The best part about the “medley” chapters is not so much that the gags are hysterical (though they often are), but the potential it offers the series in the long-run. A setup that may seem innocuous now can, and often does build up into something larger. And through all that, Nico Tanigawa always makes sure to add a spice of something new for chapters like this, whether it’s bringing back old characters, social commentary, and other unexpected developments. Despite what the title says, there’s never a normal day in the world of Watamote.

Chapter 145: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Go Through A Normal Day As A Third Year



The continuity in this series is above and beyond anything I’ve seen. You’d think that the previous chapter being a “special” case would restrict it to being a self-contained story, but nope. As Tomoko’s black eye indicates, anything and everything will catch up to her.

Taking the piss out of cliched romcom setups like this is Watamote’s number one specialty.

On the Spectrum of Friendship, there is an “uncanny valley”. That short-lived, but agonizingly awkward level when you know someone just a little less than an acquaintance, but enough that you have to acknowledge them when you can’t distract yourself with anything else. That is Tomoko at this very moment.

I originally thought that second line was Tomoko’s, but when I realized it was Miyazaki’s, it puts things into surprising perspective. Ucchi’s increased stalking has become evident enough for Miyazaki to view Tomoko as Ucchi’s friend, despite the truth. It’s a nice payoff given that she observed the two during the campus visit, and the fanboy in me hopes that the word “friend” will someday evolve into the word “crush”.

As they say, you never truly appreciate something until it’s gone.

With Tomoko, having Ucchi around was her social “break” because she didn’t have to worry about maintaining appearances with her. Ucchi’s simplicity was an icebreaker in tense situations that Tomoko unknowingly took for granted.

And with Miyazaki, it appears their friendship has drifted ever since Ucchi went on the gay prowl. It’s unclear if she’s particularly upset about this, but the fact the she also suffers from emoji withdrawal suggests that Ucchi provided her with the same comfort she gives Tomoko.

Bringing a new meaning to “having your head in the clouds”.



The shipping goggles overtake me as I get overly fixated on how Ucchi thinks about Tomoko first before she considers Miyazaki. Gals before pals, it would seem.



NTR fetish activated.

You’d think that Ucchi getting mentally destroyed would get boring after a while…

But it just gets better and better with age.

I love group shots like this because it manages to feel interconnected despite the disjointed friendship circles. Nearly every character in view has been seen before, and there isn’t anyone with any obvious main focus. As is the case in reality, everyone is just a part of something larger, and that shared significance only elevates the impact of our ensemble cast.

Katou has this unnerving skill to be absolutely terrifying and dangerous using the most pleasant of words. And as we all know, those are the types of moms that won’t stand for your BS, especially if you hit her creepily adorable daughter.

Ya’ll thought one passive aggressive character was enough? Try two and watch the atmosphere around them physically thicken from the political smiles.

A girl’s majesty is directly proportional to the number of background flowers that emanate around her.

Underneath layers and layers of cynicism and filthy perversions lies a single sliver of Tomoko’s pureness. As made evident by how she fiddles with her skirt like a lovestruck schoolgirl talking to her crush (which she basically is), only Katou and her attentive mommy-ness can bring it out.

I do love how it’s totally obvious to everyone else that Tomoko is putty in Katou’s perfectly manicured hands. But while Tomoko is halfway decent at bullshitting, Nemo hasn’t a clue that Tomoko is completely helpless in front of gorgeous girls/guys, meaning that Nemo’s secret is as good as gone.

See what I mean?

As far as I know, Katou actually used the term “vagina” here, much like how she used the term, “penis” as opposed to the more colloquial “dick”. It makes Katou come across as a sort of “classy pervert”, like the type that would masturbate to Beethoven music, but I see it more as Katou’s mom side in this case. The kind who would teach other girls how to deal with periods or share condoms from their purse, but that’s enough headcanon for now.

Plus one for the Tomoki bowl?

…nah.

Tomoki’s visible emotional investment is already so critically low that even the most trivial interest in a girl, let alone Komiyama, would make any shipper blast the “Confirmed!” siren. But as we know, such interest from Tomoki is destined to be met with instant disappointment.

I see Nico Tanigawa’s game here. They deliberately set up a minor character as normal and nondescript as possible, only to pull the rug underneath us by revealing their inner craziness. Well played.

That last one is adorable because it strays from a tangent about Komiyama’s statistics to her personal (read: favorable) experience with the girl. Itou may have the facial range of a boulder, but she truly does care for her bestie.

I’m pretty sure this is a word-for-word description that the mangaka used to explain who Komiyama is to their editor.

Woo! Everyone’s favorite wing-girl has returned!

I was waiting patiently for Sayaka’s reappearance, and I’m glad that she came back with such an explosive entrance. Similar to Komi’s rage towards anything female glancing in Tomoki’s direction, Sayaka is almost as indiscriminate towards any girl that may swipe Tomoki from her buddy. I’d sure love to see the two of them butt heads one day.

I wonder if it’s a coincidence that Nico Tanigawa put a bunch of dudes in the background as the unavoidable eavesdroppers.

Sayaka, The Girl of One Volume Level, is the type of friend that you love and hate for the same reason. She has good intentions, and has the gall to argue about dicks when most people won’t, but she has difficulty adopting the perspective of others. And that blatant disregard of cultural expectations is what makes her “assistance” a double-edged sword. Whether or not that makes Sayaka an idiot is up to you.

This is the turning point when Akari yelled at Sayaka not because the class can hear her, but because Sayaka bringing up her old shame began to piss her off.

You know, all my previous talk about how Minami’s friends aren’t really friends was mostly speculative, but Minami’s concern here actually seems to validate that idea somewhat. If this were Tomoko, I can’t imagine anybody making fun of her for going into their class (though Nemo might make a joke about it). They’d probably like her company, and if Minami thinks her own friends wouldn’t do the same, then perhaps they really are kinda a bunch a’ bitches.

If you thought Sayaka was the high point for bringing back minor characters, then may I reintroduce…Pigs-Feed Girl!

Last seen in chapter 42, the girl now known as Mike was the third person after Imae and Nemo to really approach Tomoko. The most we could understand about her was that she was kind, a little bubbly, and a horrendous chef. Oh, and that she has a boyfriend. Perhaps Nico Tanigawa thought that keeping a super nice girl like her around would break the “realism” of series, but we’ve long since gone past that mode of thinking, and I’m super pumped to see what Mike has to offer.

She’s going to be one of those “annoying” girls who lives and breathes her boyfriend, isn’t she?

Exactly what I was hoping for.

Oh God, they even match their uniforms. I can already tell that these two are going to be precious beans, and the fact that Boyfriend-kun is still with her despite eating her literal trash must mean they’re inseparable.

Also, slit eyes on a guy often comes off as creepy in manga, but I’m not getting that vibe here. Please don’t prove me wrong, Watamote.

Now unless that barfing noise in chapter 42 actually wasn’t this guy, or he has some kind of absurdly twisted taste buds, then this guy is totally lying. And if he hasn’t been honest after all this time, then this sitcom-esque setup is not gonna end well.

Minami’s gaggle of supposedly bitchy friends and Mako aside, I’ve wondered who could earnestly befriend someone like Minami. While Mike was definitely not my first choice, I don’t think it’s impossible. Minami’s badmouthing could potentially be useful in breaking Mike’s naivety. Of course, that’s assuming Minami can exit the Third Wheel Zone first…

Oh no, please don’t tell me Yuri is a spoiled girl in a codependent relationship with Mako…

Also, picnic buddies!

Subara…what, now?

Translation mishaps aside, this is unequivocally shipping bait and I see no issues with it whatsoever.

This is why one of Yuri’s biggest flaws is her habit of taking things for granted. Even when someone takes care of you on a regular basis, it’s still customary to express gratitude when that person is obviously treating you. And while Yuri may have done that with Mako in the beginning, she let herself get too comfortable in the routine and now simply expects Mako to take care of her unprompted. Tomoko’s never had that luxury, and it’s definitely something she could encourage Yuri to do in the future.

Nice to know Fang Girl has some scruples.

We all saw this coming–doesn’t make it any less cathartic.

Back when Tomoko ate Mike’s food, she compared it to industrial waste. Apparently, she’s altered her technique to make her food unbearably sugary. While I would call that an “improvement” by the lowest of standards, I think it works ironically well with Minami to have her choke on something sweet, which she herself definitely isn’t.

There’s a balance to be met when making your character suffer to the reader’s delight without having it go too far. With someone like Minami, we can accept the pain that comes her way because it ultimately doesn’t affect her personality (for now). She’s still a terrible person before and after the puking, so even in Minami’s lowest moments, the reader can alleviate any shame or sympathy they have knowing that the status quo is still in reach.

It’s the latest in high school trends:

The Who-Can-Hit-Tomoko-The-Most Challenge!

Brought to you by the people behind the Cinnamon and Tide Pod Challenges.

The Sisterhood of Unspeakable Harassment via Tomoko Kuroki.

The punchline itself isn’t exactly hilarious, but it does help to illustrate how Nemo and Yuri have seen different sides to Tomoko’s harassment. Nemo instinctively thinks that Tomoko perved on Yuri since that’s what happened to her. But in reality, those two times when Yuri punched her were times when Tomoko was trying to console her (in her own way). Whereas girls like Nemo and Yoshida retaliated for sexual harassment, Yuri retaliated for perceived emotional harassment.

In other words, Yuri gets special treatment.

Hey, hey, hey! It’s a direct callback to that crossover chapter Watamote had with Nico Tanigawa’s short-lived series, Kuzu to Megane to Bungaku Shoujo (Nise), or “Trash, Glasses, and Literature Girl (Fake). And that girl in the background is the heroine herself, Orikawa Iori.

Shame it ended so soon. :(

Crunchyroll, where u at!?

The worst part about being an introvert is when you simultaneously want to be alone and around other introverts. Tomoko is much more comfortable browsing through her phone, but that loner-ness conflicts with her desire to be around Yuri, who won’t engage with her uninitiated. To socialize or not to socialize–that is the question.

A little try-hard there Tomoko, but good move nonetheless. Given that Yuri isn’t the type to get upset over others’ need for personal space (as long as they don’t ignore her), Tomoko could have probably just left without issue. But Tomoko takes the high road, going out of her comfort zone just to hang out with her. And I don’t believe it’s simply out of social necessity. I genuinely believe she wants to be with Yuri a little longer. It may have required a little awkward proactiveness, but Tomoko has proven she’s willing to go through it for someone she really cares about.

True friends–always trying to convert you into an otaku.

Since Tomoko is the one who insisted they sit together, it only makes sense that her topic of conversation would be trying to involve Yuri into her hobbies. And by framing it as an activity that they can share as a pair, it raises the potential for Yuri’s enjoyment.

There you go Tomoko! That’s the sort of balance you ought to strive for. It’s deniably a joke Tomoko would make, with it being about erotic stuff and all, but at the same time, it doesn’t go too far down the path of trying-too-hard sexual harassment. It’s just some light teasing that more so invites Yuri than pushes her away.

On that note, I can totally see Tomoko projecting her desires onto Yuri. That old saying about how “it’s always the quiet ones that are the kinkiest”? That’s exactly what Tomoko is hoping for, at least for the purpose of having a friend she can have perverted conversations with.

If nothing else, Yuri tries.

For the record, I doubt that Yuri will reach the level of otakuness that Tomoko has, nor does she want to. That said, I think it’s plausible that Yuri could become a casual-to-regular fan of manga and possibly anime, especially since Tomoko’s recommendations have worked well so far. Meet her halfway, as the saying goes.

Busted!

Oh, Tomoko. She’s obviously reading it for the plot.

I appreciate how Tomoko has pretty much tossed aside any reservations she may have had about hiding her perverted side, at least when Yuri’s concerned. On the plus side, it good that Yuri gets to see the fully unrestrained Tomoko in all her glory. But on the minus side, it means she gets to see that side of Tomoko in all her not glory. Those warts will take some getting used to.

On that note, I’d like to think that Tomoko isn’t completely off base about Yuri being a closet pervert. Her accusations almost always have a kernel of truth, and unless Yuri really was reading it for the plot (as bad as it may be), then perhaps Yuri actually is a bit of a dirty girl underneath.

Tomoko better get some shoulder pads if Nemo’s going to come after her now.

All things considered, this was mostly a setup chapter with a nice helping of funny gags sprinkled over it. There were quite a few unexpected dishes here with Sayaka, Akari, and Mike at the table, but the real meat was once again the three-course meal between Tomoko, Yuri, and Nemo. The food for thought was definitely about making an effort, and how tasty or nasty those efforts are once they bear fruit. Now that we’ve got a good sampler of what’s to come, desserts are definitely sure to follow. And the reason I’m making all these food analogies is that it’s Thanksgiving at the time of this writing and I’m about to stuff myself silly.

Enjoy your turkey!