**First timer, subs**

* Tomoko has been demoted from protagonist. You hate to see it.
* A victim of her own success?
* [OP Lead In](#neat)
* Does anyone have that chart with the statistical analysis of anime protagonist seating?
* Wow. Dick move, nameless classmate.
* [Room To Yourself](#morecomfy)
* Poor girl is getting anemic from missing a single meal. Someone get her some meat!
* They move them all down flights of stairs, just to make a new pile in a more trafficked area?
* Rare Tomoko win. Embrace the Moe!
* Auteurs are rarely appreciated in their time.
* She’s chasing her dreams! She’s growing!
* Oh, Tomoko. You have to at least give the semblance of purpose.
* That was just them winding back to punch us even harder. Senseless, senseless cruelty.

**Prompt:**
After a meeting with her most trusted advisers, Tomoko decides she should live her life in the closest.
Oyy! You changed the Prompt!

**QotD:**

1) Cult uses sexual violence to enforce its demands.

2) I too have experienced the pain of a failed school club. The important thing is that you tried, finally.

3) As a child, I was a big fan of Bionicles.

4) I don’t think there’s a way to answer that without being antagonistic. Clearly this is TLO working to play us against each other!

5) If I wasn’t so damned busy all the time, cartography.

6) [Not a Word](#nocomment)

Oh. Wow. That may be one of, if not *the* best lead-ins to an OP that I’ve experienced. I’m impressed.

Poor Tomoko isn’t enough of an anime character to stay in the window seat or make it up to the school roof.

Oh no, she lost her safe space. She’s like a bird, rebuilding her little nest.

>You’re the chosen one, ~~dont~~ **fall** to the yuri hordes!

“Tomoko at this point should start pursuing more big titty women to be her partner. She has more luck with women than men.”

Not a bad thing at all.

>Tomoko was traumatised by the reaction to her public hair doll but I’m sure we’ve all got good school memories right? Tell us about a pleasant event from your school days?

There were these bushes at school that made the perfect place for smoking weed. Sometimes I liked just… sitting in there. Away from school in a place that felt private.

The majority of the events at school were pretty miserable though. I’ll just say that Tomoko is lucky that her isolation is brought upon herself rather than kids actively bullying and ostracizing her. Hopefully she breaks out of her little shell… even if she embarrasses herself.

Rewatcher – subbed

This is it, one of the most depressing episodes of television I’ve ever witnessed. I missed yesterday unfortunately since I was busy, but I’m back and ready for torture.

– Seat changes were always the worst. I was usually pretty lucky with my seats in general, but that just made the bad ones stand out even more.
– One of the best episode to OP transitions of all time.
– It’s self aware about the protagonist seat!
– In reality, Tomoko would survive by default because no one would notice her presence the entire battle royale.
– This scene is the first of this episode to genuinely make me sad. Not only is the chair being stolen and not having the confidence to ask for it back relatable, the music and depressed walk of Tomoko hit hard. She’s excluded, she’s alone, she has no one. This is part of why the music of WataMote is so good. This slow tune is used only for Tomoko’s very low points when she’s not being a dick and each time it’s used, it fits incredibly well and makes the emotional punch that much stronger. It really makes you feel bad for her. This scene is very melancholic and the empty hallways with no noise only emphasize that feeling of isolation and loneliness. I love it and hate it at the same time.
– At least she made the spot work. A little place for her to get away, all to herself watching ikemen streams.
– But despite it being a nice little place, she still feels left out from others. As she walks by she can only think of the conversations that her classmates are having with each other. This episode overall is the loneliness of social anxiety personified.
– Regardless, it still works for her. It’s comfortable. She may be thinking about the others at the back of her mind, but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy the little spot she’s made for herself. I love how the initially melancholic tune starts to take an upbeat turn as she gets more and more comfortable in her new little hideout.
– And then boom. It hits like a brick man. The spot that let her get away from the horrid middle seats has now been taken from her. The ensuing music and shot of Tomoko on the stairs kills me. We aren’t even at the halfway point yet either.
– She was so down she didn’t even get to eat lunch 🙁
– That fucking music gets me every time. Tomoko recreating her spot is sweet, but it’s so sad knowing that she can’t have it anymore. I can already feel my tears coming. She’s just so lonely…
– A small moment of victory for Tomoko at the halfway point. It’s a very needed moment of reprieve.
– And the reality that a stuffed animal can’t talk to you comes crashing in. At least she was happy before.
– I didn’t live in Japan, so culture festivals weren’t a thing in school, but I’m sure I would have been in a similar situation as Tomoko when it comes to making them.
– SOS Brigade mentioned 🗣️🔥🔥
– How I had wished I had a consistent friend group when I was younger. I too fantasized as Tomoko did. Of course I always knew that dream would never come true, but I still longed for it regardless.
– Tomoko taking charge to try and make a club though was something I could never do myself. I respect her for that. I wonder if it will go as planned…
– The first time I watched this episode, when she started writing down what her club was about, I knew it was coming, but I allowed myself to believe in her anyway. I was hooked on metric tons of copium.
– Her daydream is beautiful, even if it is fake. She just wants some friends dammit! Why can’t she have what she wants…?
– That frame. That last frame after her club is rejected. It is forever engrained in my memory. The first time that ending hit, I couldn’t watch anymore of the show that day. It was just too much. It is the absolute lowest point for Tomoko in the entire series. I am not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears. It didn’t hit as hard on the rewatches since I know it’s coming and am mentally prepared, but it still hurts. One of the most depressing episode endings I can think of. 10/10 I hate watching it every time.
– I’m finally going to talk about the ED since I’m in the mood. To sum up my feelings, the ED is fantastic just as the OP is. It represents the general formula of the show. Tomoko at the beginning is determined in trying to accomplish what she sets out to do. She starts to falter, represented by both her voice and the phone of her lying on her bed, but it picks up as she lets herself gain her determination back as she sets out again. She has a trip up or two, but keeps going. Then, it starts to fall apart, represented by her wavering voice until it all comes crashing down. She picks her phone back up for it all to repeat again as she’s trapped in a cycle. It’s a great little ED and very fitting. I like it.

Overall:

This is easily WataMote’s most depressing episode. The main theme throughout this episode is loneliness. This episode almost completely focuses on the loneliness of social anxiety. The cinematography throughout really paint this picture that Tomoko is alone with a lot of wide shots being absent of any other people. The common cuts of her walking through the empty hallway are especially effective in creating this atmosphere. The music throughout is mostly softer and sadder than it usually is and the quiet moments of isolation of more common. I think this episode is one of the best portrayals of loneliness I’ve ever seen in a piece of media. It hits and it hits hard, at least for me. The humour isn’t as frequent, but it’s still funny when it wants to be. I am an unapologetic Tomoko apologist and this episode kills me. My emotional investment in this little gremlin girl is astronomical. I’m definitely looking forward to a rewatch of the next episode.

Prompt:

This scene illustrates the necessity of alone time. Sometimes in big social situations, we don’t feel we belong, so having a happy place to return to where we can truly feel comfortable is necessary for human survival.

QotD:

1. Be not sinful, for God is not easy to please. If one were to walk a path to upset god, grave consequences shall befall humanity.

2. She has pretty good taste in anime.

3. Either this action figure of (comic book) Thanos I’ve had since I was a kid or a plush of blue dog that I’ve also had since I was a kid. This is really hard, but those were what came to me.

4. This one person named u/the_loli_otaku because they said something bad about Tomoko.

5. I like to watch a nice show like Aria usually.

6. I loved this time when we had a mini party in the classroom near the end of the school year. I forget what grade it was and the details of vague, but I remember enjoying it.

**First-Time Cringer**

QotD:

1. Haruhi and DA Boys engage in mild tomfoolery. ( I have never seen this show. )

2. She has a very vivid imagination.

3. Lego, all of them.

4. You, if my time browsing r/NonCredibleDefense has taught me anything, the ones with peculiar tastes are the most dangerous beeings in the universe that cannot be trusted near weaponry.

5. I go cycling, otherwise I just stay in my room.

6. I once befriended my nemesis through playing chess with him.

>Mirathan brings up the debate of Tomoko using her womb to reach Hyperborea

Great minds think alike, eh?

My prediction came true, Tomoko can´t handle being the center of attention. The transition into the op is also great. And she gets the giant Teddy, another Chad power move from Tomoko! Only she struggles to take it home because she is even smaller than Ichikawa. Atleast her council of sages grows by another member. Oh great, a cultural festival, how original! And they do a cafe, I definetly haven´t seen that like 5 times already.

For the prompt:

Tomoko realizes that in order to reach nirvana, she cannot allow herself to be distracted by the fools in her class.

On a somewhat serious note: Tomoko understands that the chatter of others is discomforting and she needs her own space to calm herself.

**Ranty Rewatcher – Subbed**

* Seeing that School Days art on the QOTD 6 and the bullies today let’s just say I want those girls to have a similar outcome to the All Hers ending in the VN (Maybe add in Pushed Too Far & Bloody Endings for extra spite) maybe that’s stemming from the fact in all adaptions the Bully Trio were my least favorite characters in School Days which would be a surprise for the Anime in particular
* And to add on to that art I hope it’s VN/OVA Makoto and the Trio better leave Mahiro alone or otherwise Makoto would be triggered (And yes School Days is one of my Special Interests since I know as much as I could find on it even including the expanded universe to a limited extent)

**Questions**

* QOTD 1 – Girl gets bored with reality warping (Still need to finish up that show myself currently on S1E11 using the Broadcast Order
* QOTD 2 – It’s better to try and fail then to never try at all (Also just in general fuck those bullies they deserve to spend eternity with a convention of immortal Karens as a ride operator/retail worker)
* QOTD 3 – My Teddy Bear with 1999 stitched on the left foot
* QOTD 4 – No thanks would rather not put myself in a Mirai Nikki situation
* QOTD 5 – The Weather Channel, Music and Minecraft (Sometimes even combining 2 of them)
* QOTD 6a – Consolidation and having to work around avoiding the frequent fights during my Senior Year also my B4 class in the 1st Semester was hellbent on driving the teacher away with their misbehavior
* Question 6b (Things I like about Senior Year before I get too harsh on it) – And despite all of that I did have good memories as well like picking up D&D 5 for the first time, Picking the prom theme (Well I had a vote with a group of 4 playing cards to decide on the theme), the year where I slowly became a Weeb and most importantly the first member of my generation to get their diploma