lot.

[Dark Faith]

Originally Posted by Elestia

Tomoko channeling Light Yagami during the internet surfing scene.

I actually pictured Mikami shouting "SAKUJO!" during that scene.
And boy, that's one seriously epic OP sequence for this kind of show... that alone got me hooked.

[Myssa Rei]

Do take note that the most common reaction to the manga (and likely will be for the show) was "This hits too close to home". Mokocchi's social awkwardness is something that more than a few of us had experienced on one level or another (though granted, not at the degree that Tomoko has), which makes it easy to sympathize/empathize with.

[GDiddy]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Do take note that the most common reaction to the manga (and likely will be for the show) was "This hits too close to home". Mokocchi's social awkwardness is something that more than a few of us had experienced on one level or another (though granted, not at the degree that Tomoko has), which makes it easy to sympathize/empathize with.

I think that's why I like Mokocchi. Because I was that awkward girl in high school (without the anime/otaku angle).

Though I had some friends though. Poor Mokocchi is like THAT kid in class: you know the ones who always keep to themselves and are the subjects of strange rumors like 'Hey she smells/is ugly!'

[Calca]

Why the hell does the EP have such a happy sounding tune with such depressing lyrics. It's like an Everclear song.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Blonto

I'd argue that's the reason the main character is a girl. Can you imagine otaku to be interested in this story if it was about a guy in the same situation? I can't.

I don't think you have to restrict it to otaku. It's like Tomoki said, "If you were my brother, I'd hit you." A boy in her position (and I think this is equally true in Japan and the US) would be viewed as a wimp worthy only of our contempt. The only way for the character to be sympathetic is for her to be female.

Though that being said, I think the writer does a very good job of portraying a female otaku without excessive pandering to the guys in the audience. I like that she's playing otome games with hot, naked guys, unlike a certain unbelievably cute little sister. And there's that scene with the convenience store clerk -- when was the last time you saw a sympathetic female character in anime get hot and bothered by some random cute guy?

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I don’t know too many details about mangaka, but I’m guessing she (I’m not even 100% sure she’s a she)

"Nico Tanigawa" is actually two people. I believe the writer is a man and the artist a woman.

knows something about depression. I grew up with a family member who suffered from it, and the moment when Tomoko threatened to commit suicide if Tomoki didn’t converse with her for an hour a day was one of many jokes that didn’t feel like a joke, because it’s a very unpleasant and real part of living with a depressed person.

I think the best line in the episode was when she said, "It feels like life's raised the difficulty level since I started high school. If it's hard now, then by the time I get to college and the real world it'll be nightmare-mode." On the surface it sounds kinda funny, but that really is what someone who's suicidal would feel.

The weird thing is, I've seen other shows with similar scenes -- pretty much any scene in Working with Izumi, for example -- that actually do play as funny.

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I don't know I didn't laugh at all (well except at the OP). I found the premise more depressing than funny.

That's a fairly common reaction. There are tons of posts in the manga thread from people announcing that they can't keep reading. I remember one in particular where the poster said the writer's crueler than Urobuchi and Tomino.

[Chiibi]

My gawd, she's like an emo Izumi KONATA.
that dating sim scene was the best

People are getting depressed over this? Why? Yes, I used to be able to relate to the whole 'unpopular loser with no friends' back in middle/high school...but those days are so far behind me so it's not like it hurts to see a character go through the same thing.
.........at least not to the point where it's painful to watch.

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

(though granted, not at the degree that Tomoko has)

Hahaha. That's true for most people, but I think I was Tomoko's equal as a high school freshman.

Spoiler for Stories so pathetic that NSFW might be a more accurate label:

One time on the school bus early in the year, a random energetic girl plopped down into the seat next to me (all the other seats were filled up).

Girl: *pokes me on the shoulder* Sup dude!
Me: Ah, hey...
Girl: Guess what? It's my birthday! Yayyyyyy!
Me: Ah, hmm... (I knew she was fishing for a happy birthday greeting, but I figured that she was just giddy and announcing the news to everyone rather than genuinely caring about my opinion, so I didn't have the confidence to wish her well)
Girl: So, aren't you going to wish me a happy birthday?
Me: Ah, hmm, ah, happy birthday.

Or the time, again early in the year, where I was walking down the hallway by myself and some guy from my English class ran up to me...

Sean: Sup, Casey.
Me: Ah, hey, I mean, nothing much...
Sean: *says something, I forget what*
Me: Hehe, yeah...
Sean: *continues talking for a while* Can you believe that?
Me: Hehe...
Sean: *says a few more things*
Me: Hehe, hmm...
*long, awkward silence*
Me: Ah, hehe, sorry, I don't, I don't talk much...
Sean: Yeah, you're boring. I'm gonna go talk to someone else.
Me: Hehe, okay...
Sean: *runs off*
Me: orz

Or there was the time the teacher assigned me to some role in the English class's rendition of Romeo and Juliet, and I skipped over every instance of the word 'kiss' or 'kissing' in my dialogue because I felt that someone as sickening as myself talking about such things was so disgusting that I wasn' comfortable using the word. Or, for a story that takes place in 8th grade rather than 9th, towards the end of the school year, a new student came to sit with me at lunch one day (it was the only time he did so, but it was appreciated) and talked to me for a few minutes. We had a rather pleasant talk, short as it was, and I even made a small joke that made him laugh. Lunch ended shortly thereafter and our class went to the library... I was so touched and giddy over someone paying attention to me and treating me kindly that I spent the whole 30 minutes in the library trying not to cry. I remember sitting at a table, reading my library book with blurred vision, thinking "Don't cry, don't cry, that would be embarrassing..."

The only times I wasn't a shrinking violet was whenever something caused me to get emotional and spaz out. One time in 9th grade, I backed up in Homeroom at the wrong moment while navigating the sea of students, and accidentally hit a girl in the face with my backpack.

Me: Ahh! *flails hands around a little before putting them on her shoulders* I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you okay?!
Girl: *clutching eye from where the corner of my backpack hit it, half amused, half annoyed* Yeah, I'm fine.

To borrow a term from TVTropes, I guess I was kind of adorkable during middle school and most of high.

My self-esteem has recovered a lot in the years since high school ended, and I was much more talkative and socially active during the technical college program I attended from September 2011 through December 2012. As a teenager, though, my station in life had a lot in common with Tomoko's. If there is one anime I can relate to throughout almost every solitary scene and line of dialogue, it's Watamote.

Originally Posted by Chiibi

My gawd, she's like an emo Izumi KONATA.

You know, the Lucky Star anime takes place during the second and third year of high school. Maybe... maybe Tomoko is Konata, and this show is about her early days in high school before meeting Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki!
/crack theory

[brocko]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

You know, the Lucky Star anime takes place during the second and third year of high school. Maybe... maybe Tomoko is Konata, and this show is about her early days in high school before meeting Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki!
/crack theory

I await her brother and mother being killed off in the story then. Since you y'know Mama Izumi is a ghost and the brother is no where to be found.

Er... Yea... I don't think this series needs to be darker than it already is lol

[hamazura]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Do take note that the most common reaction to the manga (and likely will be for the show) was "This hits too close to home". Mokocchi's social awkwardness is something that more than a few of us had experienced on one level or another (though granted, not at the degree that Tomoko has), which makes it easy to sympathize/empathize with.

lol i never have social awkwardness but very like this manga so much
In every school, therre must be at least 1 or 2 person like her.
If there arent in your school, that person must be you
And i liked to laugh behind his/her back lol im so cruel
But no matter how pitiful they are, none of their pitifulness match tomoko's lol

[Bern-san]

Enjoyed the first episode, I did laugh a couple of times and I hope we can see her improving. Her brother is a bit mean but he isn't a bad person.

BTW was she playing Duel Love?

[ttdestroy]

Wow I'm impressed that they captured the feel of the manga so well.
At one point I laughed so hard water came out my nose, just like reading the book lol.