Naturally, Watamote hits us with a relatively “light” chapter after the dumpster fire that transpired between Tomoko and Ucchi. But even if we put that inevitable faceoff on hold, this week’s snack-sized chapter gives us something fresh and sweet to cleanse our palettes. And that my friends, is our favorite lil’ observer, Hikari Itou.

Chapter 153: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Participate In My 2nd Sports Tournament



♪ It’s the ciiiiircle, the ciiiiircle of liiiiiiiiiiiiiife! ♫

The softball team making it far doesn’t surprise me too much, given that it was obviously the overachieving Komiyama who dragged their butts over to the winner’s bracket.

Same goes for the ping pong team, whose Weapon of Mass Destruction, the enigmatic Shiki Futaki, decimated the poor first-years. Of course, both teams had its share of respectably athletic girls, so a team effort can definitely be attributed here.

That surprises absolutely no one at this point.

Add this to my “Tomoko Noms” folder.

I noticed that Tomoko is that type of introvert who needs to feel productive, even if its something as quiet as reading manga. A lot of her anxiety, I believe, came/comes from self-defeating boredom. Unlike Yuri, who doesn’t seem to have any qualms about doing nothing, Tomoko has to at least feel preoccupied to relax her nerves.

It easy to forget that the Komiyama who can explode into irrationally perverted hissyfits is also the Komiyama with actual polite manners.

While Komiyama prefers to keep to herself like most introverts, she stands apart from the other “quiet” girls like Tomoko or Yuri in that she’s not afraid to take the lead when she wants to. If she could learn to keep her temper in order, I honestly think she’d make a good leader.

Hey, hey, hey! It’s that pretty girl who was on the cheerleading team during Tomoko’s 2nd-year sports festival. I bet that Nico Tanigawa has a spreadsheet of background characters for easy introductions.

I can appreciate that Komiyama can set aside her differences with Yoshida especially–given their admittedly entertaining cafeteria fight–to see her value to the team. Despite both being kind of hotheaded, they aren’t really the type to hold grudges, are they?

Itou’s straight face is meme-worthy.

Given her borderline stalker levels of Komiyama’s background, I think we can take Itou’s word on this one. Who would’ve thought Komi had some chuuni in her?

Breaking news: Itou’s a real bestie.

This just in: Dicky-chan makes a surprising comeback.

Swiggity Swooty, comin’ for that…eye circles.

Yeah, Nemo’s a tease, Yuri’s cute, and Katou’s hot, but Shoujo!Komiyama is by far the most adorable girl in the entire series.

I know I’m not the first one to think that Itou had ESP in this scene.

Psychic powers or not, it’s clear the Itou’s friendship with Komiyama is intimate enough that she can practically read the girl’s mind. What makes it even better is that Itou has an impartial view on who Komiyama is. She can see Komi as equal parts wholesome and perverted. Much like Tomoko, Komi is really transparent once you get to know her, and much like Yuri, Itou has really accepted the girl’s faults in stride.

Five nonexistent bucks say that Komiyama’s personality is practically the same as it was before.

C’mon, Itou. You can’t just leave unfinished thoughts like that. Simple? Consistent?? Insane??? Even so, Itou hasn’t left the girl’s side at this point, so I’m thinking she must have slowly built up a resistance to Komi’s near-borderline personality disorder.

A flashback within a flashback? Insert easy Inception reference here.

I’m already getting the, “girl without many friends” vibe here. Everybody knows that eyeless girls in screentone are off the table as potential buddies.

Then, of course, we have Komiyama, who effortlessly pulls of the “literature girl” vibe better than the main character from Nico Tanigawa’s other manga.

Awkward gaps galore. What catches my attention is that Itou was the initiator for this fated first meeting. Something about Komiyama grabbed her attention, enough where this usually observant girl decided to approach her. Did she sense a kindred spirit in this solitary bookworm? Maybe Itou thought Komi was lonely and could use some company? Or perhaps Itou’s action was entirely out of happenstance and Komi just happened to be there at the time. Whatever the reason, I doubt either of them ever thought they’d be best friends after this.

I rather like that Komiyama apologized and asked for Itou’s name again when in reality…Itou didn’t even tell her. Komi was polite enough to acknowledge the random girl next to her, even when she could’ve just ignored her without consequence.

How wonderfully decent.

Implying, of course, that Itou was actively looking for an opportunity to connect with her. Again, it’s still uncertain why exactly Komiyama caught Itou’s eye, but if this series has taught us anything, it’s that “normal” people tend to be drawn to weirdos.

I originally questioned why Komiyama doesn’t play baseball herself when she’s such a big fan of the sport. But the answer came to me after some thought.

You can appreciate something and not pursue it yourself.

Not all foodies become chefs, not all gamers develop games, etc. Hobbies don’t necessarily have to be precursors for your careers. The harsher realities that come with making it your job can ruin the enjoyment of it, and Komiyama exemplifies that better than anyone in this series.

Although, being such a tryhard during this tournament suggests she likes to live out the fantasy, if just for a little bit.

“Cool Beauty”-o-Vision activated.



Bookworm problems, I tells ya.

Did she ever succeed? We may never know.

Normally, people like Komiyama who are so insistent on converting people into becoming fans of their hobby tend to be rather annoying in real life. But for some reason, Komiyama pulls it off in a way that doesn’t feel too in-your-face about it. I think it’s because Komi is so passionate in her own interests, that she likely won’t feel offended or insecure if Itou doesn’t become a fan. That being the case, it just feels like a pure-hearted girl trying to spread the fun.

For the record, there was an inner monologue by Itou here that got scrapped in the translation.

What can you do?

Okada just can’t get away from the otaku swarm, can she?

Resistance is futile.

Thank goodness this video was on Itou’s phone(right?) and not Komiyama’s. Heaven knows the kind of Tomoki lewdness she has on it.

Oh, she’ll be analyzing his play-style A LOT tonight, I’m sure.

I love Tomoko doesn’t blame Itou at all for taking the video. Absolute proof that she’s totally biased against Komi-something.

Speaking of which, I’m surprised she gave such a straight response, hence the opaque glasses. She used to get all flustered whenever someone suggested she was perving on Tomoki, though that was before she supposedly decided to start being honest with herself. Maybe she really is just using it for reference. Either way, Komi’s keeping to her word, and I respect that.

I sense an overabundance of empathy in Okada’s words.

Quit being so cute, Itou. We’ve already reached max cuteness capacity for this series.

And there you have it, folks. The first-ever “Itou Hikari” spotlight chapter. I’ve mentioned before that the Komi-Itou relationship is parallel to the Tomo-Yuri relationship, but I now see considerable differences. Unlike the other girls, who started off as black slates before being developed, Itou’s character grown runs in reverse. She’s already been “developed’, but we can expand her character by seeing how her previous experience shaped her into who she is today:

A self-imposed background character who’s content in providing moral support for her more imposing friend.

I look forward to seeing more behind the mind of this adorable, observant lil’ chipmunk.