No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!

Plot

Fifteen-year-old Tomoko Kuroki believed that she would become popular upon entering high school because she had become well-versed in the world of otome games. In reality, she finds that she has become an unsociable loner and she is forced to take a long hard look at herself for the first time in years. The story follows Tomoko as she attempts to improve her social status as she progresses through high school.

Main characters

Tomoko Kuroki (黒木 智子, Kuroki Tomoko)

Voiced by: Izumi Kitta (Japanese); Monica Rial (English) The main character. Tomoko is often depicted as a desperate, lonely, and deranged girl who is characterized by her social anxiety, vivid facial expressions, and bags under her eyes. She has a grim outlook on life, as most of her thoughts involve insulting others or herself. She spends most of her days playing otome games and browsing the web.

Yū Naruse (成瀬 優, Naruse Yū)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese); Emily Neves (English) Yū is Tomoko's best and possibly only friend. Initially a dorky-looking girl, she enters high school with newfound blonde hair and large breasts (much to Tomoko's jealousy). Despite her radical makeover and having a boyfriend, who she later breaks up with, she still regards Tomoko as her best friend. She is the star of the 4-panel spin-off manga.

Tomoki Kuroki (黒木 智貴, Kuroki Tomoki)

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura (Japanese); David Matranga (English) Tomoko's gloomy younger brother. He is often annoyed by her odd behavior, and sometimes gets into fights with her. Because he has friends and is a talented soccer player, Tomoko occasionally intrudes upon his room for advice.

Family members

Kii (きーちゃん, Kī-chan) / Kiko (希心)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese); Juliet Simmons (English) Tomoko's little cousin who has just entered middle school. Initially looking up to Tomoko as a big sister, she later begins to pity her after she realizes she lies just to impress her.

Tomoko's mother (智子の母親, Tomoko no Hahaoya)

Voiced by: Risa Hayamizu (Japanese); Shelley Calene-Black (English) Tomoko and Tomoki's mother, who is often concerned about her daughter's well-being.

School

Kotomi Komiyama (小宮山 琴美, Komiyama Kotomi)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (Japanese) Tomoko and Yuu's classmate in middle school, who first appears in the spin-off manga and is later revealed to be attending Tomoko's high school. She and Tomoko outright dislike one another, only pretending to get along when Yuu is around. She has a crush on Tomoki, but his relation to Tomoko has more or less defeated her feelings.

Megumi Imae (今江 恵美, Imae Megumi)

Voiced by: Ai Nonaka (Japanese); Juliet Simmons (English) The kind-hearted student council president at Tomoko's school, who has shown the most amount of affection towards Tomoko.

Yoshida (吉田)

Tomoko's classmate who has a scary appearance and is often referred to as a delinquent by Tomoko. She often acts violent towards Tomoko when she goes too far, but also likes cute things.

Yuri Tamura (田村 ゆり, Tamura Yuri)

Tomoko's classmate who is often seen with Yoshida and is quite polite.

Mako (真子)

Tomoko's classmate and Yuri's best friend.

Hina Nemoto (根元 陽菜, Nemoto Hina)

Voiced by: Yuko Kurose (Japanese) Tomoko's classmate who secretly wants to become a voice actress.

Ucchi (うっちー, Utchī)

Tomoko's classmate who becomes increasingly conscious of Tomoko's behavior, leaning towards an obsession with her.

Akari Iguchi (井口 朱里, Iguchi Akari)

A girl in Tomoko's school who is in love with Tomoki, but constantly has her reputation bashed by Tomoko.

Ogino (荻野, Ogino)

Tomoko's eccentric homeroom teacher who often encourages her to make friends, much to her chagrin.

Manga

Written by Nico Tanigawa, WataMote began serialization on Square Enix's Gangan Comics Online service from August 4, 2011. The first tankōbon volume was released on January 21, 2012, with 5 volumes and an official fan book released as of September 21, 2013. An anthology was released on June 22, 2013. The second volume, released on May 22, 2012, ranked #10 in the Oricon charts in its opening week. As of July 2013, the series has printed over 1.5 million copies. The manga gained popularity overseas after fan translations of the series were posted on the English speaking imageboard 4chan, the Western equivalent of Japan's Futaba Channel. Yen Press has licensed the manga in North America and the UK and began releasing the series from October 29, 2013. A spin-off 4-panel manga series, Watashi no Tomodachi ga Motenai no wa Dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui. (私の友達がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い。, lit. No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault My Friend's Not Popular.), known as TomoMote (トモモテ) for short, ran in Square Enix's Gangan Joker magazine between January 22, 2013 and July 22, 2015.

In the Yen Press English version, individual chapters are called "Fails" and are preceded with the title "I'm Not Popular, So".

Anime

A television anime adaptation of the manga by Silver Link aired in Japan between July 8 and September 23, 2013 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The series is directed by Shin Oonuma and written by Takao Yoshioka, with character design by Hideki Furukawa. An original video animation episode was released with the seventh manga volume on October 22, 2014. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series in North America and released it on Blu-ray and DVD on August 26, 2014.

The opening theme is "Watashi ga Motenai no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!" (私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い!, "No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!") by Konomi Suzuki and Kiba of Akiba, which reached #43 on the Japan Hot 100. The main ending theme, featured in all but four episodes, is "Dō Kangaetemo Watashi wa Warukunai" (どう考えても私は悪くない, "No Matter How I Look At It, It's Not My Fault") by Izumi Kitta. It charted at #79 in Japan. The ending themes for episodes two and five are "Musō Renka" (夢想恋歌, Dream Love Song) and "Yoru no Tobari yo Sayōnara" (夜のとばりよ さようなら, Farewell, Veil of Darkness) respectively, both performed by Velvet,Kodhy. The ending theme for episode six is "Natsu Matsuri" (夏祭り, Summer Festival) by Utsu-P & Toka Minatsuki, featuring vocals by Hatsune Miku (a cover of the original 1990 hit song by Jitterin' Jinn). The ending theme for episode eleven in "Sokora no Chaku-Gurumi no Fūsen to Watashi" (そこらの着ぐるみの風船と私, Me and the Balloon I Got from the Costumed Person) by Velvet,Kodhy and µ.

Reception

WataMote has been the subject of much discussion and debate, particularly in its treatment of social anxiety and the main character Tomoko. Many have debated if the series is a comedy or a study of neurosis with many varying opinions on whether the subject matter is supposed to be humorous or not. Still, the anime adaptation has been highly praised by most websites, with much praise directed towards the main character Tomoko along with Izumi Kitta's portrayal of her. Among the most praised aspects of the series, the opening title sequence has received unanimous praise for its opening song, visuals, and how well it represents Tomoko's loneliness, frustration, and intense social anxiety.

Kotaku contributor and anime critic Richard Eisenbeis gave the series an extremely negative review, describing the show as being the "most mean-spirited" anime that he had ever viewed as a critic and fan. Eisenbeis criticized the shows main source of humor, the protagonist's social anxiety disorder, as being demeaning to the mentally ill as low-brow.

AnimeNewsNetwork review on the other hand compared series to other well-known series dealing with subject of social misfits, such as Welcome to the NHK and Genshiken, while noting that subject is also topic of many other anime series. Furthermore Tomoko is portrayed as complete anti-moe character, since she is angry and vengeful instead of typical cheery moe girl who just happens to be socially clumsy. Review praises series for being insightful and straightforward with its subject of social maladjustment.