Watamote – 06
Easy sex hair in 5 seconds.
Whoa! This must be a like a record number of guys that Tomoko has spoken to in a single episode! Clearly she’s on her way to becoming a popular, hot girl.
Get Unlucky
So cute it stinks hurts.
After a night of playing otome games, Tomoko surprisingly appears refreshed and even prettier than usual. In actuality she only lost her eye bags/dark circles, but it’s amazing how much of a difference they make. She certainly hasn’t become a bishoujo thanks to this change, but at least now she doesn’t appear half dead all the time. I’m not too sure how it happened as I fully expected her eye bags to instead be aggravated from spending the night playing games, so if you guys figured it out please do tell. The only thing I have is that her “smooth” skin is a result of an accumulation of body oils since she skipped a bath,1 but that still doesn’t explain the eyes. Does all the blood rush to her eyes when she gets “excited” or something? I noticed near the end that as her eyes become bloodshot the bags go away. Anyway, Tomoko attempts to put her new-found average good looks to use in “capturing” a handsome lad to watch the fireworks with. You know the drill. She fails miserably.
Oh god don’t turn around.
Some Diet Coke to the face and ants in the pants later,2 our hapless herione is still without a date and getting extraordinarily desperate. Not that she isn’t already desperate all the time. So Tomoko decides to lower the bar dramatically and catch a loner/nerd instead. An easy task even for her, right? Wrong. First she has a “near miss” with an “undercover slut”, which reminds us again of how twisted Tomoko’s views and values are. These are the girls that she’s striving to be like, whether she admits it or not. So when she starts calling them “bitches” and “sluts”, it makes you wonder if she even realizes what she’s saying. And so far, the indication is that she doesn’t. As previously observed, Tomoko is very lucky, all things considered (and forgetting about the ants for a moment). The people around her, from classmates to her family, really are very kind to her. There’s no bullying or any kind of social injustice going on. Yet she persists in hating the society that she so wants to be a part of.
Really cute high school girl.
Which brings me to the next most worrisome point. The big question from the very beginning has been whether Tomoko will learn; I think we all agree by now that she will not. So then it just becomes a rote repetition of “Tomoko screws up”. And this directs us to the concern of the act becoming boring. So far, Watamote has done an excellent job at avoiding this. But I have a sinking feeling that it’s only a matter of time before the dreaded moment when we get tired of the same thing. Then again, the show has demonstrated an impressive ability to create new, ever entertaining scenarios for Tomoko, so that day just might not come before the show ends.
Get Lucky
If you squint you can see Uzume and co. I swear!
Anyway, I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent there, so let’s return to the episode. Heartbroken at her inability to turn the head of even the plainest of nerds, Tomoko decides to chill out on the roof of an abandoned mall across from a newly built “hotel” where she and Yuu-chan used to hang out. Even if it’s alone, at least she can enjoy the fireworks. But then a couple of middle school boys show up. Further disappointed at the loss of her “secret spot” our heroine prepares to leave. But then she has an epiphany: why does it matter who she watches the fireworks with? What truly matters is the experience of having a good time with others, regardless of who they may be. Thus enlightened, Tomoko settles down with the boys3 and the show starts. Let’s just say it was a very climactic experience.
Extras
At this point I can only say that Watamote is like the little engine that could. Through pure hard work, it’s able to shine even though by all rights it doesn’t have much going for it. A “simple” gag black comedy without any deeper plot or developments beyond Tomoko’s endless failures, one might expect it to be rather run-of-the-mill and uninspired after the initial impression. Yet it continues to defy our preconceptions every week by persisting at making us laugh and facepalm, sometimes simultaneously. Personally, I feel that Watamote would definitely do better if we do see some growth from Tomoko, but it’s doing well enough as is so I can’t really complain. After all, why change the formula if it works?
1Which also suggests that she smells bad, hence the rafflesia in the background.
2Things escalated quickly.
3Again note that they were *cough* kind enough to let her stay.
About Sumairii
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Dude, I like, squinted a lot, dude.
…yeah this is the rare episode what I did not want to give her a hug…ants…
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Haha yeah, those ants made my skin crawl. *shudder*
Hopefully you’re not being serious with your squinting. If not, then sorry to say I was just kidding. =P
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
You were kidding!!!
::desk flip::
🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I have to class this as a win for Tomoko. Maybe even a little bit of progress. Sure it was with middle schoolers, and sure it was to peep on people in the love hotel who didn’t close the shades, but they actually interacted with her, and they’re probably only a couple years younger than her anyway. Not too far out of her league.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
In terms of interacting with guys, this episode is certainly a win for Tomoko. But if you take a step back and think about it, it was in no way a result of a change of her character. And by that I don’t mean her attempts to “change” herself, but rather a more fundamental paradigm shift in the way she views the people around her. Still, she’s just swimming in guys here so all’s well that ends well.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 88 comments
Cat sex FTW. And a busty Tomoko is nice too.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, this was an okay episode. Tomoko continues to be your average teen who is trying to fit in but doesn’t know how. The comedy was okay, and I liked the ending, however, the ants thing creeped me out. Ughhh! Yuck!
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I do wonder how she didn’t notice the ants crawling over her face when she did notice them crawling up her legs. You’d think the former would be even more apparent…
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 175 comments
more ugh on watching this give still keep watch til the finale yet wonder IF sound like when IF dub come in?
besides it pick-up by sentai & mostly texas dub any guess for tomoko’s dub voice?
POWUH: iLurker with 11 comments
I assumed she went to bed after finishing her game, hence the improvement in her eyes, but then it implied she stayed up the night after…. As someone who stays up late watching anime I can sympathise though.
And how did she not feel the ants?! AAARG the ants!!