WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~

Fifteen year old Kuroki Tomoko has dated dozens of boys and is easily the most popular girl around-- inside her dating games. In reality, she gets tongue tied just talking to people, and throughout middle school she's only had one actual friend. As she enters high school, she desperately wants to be popular, but doesn't understand that real-life doesn't work like her games. Her artificial successes pave the way to real folly and failure. But why drop this strategy when there's always someone else to blame?!

WATAMOTE (2013) is a Japanese animated slice of life comedy series created for TV Tokyo, adapted from a manga and produced as a twelve episode run of roughly twenty four minute installments. Its protagonist is fifteen year old Kuroki Tomoko, a self-proclaimed dating game expert who has never had a real romance and who has only one friend from middle school. Her engine is a desperate wish to become popular in high school, which keeps colliding with the fact that real people do not follow the rules of her games. Each episode is built from small humiliations: a botched attempt to start a conversation, a plan to attract a classmate that backfires, an awkward encounter that she spins into imagined triumph before reality bursts it. The series never leaves its single school and home settings for an epic scale, and its comedy comes from the gap between Tomoko's inner narration and what happens to her. The tone is cringe comedy with a wistful undertone, sharp and self-mocking yet sympathetic toward a lonely kid. Fans of Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, Nichijou and Recovery of an MMO Junkie will find similar awkward humor and shared social discomfort. The show is light, quick to watch, and rewards viewers who enjoy anime about relatable failure.

Audiences broadly find the show's cringe-inducing comedy of a self-deluded teenager funny and relatable, with a mixed overall reception.

• Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsucringe comedy about an awkward, self-deluded teen girl, slice of life tone
• Recovery of an MMO Junkiesocially awkward protagonist, deadpan comedy of embarrassment, school life
• Nichijoucringe comedy of self-deluded protagonist, anime adaptation of a manga about a loner
• Hitori Bocchiawkward teen comedy with self-sabotaging protagonist and romantic delusion

Release Date

2013-07-09

Episode runtime

24 min

Rating

7.1 / 10 (328)

What is WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~ about?

A fifteen year old who fancies herself a dating game expert tries and fails to become popular in high school, blaming everyone but herself.

What is WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~ like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~ as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.

Is WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~ violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~.

What did critics think of WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~?

Audiences broadly find the show's cringe-inducing comedy of a self-deluded teenager funny and relatable, with a mixed overall reception.

Which shows are like WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~?

Shows with a similar feel include Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, Recovery of an MMO Junkie, Nichijou, and Hitori Bocchi.

How long is WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~?

WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~: 1 season, 12 episodes.

Is WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~ still running?

No, WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys Fault I'm Not Popular!~ has ended.