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Dehry
Aug 21, 2009

Grimey Drawer
Minor update: Anime Network now has Watamote streaming if for some reason you were waiting for that to happen. Also, despite the fact their trailer has an English voice that is supposedly Tomoko, they claim they are not getting a dub.

The anime may be over now, but the comic is ongoing at http://www.ganganonline.com/comic/watashiga/. Be sure to buy the offical localizations when they come out.

NOTE:This is the official source for Watamote in Japan. It is posted free online. Scanlations are still :filez:

:siren::siren: New Watamote OVA scheduled for October 2014 release :siren::siren:


Watashi ga Motenai no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!(No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!). WataMote for short is a popular manga series by Nico Tanigawa about a girl and her inability to interact with the normal world. One notable thing is its popularity on 4chan. After the scanlations and reaction images started appearing everywhere on 4chan, the manga company added the line "A smash hit on the overseas version of 2chan!!" to the cover of later chapters. It has even spun off into a prequil series called Watashi no Tomodachi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui(No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault That My Friend's Not Popular.)

Official Site: http://www.watamote.jp/
Crunchyroll Stream: https://www.crunchyroll.com/watamote
Plot:
The story revolves around Tomoko Kuroki's life. She's a 15 year old Middle School student about to enter High School. Tomoko has played so many otome games that she claims to have 50 years of High School experience and had 100 boyfriends. She believes that she is a popular girl. In reality she is a Mojo(creepy woman) who barely interacts with the outside world. She also has poor social skills so everything comes out wrong when she does try to talk to someone. The only people she can talk to normally is her middle school friend and her cousin.

The story picks up a month later when she relizes she isn't popular at all despite all her planning. We see her struggle through her high school years throughout the series. It promises tons of awkward moments and plenty of uncomfortable fantisizing.

Why should you watch it?
Tomoko's plans to become popular always result in failure and are quite hilarious. Many things she tries revolve around Anime and the Otome games she plays. If you ever felt out of place in High School, some of the attempts may even be familiar to you (like trying to mimick an emotionless character.) There also isn't a love interest so there won't be any anguishing over Anime-Kun not paying attention to her.

Characters:


The main character of the show. As stated above, she is a creepy girl who plays dating sims and reads manga all day. What she would really like is to be popular. She spends lots of time planning and critisizing people in her head, but still ends up doing nothing at all. When she tries to make herself look cute, she ends up looking worse.
Voiced by Izumi Kitta, famous for roles in Brave10, Cardfight!!, and Vanguard. Also the voice of Rainbow Dash in Japanese dub of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.



The boy focused on in the preview is not some guy Tomoko is swooning over, it's her younger brother. Tomoko will bug him daily to practice talking to other people. He's still in middle school, but is normal with an interest in soccer.
Voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura, famous for roles such as Gray Fullbuster in Fairy Tail, N in Pokemon,and Tomoya Okazaki in Clannad.



She is Tomoko's friend from middle school, when she looked like this


Now she looks like this



She goes to a different High School than Tomoko, so she won't appear too often. Her change of appearance really bothers Tomoko and she becomes obsessed over Yu's appearance.
Voiced by:Kana Hanazawa, famous for roles in Fate/Prototype, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino, and Infinite Stratos.


Staff:
Studio: SILVER LINK(Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts , Chitose Get You!!) They also did the key/finishing animation for many more well known series like Fate/Zero, IDOLM@STER, and Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
Director: Shin Oonuma(Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts, Natsu no Arashi!)
Scripts: Takao Yoshioka (The Familiar of Zero, High School DxD)
Animation Director: Hideki Furukawa (Date A Live, Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens)
Sound Director: Satoshi Motoyama
Music: Sadesper Record


There will be a total of 12 episodes, similar to other manga series that got adaptations like The Daily Lives of Highschool Boys and Mysterious Girlfriend X. The previews focus heavily on things that happened in the 4th chapter of the book, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Anime takes a few chapters at a time.

The manga has been picked up by Yen Press with a release date of October 2013 for the first volume, with the others due out in January 2014 and April 2014 respectively. As such, linking to the scanlations is considered :filez: by the forum rules.
Click Here if you want more info.

Air Time and Streaming:

The show airs Tuesdays at 2:05 AM JST (Mondays at 1:05 Eastern) in Japan on TVTOKYO (TV listings show this as 26:00 Monday)

Crunchyroll has picked up the streaming rights. It can be viewed here.
Episodes will go up at 1:05 AM Eastern (10:05 Pacific) Tuesdays (14 hours after airing in Japan.)

NicoNico will be airing the episodes a week after TV airing here

PV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPNaCGQjDFc
Commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILbs1slCTh0
OP :black101:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11nsip_watamote-op_shortfilms

Dehry fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Oct 29, 2013

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Dehry
Aug 21, 2009

Grimey Drawer
Episodes:
As stated above, each episode goes live 1:05AM eastern on Tuesdays. Crunchyroll premium members can watch the newest episode, while free viewers see the episodes with a week long delay.

Lament 1: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Change My Image a Bit
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 1,2, and 4 of the manga.

Lament 2: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll See My Old Friend
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 3, 7, and 9 of the manga.

Lament 3: Since I'm Not Popular, The Weather's Bad
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 5, 23, and 25 of the manga.

Lament 4: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Have a Good Dream
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 26, 24, 8, and 9.5 of the manga.

Lament 5: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Boost My Skills
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 10, 22, and 28 of the manga.

Lament 6: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Go See the Fireworks
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 6, 11, and 12 of the manga.

Lament 7: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Enjoy My Summer Break
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 13, 17, and Volume 1 Omake of the manga. We also get a bit of original content.

Lament 8: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Put On Airs aka The Cousin Episode :getin:
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 14, 15, and 16 of the manga.

Lament 9: Since I'm Not Popular, Summer is Ending
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 29, 32, and 18 of the manga.

Lament 10: Since I'm Not Popular, The Second Term is Starting:smith:
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 19 and 27 of the manga.

Lament 11: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Take Part in the Culture Festival
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 20 and 21 of the manga.

Lament 12: Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Think About the Future
Crunchyroll
Covers chapters 31 and 34 of the manga. Also an anime original segment.

Dehry fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Sep 24, 2013

Plastic_Gargoyle
Aug 3, 2007
Injection-Molded
I think I'll have to watch this solely because it reminds me at least one person I peripherally knew in high school. The only difference is that Tomoko actually learns something.

Rexides
Jul 25, 2011

One of the reasons I watched Chuunibyou was because I would always come back to a thread full of goons posting how they had trouble going through the episode because it triggered awkward childhood memories. Can't wait to watch the same thing unfold here.

nielsm
Jun 1, 2009



I have a lingering fear that this will be more making fun of a socially awkward girl than actually a study of self improvement.

(Also, anime talk threads are not LP threads.)

Namtab
Feb 22, 2010

Reading the manga is awkward cause I always felt sorry for her, it's not a funny read for me, it's actually rather uncomfortable.

Hexmage-SA
Jun 28, 2012
DM
As a person with social anxiety myself I'm interested to watch this show. I never realized before now that I'd never seen a series with a protagonist suffering from the condition.

Mordaedil
Oct 25, 2007

Oh wow, cool. Good job.
So?
Grimey Drawer

Rexides posted:

One of the reasons I watched Chuunibyou was because I would always come back to a thread full of goons posting how they had trouble going through the episode because it triggered awkward childhood memories. Can't wait to watch the same thing unfold here.

I dunno, some of the antics in wattamote might translate to goon behavior, but a lot of it is very central to being a girl geek in Japan.

So, yeah, still going to be great.

cisneros
Apr 18, 2006
I think they really failed to capture the heroine's trashy look.

KOGAHAZAN!!
Apr 29, 2013

a miserable failure as a person

an incredible success as a magical murder spider

Mordaedil posted:

I dunno, some of the antics in wattamote might translate to goon behavior, but a lot of it is very central to being a girl geek in Japan.

Eh, it's more relatable than you might think. I know I've had to give up on the manga because it's just too awkward and painful, and Namtab's apparently in the same boat.

Hexmage-SA posted:

As a person with social anxiety myself I'm interested to watch this show. I never realized before now that I'd never seen a series with a protagonist suffering from the condition.

Whaaaaaaaaaat, you've never watched Welcome to the NHK? Go and do that right now.

nielsm posted:

I have a lingering fear that this will be more making fun of a socially awkward girl than actually a study of self improvement.

Well, it's not going to be "a study of self improvement", because (I spoil for you now) Tomoko never actually grows or improves or learns from her fuckups. You just get greater and lesser quantities of suffering. But it's not coming from a place of malice; it's an open secret that Tomoko is more or less literally the... I forget if it's the artist or the author, but one of the two. The humour is less "look at this idiot" and more "man, I cannot believe how much I managed to gently caress myself over this time". :gbsmith:

If you want self-improvement, Sora no Shita Yane no Naka might be a better choice.

Pureauthor
Jul 8, 2010

ASK ME ABOUT KISSING A GHOST
She looks suitably terrible.

HellCopter
Feb 9, 2012
College Slice
Yeah, there's no improvement here. Most of what happens to Tomoko is totally her fault, too.

People were afraid that a studio with no reputation was making this, and the PV looks pretty ugly. It's perfect.

Super Jay Mann
Nov 6, 2008

The manga manages to make Tomoko (mostly) sympathetic while at the same time not glorifying her actions. As was mentioned, she's her own worst enemy a lot of the time. It's pretty neat, if you can get past the inevitable self-loathing.

It's part of the reason I can't follow it chapter-by-chapter, instead opting to catch up all at once when I feel like I can take it. :v:

devtesla
Jan 2, 2012


Grimey Drawer

cisneros posted:

I think they really failed to capture the heroine's trashy look.

I think they captured it perfectly, and then let that trashiness take over the entire show. You might be able to dismiss it as just being a bad studio, if stuff like the song in the OP wasn't so over the top terrible. It's not for everyone but I'm really excited for this.

Roflfox
Jan 29, 2008

Your one and only, scorching laser light
Voted 5 already because this poo poo is going to loving own. :getin:

Namtab
Feb 22, 2010

Roflfox posted:

Voted 5 already because this poo poo is going to loving own. :getin:

You fool, vote 1 and make the thread title come true.

Mordaedil
Oct 25, 2007

Oh wow, cool. Good job.
So?
Grimey Drawer

The Devil Tesla posted:

I think they captured it perfectly, and then let that trashiness take over the entire show. You might be able to dismiss it as just being a bad studio, if stuff like the song in the OP wasn't so over the top terrible. It's not for everyone but I'm really excited for this.

When she starts throwing up in the middle of the lyrics, I knew this was the right OP for the show.

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


Oh god, it's this thing again. :psyduck:

I disagree with the idea of Tomoko acting like this just cause she's a dork. Some of her behavior seems to veer straight into psychosis territory. I mean who the gently caress does things like look for alcoves to sleep in and set up a gimmicky point system to make yourself less pathetic?

Me :(

Xelkelvos
Dec 19, 2012

Super Jay Mann posted:

The manga manages to make Tomoko (mostly) sympathetic while at the same time not glorifying her actions. As was mentioned, she's her own worst enemy a lot of the time. It's pretty neat, if you can get past the inevitable self-loathing.

It's part of the reason I can't follow it chapter-by-chapter, instead opting to catch up all at once when I feel like I can take it. :v:

I'd say every other chapter (maybe 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 5 chapters), Tomoko acts like an awful, selfish person and she's totally at fault for what happens to her. When this isn't the case, there's a bit of sympathy for the poor girl. In either case, she's a pitiable character who needs a reality check and a hug (hands above the waist though).

Harettazetta
Jul 22, 2006

"Well, what choice do I have!? Trust is for fools! Fear is the only reliable way!"
Really looking forward to this one - it's the show I'm most anticipating this season. Here's hoping it's good!

Silver2195
Apr 4, 2012

Xelkelvos posted:

I'd say every other chapter (maybe 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 5 chapters), Tomoko acts like an awful, selfish person and she's totally at fault for what happens to her. When this isn't the case, there's a bit of sympathy for the poor girl. In either case, she's a pitiable character who needs a reality check and a hug (hands above the waist though).

How sympathetic she is sort of varies, yeah. The bit where she cheated at card games against little kids stands out as particularly awful to me.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Was there not a manga thread for this before? I feel like I've seen it discussed a decent amount in the last six months or so, before the anime announcement even, that was pretty recent, right?.

I blitzed the manga and her character most of the time seems like a really realistic portrayal of someone who doesn't get social interaction, like it's a totally foreign concept. The elaborate plans, the overthinking of everything in their head and then not being able to speak a word of it, the paranoia, the procrastination, they are all really well-realized. Then suddenly there's a chapter of her just (slight spoilers)being ultracreepy or a total jerkass out of the blue and it seems like it's based in misplaced jealousy or straight up psychotic issues, though sometimes they are simply absolute desperation moves in an attempt to get approval from someone, anyone, such as the cheating at cards thing. Her lying to her mom about her problems and what she's been doing probably doesn't help, but her mom also seems pretty uncaring about her daughter's clearly hosed-up mental state. I don't know if it's a Japan thing to not care about what your children are doing/how they're behaving after a certain age or what, but it comes across that way.

folgore
Jun 30, 2006

nice tut

Captain Invictus posted:

Was there not a manga thread for this before? I feel like I've seen it discussed a decent amount in the last six months or so, before the anime announcement even, that was pretty recent, right?.

I blitzed the manga and her character most of the time seems like a really realistic portrayal of someone who doesn't get social interaction, like it's a totally foreign concept. The elaborate plans, the overthinking of everything in their head and then not being able to speak a word of it, the paranoia, the procrastination, they are all really well-realized. Then suddenly there's a chapter of her just (slight spoilers)being ultracreepy or a total jerkass out of the blue and it seems like it's based in misplaced jealousy or straight up psychotic issues, though sometimes they are simply absolute desperation moves in an attempt to get approval from someone, anyone, such as the cheating at cards thing. Her lying to her mom about her problems and what she's been doing probably doesn't help, but her mom also seems pretty uncaring about her daughter's clearly hosed-up mental state. I don't know if it's a Japan thing to not care about what your children are doing/how they're behaving after a certain age or what, but it comes across that way.

Eagerly awaiting the chapter titled "It's you guys' fault I have to go to therapy and take antidepressants"

She seems so messed in the head that it's hard to blame her for her own problems at this point, though it's still hilarious to watch her trudge through such a miserable life.

As a general question, do the Japanese often portray high school in an idyllic way? I've never read a manga before this one or watched a lot of anime. Sometimes it feels like Tomoko is loitering in front of the gates to a teenager-only paradise.

Harettazetta
Jul 22, 2006

"Well, what choice do I have!? Trust is for fools! Fear is the only reliable way!"

folgore posted:

As a general question, do the Japanese often portray high school in an idyllic way? I've never read a manga before this one or watched a lot of anime. Sometimes it feels like Tomoko is loitering in front of the gates to a teenager-only paradise.

You have no idea, man. As far as anime is concerned, your life ends somewhere around 20. After that, you're the grizzled authority figure.

They idealize the poo poo out of High School in anime.

Mordaedil
Oct 25, 2007

Oh wow, cool. Good job.
So?
Grimey Drawer
To the point where 90% of anime are unemployed students.

Namtab
Feb 22, 2010

Well it is kind of her fault in that she spent all her free time watching anime and playing eroge to the point where she doesn't know how to deal with normal people. A cautionary tale to the typical goon.

Dick Spacious CPA
Oct 10, 2012

My one hope for this anime is that they convey just how awful Tomoko is. I think it is a unique opportunity for them to make an anime where the main character is as creepy, anxious, jealous, and lazy as Tomoko is. However this is also where my biggest fear for the show is.

I am not saying she is an overall terrible person, well she kind of is, and I am not saying there are not some times where she does deserve some sympathy, but the bad things she does outweigh the good. My fear is that the anime will take the route of stuff that happens to her really is not her fault.

Have we had a story like this where the main protagonist is like Tomoko? The only other anime I have seen where the main character is horribly broken is School Days, but Makoto was broken in like the complete opposite direction.

Schubalts
Nov 26, 2007

People say bigger is better.

But for the first time in my life, I think I've gone too far.
Does Death Note count? Light was pretty hosed up.

Rexides
Jul 25, 2011

coreycoryecorey posted:

I am not saying she is an overall terrible person, well she kind of is, and I am not saying there are not some times where she does deserve some sympathy, but the bad things she does outweigh the good. My fear is that the anime will take the route of stuff that happens to her really is not her fault.

The manga is not a story about karmic justice though; Tomoko is both an awful person at times, and she also does not deserve to be alone.

Dick Spacious CPA
Oct 10, 2012

Schubalts posted:

Does Death Note count? Light was pretty hosed up.

Light was pretty messed up, but I was talking more about a typical high school slice of life anime where the main character is awful.

Rexides posted:

The manga is not a story about karmic justice though; Tomoko is both an awful person at times, and she also does not deserve to be alone.

My whole thing is that she has never really tried or put a ton of effort into being more than a shut-in. Of course she doesn't deserve to be alone and never find a purpose in life or anything like that; she has to at least try. I may need to re-read but I can't think of very many examples where she has put a ton of effort into changing.

Mordaedil
Oct 25, 2007

Oh wow, cool. Good job.
So?
Grimey Drawer

coreycoryecorey posted:

Light was pretty messed up, but I was talking more about a typical high school slice of life anime where the main character is awful.

The main character from Love Hina was consistently awful.

It was a very bad show which served as one of the earliest shows I saw of anime, but I can't even watch it any more.

Rody One Half
Feb 18, 2011

Mordaedil posted:

The main character from Love Hina was consistently awful.

It was a very bad show which served as one of the earliest shows I saw of anime, but I can't even watch it any more.

I remember the anime considerably less than I do the manga, but from what I recall the former cuts out the part of the latter where Keitaro actually has an arc and stops being a complete loser (or, I suppose, becomes a different kind of loser since he basically starts picking up Seta's habits).

Also Love Hina is by no definition a high school slice of life.

cisneros
Apr 18, 2006

coreycoryecorey posted:

My one hope for this anime is that they convey just how awful Tomoko is. I think it is a unique opportunity for them to make an anime where the main character is as creepy, anxious, jealous, and lazy as Tomoko is. However this is also where my biggest fear for the show is.

I am not saying she is an overall terrible person, well she kind of is, and I am not saying there are not some times where she does deserve some sympathy, but the bad things she does outweigh the good. My fear is that the anime will take the route of stuff that happens to her really is not her fault.

Have we had a story like this where the main protagonist is like Tomoko? The only other anime I have seen where the main character is horribly broken is School Days, but Makoto was broken in like the complete opposite direction.

Broken teenagers is practically a genre of manga, the only difference with this one is that she's a nerd.

Xelkelvos
Dec 19, 2012

Captain Invictus posted:

Was there not a manga thread for this before? I feel like I've seen it discussed a decent amount in the last six months or so, before the anime announcement even, that was pretty recent, right?.

I blitzed the manga and her character most of the time seems like a really realistic portrayal of someone who doesn't get social interaction, like it's a totally foreign concept. The elaborate plans, the overthinking of everything in their head and then not being able to speak a word of it, the paranoia, the procrastination, they are all really well-realized. Then suddenly there's a chapter of her just (slight spoilers)being ultracreepy or a total jerkass out of the blue and it seems like it's based in misplaced jealousy or straight up psychotic issues, though sometimes they are simply absolute desperation moves in an attempt to get approval from someone, anyone, such as the cheating at cards thing. Her lying to her mom about her problems and what she's been doing probably doesn't help, but her mom also seems pretty uncaring about her daughter's clearly hosed-up mental state. I don't know if it's a Japan thing to not care about what your children are doing/how they're behaving after a certain age or what, but it comes across that way.

There's also a prequel manga that follows Tomoko, Yu and a third person whose attitude ad interests are similar to Tomoko's and Tomoko predictably acts possessive towards Yu in that she doesn't want anyone else to be friends with her, lies about watching anime in order to look cool and generally doing what we've all come to expect from her.

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

Harettazetta posted:

You have no idea, man. As far as anime is concerned, your life ends somewhere around 20. After that, you're the grizzled authority figure.

They idealize the poo poo out of High School in anime.

There was an interview with an anime director (I wanna say Akiyuki Shinbo) where he said that the reason most anime takes place in high school is because they see it as the high point of their lives.

Obviously coming from an otaku line of thought I've no idea how that matches with the general public in Japan, but regardless that is still a depressing as hell thing to say.

Cake Attack
Mar 26, 2010

I've always been under the impression that the Japanese workforce is, in a word, insane, so I'm not surprised that people would idolize High School.

I do wonder why University doesn't get the same treatment though. Is Uni ridiculously tough in Japan or something, or do not as many people go?

MadRhetoric
Feb 18, 2011

I POSSESS QUESTIONABLE TASTE IN TOUHOU GAMES
High school in Japan dictates college in Japan, which dictates the rest of your life in Japan. As an individual, your life really does end once you hit the workforce.

That's the general sentiment of those who manage to sidestep that life. Uni is a piss break between high school and real life; it's seen as more a status symbol/key to getting a good job than an actual experience to be treasured.

DrSunshine
Mar 23, 2009

Did I just say that out loud~~?!!!

coreycoryecorey posted:

Light was pretty messed up, but I was talking more about a typical high school slice of life anime where the main character is awful.

Have you tried reading the manga Onani Master Kurosawa? The main character and leading lady start off as pretty messed up people, though the manga is about how they grow out of it.

Rody One Half
Feb 18, 2011

MadRhetoric posted:

High school in Japan dictates college in Japan, which dictates the rest of your life in Japan. As an individual, your life really does end once you hit the workforce.

That's the general sentiment of those who manage to sidestep that life. Uni is a piss break between high school and real life; it's seen as more a status symbol/key to getting a good job than an actual experience to be treasured.
And people wonder why Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates.

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Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

Rodyle posted:

And people wonder why Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates.

A couple of years ago when I was on holiday, a train a friend and I were on was delayed because apparently someone had jumped onto the track. It being Monday morning I joked about not being able to face going back to work and my friend (who lives there) just looked at me and went 'Yeah, that's pretty much it.'

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