The supposed end of Kii-chan’s latest (but not the last, hopefully) visit is here, and in keeping true to the style of the series, we get a chapter full of introspection, emotional complexity, and at least one sex joke. Ain’t it grand?



Chapter 142: Because I’m Not Popular, Kii-chan Will Decide Her Future School



It may have just been incidental, but the fact that she sticks around has to count for something towards her growing relationship with her brother, right?

Or maybe she never watched because she just didn’t want to see Tomoki “score” with the female manager as she once so claimed.

While she could play off Komiyama and Akari’s crush on her brother as just them being sexual deviants, I’m sure Tomoko always knew in the back of her head that Tomoki was a ladies’ man. Makes me wonder if the dude is even aware of his own apparent popularity.

One thing that isn’t always noticed in Tomoko’s overall growth is that she’s a lot more proactive than passive when she gets surprised. Had this been her old self, I wouldn’t put it past Tomoko to try and remain hidden from sight out of a sense of fear. But now, she has no qualms about confronting Hirasawa even when she didn’t have to.

I’ve always enjoyed how motion lines in manga are often used to depict emotional destruction, like on our poor benchwarmer here.

But hold on! An apparent loser who somehow still has a beautiful girlfriend that loves him unconditionally? Is this a seinen manga!?

Ah, that’s more like it. I was hoping that we could see more of Hirasawa’s dark side because it was difficult to get any comedic mileage out of everyone’s dislike towards her otherwise. When the character hasn’t really done anything to incite the response, there’s no punchline, and it comes off as undeserved hate. But now that we get to see a more obvious sign of Hirasawa’s naive cruelty, we get to laugh because of her instead of against her.

Butt-monkeys work best if said monkey exists dues to their own actions than from the actions of others.

Target acquired.

Let’s see now…pretty, popular with the boys, disliked by girls, and thinks Tomoki is cool.

You don’t have to be a genius to know who’s about to go after her blood.

I only just realized that Komiyama’s insult of choice is “pig” or “sow” or some other animal-based term for “bitch.” There’s probably no special meaning behind it, though I’m inclined to think that it refers to her own hypocrisy when Komiyama insinuates other girls of trying to get into Tomoki’s pants when that’s exactly what she’s doing. Absolutely no one is sacred in Komi’s pervy eyes.

At least Akari has just barely more class than her. Though if she’s worried about people putting her and Komiyama in the same boat, then she’s about twenty chapters too late.

(Quickly reads the summary for Hibiki: Shousetsuka ni Naru Houhou on MAL)

Ah…seems like an interesting read.

It’s kind of sad how of all the girls that we’ve seen Hirasawa meet, it’s Tomoko of all people who’s the nicest to her, and even then, it’s just basic respect for a kohai (Tomoko’s internal thoughts excluded). Talk about setting the bar way low.

Ice cold, man. ICE. COLD.

Anybody else feel a chill crawl up their spine while reading this panel?

I think I see Kii-chan’s game here. She’s not necessarily looking to ruin Tomoko’s budding friendships, but rather, she’s testing them. She’s offering up stories about Tomoko to see just how sincere they really are as Tomoko’s friends. In a way, Kii-chan may be looking out for Hirasawa, too. She was the first to have her innocent admiration for Tomoko be utterly shattered, so she may not want others to experience the same disillusions.

Though, it appears to be having the opposite effect on Hirasawa…

No matter how pure Yoshida is, she will always be “The Delinquent Girl” in Tomoko’s heart.

Static of a character she may be, Yoshida proves that even she’s capable of a little change.

Admitting that Tomoko is her friend is one of the biggest milestones I’ve anticipated for Yoshida’s development. You may recall how in the umbrella chapter with Imae, Yoshida insisted that she was not friends with Tomoko, and that their relationship at the time was entirely circumstantial. She’s come a long way to officially befriending her, and unless I’m mistaken, this is the first time she’s called Tomoko by her name. Huzzah!

It’s only because I recently watched Hinamatsuri that I actually understand what Tomoko is getting at.

I believe I’ve stated this before, but it bears mentioning again: Rena really is the delinquent among delinquents.

Oh, dear God, it’s Kii-chan’s fantasy come to life! If the girl actually had a pet like this, that’s an instant sign to start running for the hills.

By the way, can any dog fanatics determine if Tomo-pup is based on any real species?

A+ for continuity.



Tomoko taking a pot shot at herself without even realizing it is the best kind of irony.

It doesn’t surprise me at all that Yoshida is into animals. Her being a fangirl for Disneyland suggested as much. I was half-expecting the animal would be a cat to go with the whole “delinquents like cats” stereotype, but having it be a dog expy of Tomoko is a welcome spin on it.

So from I’ve seen, the actual command that Tomoko uses is “chin-chin”, which in Japanese broadly means, “Expose yourself/crotch/dick.” The only reason I knew this is because of a joke that came up while watching Lucky☆Star back when I was still a high-school weeb.

Just when it was starting to get old, Nico Tanigawa manages to put a refreshing twist on the old Tomoko-gets-punched-by-Yoshida gag. It’s a freakin’ conditioned response at this point.

Well, she…she’s not wrong.

While the whole “Kii-chan is a furry” idea is 99% inaccurate, it appears the “Kii-chan loves animals” idea may have been an understatement. There have been plenty of times when Kii-chan “psychotic” side has popped up, and it’s usually played for laughs, but this may be the first time where Kii-chan has been seriously angered and it’s beyond terrifying.

Nice callback to the first Okada-centered chapter. It’s a clever way to show how the characters can serve as parallels of each other. Kii-chan taking Okada’s role as the bully wrangler, Tomoko playing Yuri’s role as the passive onlooker, and the freakin’ dog acting as Tomoko. Yoshida plays herself because there ain’t nobody else like her except her.

But you know, Yoshida’s argument that she’s not bullying the dog, but disciplining it may be indicative for why she handles Tomoko the way she does. You might “punish” a dog for doing something wrong, but you wouldn’t abandon it. It would explain her ridiculous patience for Tomoko’s antics, at least.

Let the record show that Kii-chan is the first character to instill fear in Yoshida’s heart.

Sure, Yoshida is known for her violent temper, but even she wouldn’t stoop so low as to strike a kid…I hope.

This may be the most artistically unique of Yoshida’s punches. She struck so fast that Tomoko left an afterimage in her wake.

Heroin-chan is the reader. She knows that Tomoko getting beat up is no laughing matter, except that it is.

Is that a fist bump I see? Something tells me that she and Tomoko are going to get along just fine.

Woo! At this point, all of the characters of relative importance (so far) now have official names. I’m going to miss calling her Heroin-chan, though. I mean, I still could, but Anna is too cute of a name to not use at every opportunity.

Yes indeed, Kii-chan. Your precious onee-chan is, as inconceivable as it may be, popular.

There’s definitely some wish fulfillment in this scene right here. Kii-chan may be testing to see if Tomoko gives off some strange aura that makes her appealing to her classmates, but ultimately, the sight of Kii-chan and Tomoko sitting in the same classroom is the only reason this moment exists, and I have no complaints whatsoever.

When put in that way, it actually makes you feel sympathetic for Kii-chan to some degree. She believed that she had a special connection with Tomoko that was unique to her, but now that she sees the truth, that relationship of theirs loses a lot of its luster, and the potential for them to drift away is a very real possibility.

Ah, candy stores. The very epitome of child-like wonder and fond nostalgia.

No wry observations, silly jokes, or philosophical tangents here, folks, Just a beautiful image of a high school girl spending quality time with her younger cousin.

Whaaaat, you’re never too old for Magic the Gathering!

Pretty cool, eh? That certainly wasn’t the impression I got after Tomoko broke your mind a second time by cheating against a bunch of kids.

Everyone likes to talk about how much better at communicating Tomoko’s gotten since the beginning of the series, but it’s moments like this that emphasize just how far she’s come. Tomoko can handle conversing with someone with no trouble nowadays, but simply talking with someone is a relatively easy feat because it’s a shared effort between two or more people. But leading a discussion, especially with a story like Tomoko is doing now, requires a level of confidence you may not have expected from her.

Her storytelling skills have improved exponentially from the phony boyfriend stories she used to spout.

This would’ve been the perfect spot to cameo the two protagonists from Nico Tanigawa’s other series, Write Sisters.

Notice how Tomoko’s dialogue in this sequence of panels indicates a three-day period? And yet the visuals, as evident by the changing uniforms of Tomoko and the girl, suggests that this all happened across three seasons. Perhaps Tomoko is taking liberties with her story to embellish the tragedy of it all and/or make herself sound less stalker-ish. All I know is, this a genius way to show the passage of time while also characterizing the story’s narrator.

I’d be sad too if I a saw a girl with no eyes try and play arcade games all year.

But seriously, this is a somewhat touching story about maturity and clinging to one’s youth. And it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that this story is also reflective of the series’s own growth. At some point, Nico Tanigawa must’ve realized that clinging to the status quo couldn’t last forever, and so the manga had to “mature” in order to keep up with a constantly developing world.

Tomoko may not admit it due to her desire to keep Kii-chan away from her, but I think Tomoko genuinely does find comfort in having her little cousin around. Just, you know, in small doses.

HAHAHAHAHAHA, she’s dead inside! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Cousinly banter is always a plus.

Say what you want about Kii-chan and her nuttiness, but if nothing else, the affection she holds for Tomoko is sincere. She could’ve ended up disassociating herself from Tomoko after The Great Big Reality Check, but she took the high road instead. She knows about her cousin’s massive flaws, but she chooses to support her regardless, as is the case with the majority of Tomoko’s friends.

Soooo close, and yet so far.

Pranks? When did–oh, right, the scarecrow incident.

Of all of the other characters in this manga, who would’ve figured that it would be Kii-chan that Tomoko goes all tsundere for?

It may not be a full-blown redemption, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Tomoko and Kii-chan’s relationship has thus far moved in one, awkwardly circular motion. Early-series Kii-chan adored her cousin based on false pretenses, and that took a huge nosedive to Kii-chan pitying her like a pet. And now, she’s finally making a turn towards the sky by truly admiring Tomoko for who she really is.

Somewhere along the way, the fake relationship they once had became the real deal.

But that’s the point, Tomoko. While it may come off as a regression for some characters, getting Kii-chan to rekindle the childlike innocence you once destroyed is actually a major accomplishment on your end.

You can physically feel the abject horror permeating from her body right now.

Heartbeat redetected.

That fucking bait-and-switch.

Is this Nico Tanigawa’s not-so-subtle promotion for wanting to extend Watamote beyond Tomoko’s high school years? Take the hint, Square Enix!

A chapter like this serves to remind me that as a slice-of-life manga, not every conflict can be so neatly tied up, and it shouldn’t. No matter how much Tomoko grows, she’ll always have friction with Komiyama, she’ll always be “rivals” with Nemo, and she’ll always be semi-terrified of Kii-chan. So much has changed, and a lot hasn’t, and I think a lof the series’ merit can actually be found by how much it does the latter. Tomoko will never be conventionally popular, but she’s found a way to make the most of it.

Here’s hoping to see Kii-chan and Tomoko in the same college class one day.