Watamote: Complete Collection [Blu-ray] [2013] [US Import]

NOTE: This is now updated with a review of the English dub, MVM UK release, and region coding. Originally done July 13th 2014. Updated July 19th 2014. Second Update August 31st.It's rare to come across a series that can let the viewer easily relate to the main character emotionally. There are plenty of shows out there that have let people do just that, and there has been both good, and negative, feedback. Watamote is a show that is deep, and emotional in a way that a lot of anime fans can relate to. Also it's a pretty a funny series that lightens things up a bit.STORYOur story revolves around an unpopular, geeky, girl called Tomoko, who wants to become popular in her new high school. She has had fifty years of dating experience and has dated over one hundred guy's, but her experience is only from playing video games. She suffers from social anxiety, and has trouble talking to people outside her own family. Her goal is to become popular within her high school, or at least be noticed by someone. That's pretty much the basics of the plot for this series, as it is very episodic. This means that each episode has it's own separate story/event, and very little is carried over to other episodes. Kind of like you're standard comedy series. This is part of where being able to relate to Tomoko comes in, as some people have probably tried similar things like altering your appearance. Most of being able to relate to her comes from the character her self, but the fact that she spends most of the series being a lone, as well as doing things that puts her in an awkward situation, can have an impact on some people. Saying that it could impact on you in both good and bad ways, depending on how you take it. Honestly, when I watched it there were times when I didn't know whether I should laugh or not. But I still found the show repeatable. Some people say that the show is making fun of Tomoko because of her situation, but I think the show is just showing the lighter side, in some way, of people in this situation, or something to those extents. It's not making fun of her its giving us an insight to people like her. This might be a good time to say that Watamote is a slice of life comedy, but it's one with dark humor to it. This is surprising since the director of the series is Shin Ōnuma (Baka and Test), and the writer is Takao Yoshioka (Elfen Lied, The Familiar of Zero, and Highschool DxD). Don't let the people who have worked on this show fool you, as the end result of the show is surprising. Another thing I will mention now is that the ending episode feels a bit anti-climatic for a final episode of a season, so I hope more will come out soon. It would be a shame if there wasn't any more, as this is a series that deserves to have more.CHARACTERSSince the whole show is focused around Tomoko, and how she sees things, various characters are either pushed to one side, or only appear once. Normally this would be bad for a show to do, but because of how Tomoko is it is done in a way that is understandable for the show. For example; if Tomoko chooses not to interact with people and does something else instead then it's understandable that we don't see those characters, or learn more about them. I will only talk about three characters since they are the most important to the series, and they are introduced within the first two episodes. First we have the main character, Tomoko Kuroki, who, like I said above, suffers from social anxiety and finds it hard to talk to people outside of her own family. She provides a bit of narration for the audience in order to get her views across, but does spent some time not exactly talking. Just thinking. Again, this isn't bad as we get to see how her problems affect her way thinking, as well as how she acts. She's a kind of character that you just want to give a hug. Next is Tomoko's younger brother, Tomoki Kuroki, who is a quiet boy, but easily get's irritated when his sister try's to talk to him. So, I guess you could say he's the average brother. Finally we have Tomoko's best friend from middle school, Yū Naruse, who was once a dorky looking girl, like Tomoko, but changed her appearance in order to fit in around her highschool. As you can see there isn't much I can say about the two other characters, but they do have significant roles to play in the series, as well as how they have an impact on Tomoko.ANIMATION & SOUNDThe animation is done by the company Silver Link, who also did the animation for Baka and Test. Now, if you've watched Baka and Test then you'll easily notice certain styles that have been carried over to this series, though some of these might also be the director's style. Such as the side/unimportant characters, that randomly stand around, have no faces. There are other things they do that brings out just how good this show looks, while also taking a psychological route on how Tomoko handles certain situations. But where things stand out there are things that aren't as pleasing; such as the animation for the most of the show is basic, and other times simple. So just think of how an average anime looks, because the budget for this is about average. But there are plenty of moments where it does stand out; mostly with the opening title sequence as it conveys Tomoko's anxiety, and her wanting to break free from the chains that hold her down. Even the songs lyrics is about Tomoko and her social anxiety. The way the opening is handled is brilliant, and it is one of my favorite anime openings. Even the ending is interesting to watch, mostly because of the lyrics and because it's humorous to watch. There's also different endings for some episodes which includes a new song; one of which is a song by Hatsune Miku. There are also some good backgrounds that has a way of occasionally contrasting well with both the light, and dark humor of the show. Light areas suit the tones of light humor, where as the dark areas suit the shows darker tones of humor. There's quite a bit in this show that you can easily compare to others, like Baka and Test. There are also things that you might miss the first time you watch it. Such as a certain Death Note reference in the first episode, as well as many others throughout the series. The Japanese dub for this series is pretty good. Normally I watch things dubbed, as I prefer to watch things in a language I understand, but this Japanese dub is one of the better ones I've watched out of the few. The best performance is obviously from the women who plays Tomoko, Izumi Kitta, as the way she is able to switch from being depressed, to scared, happy, and depressed again, brings Tomoko to life. In fact it's partly because of her voice that I enjoyed the series so much the first time round, as she really made me feel sorry for Tomoko. Apart from that I can't really say much else apart from the voices suiting the characters, and it's a pretty good Japanese dub. Now for the English dub. Is it good or bad? Well, it's actually on-par with the Japanese dub. Both dub's have they're up's and down's, but the voice that stands out the most is Tomoko's in both. In fact, when I watched it the second time I still had the same feelings when I re-watched it in English and the voices didn't bother me. Some lines are delivered a little bit differently, but still have the same impact. We have Monica Rial (May in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Bulma in Dragon Ball Z Kai and Battle of God's, as well as Houki in Infinite Stratos) as Tomoko, and she provides a performance that is just as good as Izumi Kitta's. Next is David Matranga (Tomoya Okazaki in Clannad, Ookami in Wolf Children, and Bertholdt Hoover in Attack on Titan) as Tomoko's little brother, Tomoki. Emily Neves (Kotomi Ichinose in Clannad, and Mana in Journey to Agartha) is Yū Naruse. There is also plenty of decent new supporting actor's and actresses, as well as ongoing ones, like Shelley Calene-Black (Kyou Fujibayashi in Clannad, Mariko Jin'nôchi in Summer Wars, and Miranda in Fullmetal Alchemist The Sacred Star of Milos), Margaret McDonald (Aya Ayano in Another, and Miho Nishizumi in Girls und Panzer), and special guest appearance's from Greg Ayres (Kaworu Nagisa in Neon Genesis Evangelion Director's Cut Episodes, Kensuke Aida in the new Evangelion movies, Youhei Sunohara in Clannad, Guldo in Dragon Ball Z Kai, Kouta Tsuchiya in Baka and Test, and Tomoki Sakurai in Heaven's Lost Property).OVERALLThis is a show that you can easily enjoy as long as you are able to relate to Tomoko. If you have, or are, suffering from social anxiety then you might enjoy this, as it has the power of bringing a smile to your face, or something else. You will either like it for what it is, or you will hate it. If you aren't able to relate to Tomoko, or if don't understand her situation, then this might seem like another stupid anime to some people. It's something you will either like or hate. This is a show that you can easily hold close to you on a personal level, and can easily relate to. For that reason I give this a recommendation to buy. However, I also recommend to some people-mostly the people who can't relate to Tomoko, can't relate to her situation, or are not too keen on dark humor-to rent this rather than buy. Even though I recommend a buy I do say that some people should look at the first few episodes first, or the entire series, before buying. I also recommend to people who know people who do have social anxiety, or have something similar, to show this to them. They might like the idea of it. I also recommend to read the original manga, as it's just as relatable as the anime even though it's humor is not as dark as the anime's. But it's still worth the read. At the moment the series can only be watched online with english subtitles, but Sentai Filmworks has licensed it for a DVD/Blu-ray release with an English dub. The English dub has been available on the Anime Network as of July 11th. MVM announced a while ago that they had gotten the licence to distribute it in the UK, and have just announced that they will be releasing it on Blu-ray on December 15th and it's full price is £25.99, which is a lot cheaper than the US version at the moment. The US Blu-ray has been confirmed to be region free, confirmed by AnimeBlurayUK, despite it say's otherwise on the back of the box.

No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! (or just "WataMote" for short) follows 15-year-old Tomoko Kuroki (Izumi Kitta), a girl starting her first year of high school. She is excited to experience high school and all of the experiences that anime and video games have taught her about it. Unfortunately for her, she finds out that high school is nothing like the media that she consumes. Worse, she is also desperately lonely, shy, awkward, and unattractive to the boys around her. Not willing to just let her first year of high school go by, she tries to concoct various schemes to make herself more popular around school.Based on the manga series of the same name, WataMote originally aired in 2013. WataMote is a comedy series with a heavy focus on the awkward behavior of its main character and the often hilarious results of her decisions.The art style in this anime is a fairly standard anime style which does not really stand out too much. It certainly works well to tell the story that it needs to.I thought that the soundwork in this series was quite good. This includes both the opening and ending theme songs. I do want to give a special mention to the main voice actress Izumi Kitta, who voices Tomoko. I thought that the work she did for the main character was truly superb and excellently imbued the character with the large variety of emotions that she goes through especially with her awkward moments such as when she gets extremely nervous trying to talk to people. It really is a joy to listen to this work even if one does not speak Japanese. As for the English dub, I thought that Monica Rial did a good job as Tomoko especially with her sometimes angry outbursts.The main story of this series is enjoyable. While at its heart the series is a comedic look at someone with awkward behavior, it also sometimes feels like a serious look at someone who has difficulty fitting in. To be sure, there are many laughs to be had while watching this series, but it is nearly impossible not to feel empathy for Tomoko as well. I am sure that many people have, at one time or another, been in a situation where one is trying to figure out how to act and perhaps did or said something silly. In that respect, there is a certain amount of relatability to have with the main character and her struggles, even if they are usually quite exaggerated for comedic effect.This Blu-ray set is pretty light on the content aside from the series itself. You get the full twelve episode series with the option to watch in either the original Japanese soundtrack or the English dub done by Sentai Filmworks. Aside from some text-free opening and ending sequences, there are no real bonus features to speak of which is a bit of a disappointment.Overall, I found this series to be a funny and entertaining look at a social outcast starting high school. Those that like comedic anime will probably like this.

As described, and fast shipping. Enjoyable!

この「私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い」と言うアニメは、私が一番好きなアニメです！これは全くの私見ですが、今の時代に雨後の筍のように量産される、「可愛くて性格の良い女の子が５～６人徒党を組んで、バンドをやったりアイドルになったり変身して悪と戦う！」と言うアニメがどうしても面白いと感じず、本作のように、まるでそれらのアニメに喧嘩を売るようなコンセプトのこの作品が、非常に面白いと思います。このアニメを見た実在の女子高生が、「こんな女子高生いない！　実際に見た事ない！！」と言ったそうですが、私に言わせれば「エヴァンゲリオン」や「宮崎アニメ」の女の子の方こそ、よっぽど見た事がありません。尤も原作の漫画版はその後ネタ切れになったらしく、それこそ上記の様な女の子が徒党を組むような漫画に路線変更したようですが、それだけに、初期の「ぼっち漫画」だった頃のみをアニメ化した本作品が、非常にいとおしいです。笑いたければ笑うがいいさ。黒木智子は私にとって理想の女性です！！

どうしても見たかったので安価な海外版を購入。1～12話、op,edノンクレジットありました。ova？はなし。（5話のedが個人的に好き）初期はかなりキツイ内容だがアニメ化することでリアリティが増して尚よい。漫画より弟が優しく感じる、次回予告の姉弟絡みも好き。PS5での動作確認できました。ワタモテ好きには是非。

This is a short series about a 15 year old girl named Tomoko, who desperately wants attention but has crippling social anxiety. That's the plot. Now, it may seem wrong for the show to make fun of someone with social anxiety, but the great balance here is that it's never mean-spirited. Tomoko is a realisticly flawed character with bad luck, that JUST SO HAPPENS to have said anxiety. It's a great catharthis, to look back on our awkward teens in a much more objective, and funny, light. The entire show is from Tomoko's perspective, and despite Tomoko's lack of redeeming traits, she's incredibly relatable, and one of the most convincingly human characters I've ever seen. We watch through her thoughts and her very real insecurities. Tomoko just wants to sit in her room and consume media all day, but we also here her questions of, "Is this normal to not have anybody to see?" Furthermore, nobody's put to "get" Tomoko. She simply isn't noticed. But, being a selfish bratty teenager we all were, she doesn't perceive the world as such. The brilliance of this show's humor is that we rarely laugh at the world or the characters. Rather, Tomoko becomes an allegory for ourself, so instead this show is one big nostalgia trip mixed with very dark humor to bring comedic brilliance. If you're looking for intelligent humor and are tired of puns, flashy visuals or vulgarity to create cheap jokes, this is the anime you want.Packaging/Presentation: 7/10The packaging for the Blu-ray disc is quite nice actually, and deserves a 10/10, but the menus are so hopelessly plain and lacking of features. There's no marathon mode, meaning every episode must be manually selected, and the menu is just a still image.Music: 8/10 Nothing irratating, and the tracks can get repetetive, but there are several stand outs, such as the ending tracks, the opening, and a couple of others. It's not going to get you to purchase a CD, but it does its job.Characters: 10/10 This is the show's shining point. While there are few characters besides Tomoko, Tomoko is one the best fictional characters I've ever seen. It's a bit scary how accurate the portrayal of a anxious, sexually starved teenager is. Also, interactions with Tomoko and her brother Tomoki are quite hilarious.Voice acting/Dub: 9/10 Monica Rial, who actually plays Bulma in DragonBall Z, Battle of Gods, does an incredible job with Tomoko. She clearly enjoyed doind the dub quite a lot, as energy, tone and voice ranges fit the character perfectly. Another great thing about the english dub is they ab-libbed quite a lot of humor, so you can actually watch the show twice and get two different styles of humor.Animation: 7/10 Nothing is particularly ugly, but the visuals can be quite bland. Outside of incredible facial expressions for Tomoko not much else is going on here.Overall: 41/50A very, very enjoyable show that's well paced, slickly presented and thoughtfully written, if you enjoy dark comedy as well as some sexual humor, this show is a must-watch.One last thing to note; the TV- MA rating comes with a lot of negative connotations, and I'll explain why it got that. Yes, there is language, but not enough for a typical MA rating. It's slightly less strong than FMA: Brotherhood, so if you can deal with that then this language won't bother you. This is also NO F drops in the english dub whatsoever, which is important to note. The rating comes from the dark and sexual aspects of the humor. Tomoko is very depressed and VERY perverted, so while there is no uncensored nudity, there are many jokes about both male and female genitalia, rape, abuse, incest, fetishes, bisexuality and pedophilia. If this type of humor bothers you, than do not watch this show; but otherwise while it is quite edgy, the show doesn't try to be overtly crass when it comes to sexuality.