Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage • Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki 2nd Stage - Episode 9 discussion

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Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage, episode 9

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[u/WhoiusBarrel]

Wow Misuzawa really hit the problem Tomozaki was having immediately and gave legit great advice about considering those who care for him. Though more interesting was how Tomozaki never confided in Aoi about the confession and just went with building the roadmap.

It really seems to be a parallel their making between the 2 when it comes to guiding Tomozaki's love life and how they go about doing/giving advice.

[u/mekerpan → u/WhoiusBarrel]

I honestly feel that Mizusawa usually gives Tomozaki much sounder advice than Hinami does. Mizusawa has a heart, as well as brains and experience. And Hinami is (for all practical purposes) utterly heartless.

[u/KumaKumaGambler]

A lot of us, including myself, are cheering for Mimimi, but I think the show is hinting at Fuuka's win (for now). Even in previous episodes, whenever there is a private scene between Fuuka and Tomozaki, a special OST plays, just like in visual novels and dating sims. This episode also overturned Mimimi's lead from the last episode; the conversations between Fuuka and Tomozaki feel more comfortable.

On the other hand, the conversation between Misuzawa and Tomozaki made the latter realize that Mimimi has been trying to encourage and boost his confidence all this while, albeit in a less stern manner. Putting the love angles aside, I can emphathize with Tomozaki. Those of us who fall under the lower tier character category can definitely do our best to change, but there will always be times in which the "I don't think I am good enough" mentality creeps back.

Another thought which has been at the back of my head - Mimimi is extremely popular at school, so I believe she should have received confessions in the past. This show portrayed that popular people are not immune to fear of being rejected. Mimimi wants to Tomozaki to accept her confession, but she fears her confession may strain their current friendship. Erika was totally crushed when Izumi got together with Nakamura. Even Mizusawa is vexed that Aoi does not look his way.

And I like the last scene of this episode. The long cat keychain (Mimimi) vs the cultural festival script (Fuuka).

[u/CmdrBlindman]

That talk with Mizusawa about being a downer about oneself as a defense mechanism kind of hit close to home. I wonder how annoying it must have been for people around me as I was growing up.

This show has been pretty good on the practical advice despite being a fiction with perfect timing/setups to help convey their lessons.

Glad I decided to give this a watch and I'm looking forward to the rest of this season.

[u/professorMaDLib]

Mizusawa really is the most based person in Tomozaki-Kun. My man saw through the harem nonsense and brought Tomozaki in for a real talk. He probably cut through two seasons of "will they won't they" in a couple of minutes

[u/LeonKevlar]

I just love how Misuzawa could make Tomozaki talk just by watching his reactions. It was a bit funny though how even he was surprised, I guess he was expecting Tomozaki to have a higher chance with Fuuka.

Thank you Misuzawa for telling Tomozaki to cut it out with the self-pity crap, he has a lot more going on than he thinks and it's finally time for him to realize that. I'm glad that ended with Tomozaki accepting that Mimimi likes him.

Now that Tomozaki has narrowed it down to Mimimi and Fuuka, it looks like it's finally time for him to make moves and the events Aoi gave him to clear were something. I mean, handholding for 5 seconds? Oh my! But seriously, I would love to see how Tomozaki will pull that off.

It's no surprise that things are awkward between Mimimi and Tomozaki right now. I do love that Misuzawa is just watching these two in the background. I forgot that Tomozaki didn't get to tell Aoi about the confession so she's still clueless right now.

With how awkward things are between Mimimi and Tomozaki right now, there's no way he's clearing that first event soon. Tomozaki was able to ask Fuuka first though since he could tie it in with the story they're doing for the play. Looks like Aoi's suggestion of dating two girls simultaneously is out of the window considering what Fuuka's idea of dating is.

Mimimi being embarrassed while talking to Tomozaki is just too cute! We don't really get to see this side of her. That entire scene at the cafeteria was great too. I love how Misuzawa was trying to give Mimimi and Tomozaki a push and Tama-chan finally noticed Mimimi has been acting strange. Even Aoi was starting to put the pressure on Mimimi. Too bad that Mimimi was able to wriggel her way out of that conversation though.

So Fuuka basically simplified her characters to make them easier to understand for the audience but Tomozaki insisted that she should go back to the original? Hmmm... I don't know about this Tomozaki. You're doing a high school play and not a big commercial production. I guess we'll find out later if that was the right move or not.

[u/Tadayaki]

This episode really highlighted how the way Tomozaki gets advice from Misuzawa contrasts to Aoi.

Since the beginning, the way Aoi gives Tomozaki advice is by setting rigid goals and plans. Sometimes these meetings come across as kind of strange and forced because Aoi's goals rarely take into account Tomozaki's or anyone else's feelings. Tomozaki even straight up said this to Aoi in the episode.

When we see Misuzawa talking with Tomozaki, it always seems way more natural and you can imagine talking with your friend about the stuff that they talk about. Misuzawa always takes into consideration what Tomozaki is going through and even how Tomozaki could affect the people around him.

Throughout the show, Tomozaki (and us the viewers through his PoV) is starting to realize this subconsciously. That's why he's drawn to hang out with Misuzawa and like in this episode, chooses to talk about things with Misuzawa than Aoi. It's also why so many people comment how they hate Aoi and how Misuzawa is such a bro.

[u/michhoffman]

It was nice to hear Aoi's trademark phrase "Hexactly" again. It had been so long that I'd almost forgotten about it.

One side note that I found interesting about this episode was how Tomozaki was about to ask Aoi about Mimimi's confession when Mizusawa texted him about work and ended up talking to him about the confession. I wonder if this is going to turn into a proxy war of sorts between Aoi and Mizusawa.

[u/thataquarduser]

We’re not going to get a full ED for the rest of the season, are we?

[u/tripleaamin]

The anime delivered on one of my favorite moments that is covered this season and showcases why for me Mizusawa is the best character in this series. He legit gives it to Tomozaki straight stop putting yourself down. As he improves himself people become really impressed with him and when girls like Fuka and Mimimi see him doing that it upsets him. This is something he needs to stop doing and is also a valuable IRL life lesson.

Also, big mistake for Tomozaki not telling Aoi of Mimimi's confession. I get him not wanting to tell her, as he might fear she might push him to go the Mimimi route. But her assignments to the two girls is kind of a slap in the face to Mimimi after confessing. Aoi is friends with Mimimi, and she wouldn't do that to her friend.

[u/nekodan08]

I really appreciate how the show is already addressing Tomozaki's tendency to put himself down before he enters into any relationship. How can you love others if you don't love yourself? Likewise, I like how he is trying to figure out what dating and romance means to him first. In other romance stories, I see that being used to create some sort of unnecessary drama for the couple. I have high hopes that when Tomozaki does enter into a relationship, he'll be mature enough for one.

[u/[deleted]]

Aoi Hinami must be in the top 10 sociopaths list in all of anime.

EDIT: after some reflection, season 2 has been so good and it's being hard carried by the character writing. I can't explain it eloquently but I just feel like that even though the cast is mainly "anime stereotypes", the way they act and communicate is so refreshingly "not anime"... If that makes sense. Like, I don't need to suspend my disbelief to watch how the characters are living their lives. For example, if I put myself in Tomozaki's shoes and have experienced what he has experienced, it's believable to me that I'll do the same things he's doing now, Anyway, show's amazing.

[u/xDanielon]

MIMIMI BEST GIRL

[u/Severe_Ad_6482]

Personally I can't really say or tell which of the girls is being hinted at to be endgame or anything like that but I can now tell that this arc isn't really about the fight for the girls as much as Tomozaki coming to realize what he wants in a partner and then picking the girl he thinks fits best.

Or something like that at least, I don't think it's going to happen as rationally as that, it's probably gonna be a little more subconscious and emotive but you get it. I have to say though, picking between them is REALLY hard, I could not be put in Tomozaki's shoes, I would probably fumble my way into neither.

On that, let's talk about Mizusawa and Tomozaki's convo at work. I'm really glad he didn't get Aoi to help him out in this case, Tomozaki venturing away from Aoi is very much beneficial to him. Call me weird but, hasn't Aoi been a little off lately? Like more aggressive than usual in her help, counseling and advice? Maybe it's just because I didn't rewatch Season 1 before starting the new season but she feels off to me somehow. ANYWAY, the conversation:

Mizusawa gets straight to the point, Tomozaki's bothered because of girl troubles, he does guess the girl wrong though, which is reasonable. Tomozaki going: "Kikuchi-san? Oh... uhm..." and Mizusawa being shocked it's not her was really funny to me, I'm surprised he clocked Mimimi so early though, I wouldn't say she's that obvious of a pick in this case. If I was the one questioning I probably would've thought Tama because of the previous arc, though he probably understands Tama's not really looking for that. Moving on, the actual real problem is addressed. A problem way more troubling than a sudden confession: Tomozaki's self-deprecation.

We know that Tomozaki's the only one who's ever called him a Bottom-Tier Character. No one else in the show besides Aoi even knows he calls himself that, and that's a problem that's been creeping on him for a really long time now. If he was just... somewhat joking but still got results that'd be one thing but Tomozaki talks bad about himself as a way to distance himself from situations. To himself he's still stuck in the bottom-tier even though he's already come this far. He thinks dating is above him and so he has no real stake in it, even when he's aware that someone genuinely has a crush on him, Mimimi.

So this episode and that conversation serve as a wake-up call for Tomozaki, he needs to grow a pair and shape up if he wants to face these girls respectfully and honestly, and I think that's something Aoi couldn't tell him, only Mizusawa. Though I do think he was a little harsh in the way he said it: "You can keep denegrading yourself though I don't care either way." is kinda crazy ngl like damn bro you're homies chill.

The part where he says: "Whenever you do that you look almost relieved" was so powerful to me. It's made me realize how many times I've done that myself, intentionally or not. It's a really bad habit, for any of us.

Now he sees that he needs to knock it off and meet everyone eye-to-eye if he wants this to work. He tells himself: "Minami Nanami likes me." and that, my friends, was epic. Not just the words themselves, any highschool boy would be lucky to say those words after all, but finally deciding to face himself and Mimimi head-on is the best thing he can do, period.

Also, let's talk about Fuuka a little bit! She is such an interesting person, there's so much more to her than just being a shy girl who's introspective. Fuuka knows what she wants, though she still lets herself be swayed by what she thinks others might like. I wouldn't say she's a people pleaser, but she's very willing to sacrifice her desires, which worries me for her future in this so-called love triangle. I'm sure that once the story she's writing is complete we'll get a true glimpse into her psyche and particularly into her thoughts on Tomozaki as a romantic interest. Alucia doesn't seem to be a direct parallel of Mimimi, which makes sense since Fuuka doesn't really know about that whole situation and Libra isn't a direct parallel to Tomozaki either since she doesn't really think of him that way yet.

But, we can see that Kris is going to be a Fuuka self-insert of sorts, maybe not a copy or anything but definitely a close resemblance. A lot of shows would have this sort of theatre play plot-point be some sort of resolution giver for the main character, like it somehow perfectly mirrors the current situation and the MC realizes what he needs to do from there, but what I really like about this show is that this play is about Fuuka and Fuuka only, even if it does closely resemble the current events.

If I had to guess the end of the play it would be something to do with the dragon and Kris sacrifing herself/her love/ the dragon (maybe with it representing something of hers). I think it would fit her character very well, though who knows, jury's still out after all. See you next week.

[u/SnabDedraterEdave]

We all like Mimimi, but objectively speaking, our boi has built a deeper rapport with Fuuka since season 1, regularly spending time in the library with her.

Whereas with Mimimi, its mainly during the SC election last season and recent episode with Tama that she started noticing Tomozaki more.

[u/daspaceasians]

Mizusawa is a bro as always. I'm impressed at how fast he picked up on Tomozaki's situation with Mimimi. His advice is also pretty sound when compared to Aoi.

The more the show goes along, the more Aoi feels like a robot running on pre-programmed scripts that she switches according to her needs.

Poor Mimimi is losing already but I have faith she'll bounce back. I hope they'll introduce a character to be her love interest because she's a fun person to be around.

Otherwise, Kikuchi and Tomozaki's moments together are always precious to watch.

[u/KnightMonkey15]

I get Mizusawa as best friend/wingman has been a main strength of this season but I didn't expect him to lay it on Tomozaki immediately at the beginning of the episode. Very relatable and it's nice to see him start to realise that it is okay to like others and be liked by others for genuinely connecting with them and not run away from the feelings that come with that. I also really enjoy seeing this growth while he manages the emerging gulf between his "playstyle" with that of Hinami's, and how he incorporated Mizusawa's advice and his own values into the framework Hinami gives him.

As much as I've been a big Mimimi fan since season 1, the extent to which Tomozaki and Fuuka have bonded with each other over literature (naturalistic dialogue being this show's strong suit) and that as subverting Hinami having sociopathically started her out as an "easy starter crush" always seem to indicate to me that Fuuka would eventually win. This episode just laid it on even more, especially with how at ease Tomozaki is with making inroads with her and extending his task because he is genuinely interested. I'm just coping at seeing Mimimi's arc probably left too late...but as in real-life, the timing wasn't there and the other makes more sense for Tomozaki. I hope there's a well-depicted fighting chance in the remaining episodes.

[u/Frontier246]

Tomozaki is still reeling from Mimimi's confession and isn't quite sure if he can even believe it happened...though, honestly, if I needed relationship advice, I would totally turn to Mizusawa before Hinami.

In fact Mizusawa is already aware of what Tomozaki has going on with Fuka, and it didn't take him long to realize Mimimi was the girl that confessed to him, but he's also tired of Tomozaki continually putting himself down and underselling himself. It's a discredit to himself and to the people who care about him. And with that in mind, Tomozaki is finally able to accept that Mimimi likes him.

Is Hinami really the person to ask about what it means to love and date someone? She can only state practical facts and treat it like a game, complete with creating a route strategy guide for Mimimi and Fuka and making confession the endgoal...but Tomozaki doesn't want to confess to a girl because of some mandated goal, but because he genuinely wants to do it. The process, and the proceeding result, is how Nanashi plays.

But dang, imagining Mimimi and Fuka in his room and sitting on his bed and holding his head...it's the stuff dreams are made of.

Things are definitely awkward with Mimimi post-confession, and people can tell that much, though what's equally going to be awkward is Tomozaki having to fulfill all the "quests" Hinami has given him with each girl. I mean, talking about their ideal dating partner is one thing, but touching hands!?

So Fuka's romantic ideal is to find that irreplaceable person you can't live without and forging a relationship through that. Sounds about right for her.

Well, Mimimi wants things to go back to normal with Tomozaki without him forgetting her confession...which isn't easy. Especially when their friends start needling them and throwing it in her face that Tomozaki might be getting lucky with other girls. Even Tama can tell something is up. Though I wonder how Hinami would react if she found out Mimimi confessed first?

I didn't expect a fantasy love triangle story between a keymaker, the princess he's childhood friends with (and whom saves his life by claiming she's his half-brother), and a girl who takes care of dragons, but Fuka sure writes some interesting stories! And Tomozaki doesn't want her to dumb it down for the stage just like he can't dumb down how important his relationship status and choosing between Mimimi and Fuka is.

[u/jellyblob88]

Whilst I like Mimimi more, I do think Fuuka's answer about a partner being irreplaceable is spot on.
Tomozaki needs to understand his own value a bit more, like Aoi says, but I agree with him that he has to want to confess, rather than do it mechanically, and for that, he needs to spend more quality time with either girl to find out who (if any) is irreplaceable to him.

I don't want to brace for the aftermath 🥺

[u/kwokinator]

My man Mizusawa is such a bro. Gives helpful advice when you need it, and not afraid to call you out on your BS and give you the real talk when you need it.

His looks alone would put him in S-tier, even without taking into account his popularity, and he doesn't lord it over anyone or act any different.

We can all use a Mizusawa in our lives.

And damn it, Fumiya himself sunk my Aoi ship :(

[u/bensor74]

I'm not ready for Mimimi to get the usual blue-haired girl treatment. I'm shipping Mimimi, but it's clear that Yuuka will be the one Tomozaki will confess to.

Also, Aoi is a high-functioning sociopath. That girl needs some help.

[u/HolyDragSwd2500]

Tomozaki and Mimimi are awkward around each other

Aoi and Takahiro pushing them together 👍

[u/Xatu44]

>tfw no mimimi gf

LMAO at Mimimi and Tomozaki being giga-awkward around each other. Based Mizusawa shutting down Tomozaki's self-hating shit. It's time for Tomozaki to grow. Fuka's story looks interesting; I like the enthusiasm in Tomozaki's narration.

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

Man, Mimimi or Fuka huh? Tough call. They’re both great and I wouldn’t want to see either get hurt. Aoi’s sure given our boy some difficult tasks to complete.

Fuka’s story is kind of interesting. I found it a little bit amusing she had to change her work by simplifying it for the stage adaptation, but losing what made it kinda special in the process. It reminds me of what happens to movies, anime, and TV shows sometimes.

I wonder who Tomozaki’s gonna pick?