Watashi Ga Motenai No Wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera Ga Warui OVA

I suppose some unpopular things refuse to die out. From time to time, they keep reminding us they’re still around no matter how infamous they’ll become or the annoying look that will be generated from others. What am I talking about? Remember that unpopular misfit girl who is trying to make her cool high school debut but fails so badly because her eyes were closed to what we call reality? Yes people. After a year since the TV series ended, she is back in Watashi Ga Motenai No Wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera Ga Warui OVA. I guess this means she is still being deluded into thinking that she is going to be one helluva popular girl, no? Well, can a single OVA turn things around and change her luck? I know what you are already thinking. It’s not going to happen.

So desperate our girl Tomoko, that right at the beginning of the OVA she is already breaking the fourth wall! For a good 2.5 minutes, she is already trying to map out their roles (Yuu and Kii-chan especially) and trying to show us that she is helluva knowledgeable (when Kii-chan asks about big boobs, etc). So, this is what she has planned out. She wants Yuu to be the jealous b*tch with a boyfriend who must be broken up before the second season, Kii-chan and Yuu will be totally in love with her to add yuri effect and the need to create a gay character for her brother. All these are essential in affecting their DVD sales! And just when Tomoko thought she had it going, Kii-chan snaps her back into reality and says fun time is over and it’s time to face her miserable life. Oh God! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAARRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Cue for that ear piercing rocker screaming opener! Ah yes, Tomoko. Welcome back to reality.

I’m Unpopular So I’ll Become An Enigma
Aomori is one of those normal middle school students. He has thought about life and the trivial things since coming to this school. He thought his would change. Nothing happened. Like your typical boring and mundane life. Don’t most anime protagonists wish for this? He even thought that a mysterious girl would pop up and kill him or that his real identity would be the Demon Lord or some world saviour. It’s not going to happen. Because this is reality. Not that he would expect it to happen anyway. But one evening after school ends, his wandering takes him to the school rooftop. Yes, the place where all kinds of flags can happen or important events would take place. Like having lunch with your girlfriend or fight demons at night. Suddenly! There is this dark brooding bishoujo (believe it or not, she’s Tomoko!) leaping down behind him. She tells him she is here to watch over terrorists and warns him never to come back here again as she can’t have innocent civilians involved before leaving. He is left stunned and so he takes her heed but the words she said weigh heavily on her mind. Is it true what this girl had said? About fighting terrorists and such? He couldn’t understand some words she used. Like it was made up or something.

Two days later, he returns to the rooftop. She is still there. She is amazed he came but why didn’t he come yesterday? Because she told him not to. Duh. This time she’s talking about humans being made as weapons and that he must not come here ever again. On second thought, he should. He is now wise to an unknown truth? What the heck does that mean? This leaves him further confused. After thinking about it, Aomori decides to take the big leap. He is going to change his monotonous life. The next evening as he heads up to the rooftop, it is locked. So much about his new life. Ended before it could start. (In the background, the PA announced Tomoko’s name to come to the teacher’s office). Three years later and present day, Aomori is now a freshman high school student. He remembers trying to head up to the rooftop but it was always locked ever since. Again he tries his luck. Nope. Although he never really understood her, he wished to see her again. In the hallway, he bumps into Tomoko (the one we are familiar with), apologizes and makes his way.

Now this is what actually happened from Tomoko’s side. As she heads back up to the rooftop but finds the door locked, she remembers the unpleasant memories back in middle school. Back when she is still friends with the geeky Yuu and Kotomi Komiyama (oddly they never get along despite sharing the same interest), Tomoko laments nothing exciting happening and thus believes it is only in high school where things will really take off. After the gym teacher reprimanded a couple of guys, she notices he dropped his key to the rooftop. Lucky. Unlocking the door feels like unlocking to a personal space of her own. Freedom. That is when Aomori wanders in the first time. Not amused that someone has broken into her sanctuary and since he already noticed her, she needs to do something to break the ice. She leaps down at the expense of hurting her ankle. Bad landing. Ouch! Sure that is not the sound of her ankle bone snapping? It hurts like hell but Tomoko needs to keep her cool image. As she holds in the excruciating pain, she cooks up the terrorist story. After she leaves, she lets go holding her pain. She takes advantage of her situation by pretending that her pain is so great that she couldn’t do any chores. Tomoki is made to do it and he could tell she is faking it since she was walking fine earlier on.

The next day as she waits, she thinks of cooking up a cool story just in case Aomori comes. But she waited for an entire day and he never turned up. She even starts thinking why the heck would such a guy turn down this opportunity to come. And when he shows up the next day, remember what she said about not bothering to turn up? Yeah. That. This is when Tomoko proceeds to tell him about the human weapon thingy. Yeah. Now she can lay bare the plot she spent the whole night piecing together! Believing her epic life is about to begin, she leaves him with that ambiguous answer to come or not tomorrow. Because if he does, she’ll be waiting for him to threaten and shoot him! However it is the gym teacher who came. He must have realized the key is missing. Tomoko stays silent till he leaves. Not to worry. She still has the key. She waits but Aomori never showed up. The day is about to end and as she leaves, she realizes the door is locked. It can only be unlocked from the inside. Oh sh*t. Don’t panic yet. She’s going to call home. Dead battery. FFFFFUUUUUUU!!!!! Time to panic. She tries to break the door down and even shoots at it (those are just pellets). Somebody, please notice her! Now already in full panicking mode, she fears her corpse will only be found weeks later. Somebody, SOMEBODY! HELP!!! Thankfully the gym teacher was still around as he could hear her pathetic screaming. He reprimands a snotty cry-baby but relieved Tomoko. They’ll talk tomorrow at the teacher’s office. Now that Tomoko has remembered this stupid memory, she notes she has never seen Aomori again after that. She thinks if she did, she will not be intimidated as she believes he is younger than her. In fact, Aomori is in the same class as Tomoki and they even went to the same middle school. After that accidental bump, Tomoko continues her monologue that she wouldn’t want to see him again because talking about that stupid episode would be more mortifying than her former dream job that Yuu reminded her about. Ooooh. I wonder what it is.

The Great Pretender
Oh, Tomoko, my dear Tomoko… That was just so awful that it was so damn funny! So I see your life has been screwed since back in middle school and it was your own doing! You reap what you sow. Haha. A good lesson to learn but I doubt that she has learnt anything seeing her character is still the same in the TV series. At least we know that her delusions of having an exciting life go way back here and could be even way before. Well, at least we know she is trying her best and persevering hard to be the girl she wants to be even though if we can’t approve her methods or know beforehand it would be a sure fail. But seriously, cooking up stories to impress? Who would believe that? I think Aomori would for that moment. Sometimes I feel like wanting to tell Tomoko that she is better the way she as herself is instead of pretending to be somebody else. But will we have all the great laughs if she changes? So for better or worse, keep doing what you are doing, girl.

By itself, this OVA doesn’t disappoint since it brings out the funny moments and the grand delusions that we are all too familiar with Tomoko. I thought they were going to start something new when they introduced a new character. Although it feels that Aomori may not have contributed much (though, an ‘important’ part in one of Tomoko’s many failed delusions), but in a way he too is pretty similar to Tomoko as he wanted a new life rather than his existing uneventful one. The only difference is that he isn’t desperate. Or stubborn if you are looking for another better word for Tomoko’s case. I guess people are like that. They yearn for something to happen or things they don’t have only to regret it later. I think it is a blessing in disguise that Aomori never had to go through all that because nothing good can come out if you’re involved with Tomoko, right? So I suppose instead of turning into some cool hero, he accepts and continues his boring life and at most ponder about the events that could have happened. Perhaps this is for the best. Play it safe. Some things are better off remained as a mystery, an enigma.

It also occurred to me how people see things differently through their eyes. Actually I know about this but watching this OVA just made me remember this fact. Because from Aomori’s view, Tomoko looked like some cool dark beauty but in reality we know how she looks like. I don’t know how he sees her like that but I think that Tomoko is made into such a ‘beauty’ (aside of the fact it was to serve as a troll for the first half of the show) was because he really wanted to believe in her. Because it is hard to take someone who looks like a clown, right? So with his own stereotypes, he might have seen Tomoko in a different light. And thus his serious pondering and contemplation of who this mysterious girl is and what could have been if he had stepped into her world.

I don’t know if they’re really hinting that there is a second season or it could be just Tomoko getting ahead of herself. I’d really wish for one seeing I am such a sadist to see Tomoko fail in life because I am very much like her and can relate to the things she do. Although I am not a desperate case like her and would rather keep a low profile. Too bad that Yuu and Kii-chan don’t get more screen time and therefore the reason why I thought their short appearance in the trolling beginning was for. Hopefully it would materialize because it would help Tomoko get popular and achieve her dream, right? So people, start buying the DVDs and support Tomoko in her quest to become popular! Or else she’ll blame it on you all and society for not making her a YouTube or social media sensation. And even God for the kind of life she is living. Yeah. It is always everyone’s fault except your own.

Watashi Ga Motenai No Wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera Ga Warui

Funny how the same word could mean different things in different languages. The word mojo may just be a slang in English to say that someone is trendy. Charming. Has sex appeal. Talented. Enthusiastic. African roots define mojo as some sort of black magic charm and even Spanish it refers to some sort of sauce. But when this word is in Japanese, it is not all goody-goody to a certain group of people. Mojo is short for motenai josei, which means unpopular woman. Ah, when a woman is unpopular, it could mean several things. One of it could be this: Ugly. At least from men’s point of view. Otherwise, you would be having their heads turn when you just walk pass them, right? Which women wouldn’t want to be attractive and popular?

So mojo is the case of this particular girl who just entered high school in Watashi Ga Motenai No Wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera Ga Warui. If that name is too ridiculously long and mouthful for you to pronounce and remember, just call it Watamote for short. That title literally translates as “I am not popular, no matter how you look at it, it’s your fault!”. Yeah. It’s always someone else’s fault. Admit it. At one point in our lives, we yearn to be popular and the centre of attraction of others. We want people to say good things about us and praise us for the trivial stuffs. That isn’t bad if you do it the right way. For Tomoko Kuroki, she thinks she is hell of popular (or going to be one) when she makes her high school debut because she is an expert in playing otome games. You know what they say about games and reality… In actual fact she is socially inept. And so this is a trivial story of how Tomoko goes to great and absurd lengths trying to be popular (when she’s not) and fails badly. Yes people. It’s just a trivial story. Ignore it if you want…

Episode 1
Tomoko searches online the definition of being an unpopular girl. She is confident she doesn’t fit in any of the descriptions! Because boys talked to her 6 times in middle school! Although they are all school related stuffs! Now she is debuting in high school, she is bloody confident she can be popular and score with the boys! Yeah, her experience in dating simulations must have boosted her confidence so much… But 2 months into high school, nobody talks to her! She’s still in denial that she’s having fun playing solo?! She easily criticizes all the other boys and girls who start flirting. But the first guy that ‘talks’ to her is the teacher at the gates while she is leaving. But she has never talked to a guy for so long that she froze up and ran home! Back home, she continues to ponder about herself. She seems pretty fine talking to her mom but she is concern about talking to other people. I don’t know why she dresses up like a slut because when she looks in the mirror, she starts vomiting! Hideous?! Yeah. She hasn’t even looked in the mirror for ages! Still in denial that you’re not ugly? But if she’s short and flat, wouldn’t lolicons fawn over her? (I can’t believe she is this desperate). Thinking it’s her eyes, she covers up wearing spectacles. It works but to take her ‘beauty’ to greater heights, she goes on an internet researching spree to get more ‘knowledge’ to become beautiful. When her younger brother, Tomoki comes home, he freaks out upon seeing who this f*cking ugly b*tch is! Oh. It’s his sister… The heartbreak… So that night, Tomoko enters Tomoki’s room uninvited and wants to talk to him. He tells her to get out and just die. But that girl is so unstable that she might take his words seriously! Okay, okay. Better play along. Tomoko wants him to talk to her since she has trouble talking with people outside the family. Talk to her every day. Till she gets a boyfriend. Oh God. This is like a life sentence. Good thing or bad, she is confident she can nail one in a month! And talking to her is already starting to feel a pain… “Am I cute? Am I pretty? Am I beautiful?”…

Next day, she once more here those flirting boys and girls again and doesn’t have good thoughts about them. When she manages to eke out a timid goodbye to the teacher, she feels she has made a hell of a progress! She stops at the convenience store to treat herself. She finds herself face to face with a handsome cashier. Still nervous and timid, she thinks she made a conversation with him and is on a roll! She thinks of taking a detour and ends up reading 20 book volumes at a bookstore. WTF. Then she hangs out at the fast food restaurant. Despite a lady is taking her order, Tomoko remains nervous and timid. She never thought the burger tasted this good and chomps it down like a monster! Then she sees her classmates entering. Fearing she would be a subject of ridicule, she can’t make her escape as they are seated near the exit. So she decides to change her dress style and pucker up the ugliest b*tch face ever. She walks pass them and she thinks it is working that they didn’t notice. Actually, they didn’t give a damn. Plan is going on smoothly till she sees Tomoki coming in with his friends! Oh God… Then she hears his friend’s comment that this is the ugliest freaking b*tch he has ever seen! So ugly that this type of ugliness is rare! Even Tomoki had to deny he looked at her… Just heartbreaking… Tomoko sits alone on a park swing. Tomoki comes to get her to go home. No more detours, okay?

Episode 2
Tomoko is listening to her CD of yandere guys verbally abusing each other!!! Then she gets a call from an old middle school friend-cum-geek whose grades are just average, Yuu Naruse to meet up this Saturday. Can’t pass up this chance. At school, Tomoko continues to space out in class and not paying attention. Even dreaming up her own fantasy of becoming popular by being the hungry girl. Hearing others talk about group pairing causes her mind to freak out even more to a point she feels sick and had to rest in the infirmary. She sees a boy sleeping in the next bed and thinks she slept with a guy! This should be a topic she can talk about to Yuu. On her way home, a flirting couple blocks her way so she once again goes into that mental criticism of them till she realizes it makes herself sound like a jealous pervert. By the time it ends, they’re already gone. I guess her life is so boring that she has come up with a list on what to talk to Yuu. Besides ‘sleeping’ with that boy, it also includes discovering anatomical models are unisex. Didn’t know that, didn’t she? Because she can’t stand her classmates talk about flirting, she decides to replenish her mana by fantasizing her own fantasy of getting raped by hot guys???!!! She is brought back to reality when a classmate accidentally guts her stomach with the table. Ouch. I don’t know about her twisted thinking because she thinks if losing her virginity hurts this much, she’d rather be a virgin all her life! Tomoko is suddenly called to the teacher’s room along with another guy, Hatsushiba. They are the only ones who haven’t hand in their portrait art assignment and must stay back after school to complete it. Tomoko is thinking too much about this fatso that she unwittingly follows him back to his class. Now it looks like she was trying to hook up with him. Wait a minute. Maybe it’s not that bad. Fantasizing they elope on his bicycle… On second thought, that’s just disgusting!

The duo stay back to complete the portrait. Hatsushiba finishes first and leaves. Thinking he did a half assed work, Tomoko also draws one on his portrait. When she takes a peek at his work, let’s say she becomes the happiest girl in the world and even asks a photocopy of his art! She doesn’t mind becoming friends with that fatso since he is desperate. Really? Tomoko waits to meet up with Yuu and look who comes in? WOOOAAAH! WHO THE HELL IS THIS HOT MAMA???!!! Yuu is exuding lots of moe cuteness! Is this the geek she once knew?! Too many changes! She’s got the looks, she’s got the curves! Everything that a guy would dream of. As they hang out, Yuu is glad Tomoko didn’t change and when she talks about anime and stuffs, Yuu wished middle school would last forever. Tomoko suggests having fun like in those days. So they hang out at the video arcade and karaoke. At the end of the day, Yuu finds it fun and hopes to go out like this more often. Noticing she has been sad all the while, Tomoko finally tells her that it isn’t smooth sailing for her when she entered high school either. However she is still trying and hopes Yuu would do the same too. Yuu feels better. She felt she got depressed over something trivial when she got into her first argument with her boyfriend. Say what… Boyfriend… Tomoko puts on her yandere guys CD and drowns herself in those voices instead of hearing Yuu’s happy ranting. Well, if this world is crashing down on Tomoko, at least she’s got another world to go to. Her only solace is that picture Hatsushiba drew, which seems pretty much an ordinary portrait but if you compare it to Tomoko’s face, I guess you could say it’s cute. In actual fact, Hatsushiba is part of the manga club and the problem is, all his characters have that same look! He doesn’t care since this face takes him the least time to draw.

Episode 3
It’s a rainy day and it messes up Tomoko’s hair. And she doesn’t give a damn. She already looks ugly, right? In class, she realizes she forgot her textbook. She hopes to stay unnoticed but at times like this, the teacher is sharp and reprimands her. If she doesn’t have a friend next class to borrow, then borrow from your neighbour! But he’s a boy… Oh, Tomoko. She must be crying in her heart. After class, she thinks somebody stole her umbrella and curses everyone. Till she realizes it is in the next basket. On the way home, she watches in awe the rising flood waters over the bridge. That same teacher takes her away and lectures her about doing something dangerous. Then her umbrella broke. This is not her day. Taking shelter nearby, a couple of boys do the same too. They try to talk to her but she panics. And when she finally does, they didn’t realize she is talking to them. On the verge of crying but can’t let them find out, she pretends to go to the toilet. Even telling a dirty toilet joke. WTF. By the time she returns, the boys are gone. She falls asleep. Seems the boys have gone to buy umbrellas and one for her because they feel bad for her. Aww… When Tomoko wakes up, she sees the new umbrella and wonders if somebody left theirs so she can use it, in which she does. On her way home, she hopes for boys to be nice to her. Oh Tomoko… You don’t know how lucky you were…

Tomoki comes back from the rain but since Tomoko is hogging the toilet, he develops fever next morning and has to skip school. This enrages Tomoko because she dreads going to school and wanted an excuse to skip it. So she blames her brother for falling ill and not her! She goes annoy him! In class, Tomoko is left out of the basketball team. Yeah. They are one member short and can’t find anyone to play… Not like she wants to play either. She eavesdrop several girls talking about some psychological test. Based on the answer given, it seems Tomoko is an unwanted virgin! She starts fantasizing that she is some hot sniper chick going to assassinate a president of some country. Then she got the basketball slam right into her head. But a blessing in disguise because she gets to go home! Yahoo! But she decides to stay by Tomoki so she could catch his germs and not go to school tomorrow. Yeah, cheesy lines like I want to be by your side. Not amused. She’s a pain in the neck. Might be running up his fever even more. Mother thought she wants to nurse him so she lets her handle taking care of Tomoki. However she is being sloppy… When Tomoki’s girl classmates arrive to hand over printouts, Tomoko becomes jealous and devastated. She pours hot porridge on his face! WTF?! A definite kick in the gut! I don’t know how she manages to hold to porridge bowl but she’s still crying and lamenting her brother is more popular and got girls to visit unlike her. Nobody comes to see her. Yeah. She’s a pain alright. When there is somebody at the door for her, it is only the delivery guy. Even sadder. More pain. Next day, Tomoki feels better and Tomoko blames him a useless piece of sh*t who couldn’t even give her his germs. Because of that she had to go to school today. Then he points out that it takes time for the symptoms to appear. Right after that, she starts feeling it. Now she is sick and there goes her precious weekend… Deserve it?

Episode 4
Tomoko stumbles upon a website on how to have erotic dreams! Something about sleep facedown due to lack of oxygen to the brain thingy. She tries it out but only got bug nightmares! She puts a pillow under her chest for more intensity but got more nightmares about gorillas and crocodiles. Because of that, she lacks sleep and in class is nodding off right in the middle of the test. The teacher thought something is wrong with her till he sees her erotic face!!!!!! Let her be… That was a good sleep and she ponders if it’s because of her sitting position. She overhears the girls talking about being molested on the train so she gets jealous and criticizes those sluts are showing off as it means they’re pretty. Back home, she tries molesting herself! She then calls Yuu to ask her opinion. What’s it like to get molest? Is it okay? Of course not! She lies that she got molested. Suddenly Tomoko feels she is the biggest loser because she is the only girl who hasn’t get molested. While taking a train to school, suddenly the rush hour crowd comes in. Tomoko is squeezed and crushed in between them. It’s amazing her bones didn’t break. Suddenly she feels some rod thing in between her legs. Could it be a molester? She starts panicking and regrets wanting to get molested. She tries to escape on the next stop but it seems the rod curves up and prevents her from escaping! Can that ‘assault weapon’ do so?! Her groin is starting to hurt and she feels like being raped! On the next stop, she dashes out while holding her crotch. Everyone sees her in this funny position but she points out there is a molester. Turns out to be a girl’s kendo sword as she apologizes profusely for the incident. Later Tomoko calls Yuu to tell her she got raped by a kendo sword…

When Tomoko’s classmates are talking about swimsuits, once more miss unpopular snarls that they just want to show off their sex appeal. She realizes they are wearing sexy lingerie unlike hers. Yeah. Her mom bought hers dirt cheap. So she has this rational she can get a boyfriend and put those b*tches in their place if she buys an expensive one. Needing to figure out where to buy them, she calls Yuu, asking what sort of panties she is wearing. But the way she exhales… Sounds like a pervert… Tomoko meets up with Yuu to go buy panties. Just like a country bumpkin, Tomoko is awed with the lingerie shop. She thinks the panties even smell this good! She wants Yuu to buy it for her. She’s fantasizing so much that she says out loud she’ll be turned on if she was a guy. Eventually she got a pair but can’t put it on because it went missing. What miserable luck. However she thinks it’s a blessing in disguise as it will be too embarrassing to wear. Little did she realized, she mixed her panties with her handkerchief and wipes her sweat! A guy classmate sees this and gets freaking embarrassed! Not as embarrassed as Tomoko because she rips the panties to bits in the toilet! With a mad face!!! No more pantsu!!!!!!! To recharge her energy, she buys an otome game but also wins a hand massager that looks like a vibrator at the lottery. Imagine the misinterpretation if people sees this combination. Back home, she uses it to massage her shoulders. So good that she falls asleep while playing her game. Her dad returns and goes to check on her. What is you impression when you see your daughter with a satisfied face sleeping on the floor, the massager on as well as the otome game on screen? He puts her back to bed, turns off the massager and game and leaves. Good night. Sweet dreams. Yeah. She might be having just that.

Episode 5
After 3 months and Tomoko wonders why she isn’t popular. Yeah. I wonder… She sees an anime about some alien girl and thinks she needs some personality. She goes for the expressionless quiet type, saying nothing or just a few words. So when Tomoki accuses her of stealing his sports drink, her little words did nothing to ease her trouble. Face grab! But she has to be patient because today she vows to play the emotionless type. However life in school goes on the same. She is being ignored and left out. Hardly any different than before. Be strong! Then she decides to hang out that a coffee store thinking this is where such characters go to relax. She fumbles at the counter thinking the ‘G’ size is for Giant instead of Grande. Noticing how bitter it is, she mixes some of the seasonings. Heck, she mixes everything! Now it’s become some sort of poison! Definitely tastes horrible. She is about to blow this joint when she trips and falls hard on her face. I don’t think she can keep up with that expressionless character anymore. In the end, she laments that such character is only possible if you have a guy who likes you. Bummer. In class when she hears her classmates talking about photo prints, she decides to get one with Yuu seeing she has never done it before and she is going to be an animated girl with a cute smile. Unfortunately Yuu has plans. She then goes to bug Tomoki to come with her adorable sister. Not interested. She even bought Coke to make up for that sports drink fiasco. Not interested. She opens it for him and the Coke spills all over his carpet. Get out please. Just get out. And so Tomoko goes solo into one of those booths and finds it overwhelming because there are instructions on what pose to do. Too fast for you, girl? Yeah, all the faces she makes looks creepy. When Tomoki enters his room, he sees Tomoko’s photo prints all over his furniture. Even his photos and football posters are plastered over with them. There is always a limit how much people can take…

Tomoko watches a TV programme and thinks working at a cabaret club will improve her social skills. Thinking she will be subjected to a series of tests, she first buys a lighter to improve her cigarette lighting skill. At the park, she seems slow in trying to light the lighter. She perseveres till she is fast enough to light it. Hah. She doesn’t even light that guy’s smoke. To practice serving and mixing drinks, while Tomoki goes to refill sugar, Tomoko hijacks his drink, dumps ice and stirs it for him. Face grab! Because of that, she thinks she is hell of a qualified to work at a cabaret. She makes her way to the red light district to check it out. The police siren even makes her jumpy. Are you really ready, girl? She observes a handsome host guy trying to hit on a woman but she ignores him. She hits the panic button when the guy approaches her. Turns out to be hitting on another woman. The fright of her life. Noticing the other shady adult stuffs around her, she feels scared and wants no more of it and rushes out to the main road. You just realized how wrong this city is, huh? And you too. She gets a call from mother asking her to come back for dinner. Yeah. She’ll gladly come back to home sweet home any time. Oh, and please stop by to get some eggs.

Episode 6
In addition to playing her otome games, she brags to Tomoki like she’s hell of a knowledgeable on the subject of love. Who the f*ck invited her to talk in his room?! While in the toilet, Tomoko suddenly finds her face smooth. What caused her to be cuter? Eavesdropping some girls talking, she thinks it’s because when a girl is in love, she becomes prettier. She then reads from the magazines about the estrogens the body releases when one is in love. But the ultimate estrogens secretion is when you have sex! Her conclusion? Because she fell in love with her otome game guy and had 2D sex, she became beautiful! So if she continues playing it, she’ll continue to be beautiful! Some twisted logic. But she’s bloody confident it will work. So happy this chick that her smile is just grossing out Tomoki. Good day for her. Bad day for him. She then hears the horoscope and it seems luck is on her side. Unfortunately she only meets a string of bad luck. The canned drink splashed in her face, left out in class and gym again and the ants crawl up all over her! While she laments her bad luck, a guy sees an ant crawling up her back and wanted to take it away. Tomoko misinterprets this guy is trying to hit on her! She can’t concentrate in class and thinks the guy next to her wants to really ask her out to the fireworks but hold back because he was shy. Actually it was because he spotted an ant crawling on her arm and wanted to warn her. She even thinks the guy sitting next to her is complimenting her beauty when it is actually a pretty hot chick sitting on his other side. With Tomoko’s confidence boosted, she continues to splash her face with the canned drink. She goes to meet her beloved brother but he freaks out seeing all the ants crawling all over her!!! Too in love to notice them crawling? After Tomoko plays the same otome game, she continues ranting to Tomoki the boringness about dating the same guy over and over again. Oh yeah. Tomoko the expert and miss-know-it-all.

Today is the last day of school before summer vacation kicks in and Tomoko realizes not a single guy has asked her out to the fireworks. She gets desperate enough to think that anybody will do. It doesn’t matter who you are, please ask her out. Thinking the kind of loners are those in the library on the last day, she sees a boy and a girl. Since she can’t approach the guy, she thinks of ways to approach the girl. Before she could ask her, the girl’s friends come to pick her up for some mixer. In Tomoko’s mind: She’s a slut in disguise. All that’s left is the boy. Desperate for him to ask her out, eh? So she sets the bait by feigning that her ‘friend’ on the phone couldn’t make it for the fireworks. Yeah, she’s spelling it out loud that anybody will do to take her to the fireworks and she’d be happy about it. Tomoko waits…. For 3 hours!!! Nothing happens. Because that guy already left. Bummer. So sad girl walks back alone to some rooftop, her only place of solace she once spent with Yuu. Then a couple of young boys come in. She is saddened that this place is no longer her own. She is about to leave when she begs if it’s okay for her to stay. There is no reason for her not to let her, right? And so happy Tomoko realizes that it wasn’t just the fireworks. Perhaps she wanted somebody to watch them with. And it turns out that Tomoko is suddenly peeping with the boys because there is a love hotel across! Holy cow! Is this what she came to watch? The free show is starting and they’re getting down and dirty! Then it hit Tomoko. She wanted to have a good time with someone but she couldn’t find that stuff in otome games. Curses!

Episode 7
On the first day of summer vacation, Tomoko spends the entire day playing her otome game, surf the internet, watch her anime and read her magazine. And she considers all that fun! You really want to tell her to get a life. And she’s so happy that she’s crying in bed! Sure those aren’t tears of sadness and frustration? So noisy that it’s annoying Tomoki next door. It’s the same thing for the next 6 days! Even Tomoki at least has his friends over. Can her summer vacation end like this? So scared that she has done nothing, she’s going crazy! Somebody save her! So she looks up the internet on what solo people do on summer vacation. Let’s say everything doesn’t suit her style and before she knows it, it is already noon. Half the day gone. Then she orders a video camera to do live streaming and be the new internet charm. Because she looks freakish, she decides to put on a mask. After setting up everything, the thought that the people pushing her to take off her mask and the fact she doesn’t know what topic to talk has her close her application and return to the safety of boringness. On second thought, this is much better. Since she can’t let it end this way, she remembers she bought some game that comes with a ticket for a handshake event and mini recording session with the lead star, Jun Ishimine. Fans are free to record anything they want Jun to say. Searching for hints online for what he wants him to say, this leads her to horror sites. She is so scared that she can’t budge from her place. And she needs to go to the toilet! Guess what? She wakes up her brother just to accompany her to go to the toilet or else she will do it right in his place! It’s 3am in the morning for crying out loud!

Tomoko waits in line for the special handshake event. She ponders what she wants him to say and before she knows it, she is already next up. She heard the girls ahead of her boldly requesting him to stay naughty stuffs and even sneers her for having no shame! But come her turn, what is she going to say? More importantly, she panics! Her hand is sweaty and she can’t possibly do it. However Jun is a professional and shakes her hand without any disgust. As for the words she wants him to say, she imagines a whole lot of dirty lines of depicting Jun in various scenarios. Heck, she wants him to say it all! The girls behind her must be feeling disgusted! Jun really did say all those lines so Tomoko is listening to them over and over again. It’s like sex for her, right? Since she didn’t wash her right hand, it means patting her own head is like Jun’s hand patting it. Yeah, it looks like she’s playing with herself. She gets this idea of adding her own voice and makes a story with this recording. Meanwhile Tomoki comes home to find mommy watching an old footage she found while cleaning. It is when the siblings are young and Tomoki is fawning all over Tomoko and wanting to marry her! OMG! His day just turned for the worst. Tomoko is done and starts listening when her mother comes in to call her for dinner. She hears the entire edited story of Tomoko being raped by Jun. Oh God… As consolation, she pats herself with her right hand. There, there… While Tomoki ponders about that disturbing event in his room, Tomoko makes him watch her play sparklers alone since he doesn’t want to join her.

Episode 8
When mommy mentions Kii-chan, Tomoko’s younger cousin will be visiting, she starts panicking. Yeah. That little girl looked up to her with total respect when she bragged she had a boyfriend who bugged her for sex all the time. All lies! Now it’s coming back to bite her. What is she going to do? Tell the truth? No way! Be a b*tch herself! And what better way than to ask one that is no other than Yuu. Unfortunately she is away to the beach with her friends. I guess she has to rely on herself. First, she needs to dress like a b*tch and heads to the store to get clothes. She sees all the young girls there dress like one and eventually gets pretty decent ones at decent prices. Now she needs to plant kiss marks over her body. Since her mouth has not enough suction, she uses the vacuum cleaner. They look like circles, don’t they? When mother sees what she is doing, she reprimands her but Tomoko tells her to f*ck off!!! OMG! She said that to mommy dearest?! Guess what? She gets slapped. Now there’s a slap mark too. When Kii-chan arrives, Tomoko accompanies her to the library. While waiting, a guy named Kosaka talks to Tomoko. He is the one who bought and left her an umbrella that day. Maybe he is hitting on her? Keep dreaming. She starts panicking. Because Tomoko’s shy voice is so soft, Kosaka mistakes her names as Momoko. Since he did say he will be seeing her around (he lives nearby), Tomoko jumps the gun and thinks this will lead to a date and then sex. After Kii-chan has borrowed her book, she asks Tomoko about that guy she saw talking with him. The lies return. Yup. That’s her boyfriend who always bugged her for sex. You can see Kii-chan’s amazement in her eyes.

Next day when they go return the book, they see Kosaka with another girl. Oh God… Is Tomoko going to be alright? Well, she’s going crazy in the toilet. I wonder how many toilet rolls she’s putting out. Kii-chan then confronts Kosaka and hopes he would not cheat on his ‘girlfriend’. He doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Tomoko is devastated to see Kii-chan taking things into her own hands. Her life will be over if everything is revealed. So Tomoko wants to talk to Kosaka privately and tells Kii-chan to wait somewhere else. Of course Kii-chan is worried so she takes a peek to see the progress. To her horror, she sees Tomoko prostrating pathetically before Kosaka! It’s like suddenly her world starts crumbling! All those respect points… Gone! Despite Kosaka lets her go and wants to put this incident behind, when Tomoko returns to Kii-chan, she lies that they decided to break up. But look at Kii-chan’s eyes! They are like yandere potential! Tomoko fears that her secret is out because the way she coldly ignores her. She thought of pacifying her by taking her to a snack store and buy her snacks (she’s only willing to spend 100 Yen on it?). She shows her last year’s card game rankings in which she was first and dubbed the Queen. This is no lie because all the young boys are ecstatic to see her return. Tomoko acts the arrogant Queen she is and rejects weaklings with no standings. She takes on the next strongest player, Yotchan. Seems Tomoko is losing badly but the boys are confident she will make a comeback like she always has. True enough, she does and wins the game. But to Kii-chan’s horror, she saw how Tomoko used a hidden card up her sleeve! Cheater! And you thought at least she has some respect back. Yeah. She cheated just to win against a kid. Despite this heartbreaking revelation, Kii-chan realizes she was only trying to show her, her cool side. When Kii-chan leaves, she hopes Tomoko would come to visit her place next time. Tomoko gets this weird feeling that Kii-chan doesn’t look up to her with that same respect as before but with that sympathizing look. Yeah, Kii-chan is going to be really nice to her from now on.

Episode 9
Tomoko is looking forward to go out with Yuu to the movies tomorrow. However it has to be cancelled when Yuu has to help out at her uncle’s cafe. Tomoko is most devastated but Yuu will treat her to cake as apology if she comes. And so here comes Tomoko at the fancy cafe with fancy boobs jiggling Yuu serving her. She has a hard time pronouncing the French cakes. Sounds like a dirty word, doesn’t it? While eating her cake, she observes all the fancy things around her and attributes it to Yuu’s successful high school debut. She concludes if she surrounds herself with fancy stuff, there is still a chance for her to be popular. So she asks mother if she knows any friends who can teach her how to make a cake as she is interested in working part time. She has a friend. Tomoko can’t wait to start as she fantasizes the perverted moments that will lead to fated encounters. Then here comes reality. Turns out she will be making cake in a commercial cake factory! Like a robot, isn’t she? See the shock on her face? It’s like time stood still on that expression. And the rest of her colleagues are middle aged women who smoke and gossip on break time. You got to be kidding me. Yeah. And after a day, she quits. Because she is bumming around the house pondering about her summer days ending soon, mommy calls her to scrub the toilet! She has nothing else better to do, right? Make yourself useful and do some housework! I guess this is a lesson for also quitting her job so soon.

After that, mommy wants her to clean the windows! Tomoko argues why the hell it need to be so clean. Mommy tells her she cleans the house every day! Furthermore, Tomoko wanted to push the responsibility to Tomoki but was told off he is studying for his exams. She used this trick the last time when she had hers so Tomoki did all of it. Now it’s her turn to return the favour. To add salt to injury, mommy says Tomoki cleans his room and cooks himself better unlike Tomoko who is a girl who doesn’t even do it but laze around! So true! This has disgruntled Tomoko to rush up to her brother’s room and blame him for being better than her! WTF???!!! Of course mommy whacks her. So Tomoko doesn’t have to help around the house anymore (she won’t be useful anyway) but clean up her own room instead. She goes through a box of old toys and whatever weird things she made. Brings back memories? Nope. Throw it away. Throw them all away! She sees a box containing lots of cicada shells she and Tomoki used to catch in hopes of selling. Then she finds an old diary of Tomoki and hopes to find something embarrassing. To her surprise, he wrote how he loved his sister because she is a kind person. He really loved her. Really. Doesn’t it warm your heart? I guess she wanted to go see him but he already went out with his friends to see the meteor shower. So our poor unpopular girl accompanies herself, eating instant noodles at the park to watch the meteor shower, shedding a tear or two just to make us feel pity of her as she ponders about her uneventful summer days. With the meteor shower in sight, Tomoko makes a wish to see this with a boy. Not like it will come true anyway. A cat comes up to her and they spend the rest of the evening watching the stars. Hey, she didn’t specify the boy to be human, right? When Tomoki comes back, he sees a cicada shell on his table. What the hell? Tomoko’s sign that she’ll break out of her shell for the new term? Don’t count on it.

Episode 10
The new term starts and Tomoko is confident everything up till now was just warming up. Now it’s the real deal. Yeah. Believe it. But it couldn’t get off to a bad start because the class’ sitting arrangement changes. Tomoko who is seated at the far back of the window edge in class is now put somewhere near the middle front! She’s surrounded by other people talking casually as though she’s not there! Out of place? Even if they did talk to her (which is their first time), they really tease her. This is her place for the entire semester… Feel like a stomach ulcer coming up? Because somebody always borrows her chair during recess (hey, she doesn’t ‘exist’, right?), she finds a secluded spot near the rooftop to have her lunch and play her game. This will become her favourite spot till one day those table and chair there are removed. I don’t know why she couldn’t eat her lunch then so much so she collapsed during gym and is sent to the infirmary. At least somebody notices her. It would be troublesome if a girl actually dies. Tomoko is advised not to skip meals so she returns to her classroom and eats her late lunch. I guess nobody is around now. After school, she heads to the video arcade. She wins a plushie in a crane game only because the previous couple almost got it but failed. Despite attracting attention as she needs to carry the big plushie home, it did cheer her up and boost her confidence. This will be her new friend. Suddenly it hit her. It just makes her feel even lonelier! Loser!

Tomoko’s class has yet to decide what to do for the cultural festival. She hopes it isn’t a haunted house as she doesn’t have fond memories of it. Especially how she made a straw doll out of real hair and people freaked out. She never understood why people never appreciated her doll. Yeah. That. Seeing everyone prepare for the festival only makes her feel lonelier. Then she sees posters of club recruitment and daydreams the kind of activities she would do with her members if she was in a club. Then she had to go psycho realizing she was just a delusional loner. She decides to form her own club. It’s called the Every Day Club. It’s Goal? TBA. This way too, she doesn’t have to take part in helping her class prepare for the festival. She hands in her application as she dreams about the lovely and tranquil times she spends in this club with her members. Yeah. No goal yet but they’ll take their time to find it because the most important thing is to be together. We even have a soothing and calming insert song to go with that fantasy. But you know how reality always comes crashing in for Tomoko. She is snapped out of it when mother calls her to come down for dinner. Didn’t hear it while she was playing tea with her plushie dolls, eh? Next day, she sees her club’s application status on the student council’s notice board: REJECTED! Reason? Unclear goals. Life sucks… Welcome to reality.

Episode 11
Tomoko’s class will be doing cosplay cafe. Everyone is working but I figure they didn’t notice Tomoko so she doesn’t get any job to help. Yeah. She even prays they will forever reincarnate as sh*t! So desperate for a job that she hints to some girls searching for people to cut up posters. Yeah. They didn’t notice her at first. They even think she’s forcing it and wants to give it to those guys who are free. Tomoko isn’t going to lose and insists. So she gets the job but decides to prolong it to make it look like it’s one tough job. She’s got it all planned out till a couple of boys came to help as instructed. Yeah. The job is going to finish soon. When the cosplay outfits come in, Tomoko gets distracted and accidentally cuts her palm. Since it’s bleeding badly, she panics and runs to the infirmary. She bumps into a festival committee member, Megumi Imae. She sees the blood all over and quickly takes Tomoko to get treated. Tomoko becomes the timid girl and apologizes but Imae is glad nothing is serious. Tomoko hears the announcement to help out in arranging chairs at the gym and goes to assist. Imae notices Tomoko helping and thanks her for it despite being injured. She hopes this festival will be a fun one. When she returns to class, nobody is around so Tomoko takes a maid outfit back home. She wears it and sends a picture of herself to Yuu. She finds it cute and wants to come visit the festival. Well, you can’t say Tomoko lied when she told her she helped out a lot. A lot. On the first day, Tomoko is free. I guess nobody assigned her anything. She got taken in by some hot guy selling takoyaki and buys them. Then at the light music club’s performance at the hall, she must be swaying too much with the crowd that she throws up! Smells like takoyaki… Tomoko sits alone in the aftermath like as though she’s got a hangover when Imae comes to check on her. Tomoko turns shy and runs away.

Tomoko thinks of bragging and showing off to everyone when Yuu visits. Yeah. This b*tch is my friend. On the second day, Tomoko once more is not assigned. She meets Yuu as the latter gives her a big hug. I guess this surprise activates Tomoko’s perversion because with her big boobs pressing all over her body and that lovely feminine scent, Tomoko is going to take this chance and molest her butt! But the hugging stops. As they go around the fair, Tomoko is thinking of ways to get that hug. What better way than to do it in a haunted house, right? Unfortunately, the scare factor is so mild that it only serves to piss Tomoko off. Meanwhile Imae is looking for Tomoko at her class but the classmates don’t remember assigning her to any duty. Forgot somebody? Tomoko continues to find ways to get Yuu’s hug. In hopes of bribing her of a hug, she buys her lots of snacks. But Yuu returns to favour and buys Tomoko… Takoyaki. Disgusted? Continuing their tour together, Tomoko realizes that despite in this same damn school, the fair seems fun. Is it because she is with a friend? Definitely. At least they’re having fun. When Yuu leaves at the end of the day, it’s back to gloomsville for Tomoko. Imae borrows the mascot, goes up to Tomoko, gives her a balloon and a warm hug. Tomoko might not know what that was all about but it made her day.

Episode 12
Life returns to normal after the festival. More accurately, Tomoko is back to familiar territory. She continues never to exist in the minds of others. She fantasizes the what-if situations if she had (imaginary) friends and all the fun things they would do. Such pale in comparison. Thinking back the things she did, it’s like her life flashed before her eyes. It was like life or death situation, eh? She reasons the past is the past. Time to step forward and look to the future. First, fill in her future survey. She calls Yuu for suggestions and she clearly remembers Tomoko told her she wanted to be an arms dealer. Yeah. She sounded pretty knowledgeable about guns then. Unless you tell me she was just bullsh*tting to Yuu. Must be. This breaks Tomoko’s heart because the past always catches up with her. She laments Yuu has bad grades but good memories in this kind of stuff. Now she goes bug Tomoki. She’s acting high and mighty. She wants to spend time together because they’re family. Whatever. But when Tomoki notes she has just been talking to herself the entire time, he asks her what she really wants. Think she’ll come crying to him as gratitude? Well, she is confident she doesn’t need him anymore! In school, Tomoko thinks she needs to be another archetype character that doesn’t need much effort. She observes Imae talking to her friends. She is helpful to a point where her friends talk good and praise her name when she’s not around. Is Tomoko going to be like her? More accurately, this is what is going to happen. First she hides her handphone in class just to record what her classmates say about her. She will adjust her behaviour according to that and soon will have complete control over their thoughts! How foolproof is this plan? While listening to her recording in the toilet, she remains positive that nobody is talking bad about her. That’s because they aren’t even talking about her!!! That’s what you get when you don’t put in any effort.

Tomoko is on the verge of breaking down thinking she’ll go through another semester unnoticed. Suddenly the class is in chaos. There is a giant cockroach flying around. Tomoko thinks of using this perfect chance to kill this bug and earn their praise. The cockroach flies around causing mayhem till it flies near Tomoko whereby she steps and squishes it! Yup. All that happened except the part of her classmates praising her name. They’re noting how gross it is as the teacher tells her to go was her shoe. Yeah. Those praising sounded so good and real in her head. When she returns, she thinks she’ll be the talk of the class. Everyone seated beside her now moves their desk further. Tomoko continues her hidden recording. Nobody talks about her again… Oh wait. There is one! But it’s about how disgusting she was stepping on the cockroach! Too much attention this time? When it’s time to go home, Tomoko sees Imae and realizes she did take the initiative to talk to her. Perhaps she wanted to return the favour and talk to her but after tailing her and summoning up all her courage. By the time she opens her mouth, a gust of wind blows, revealing to us the much needed panty shot fanservice of Imae. Tomoko suddenly panics and runs away. Screaming. Imae’s friends wonder who that girl was and her reply is that Tomoko is a cute girl who is always trying really hard. That’s why she can’t take her eyes off her. Tomoko could have been a marathon runner as she panics and runs all the way back home. Not even Yuu could catch up. Oh, she was distracted by a cat. Late that night as she looks up the definition of mojo, she laughs it off and doesn’t care for such trivial stuff. That’s the way to go. Or is it?

Since You’re Unpopular, You’re A Miss-fit – And It’s Your Own Fault!
It was really hilarious watching Tomoko and her failing methods. Sometimes you can’t help laugh out loud at her twisted thinking and trying to take the short cut in achieving it but ends up failing miserably. Worst off than before. At other times, you can’t help feel pity for her because she really tries hard to get noticed but it is just sad that nobody gives a damn about her. Because I myself isn’t that popular, I can understand how she feels when she is down and close to tears. But then that sympathy quickly vanishes when you realize this ‘3Ds’ that she is. 1) Dumb. Not only lazy, does she even pick up her books to know basic things like how catching someone’s cold takes time? 2) Desperate. Seriously, she would even accept lolicons to love her? 3) Denial. Has she taken a look at herself in the mirror lately? I mean, really take a look at herself and not just reflect what she has been doing. And I really mean, really, really, really reflect what she has done all the while. Therefore it is hard to sympathize with her when she ultimately fails because at the end, you too will end up telling her that she deserves it. You reap what you sew. Simple as that. And so she is 4) Damned.

However Tomoko has a few good points in her. If I shall call it that. Firstly, her so called confidence. I don’t mean the kind of confidence when she wants to talk to a stranger but the kind when she sets her goals. I mean, for a girl who is in denial, she must be really confident that she can snag a boyfriend in a month. I know it is unrealistic for a girl like her but you have to give it to her that she has confident. Because if you’re not, you already lost half the battle. And several months passed… Where is her boyfriend? Care to readjust your objective? Secondly, she never gives up. Persistent to become popular no matter what. She has failed so many times that you would have probably lost count. This kind of losses that seriously affects one’s morale and esteem, many would already have given up and resigned to their fate. But not Tomoko. That’s the only good thing she has about her denial. Although whether she learns from it is an entirely different matter. Lastly, at least she has a dream and a vision. It might be laughable that Tomoko wants to be popular, but everyone has their own dream. This is what keeps Tomoko ‘alive’ and go on in life despite all the embarrassing outcome and things that don’t go her way.

Ultimately, what I think Tomoko wants is just for somebody to call a friend. She is just a lonely soul who wants company. However she is to warped in her twisted objective of becoming popular that she doesn’t realize she has a handful of friends around her. Not many, you probably can count them with your fingers and still have leftovers but it is better than none. Yuu as I can say is her best friend. But it’s just too bad Tomoko sees her as a b*tch since she ‘upgraded’ and only uses her that she deems fit for her own gain. But in the end, it is always Yuu that stands much better than Tomoko in everything. I don’t know if Yuu is being naive and gullible but she is really a sweet girl. Tomoko should really be grateful she has a pal like her. Hey, she gets to call her any time she wants just to ask silly questions, right? And she would reply her anyhow in the nicest manner. The other potential friend is Imae. A person like her is rare because she really cares for Tomoko and looks at her from a different angle. Again, Tomoko blows it each time she wants to speak to her. Imae isn’t pushy so she isn’t going to force Tomoko to come out of her shell. Take her time. She’ll do so when she’s ready. Yeah. Like in another 50 years. She’ll be an old hag by then! But Imae will always be there whenever Tomoko needs her and sometimes she’ll just prod her a little to give a little encouragement.

I am wondering about Tomoki. Whatever happened to his love for Tomoko when he was young? Maybe growing up and watching how Tomoko turned into a mojo suddenly made him lost his respect? Just like how Kii-chan did, eh? Welcome to the real world. Sometimes you feel bad for Tomoki because he has to put up with his sister with one-kind attitude. To me, I think he has done his best in being patient with her. You can see him trying his best not to lose his cool whenever big sister comes into his room uninvited just to talk trash and ruin his day or night. Of course sometimes he can’t tolerate anymore and lets loose a little steam to remind her sister of her place. Then there is Kii-chan. She might be innocent and cute but not the naive and gullible young cousin she once was. Her recent visit to Tomoko’s house shows that although she still respects her, she doesn’t believe her lies word for word. And then when she realizes the bitter harsh truth, can you blame her for turning yandere? In the end, she didn’t really resent Tomoko over the lies. Now she views her in a different perspective. I think this is much better this way. Tomoko who is already having a hard time making new friends (despite it’s her own fault), does not need family members to ignore her. That will be like adding fuel to the fire. Tomoko’s parents are equally worried despite being shown that they don’t really care as they leave her to her own devices. I mean, she’s already a grown girl, I don’t think they want to impose so much control. Maybe that’s where she went wild. You can see their disappointed look on their face and voice when they catch Tomoko in her perverted act in her room despite not really saying anything after that.

Watching Tomoko and her antics has made me think that there is always a little Tomoko inside all of us. Firstly, we want to be popular and even dream of ways how we would end up in the eyes of others. But there is always reality check. What Tomoko dreams of in her mind is totally different than the outcome in reality. Everything she envisions is so grand and perfect. But when it comes to the real deal, she turns into a timid girl. So soft her voice that you think a mouse sounds louder than her. Another Tomoko characteristic inside of us all is that we tend to jump and criticize others quickly. Notice how Tomoko often does this and fails to look at herself? Because if she wants to become popular, she is going to be a b*tch and slut just like how she labels her other classmates, right? Then there are times when she brags and lies about stuffs. We do it too, right? Ironically it seems she has more confidence in doing this than trying to be more sociable with others. But always be careful. Because one day that lie is going to come back and bite you in the butt.

I find some of the dialogue in this series especially those coming from Tomoko to be funny and amusing to hear. They are worthy enough to end up in quotable quotes section and compile them into a mini booklet. Like how she quoted about lolicons supposed to love her or how she came up with an excuse to go to the toilet so she can take a messy sh*t dump! Or what about how she really would have her life shortened just to have those flirting guys die and reborn as poo again and again? Classic. Masterpiece quotes. Hilarious? Cringing? Disgusting? Well, Tomoko never fails to amuse me with what she says.

Izumi Nitta perfectly plays Tomoko and for every darn expression this unpopular girl makes, it is hilarious and yet convincing. Well, Izumi Nitta did play another delusional anime character: Cordelia from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. But this one is not as bad as Tomoko (although they’re both useless in general). Thus it was a surprise to hear her voice Tomoko because in every aspect she doesn’t sound very much like the Cordelia character I know. She really makes Tomoko sound like a deranged, desperate, perverted girl. That includes going crazy, very embarrassed, timid and soft-spoken, cursing and all the other weird emotions this girl went through. I don’t think it’s easy trying to sound like that for a dozen episodes. Kana Hanazawa and Rie Kugimiya voice Yuu and Kii-chan respectively and they put in a lot of moe into their characters to make them sound very cute and lovely. Well, at least no retard mode for the former and tsundere lolis for the latter. Yuuichi Nakamura as Tomoki, sometimes you feel like his character wants to explode and start yelling like how he does as Kyousuke in OreImo but so far so good. Not to the point he goes into that kind of rage. Initially I was surprised to learn Jun Fukuyama was behind the voice of Kosaka. Hearing back his lines, yeah, it’s him alright. Probably I was focused too much on Tomoko and being amused at her speech tone instead of realizing who Kosaka is voiced by (thinking he would probably be voiced by a nobody). Thankfully I managed to recognize Ai Nonaka making her cameo as Imae as well as Tomokazu Sugita as Hatsushiba (sounds like when Gintama’s Gintoki is going deadpan).

The opening theme song which is the same damn long name as this series by Konomi Suzuki and Kiba of Akiba, opens with a screamer! Yes, you’d start thinking that this is some sort of punk rock music! I think it leans more towards heavy metal rock or something like that. You can see the insanity and madness when the singer screams his opening lines and Tomoko animated as some sort of frustrated criminal. Yeah. Her sin of being a mojo. Can she break free from her chains as a mojo? But hear the lyrics too. It’s amusing as it’s about Tomoko’s outtake on herself and society. Nothing unusual. She’s ordering everyone to love her as well as criticizing society for being ignorant of her hard work. What hard work? There are a few ending themes. The main one is a variation of this series’ name, Dou Kangaete Mo Watashi Wa Warukunai (No Matter How You Think About It, It’s Not My Fault) by Izumi Nitta. Despite being anime pop genre, what makes it amusing is the way she sings it with that voice. I think she uses double voice for this so there is one that is a little cacophony but it makes her sound funny (like an idiot). There is also the lyrics that has her blaming everything including the mirror on the wall. In the end, she even considers herself an idiot.

The other ending songs only last for an episode. Musou Renka by Velvet.kodhy has hip-hop elements in it and again the amusing part is the lyrics. As usual from Tomoko’s perspective. The corrupted word. Being betrayed. But butt grabbing? And yeah. Cursing this world and wanting to end everything. Taking everybody down to hell with you, eh? Yoru No Tobari Yo Sayounara despite also sung by Velvet.kodhy, I thought it sounded pretty funny because it’s like a tenor singing a pop song. As usual, the lyrics is also something to pay attention to as it’s about the red light district and how Tomoko feels she doesn’t belong there because she is pure and innocent. Define that. Natsu Matsuri by Utsu-P & Minatsukitoka featuring Hatsune Miku as I found out is a rendition of the popular song of the same name back in the 90’s by Jitterin’ Jinn. Not that I have heard the original anyway. Finally, Sokora No Kigurumi No Fuusen To Watashi by Velvet.Kodhy and µ sounds like generic anime pop.

Tomoko isn’t actually ugly but because she is surrounded by normal and plain people (and some prettier ones), she is of course casted as an ugly b*tch. Especially with her unkempt hairstyle and those dark bags under her eyes thanks to playing otome games late into the night. I don’t know, she looks a bit cartoonish so much so I keep thinking that Tomoko is a character that comes out from that Peanuts comic strip. Of course there are the other faces of Tomoko especially when she runs crazy. Her eyes become like a chameleon’s and her face looks like those troll faces! Really! Hilarious? Cringing? Disgusting? I know it’s funny. And when she is really ‘broken’, her portrait becomes those even more twisted than of Picasso. Picasso could have been a multi-billionaire had Tomoko became his art subject. Priceless expression. I don’t know why Tomoki also has bags under his eyes. Is it because of Tomoko’s constant annoyance that he lacks sleep? Why not? She can even be a noisy irritating girl tossing and turning in bed while thinking of the unthinkable. Tomoki having such bags under his eyes got me thinking that he looks like Staz from Blood Lad. Or even maybe his twin.

The only other gripe that I have with the drawing is the lighting glow. If that is what it is called since I’m not sure of the real term. It’s something like this. You know those light emission you see from street lamps and also your Smartphone? Notice that kind of lighting emitted from the device when you’re in a dark room? Well, let’s say those kind of lighting glow in this anime seems somewhat like polygon. It is odd because it makes it feel like as though there is a mini border around it. The disparity between the glow and the background or other parts that are not is quite obvious. To a point where I think it isn’t ‘smooth’. Just imagine there is a hexagon shape border around your Smartphone. Those inside this shape look obviously brighter than objects outside it. I guess that is what happens when you only have dual tone in lighting instead of something gradual.

I can’t help think that whenever Tomoko enters Tomoki’s room to do some talking he doesn’t want to hear, it somehow reminds me that this scene brings back that familiarity of that Life Counselling session like the one we see in OreImo. Heck, even the brothers in both series are voiced by the same person! Instead of having a big brother who would do anything for her obnoxious sister, we have a desperate sister talking to herself and not listening while he plays the tsukkomi part. Yeah, this Life Counselling thingy is also made like the next episode preview. But don’t hope for anything about the next episode except for Tomoko blabbing about her goal and confident in achieving it. Well, that’s Tomoko for you.

If you look at it from another perspective, Tomoko is just a sad case and a reflection of how society has become to be. I’m sure there are a lot more similar, if not even more serious cases than Tomoko. We see hot supermodels in magazines and television and so we become stereotype to what constitutes being beautiful. We all do want to be surrounded by beautiful people and know such people, don’t we? Where does this leave ‘ugly’ unpopular girls? Though we have the right and freedom to choose our friends, sometimes our stereotypic views get in the way. And with the way online social media is ‘revolutionizing’ the way we communicate and interact with people, direct interaction seems to be lesser these days. But ironically for Tomoko, she doesn’t seem to be using social media. Heck, she can even give up due to pressure from her own negative thinking. So you think she is fit to have a Facebook or Twitter page? Well at least in this anime, I can see other students interacting normally via old fashion face to face instead of stuffing their face with a Smartphone. Too bad Tomoko isn’t part of it. It’s not that Tomoko is a character that can be classified as non-existent. The kind that nobody notices like YuruYuri’s Akari. Just that nobody gives a damn about her. Really. Why should they? And so Tomoko’s loneliness and quest to be popular continues…

The ultimate bottom line and moral of this story is to always be yourself. You might not be popular, you might not be beautiful but that is what makes you, you. Tomoko wouldn’t have been the ‘loveable’ girl we all know had she been one of those beauties in her fantasies. Okay, maybe it would. But the point is, trying really hard to be someone you are not will leave you as the biggest loser in the end. So just be yourself and you’ll find that there are those who will accept you as you are. Okay, maybe that isn’t so straightforward for Tomoko. She just needs to try a little hard. But not too hard. That’s just pushing it. But that’s just something trivial you don’t want to waste your attention on, right?