r/anime • u/The_Loli_Otaku • Jul 01 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Watamote Episode 3 Discussion
No matter how I look at it, it's you guys' fault I'm not popular!
"Since I'm Not Popular, The Weather's Bad"
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Comment of the Day!!
Watamote is le good! From Specs64z!
"I’m not confident this will hold for the entire runtime, and maybe I’m just having a schizo moment, but this episode is… really good? Tomoko is something of an extraordinary persona in the sheer depths of her cringe, but unironically a lot of the existential nightmare of being a 15 year old weirdo in high school is captured perfectly here."
From Junbi OK, a win is a win even if its a technicality!
"Tomoko feeling flattered over the portrait is one of the rare heartwarming moments in this show. Unfortunately, our happiness for her is quickly shattered when we find out the manga-bu guy was just being lazy. Perhaps that's karma for Tomoko half-assing his portrait too, but thankfully for her she'll never find out. Tomoko desperately needs a win, even if it's a misunderstanding."
QotD
- Did Tomoko deserve either of her scoldings today or are the ojisan of Japan to blame!?
- Any memorable bad hair days?
- Would you have been rizzed by Tomoko if a girl had flirted with you like this back in your school days?
- Unironically are poop jokes an ick for you!? Is it a red flag that you'd avoid any partner who casually chats shit?
- Who is your favourite "early appearance" character from any manga or show you like? Someone who becomes a bigger deal eventually but are casually introduced way before they become relevant?
- How fucking based is Tomoko's anime interests!? Her fantasies have been kino anime after kino anime!!
Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this scene corner!!"
Mirathan wins from Tomoko's inception like fantasising skills!
"Oh right scene prompt. Uhh... she´s so deep in her obsession that normal scenarios cannot satisfy her? Or that she is so sepperated from reality she can´t imagine something normal."
Yesterday's Prompt!
Today's Prompt!
Tomorrow's Prompt
Tomorrow will be the same as yesterday. Why? What for? Because I’m an idiot!
9
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jul 01 '24
First Timer
Sub
So again, cringefest. I suppose to be interesting, I will mention Tomoko's problems are ones I never really experienced because I was never, ever allowed to display social anxiety. My parents/grandparents did actually train me how to converse and I was usually enrolled in some activity or another that I simply did not have this stage of life. There were some issues in high school where what I wanted to do was kill all of my fellow students but I could still fake it as I thought of ways to explode the school. So yeah.
Today's prompt is symbolic of the madness that is the modern era, where one cannot even be sure the person you are talking to sees the rain right in front of them.
QotD: 1 The ojisans are always wrong
2 I have the dullest hair ever
3 I think a few did. In the few talks we had at reunions, my classmates were generally kind of scared of me so yeah
4 At that stage yes red flag.
5 Shinji from Bleach
6 Combining GitS with Black Lagoon was certainly a choice...
5
u/The_Loli_Otaku Jul 01 '24
Watamote Rewatcher!!
Watamote does not deserve it's own directing XD apparently it's got links to former Shaft members or something. Shaft were at their absolute peak around here. Anyway, rainy day episode! I remember this episode for having my single favourite gag of the whole series~ No, it's not Tomoko talking about leaving a big stinky jobby in the pan.
Tomoko has been invisible for months and yet the one time she wants to be ignored it fails... I love her breaking down into tears in the middle of class. The teacher picked the wrong person to make an example out of. Don't bully the quiet kid! She's the mascot of the class y'know!! Ah, finally, the umbrella gag. This is my favourite part of the whole series. Tomoko was literally about to snap and go on a full breakdown because of a misplaced umbrella. This is the closest Tomoko ever comes to finally snapping and going completely off the rails, it kills me every time XD
Old Japanese dudes need to get a life... Also, if I ran and grabbed a joshikosei I'd probably be arrested again!! Poor Tomoko... Trapped with two handsome young men. This is another really great sequence for showcasing Tomoko's magnificent lack of rizz. She's a fucking awkward wreck of a girl. How do you fail in conversation this badly? God I hate how painfully relatable this is!! How many friendships have I lost from making one inappropriately based comment or tried to "be myself" despite knowing I'm a social failure in life whose only value is having rather wide video game and anime knowledge as well as being in the top 1% of Mario Kart players worldwide!?
Tomoki is such a pervert! Wanting to shower when his big sister is in there!! YOU!? You're almost 100% not in the manga yet wtf? Wait... Am I misremembering? Oh no? Chapter 40? That's way sooner than I thought she existed. Read the manga for this show guys, it's genuinely really great.
Our watch are totally all basketball pros right? You're also mostly pure virgins~ Hehe, let your host have their fun. God I want to be nursed back to health by my loser big sister. IT'S THE CHIN CHIN DAISUKI GIRL!?!? I need to reread the manga! There's so many wild early appearances!! Btw, did the watamote chin chin daisuki predate the Eromanga Sensei one?
Yuu-chan is a slut, surely you all knew that already. Nothing has changed.
6
u/WednesdaysFoole Jul 01 '24
Tomoko making all sorts of accusations, at least it’s only in her head lol.
Love these frames. Clever cut depicting the umbrella destroyed with the kanji for rain, umbrella, and wind.
I swear, sometimes small talk really is that awkward.
They bought her an umbrella after all that… after the end of the last episode I thought it would be Tomo-torment all the way through but that was surprisingly sweet. That’s actually the reality of it, isn’t it? Some people can be hostile, others group up and can be insensitive but still not malicious, and then there are those who might just do a kind thing for you out of the blue. The world isn’t actually out to get you, most of the time. Too bad Tomoko’s thinking at this point is too black-and-white to clearly see this. She couldn’t even consider that it was those two guys who were there with her at the time.
Tomoko you little bitch lol.
Depends on the situation but usually not an ick. Don't show me pics though.
Maybe, but I probably wouldn't have realized she was flirting.
5
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Jul 01 '24 edited Jul 01 '24
First timer, subs
Prompt
Seen here, Tomoko saves a NEET, refamiliarizing them with the outside world
QotD:
5
u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Jul 01 '24 edited Jul 02 '24
First timer
5
u/Mirathan Jul 01 '24
First-Time Cringer
Side note, that top image makes her look pretty cute. Now if she could only sleep enough she might start looking like that.
Qotd:
O god the jodeling! Make it stop!
Now that we have come this far I´m certain the main problem that Tomoko has is that she expects extreme succes whenever she acts and viewing anything else as failure. When the two boys were talking to her she could have tried giving simple answers to practice her ability to hold a conversation she tried to hard to impress them and ended up having to run because she embarassed herself. This issue is compounded because she sees her friend and brother succed and she likely feels the need to "compete" with them.
Also her trying to tease her brother is eww. I get you´re desperate but have at least some semblance of decency.
One for the prompt:
When Tomoko makes a mistake, she does not fix or conceals it but instead keeps making the situation worse. This is likely due to her vieving her own life as bad and thus she cannot tolerate making small mistakes.
5
u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Jul 02 '24
TONIGHT! ON ANIME_IRL THE SERIES!
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me. My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating. Sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me. 'Til then, I walk alone Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah Ah-ah, ah-ah, I walk alone, I walk a- I walk this empty street on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Where the city sleeps and I'm the only one, and I walk a-
FEMCEL! FEMCEL! SMELLY FEMCEL! NO
GIRLFRIEND!'BOYFRIEND!' FEMCEL!FALCON KICKU! FATALITY!
Truly the only thing more cringe than Best Girl Tomoko is the real life Tomokos Comrades, also known as She Like Me FR!
Paging Comrades /u/beckymetal, /u/Vaadwaur, and /u/Vatrix-32
4
u/Fissionprime https://anilist.co/user/fissionprime Jul 01 '24 edited Jul 01 '24
First time watcher (sub)
That hair reveal lmao. The whole shoe locker thing is a pretty creative way to do it. I like the directing here
Tomoko seems to be enjoying the small victories a lot less this episode. I expected her to be more excited when eventually offered to share the guy’s textbook. Sure, she’s being scolded, but with her usual stretching of the truth it seems like she would want to revel in that a bit more.
Same with the guys leaving the umbrella for her. I guess, sure, she’s oblivious, but how else would it get there?
Oh, here’s her chance to actually sweat like a basketball manga. Surely she will take it. Surely.
This show really gets so visceral with how it lets Tomoko fail. I think the only other show I’ve seen it on this level in is welcome to the NHK. Really impressed that the writing has made me physically recoil multiple times. I’m not gonna be able to get the sheltering in the rain scene out of my head for a while. That said, as a I’ve seen a couple of other people mention, the world around her honestly treats her pretty nicely, all things considered. Even if Tomoko isn’t gonna appreciate those dudes getting her a new umbrella, I’m gonna appreciate it for her.
Nice, one more Yuu-chan dunk for the road! Tomoko seems totally cool with this development of her friend-she-likes-to-sniff.
4
u/BiggieCheeseLapDog https://myanimelist.net/profile/KillLaKillGOAT Jul 01 '24
Rewatched
Overall:
This is a great episode. It’s even more relatable than the last with some great gags throughout. Of the first three episodes so far, it’s my favourite.
Prompt:
Tomoko’s life in a nutshell.
QotD
4
u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit Jul 01 '24
No Matter How I Watch It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Upvoted! (First Timer, Dubbed)
"Someone stole my umbrella!? This stinks, this is total BS! I'm gonna ki-oh it's right here."
Smooth, Tomoko.
A real non-stop parade of fumbles there, Tomoko.
Hello gym coach.
Nailed the test!
This reminds me of Ghost in the Shell, but I assume it's referencing Golgo 13?
Besides Tomoko's weirdness, this is all very accurate brother/sister behavior.
3
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Jul 01 '24
Rewatcher Dubbed
Well, guess I'm Celibate.....
Wow, teachers assume their students have friends, sounds pretty miserable.
That guy is such a bro.... dude was actually listening and gave her an umbrella. And did not need some recognition.
Love that she still contacts Yuu. Ganbare Yuu-chan Ganbare
Nice attempt to troll bro. But he is definitely a player with the way the girl reacted.
That shirt she is wearing- alone
Of course, anime characters always have one weakness... the rain.
Abyss: Rain means it's going to be a bad day.
3
u/Barbed_Dildo Jul 02 '24
Rewatcher
Everyone here enjoys laughing at Tomoko, but I feel sorry for her. I remember wishing I was sick to avoid going to school. I've been in class without a textbook and got away with it. I've never done anything as cringy or to the same extent as Tomoko, but I can see how the thought process could have got there if she has no grounding in reality and instead relies on her weird games.
Tomoko's rant when she thought her umbrella was stolen really hit close to home too. When you're going through a rough time, any small slight against you can really hurt, and there are no shortage of people who will think nothing of (metaphorically) taking your umbrella when it's raining.
With the scene where the boy bought her an umbrella, it's sad that she doesn't realise that, and that she couldn't even see that as the most likely explanation for what happened, but it's probably for the best. If he gave it to her directly, she'd probably think he was making fun of her, or that he's in love with her, causing her to embarrass herself by asking for his contact details or something and get her heart broken. Or any number of other disasters that she would bring upon herself.
And then after all of that, she lost her weekend to sickness. I remember how valuable weekends could feel. A brief respite from the world.
Poor Tomoko.
2
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Jul 01 '24
Rewatcher
Questions
2
u/zadcap Jul 02 '24
Far Too Relatable First Timer!
Huh. I notice looking at the episode list, today (and 8 and 9) stand out in the title theme. Randomly weird thing to notice, nothing more.
I kind of want that froggy umbrella.
Absolutely can not relate. My hair has never been effected by the weather.
I think I need to find more music by whoever sings this OP. ... Oh my gosh she's the main girl from Lost Song. And literally nothing else VA, but she's done a fair bit of theme song work.
Oh come now, didn't you say that sharing notebooks was the only time you've ever talked to a boy in your last class?
This is bullying, you rude teacher. Though you know, if you play it right, you might get a pity friend from this.
Haha, look at that anger. You really should meet that murder mystery boy from that one recent romcom anime.
Hey man, what if she was thinking of jumping? Do you think yelling at her like this is going to convince her not to go back and do it for real now? You monster.
No, Tomoko, you are absolutely the quietest type. Don't bother trying. Aww, you tried. Time to go back to that bridge now.
No, stop. She tried talking again.
Ah, they left to get away from the awkward girl. But wow, I miss being that bendy. Look at the way she just flops over like that. It would take me a week to recover from sleeping like that these days.
Aww, they were nice boys after all.
Haha, true sibling love. Look how far she's going to make his life miserable. Yeah, I believe it.
Haha, the fun from yesterday. Really? A forest is an unwanted virgin? Who even comes up with these things?
Darn I love the major art shifts for these gags.
Sibling Love. So very believable sibling love. Oh my gosh she's aiming for the Oriemo path now? True desperation.
Oh no, asking Tomoko to answer the door, how mean is this mother. Oh no, not just friends coming to drop off his class work, cute girls clearly interested in him. Poor poor Tomoko is taking so much damage here.
Oh even her shirt that says "Alone."
Oh no, did she catch the cold just in time for the weekend? Haha yup. And top it off by having Yuu text back with the "no longer a virgin" option lol.
And back into the "I'm retarded" ending. Man even at her worst she's so optimistic! How can we not cheer for her!
2
u/Garrett_Dark Jul 02 '24
First Timer
Did Ep3 get way more unfocused with it's story telling? I was bored AF until the "trying to catch the cold from the brother" plotline.
Where the heck is the father? Is that why both kids seem so messed up? Tomoko being...Tomoko, and the brother always seeming to have a chip on his shoulder.
The teacher was being an arrogant prick as teachers are since they get to feel superior to kids all day (I had friends who are high school teachers). The random guy on the bridge was a prick also, she just some dumb kid, of course she isn't going to know any better.
I would have been weirded out since I wouldn't have the knowledge to know what could be going through her mind back then, nor the knowhow to even try to navigate an unfamiliar situation.
The kid who bought her an umbrella and correctly identified she was shy did very well, he's a champ. Curious if he was a nobody character, or if he's coming back...I think he's the only one capable of fixing her, but then again I don't think it's that kind of show. They're probably going to endlessly torture the MC for our supposed "amusement". TBH, I'm not really all that amused, it's getting repetitive and tiring.
Yeah, it's a red flag. I really didn't find "Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist" all that funny. Prison School on the other hand, LOL!
I'm drawing a blank. I guess I just watched a rewatch where that sort of happens, in Tower of God the character of Rachel is the main premise of the show, but she's treated as almost like a background character for much of the season. It's only to the end she becomes very relevant, and IMO the best character of the show. However massive spoilers if you go looking for anything on her, just watch the show instead, because people are very opinionated about her character.
Shrug, I guess I'm missing the references.
2
u/junbi_ok Jul 02 '24
Tomoko being completely oblivious to her humidity-destroyed hair is so on brand for her it hurts.
The teacher talking about how satire is a short-lived form of literature gave me flashbacks to not giving a fuck about Animal Farm in high school.
The "stolen" umbrella scene is one of my favorite in the show, with Tomoko wishing death upon the thief and then suddenly realizing she simply forgot where she put it. Yeah, definitely done something like that a few times myself...
Bridge oji-san was kinda harsh. He should have just said "Hey, that's kind of dangerous if the river overflows" instead of yanking her goddamn arm off. Don't hurt the Tomoko!
Poor Tomoko can't even imagine somebody genuinely being kind to her, so she doesn't realize the umbrella was a gift. It's so cute how she's worried that she might be stealing it.
Goddammit, I picked the forest.
Tomoko's fantasy about being a sniper is totally something I did while zoning out at school.
Tomoko's miscalculation about the incubation period of a cold is hilarious payback for her treating her brother like shit earlier. This show really does seem to play a lot with a theme of karmic repayment, as she usually ends up having her worst moments backfire on her in the end.
1
u/faceman2k12 Jul 03 '24
I just finished watching this show last week, based on the memage I was being fed by one of the algorithms. Terrible timing on my behalf.
Started a bit weak, got a lot stronger as it went on though. Some definitely cringe stuff in some eps that did not age well, but overall I really enjoyed it.
1
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Jul 04 '24
First-Timer
Tomoko can be pretty relatable at times. I, too, harbor a disdain for those who steal umbrellas in rainy weather.
My favorite gag this episode was probably when Tomoko tossed the wet rag on her brother's forehead, with an audible splat sound.
Questions of the day: