It's Not My Fault I'm Not Popular!

Nice to see new people getting with the manga. Keep the reviews coming.

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I've now picked up volumes 2 and 3, and now have all of the currently published English volumes (at least, until Volume 4 comes out on July 22), so I can now continue reading this series.

Chapter 10: I see shades of Yuki Nagato here in the show Tomoko's watching. Too bad trying the Emotionless Girl routine on her brother just gets her an Iron Claw to the head.

The emotionless girl bit doesn't really attract any of her classmates, as it's no different from her normal classroom behavior.

It reminds me of the difference between me at work and me at play. When I'm at work, I barely talk to anyone due to having so little in common with most of them (finding that most sports, reality TV, and the singles bar/club scene just seem banal to me). When I'm with my Magic: The Gathering playgroup, however, I'm slinging spells and talking about our latest deck builds and the newest cards just like anyone else. I've found that first impressions and common interests count for a lot toward how sociable I am toward whatever group I find myself in, and the ice never really broke for me at work.

It's too bad that right now my Magic group is the sum total of my real-world social life. That's something I'm going to have to change if I'm to have any hope of meeting a girlfriend. Yet the kinds of geeky activities that I'm drawn to are always either solitary or have very male-dominated fan bases. It is a most vexing problem.

But I digress. On with the review. The next scene features Tomoko and a Grande cappuccino. My first thought here was "Trying to maintain an emotionless façade while overdosing on caffeine! This is gonna be good!" It reminds me of an incident from my teen years, when me, my mother, a family friend, and some teenage cousins of his with a penchant for bad behavior were staying down the Jersey Shore (Wildwood, to be precise) for a weekend. The older of the two mischievous brothers had decided that "cappuccino" was an Inherently Funny Word and would not shut up about it. We ended up eating at a restaurant where cappuccino was on the menu, so he ordered it. I can't actually remember what happened afterward. I think my mind may be repressing the memories.

But, again, I digress. But a general word of advice: if you're trying something new, you should start small. For example, a local brand of potato chips came out with Old Bay flavored chips a while ago. At first I had trouble finding them in any size but the huge "family size" bags. When I eventually did find a small bag of them for sale, I was disappointed by them, and glad I only went with the small bag. Old Bay Seasoning may be great on steaming-hot crabs and shrimp, but it just didn't work for me on room-temperature chips.

And I'm still digressing. There's just so much stuff in this chapter that reminds me of experiences in my own life, it's looking to be longer than all of my past chapter commentaries combined. There's even accidentally putting too much sugar (or honey, in this case) and creating a concoction that's "only fit for bears to drink." That happened to me once, too, with an accidentally loosened sugar container.

And finally, the chapter's punchline. Tomoko has completely misunderstood the trope, finding that a good part of the emotionless girl's appeal is that, according to this very wiki, "when the seemingly Emotionless Girl finally does smile, there's a tremendous amount of satisfaction. In such cases the return of emotions symbolizes a return to humanity, and a healing of whatever trauma they had been carrying". There will be no healing for you today, Mokocchi. Maybe next time.

Indeed. This has been my favorite chapter yet.

edited 30th Jun '14 8:09:50 PM by Lightblade

The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.

You like Magic: The Gathering? Oh dear, haha. Considering the chapters to come very soon, this is gonna be wild. Viewer's discretion is advised.

The anime Tomoko is watching is very obviously based on Haruhi Suzumiya, there's tons and tons of pop-cultural in Watamote that only skyrocket by the loads with the anime. This is one of the chapters where her thought processes are so clear that shows what so many relating people see in Tomoko. Look at how she assures herself of her mistake when she wants to order a GIANTO cup and how she's overly concerned of her image vowing never to return to the store(Speaking of which I wouldn't mind her super-sweet coffee myself), or how she pushes herself in crowds in school begging everyone to notice her. Also the chapter has about the best punchline ever, and her expression is priceless. Favourite chapter? It's quite good, one of the better definitely, but I think there are loads of better chapters, considering how deathly of a sense of humour you have, or sensitive to drama you are.

Every time I see Tomoko gloriously faceplant at the Starbucks I just think of this edit: http://s299.photobucket.com/user/Clownboss/media/fuckinggamestop_zpsf0ec8394.png.html

edited 2nd Jul '14 8:06:29 AM by Clownboss

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Kurt Cobain, Nickelback (2003)

The Watamote dub cast is slowly being trickled out — Emily Neves will be directing, and playing Tomoko is...

I've read further into Volume 2, and have read up to chapter 15.

Chapter 11: "I'm Not Popular, So I'll Trust my Fortune a Bit", or "Ants in Pants"! While, yes, having ants crawling all over you thanks to soaking yourself in soda will attract attention, it's not the kind Tomoko thinks it is. But I will say, I've been having to deal with ants in my house lately, and they really do have a way of getting into everything. Thankfully, I've never had to deal with a whole bunch of them crawling over my body, and the infestation seems to be dying down.

Chapter 12: Ah, fireworks, that staple of Summer. And a ploy to get a date to see them that fails miserably. She did end up witnessing fireworks of a different kind, however, in the form of some impromptu voyeurism. "Whoo-hoo! You don't get to see that in otome games!! I'm sure that was an ... educational ... experience for her, getting to see real sex instead of the Idealized Sex in her games.

Chapter 13: This one's another set of short skits over the course of several days. I'm not sure why a teenager feels she needs an escort to go to the bathroom, though.

Chapter 14: Now this is one of the funnier chapters I've read. As someone who places great importance upon honesty, I find a special kind of schadenfreude in seeing illusions crumble and frauds revealed for what they are. Having a cousin who looks up to her coming to visit does motivate her to try to make herself more presentable, which is admirable. But equating "presentable" with "bitch" (as this edition translates it as. I don't know if the original word carries the same Unfortunate Implications), is not. And when she deems the clothes she bought to not be enough, she resorts to trying to give herself hickeys. When those don't last long enough, she busts out the vacuum cleaner. Do Not Try This at Home, because "If I ended up dying that way, I'd never be able to live it down!!" Heck, living it down while you're alive isn't looking too promising, either.

Chapter 15: Tomoko's misguided attempts to make herself look better to Kii-chan continue. Except now her lies end up causing trouble for innocent bystanders. "You got some 'splainin to do!" Out of the chapters I've read so far, these two show Tomoko at her worst.

The next chapter is titled "I'm Not Popular, so I'll Redeem Myself". She's got her work cut out for her.

Looks like I've reached the point where the more arc-based content starts showing up. I wonder if there's a trope page on this site for "when a series does some one-off episodes before starting to develop the Myth Arc".

edited 5th Jul '14 6:34:16 PM by Lightblade

The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.

It's called Continuity Creep. I think it really starts to gain traction when the Student Council president (Megu) starts to pay attention to Mokocchi, and Kotomi joins the main series (from the spinoff).

edited 5th Jul '14 6:37:20 PM by MyssaRei

Chapter 16: Here's the aforementioned Trading Card Game reference. Though with the players being younger, it felt more like Yu-Gi-Oh! than Magic: The Gathering to me, thanks to most of the players at the store being kids. We really don't have much to go on besides "trading card game", anyway.

I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh back when I was in college, and after my classmates and I went our separate ways after graduation, I only had tournaments to go to, which were mostly teenagers, and even all the way back then, I was pushing the upper edge of the target market as far as age goes, like Tomoko is here. I'd basically outgrown Yu-Gi-Oh.

I wouldn't take up Magic until years later, when a now-former co-worker introduced me to it. My Magic playgroup consists of a much wider age range, and being 31 as of this post does not make me the oldest member of the group. Then again, I apparently look very young for my age. Last week the topic of booze came up in conversation, and a newcomer speculated that I might be underage. Removing my hat to reveal my bald spot (which started forming in my mid-20's, for some odd reason) quickly dispelled that notion.

So, back to the chapter itself. Tomoko must redeem her reputation in Kii-chan's eyes, and she tries it ... by lording her superiority as "the queen" and cheating at cards against a child. Real smooth there, Mokocchi. The trend of this arc making her look like a total Jerkass continues. My own playgroup doesn't have any really cheating going on. Our group does bend the rules a bit by allowing "friendly" mulligans of opening hands except in tournaments (drawing a new full hand instead of the usual one fewer card per mulligan). The worst I've seen is what's known in the our group (and elsewhere in local metropolitan area, as I learned last week) as "bill-scrying" (sneaking a peek at the top card of your deck). Though only the term's namesake ever did that in actual games, and I haven't seen said person at my usual shop in over a year.

So, this arc sees Kii-chan's opinion of Tomoko go from admiration, to scorn, to pity in the space of a few days. But given Tomoko's behavior in this arc, I can't really manage pity for her myself.

The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.

In the anime adaptation it was made clear that they were playing Magic(Tomoko uses a black deck), though everybody, including me, did think it was Yu-Gi-Oh! at first.

Kii-chan will make appearances in later chapters, and you will observe how her relationship with Tomoko changed drastically. She will pity Tomoko to the point of obsession, occasionally try to better her through some rather questionable means(sound familiar?), and in that regard I think Tomoko was a very bad influence on her: Kii-chan finding out her cousin was a deceiving failure of a person served as a catalyst and was, I think, an incredibly traumatic shock for her, that by and large influenced a lot of how she saw the world and people around her. Her eyes opened to the true nature of humanity and how easy they're prone to lying, the poor girl tries to make the most of keeping a happy facade in the world she was used to, and cover Tomoko in a veil of illusions of a good life, along with some jarring passive-agressive tendencies that came as a side effect.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Ah well. I just like this series too fucking much and I like to think the authors are well aware of the traits and depth they're giving to their characters.

edited 8th Jul '14 3:50:45 AM by clownboss

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Kurt Cobain, Nickelback (2003)

I find it rather punny that Tomoko Kuroki is playing a black deck.

I've finished reading volume 2 now.

Chapter 17: I will say that the voice actor here seems like a really nice person for being willing to play along here. And later in the chapter, while I can't recall ever having mistaken the headphone jack for the microphone jack, I can imagine how embarrassing that must've been. But I've also had to deal with sound leaking from other peoples' headphones while on the way to and from work (or worse yet, those who don't even bother with the headphones).

Chapter 18: I've had my share of boring summer days when I was in high school, too. But since summer vacation is longer in the US, it was never an entire break doing nothing. But for Tomoko,

Granted, shaking hands with a voice actor was pretty cool. And then there's the stargazing. I used to be really into astronomy when I was younger. I didn't get many chances to do much stargazing, living in a big city with the street lights drowning out the star light. My family did used to have a house down the Jersey Shore. The house was in West Wildwood, at the very end of its street, near the wetlands. It provided a decent view of the stars, being about as far from the bright lights of the boardwalk as you could get. But I also had to put up with mosquitos.

Also:

The story of my love life, in a nutshell. I'm 31 and have never gotten so much as an open-mouth kiss since grade school, and even then, it was all but forced on me. I have never known a romance that was not one-sided. I've felt all of the pain, but none of the pleasure.

On the other hand, Tomoko's wish upon the shooting star was granted ... sort of.

Special chapter: Featuring a Boys' Love game and a handheld massager, by sheer coincidence. It was oddly touching, though.

Afterword:

Seeing how I already have volume 3, I'd say it's still got a good future ahead of it. When I hear a statement like that, I think of tropes like Franchise Zombie or Postscript Season. But while chapter 18 did have a sense of finality to it, it's still very open-ended, allowing for the possibility of continuing without the problems that usually plague works that are forced to continue past their planned end.

The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.

New chapter was sweet and a triumph for Tomoko, and also shows that one aspect of Tomoko's personality I like the most: She is anything but an inambitious person, willing to do anything no matter how impossible it is just because it's romantic and empowering. This is what Tomoko craves for more than anything, that perfect, all-possible protagonist life she's been fed through fictional storylines and the reason why she's a shut-in is simply because of the fear the world might pick on it the wrong way, and be ridiculed for it(as it has always happened), but many chapters show glimpses of Tomoko's true creativity, ingenuity and pride that just waits to be unleashed.

Of course she still bit more than she could chew, and got slapped by mom again(like what, the fourth time?), but it's the thought that counts.

Beach chapter now pls

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Kurt Cobain, Nickelback (2003)

It was sweet seeing her so happy when riding a bike. Still has to learn to stop taking fiction as life instrunctions.

And a lot of people are now googling bike porn.

Realidade

Though she was also bad at the same time as she was planning on hitting Kii with the bike.

edited 10th Jul '14 4:38:58 PM by Saya1

You look happy, I can change that if you want.

Volume 4 of the licensed manga translation came out today. I bought it, but I haven't started reading it yet, because I haven't finished reading volume 3, and I haven't finished reading volume 3, or posted commentaries on the chapters I have read, because I've been so busy with the new Magic: The Gathering Core Set release. There's been a lot of card sorting and deck-tweaking for me the past few weeks. But I'm getting to it soon.

The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.

How's the dub? The fact that it's Sentai does not instill confidence.

These are the words that shall come from my mouth. I shall be known for speaking them.

Well, I didn't like it all that much, mainly because of Monica giving this throaty and strained sound to Tomoko, who I imagine as anything but. She always sounds so tense and bratty. I always envisioned Tomoko's voice to be more subtle, to be muted, deadpan, and also naturally sultry, without it sounding forced, like how a proper nee-san should sound. The other characters are mostly okay, but they were never ones to make major appearances in the story anyway.

It isn't as bad as I had expected, but it also shows how dreadfully slow-paced the actual anime is(3 chapters per episode which is needlessly dragging as hell), so it's easy to pick out when they're forcing the length of their lines.

Izumi Kitta was really good with her portrayal, but I'd prefer it if Tomoko had a more deeper voice more like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHrzo_CyOwU

edited 23rd Jul '14 8:02:48 AM by clownboss

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Kurt Cobain, Nickelback (2003)

..You'd imagine someone like Tomoko with a sultry voice?

A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.

I haven't heard the dub, but "throaty and strained" is about how I imagine Tomoko sounds.

I'm more concerned about delivery; Sentai hasn't had the best trackrecord of doing good translations and getting their actors to properly emote.

These are the words that shall come from my mouth. I shall be known for speaking them.

New chapter up:

MASSIVE SPOILERS:

A happy chapter.

Realidade

Or is it?

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Kurt Cobain, Nickelback (2003)

Kind of mixed, really.

But there was nice stuff. Yuu got a cute pet, and we saw that the two black heads can throw their animosity aside for the sake of Yuu.

edited 12th Aug '14 4:55:16 AM by grahav

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Yeah, but it still doesn't really change the fact Tomoko placed higher priority in spiting Komi instead of indulging in the ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY to actually sit back and relax with two of completely legit friends she's got. I got incredibly disappointed again and she's even managed to get off with doing all that downright mean stuff to Komi and Yuu and get away with it scott-free!

On another note, Komi's black top was sexy af

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Kurt Cobain, Nickelback (2003)

I noticed that she called her "Komiyama-san" instead of "Komi-something".

Still:

"I'm gonna fucking kill you"

edited 12th Aug '14 10:02:14 AM by grahav

Realidade

So, I've finished reading volumes 3 and 4 of the translated manga, but haven't gotten around to commenting on them ... until now.

Chapter 19: The changing of seating arrangements, and with it, Tomoko moving from the typical main character seat to the middle of the class. When I went to school, some classes had assigned seats, while others didn't. Also, Eating Lunch Alone. I usually eat my lunch alone at work, too, but it's not something I really angst over. Though I usually eat either at the cafeteria or the food court at the train station across from the building I work in. Some of the places there give discounts to people who work where I do, which is nice.

Chapter 20: Preparations for the Cultural Festival. Some of the elementary schools I went to did things like this, along with my middle school, but it isn't part of school culture in general in the US like it is in Japan. And even then, they were more of a celebration of the coming end of the school year than anything else. Tomoko's attempt at cutting flyers ends with her cutting her own hand. Also, nice K On reference.

Chapter 21: The day of the Cultural Festival. I can identify with how Tomoko felt on the first day. I once went to a carnival by myself. It was depressing as hell, and the day ended with me on a long bus ride home carrying a big stuffed Rottweiler home. Note that I was in college at the time, so I basically spent my approximately hour-long journey home as a grown man carrying a doll. Then on the second day, Yuu shows up. And yes, hugs are nice.

I've felt that way about some of my female friends, too. Well, maybe a little for "dirty" reasons, but I don't really buy into the "Sex Is Evil" mentality. I think of sex acts simply as a higher level of physical affection than hugging and kissing, rather than something qualitatively different. With that mindset, the distinction between the "dirty" reasons and the "clean" ones becomes rather arbitrary.

And finally, While it's not from Yuu, she did get her hug in the end. That was one of the more heartwarming moments I've seen so far.

I'll write my thoughts on the next three chapters tomorrow.

The Living Guildpact rules that coffee is an acceptable substitution for rest as specified in subsection … whatever.

Man, I know too well the sensation of going to a fun place alone.

Realidade