Title: No Matter How I Look at it, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular Vol. 18
Author: Nico Tanigawa
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 144
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
The Story
Volume eighteen of Watamote picks up with everyone in Tomoki’s room after taking shelter from the rain. There, Akari, Sayaka, Yoshida, Tomoki, Tomoko, and Asuka are in there having a bit of banter over Tomoki’s penis and how it doesn’t react to anything. Yoshida is the odd girl out as she just ends up reading manga on Tomoki’s bed. Sayaka wonders, due to Tomoki’s non-erotic reactions, if he even keeps dirty stuff in his room so she causes a rather weak distraction and tries to search under his bed, only to find soccer magazines.
With that out of the way, Tomoko wants to dye her hair and ends up screwing it up. Naruse decides to pop by thinking that she could help out; however, Tomoko also got a call from Asuka who also decided to help. Right before Asuka showed up, Tomoko was busy using a lint roller to clean up excess hair and change into some nicer clothes to try and impress her. They get the job done and dye Tomoko’s hair silver but with there being a bit of dye leftover… she decides to sneak away to finish the job…. Down there. It doesn’t end well!
The bulk of the manga then turns to a summer training camp that Tomoko is taking in order to help her get into college. Naruse, at first, confides in Asuka that she’s also studying to get into the same school as Tomoko so the two of them can be together again (Awww!) Through a bond where one of Asuka’s old friends is one of Naruse’s the two bond and they end up studying together.
The training camp for Tomoko goes about as you would expect with a lot of awkward moments… including that one mandatory bathhouse scene because we always need a bathhouse scene. Towards the end, though, Asuka really tries to bond with Tomoko… by groping her chest and getting a nosebleed! She then lays her head on her lap to which Tomoko reacts with “Thank God I’m not a boy!” At that point, Asuka tells Tomoko that she can call her by her first name! (Awww!!!)
The volume ends with Tomoko wanting to try out being a YouTuber… or more specifically… a video game streamer. If you know the series, I’m sure you can already guess how that turns out!
Characters
There were a couple of nice developments here… both involving Tomoko and two others… those being Asuka and Naruse (I mean, I did give both of them Aww moments in the story section so it was pretty obvious who it would be!)
With Naruse, the fact that she wants to get into the same school as Tomoko is pretty cute. I guess being separated during high school finally got to her and she wanted to be around Tomoko some more. Plus, Naruse even mentions to Asuka just how different Tomoko acts around the two of them and how she gets jealous that only Asuka sees a different side of Tomoko than her. The fact that Asuka helps her study shows that the two of them are bonding with Tomoko as the common link between them.
As for Asuka, first, she offers to help dye Tomoko’s hair, and then, during training camp, she wants to find a way to joke around with Tomoko so she asks for advice. She texts Tomoko and invites her out to the lobby early in the morning where they take a walk together. She tries with some corny mustache joke with her hair and that’s when she goes full-on chest grope. After that, she tells Tomoko to call her by her first name which was sweet.
It’s really nice to see Tomoko getting so many friends. With the eventual move to college, I’m sure a lot of the ones she has now are going to disappear so the fact that a few of them are intentionally aiming for the same school as she is pretty cool.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was a pretty nice volume that seems to be setting up that final high school/college arc that has been building and building over the last several volumes. It’s getting clearer as to which characters will be going along for the ride but… what if… all of the ones who are now considering Tomoko a friend end up going and the cast doesn’t change?
Better yet… what if all of them do go and entering college is the finale of the series that shows that Tomoko has finally become popular and obtained all of the goals she set out to achieve since the very beginning? I’m starting to wonder if that is now the end goal of the series?
It’s fun to think about but I’m not even sure if the manga is coming to an end at any point, though. Still, despite the nice developments in this volume, it seems as if it’s still coasting along and while the college arc is still being set up, it has been this way for a while now to the point where I would wish Nico Tanigawa would just pull the trigger on it.
Drawn out or not, the situations Tomoko gets herself into are still pretty muted compared to the beginning of the series but there were a couple of moments in here that reminded me of the edgier themes the series had been known for which was pretty nice!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press.
