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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:2764#1552] |
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(Rent-/ Watch+) Watamote is one of those occasional titles I come across where even with all the years I've watched anime, I'm not sure what to completely make of it. The series appears to be a sort of black comedy focusing on how pathetic, and sometimes selfish, Tomoko's character can be in regards of her perceptions to high school life based off her otome dating sim games that she is known to regularly playing and those perceptions getting shot down when she realizes things in reality don't play out as they do in her games. She's a social outcast, has a disheveled appearance, doesn't have very many friends, gets nervous talking with those unfamiliar to her and has a rather rocky relationship with her family; with all of this played off for laughs and also being played as somewhat serious as a character exploration of Tomako having to look into her own personal flaws with why she doesn't get the reactions she would seek to get for her attempts at snagging popularity with the school student body. On the one hand, the premise for this is a unique one that shows some occasional wit as it believably portrays how a social outcast like Tomoko might perceive social situations based off any interest portraying a rather idealist take on reality (her dating sim games in this case) that isn't as what said interest perceives. On the other hand, the series lacks any gradual development in Tomoko's character as we don't know what led her to develop her present personality and habits, as well as any gradual changes to her character as she realizes the reality of the social situations she perceives. This does kill a bit of my interest in the title's premise as I would want to know more about Tomoko's character and see any gradual growth from her in order to better relate with her character. Instead we just see her mostly failing in her ventures and other than some occasions that hint to possible changes to come for Tomoko, there is very little for me to try caring for any possible chance at her changing for the better as the series seemed to delight more in tormenting her character. Visually, the series milks good use of its animation in depicting how flawed Tomoko's character is. Her character design is a unique one in that it isn't of the typical "pretty girl" variety seen from many recent titles as Tomoko is depicted with a frumpy and disheveled appearance, as well as show off some rather creepy and unsettling facial expressions depending on her emotional state. A number of visual gimmicks are portrayed to enhance major scenes depicting Tomoko's social isolation. While the series isn't on the visual scale of titles like Nagi no Asukara and Psycho-Pass that aired last year, it makes effective use of what it offers for its visual presentation and doesn't try going for elaborate animated sequences in its focus on Tomoko's isolation. While offering a unique premise for its comedy, Watamote suffers in the fact that it doesn't offer enough development in Tomoko's character to get the most potential out of its premise and for me to better relate to her character, instead seeming to relish in its torment of Tomoko for its comedy. Still, it would seem that there are those that like the unique direction of Watamote's comedy and have considered it one of 2013's top titles as a result of it. Baring this in mind, it seems the series is one of those "your mileage may vary" titles based on what you hope to get out of Watamote's premise. Last updated Saturday, August 23 2014. Created Saturday, August 23 2014. | ||||||||
| Watch | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
 Devil Doll
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[series:2764#752] |
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[4/12 episodes watched; temporary score: 68% = "Watch"; similar scenario: B Gata H Kei] This looks like the series to watch for me this season. Tomoko is an interesting character: Being a hikikomori she is seriously handicapped in conversations but willing to do something about it, and pitiable in her first attempts, thus making the audience side with her and get emotionally attached to this story. Tomoko often judging her situation from the perspective of her extensive dating-sim experience is funny at times; her habit of celebrating small and even non-existent successes in an exaggerated manner is annoying but her failures sometimes are epic, being the highlights at the end of each episode. It's not (yet) character development what this series offers so far, it's character transparency as the audience is able to listen to Tomoko's thoughts in full detail - which had been the only good thing about B Gata H Kei back then, featuring another girl in a similarly hopeless situation. And with the girl asking her younger brother Tomoki (a member of the soccer club) for life counseling, we get a link to another show with a very long name. Technical aspects aren't that special: Animation has to deal with Tomoko making herself appear ugly, and I like neither the confusing metal OP song nor the calm ED song that much.
Last updated Wednesday, August 07 2013. Created Sunday, July 14 2013. | ||||||||
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 Stretch
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[series:2764#628] | ||||||
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(Watch+ or Rent-) (All episodes watched): Watamote was a show which got off to a good start with an interesting premise--the comic struggles of an otaku girl to attain popularity among her schoolmates. The originality seemed to promise both good jokes and some intriguing emotional development on Tomoko's part. But the show never lived up to those high expectations; it wasn't bad, but settled for humor alone without making much of an attempt to develop the main character. Whereas I have complained a lot about the shortage of character development in a number of anime series, my first impression was that Watamote was one show that did virtually nothing but develop the main character throughout episode one. Surely a girl who wasn't super sexy and pure of heart would have to develop, right? We got to know Tomoko as a teen who is laughably inexperienced when it comes to social interaction. Just making eye contact with another person feels like a major accomplishment to her. But she introduces herself to us so thoroughly that we can't help feeling sorry for her and hoping that she finds a way out of her problem. There's enough detail to Tomoko that we can take her seriously despite how absurdly naïve she is. One reason we can like her is because the things she does result in good jokes, so we have both an interesting character and a funny show to boot. If she just blamed others for her problems without making a fool of herself as well, we might not be nearly as sympathetic. But succeeding episodes didn't live up to the high expectations that episode one left me with. There is humor with a touch of wit, but not much of a longterm plot comes together, just Tomoko stumbling through her freshman year at highschool without the reasons why she has her problems ever dawning on her. The show is pretty episodic as the same Tomoko experiences different problems that crop up due to her bad habits. A better than average episodic comedy, basically. I thought we would get to know Tomoko thoroughly and therefore be able to identify and sympathize with her, but no, she seems just a dim girl who cannot for the life of her figure anything out. There doesn't seem to be any overarching message to the show other than 'don't be an idiot'. She gets angry and profane at times, too. It didn't help that I hated the OP song, a screaming heavy metal tune that gave me a headache. I fast-forward through the sequence. Episode nine almost managed a little pathos, as Tomoko realizes that summer break has slipped away without her accomplishing much of anything towards being popular. Perhaps she could realize that whether she is happy or not doesn't have to depend on how popular she is. She could decide that for herself rather than that decision being made by strangers. But by this point I knew better than to hold my breath and expect a radical step like that. There is a slight hint that Tomoko might be starting to make sense of what's going on in the final episode, but the story largely ends on a vaguely sad, but not hopeless, note. The series largely peters out without much of any major change having taken place within her. Maybe I wished she would improve herself because I really did sympathize with her, in spite of all her bad habits. Maybe I saw some of myself within her. But the real disappointment was while it was OK, the show never really tried to attain the full potential which seemed to be within it's grasp at the beginning. Last updated Thursday, October 24 2013. Created Thursday, July 11 2013. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Website (Japanese) | http://www.watamote.jp/ |
