Title: No Matter How I Look at it, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular Vol. 6
Author: Nico Tanigawa
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 144
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Publication Date: January 20, 2015
The Story
Volume six of Watamote has a pretty big story arc with Tomoko and Komiyama having a bit of a rivalry. In Volume 5, I assumed that the issue between them was when Tomoko sneezed all over Komiyama; however, the issue was revealed to be when Yuu left Tomoko’s house one night leaving Komiyama behind. Komiyama inquired about her brother Tomoki, but couldn’t get the words out. Tomoko mistakenly assumed that she wanted to see her brother’s dick and went to get him. She then asked Tomoki to show it to her and she ended up getting embarrassed and fled. It wasn’t until later that Tomoko remembered who she was and since then, the two of them had a silent war with each other. In the end, though, Yuu looked to bring the two of them together and it seems like things are smoothing over between Tomoko and Komiyama. We’ll see if it lasts though.
Speaking of friendships, it appeared the Nemoto was getting a little bit friendlier with Tomoko when she let her borrow some of her lip gloss. Nemoto and some classmates went to the restroom together so Tomoko decided to follow along. It was there she heard Nemoto mention that she didn’t really like the lip gloss and she was just trying to get rid of it as fast as possible.
Characters
The biggest development here is with Tomoko. Even though it was in a rivalry, Komiyama really broke her out of her shell. Not only did Tomoko speak normally to Komiyama, she downright got pissed and yelled at her! I don’t think I’ve seen Tomoko yell at anyone aside from her brother. She usually has thoughts of yelling at people or thoughts of putting them down, but she never actually went through with it. How much did Komiyama bother her to where she could have a public outburst like that? Even though the situation was a bit rough, it is progression if Tomoko can do something like that.
Komiyama, on the other hand, doesn’t seem like a bad person, either, but her attitude all stems from the incident at Tomoko’s house many years ago. It made her into a bitter person and even that was reflected when someone tried to return a book they borrowed from the library to Komiyama when they were both outside of school. Hopefully we’ll get to see what the real Komiyama is like now that things have (assumedly) settled down between her and Tomoko.
Final Thoughts
Even though I’m sure it’s not going to last, I really enjoyed Tomoko’s newfound attitude. It seems her shyness is really selective as she can turn it off like a switch when she’s around people she knows. It’s still teasing what we’re all waiting for… that one big moment where Tomoko ends up with a true friend that breaks her out of her shell.
With so much time devoted to Komiyama, I’m sure her addition to the character list is going to be a permanent one. Her backstory was rather simple, but with a series like Watamote, there doesn’t need to be a lot of depth to it. The fact that they all knew each other in middle school was enough to explain her appearance. Yuu is going to end up becoming the common thread between them and I can only see these two doing activities together if Yuu is there with them, otherwise, they’ll probably do everything in their power to avoid each other… for now, at least.
That final chapter, though… I wonder if that wish will come true for Tomoko? Hmm..
All in all, another great volume from what has been a wonderful series! The new approach of tuning down the crude comedy (which is still in there, by the way) in favor of fleshing out the characters and giving them more personality is really paying off! I’m at a point in this series where it has extended beyond the anime so I’m in completely new territory here and the more I read, the more I want a season two.. or three.. or four… or… you get my point!
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