Watamote: Complete Collection [Blu-ray]

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.

- Synopsis: Our unlikely protagonist of the story is an extremely introverted individual. While she has no problems winning guys over in dating games, she finds out the hard way that reality is much different. Even with basic greetings to others, she has extreme difficulty in maintaining a normal conversation. More than not, she's awkward to the point of being cringe-worthy due to her behavior. Tune in to see the struggles of this protagonist in this whacky anime. ======================================================================================================== - Comments: A very unique anime that emphasizes a not-so-perfect protagonist. There's plenty of sexual innuendo and other fan-service. Although no nudity is present, this should be kept in mind for viewers that dislike fan-service/crude humor. There's nothing plot-heavy about this, but the antics of the protagonist helps keep the viewer engaged due to her drama and exaggerations. The dialogue is also amusing. This is more extreme, but I can relate to the similar situations, being an introvert myself. - Analysis: Regarding introverts and extroverts; there's nothing wrong being one or the other. One tends to be a thinker, rather than a talker. The other tends to be a social butterfly. However, the main issue is being severely introverted or extroverted. In this case, our protagonist suffers from the first category. Since she has such a difficult time socializing with others, this is actually a huge disadvantage considering that life heavily-revolves around communicating and socializing with others. Granted she still is young, life is going to be even harsher if she cannot hold a normal conversation with people outside her family. Moreover, this reminds me of the struggles of people trying to enter the workforce when they have no experience: They need a job to get work experience, but nobody wants to hire them because they have no work experience. This is similar to the protagonist because she recognizes she has an issue and is trying to improve. However, being socially inept and awkward as she is can ostracize her. Thus, making it even more difficult to practice her communication skills. Communication is not as easy as most people think, especially when engaging in conversations with strangers such as conversing with a hiring manager for a job interview. It takes mental preparation and much experience to pull it off naturally. Consider public speaking as an example. Well, at least she's trying her best...I think. - Features: English and Japanese audio with English subtitles. Includes 12 episodes on 3 DVDs. An approximate run-time of 5 hours and is rated TV-MA for language and sexual content/sexual innuendo. - Conclusion: A highly relatable anime to introverts that's full of silliness, dialogue, exaggerated or dramatic scenes, parodies, and other anime/manga references. This is a unique anime that showcases the painful experiences for at least some introverts. Although it is not plot-heavy, the protagonist will keep the viewer engaged with her various antics. Moreover, if the viewer finds this relatable, or is into crude humor in general, this whacky anime may be for you. ======================================================================================================== - Recommendations: Shimoneta, The World God Only Knows, Prison School, Shomin Sample, D-Frag!, The Kawai Complex Guide, Cat Planet Cuties, HyperDimension Neptunia, Charger Girl Juden-Chan, Binbougami ga!, Samurai Flamenco, Heaven's Lost Property, Level E, Haganai, Mayo Chiki!, Those Who Hunt Elves, Chobits, So, I Can't Play H!, Kenzen Robo Daimidaler, and Daphne in the Brilliant Blue.

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: 7/10 The 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: 41/50 A 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.

Amazing show. I watched this on Hidive Sentai Filmworks new streaming service, and I almost fell out of my chair laughing at it a few times. Heck I ordered this before I was half way done with watching the series on their streaming service. The 2 stars are from kiddos who watched it in fan subs who PGed it up for them. This is an MA ranked anime its why sales sucked in Japan for MA its really mild, and those 2 star kiddos complaining about the dubbs didn't realize even in Japanese this was full of vulgar mature content. If you can't relate to this you had a horrible lame childhood, to me this pulled heart strings at same time as made me laugh at the pain. I think most who gave this 5 stars had an awkward time in high school or at least freshman year. I mean I tried to reinvent myself like a dozen times in high school to fit in and failed miserably before my senior year where I gave up and was just me. So even though MC (Main character) is a female I could relate well. Add in my little sister was a selective mute who couldn't even order who own pop corn in high school so I got to be her big bro who doubled as her pal and voice in public, and yeah I could totally relate to this. To me it was like my freshman year, crossed with my little sisters, so it was amazing I had to buy this on the spot. This show is perfect for any one who was a former outcast or still is. Keep in mind not so good for kids or immature adults still an outcast. But as 30 year old outcast of sorts still I loved it, remind me of my youth, and kept laughing at the pain. I mean I was in bad place when I watched this it cheered me up a lot to remind how childish I was worrying about same crap as high schoolers, and laughing at that pain really is great medicine.

The series is five stars, especially if your a fan. My problems are thus, packaging and content (as if that is a surprise). Be careful when opening the case cause your disc might slide out. The set comes with three discs, two of which are on double sided holster. The holster is what slipped out, at least for me, so make sure your not standing when you open the case the first time. Second, the content, I don't know why Sentai Filmworks doesn't add extra content for their license but it's unfortunate. All you get are the twelve episodes, some trailers, and the intro and outro without credits. Wouldn't hurt to have commentary, bloopers, gallery, or something along that line. Oh, but here's a laugh, the main menu is just episode selection and the images used have copyright written over it. Don't know why, but it gave me a giggle. Lets see, paid $35 for the set though some sets with the same amount of content are sold for $60. So gives you different look on your purchases. It's a buy in my book.

I NEVER pay this much for anime, too expensive and .....so WORTH IT! Watamote is just, so relatable and funny! Great art! (no surprise there), and fun story about a girl who has .. delusions about being popular. I bought a copy really only because I panicked that one day it might sell out and I NEEDED to have it to watch anytime, because it is such a fun series. Not a fantasy, more like a slice of life type story, but that makes it more fun FIVE STARS!!

Watamote is one of those series that comes along every so often that hits on all fronts, artwork, music score, and plot! I loved this series, it was so funny, the jokes are both subtle and in your face. There are also so many other anime series that this particular show parodies, each one hilarious if you can match it to its original work. The basic premise of this story is that we follow a quite socially inept girl named Tomoko Koroki in her transition from middle school to high school. She has never been popular, in fact the exact opposite, but wants to try to become more socially outgoing. What I love about this series is so much of the dialog (some of which is inside Tomoko's own head) is extremely clever. You are kept on your toes with the sometimes quick humor, and the quickly changing situations. My only con about this series was the length, it seems like these little 12 series sets have been more and more common lately. On a positive note, this series wraps up well and doesn't leave you with any glaring questions about the plot, so it was very satisfying for me. There is some fanservice in this and some pretty crude humor, but no nudity so take that for what it's worth. This series is one that stands out for me, it's just a cut above some of the titles that I have seen lately. I highly recommend this series to fans of Haganai or Kokoro Connect, the humor is definitely on par with Haganai. Support the American anime market and pick this series up for a good laugh!

Although it may seem mean-spirited toward the Protagonist, the series is comedic has Tomoko struggles between her complacency and very anti-social attitude as a NEET and her desire to become more popular in her High School years. Voice acting in on Par with the Japanese audio, and the series is far more active than it looks, given it's a slice of life of a very non-active Teenager. Highly Recommended, This is one of the most well-known and popular animes to come out in recent years, and it garnered it's popularity thanks to American and other Western countries interested in the story of a young, unpopular Japanese Teenage Woman. Definitely purchase the Manga (Currently Vol 1-5 Available) published by Yen Press to get more out of it, and look forward to upcoming OVA in a few months!

仕様については、他の方のレビュー通りです。 内容についても、面白いの一言です。 さて、私が海外版ばかりを購入してる理由は、価格が安いからだけではありません。 英語吹き替えが楽しいからというのもあります。 視聴時は、英語字幕が基本で、日本語は表示させません。 繰り返し巻き戻すので、操作が楽なＰＣでの視聴です。 よく「映画で英語を覚えましょう」とのお薦めがありますが、楽しくなければ意味がありません。 また、非日常的な作品（ファンタジーなど）は、使わない言葉ばかりです。 さらに、会話シーンが少なければ、只の鑑賞になってしまいます。 その点この作品は、ある意味で会話（独り言）を隙間なく聞くことが出来ます（笑） むしろ、叩きつけてきます。 声優さんの熱演もあってほとんど聞き取れませんが、英語字幕のおかげで、こんな表現・言い回しをするのかと知ることが出来て面白いです。 今まで購入した海外版アニメの中でも、かなり英語を楽しめる作品でした。 受験勉強には役立ちませんがね（笑） 以上

As described, and fast shipping. Enjoyable!

I love the anime and the print in the discs is really pretty but this looks clearly used and it was poorly packaged, the bluray box came broken, the protective film is ripped and the paper of the cover looks a little damaged, price too high for low quality packaging, for this price i would expect collector's quality protection and a brand new item, not what i expected and im so sad

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。

Love watamote, nuff said.