I’m a sucker for rom-coms so when I read the premise for Tomo-chan is a Girl (Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!), I thought that it would be worth checking out. I love tomboy characters to death so when I saw that this story involved one, it really sparked my interest but… because it is my favorite character archetype, I’m going to be holding this one under a microscope. Does it pass the test?
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
Tomo loves her childhood friend Jun. She ends up confessing her love to him but there’s one little problem… Jun doesn’t see her as a girl. Instead, he thinks of her as his best buddy and even treats her as such… from slapping her on the ass to tickling her sides, he thinks that he’s teasing his best friend in a way that boys would tease each other. This causes Tomo to become both flustered and frustrated. All she wants to do is have Jun (or anyone) recognize her as a girl.
To make matters worse, she also takes karate and trains at her father’s dojo. Her father even treats her like a son and even encourages her to fight. When she comes home with a scuff mark on her cheek, he wants to know what happened. When she tells him that she had a fight with Jun, his only response was to ask if she won! (HA!)
Things take a turn when Misaki, the head of her karate school, points out her charms as a girl. Misaki is in love with Tomo but she confuses his compliments and is just excited that someone… ANYONE… recognizes her as a girl. This causes two girls who have a crush on Misaki to become jealous so they call her out at school… except Tomo is super brash and very intimidating. The girls end up apologizing and when they explain the situation, Tomo misunderstands it and thinks they are coming to her for love advice which is, weirdly, one of Tomo’s dreams. With that, our first episode comes to an end.
Worth Watching?
YES! – So, I asked if Tomo passes my tomboy test. She sort of does and doesn’t. While I do like the boyish side of her, I think she’s a bit TOO aggressive. I’m typically not a fan of screaming loud comedy but this one works because it’s only one character doing the screaming. If all the characters were just yelling at each other, I would have probably dropped this but since it’s just Tomo, I can deal with it.
So, why did I give this a YES instead of a MAYBE? Because the comedy carries the show and all of the other characters prop up the faults and fill in the gaps nicely. Jun being oblivious can wear out fast but I do like his half-serious/half-playful attitude. Misuzu is just your typical monotone serious character but there’s something about her that seems a little different. She’s not as flat as her voice leads her to believe and, so far, she’s actually my favorite character in the show. That’s a bold statement to make after just one episode.
While Tomo is too rough for my complete liking, I still like her as a character. She does have her cute moments and all of that is accented by a great supporting cast. Even with the flaws, I really enjoyed the first episode and it’s something I most definitely will continue watching!
