We’ve all gone through a certain point where we want to feel less lonely even though our abilities for social interactions are limited for some inexplicable reason. Shows that remind us of those dark times can be polarizing for the majority to comprehend, and because of this, we don’t see many shows try to tackle the subject. The reason is that most people don’t like to revisit what made them so miserable for so long. Luckily for some of us, we always look back at those moments and laugh at how silly it was, and thanks to the show Watamote we can now have a show that does that for us.
Based on the gag manga, Watamote is set as your typical slice of life show, only this time they added some new twists that make it a little more fresh than others; dark, demented twists. It is twisted in its subject matter, but at the same time, it has a comedic overtone that compliments each other very well. You have Tomoko’s wild intentions of wanting to be popular yet unable to due to her supreme lack of social skill and the fact that she has been somewhat of a hikikomori for most of her life. The camera angles that constantly pan to her face often look distorted from the style of animation it tries to exacerbate, really giving you a sense of dread and anguish for her, yet at the same time, you can’t help but laugh at her expense. The show also goes into parody territory by showcasing your typical awkward moment of conversation, such as picking up a dropped pencil from a classmate sitting next to you. This is done with clever flashback sequences showing Kuroko’s comprehensive mindset.
Sporadic and chaotic are the two words that sum up the humor of Watamote. These two aspects are a blessing and a curse to the show. The comedy in this show is very unpredictable and goes to new levels of hilarity as time goes on, but at the same time, it can get quite repetitive quickly. Repetitive in that Kuroko’s constant ramblings and random noises she makes when she goes insane are made too frequently and mostly come across as tedious than charming after a while. What saves the humor is the actual build-up of the funniest bits that feel very fresh and unexpected to see, thanks to the well-thought-out dialogue that is written in those scenes. Ones that involve Tomoko and her mother in her room as her audio recording of a male seiyuu is played in the background and joining a couple of boys peek into a love motel.
One other small aspect that I truly admire about the comedy is the chemistry between Tomoko and her brother Kuroki and their hilarious dialogue exchanges with one another. Whenever they are on-screen together, you feel that this is how most siblings treat each other daily. They don’t necessarily like each other when they are in their personal space, but they’re bound by blood and can’t help but feel for each other's troubles. It’s a shame they don’t have enough screen time together. We could see some growth between them but what we have here is enough for me.
To start with the characters, Tomoko is the type of person you either grew up knowing someone like her or you grew up as her, but for the most part, we’ve all been the latter. We’ve all just wanted to try to put up an act of ourselves to make us seem edgy or cool but fail miserably. Tomoko herself is the main driving point in the show who performs her antics with pure charm and sympathy, thanks in part to her voice actress Izumi Kitta who is extraordinary playing her. Her ability to create Kuroko’s personality is almost inhuman in a good way, though sometimes she performs her job too well to the point where it sounds like she’s going to pass out near the end of the take.
That doesn’t mean that the other characters share the same memorability or charisma as Kuroko, except for her brother. Her best friend Yuu Naruse, played by Kana Hanazawa, is a pretty bland childhood friend type of character who isn’t given much to her performance other than to show more of Kuroko’s despair. One way to defend this is by looking at it as the fact that Kuroko is the only character that is the central focus of the entire show. The rest of the characters don’t even have to be fully developed because all we are focusing on is the main character Kuroko alone. It gives off the same loneliness feeling that she is going through to make the audience feel the same thing and make us feel contempt for her sorrow. Then again, that makes the comedy all the more meaningful and hilarious.
That isn’t to say the comedy is always perfect by any means. Sometimes, we’re taken into situations that go too far, and the comedic timing doesn’t even provide any humorous feedback because of how poorly handled they are. Not that they were anything life-altering disturbing, but it’s one of those moments where you raise your one eyebrow and feel uncomfortable at the same time. While there are some hiccups here and there, the writing does jump back into the swing of things and provides endless over-the-top humor that is both dark and clever. The numerous parodies of other anime are a definite plus as well.
What better way to start your typical slice of life show than when you could provide a loud, bombastic metal song to make it edgy? No doubt the opening might alienate people because it feels out of place with the show. I would argue that it’s heavily symbolic as if we’re in Kuroko’s subconscious thought in how her thought-process is the majority of the time, and for that, it’s a pretty decent opening. The rest of the music here is fun to listen to, even though the music will eventually forget it in about two years.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the show is very demented to watch and might leave people with a sick feeling in their stomach, but it’s something that anyone shouldn’t pass off if they are a big fan of dark comedy and a parodied look into the otaku lifestyle. It can be a tedious ride if you can’t handle the repetitive nature of Kuroko’s random ramblings, but there’s always that moment that makes the ride worth going through. A moment that makes you have tears roll down your eyes from sheer laughter and going nuts by how bold the humor can be observed by the audience as uncomfortable. After all, we need more admirable shows like Watamote that aren’t afraid to go too far with their jokes.
Grade: B
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