Thoughts on Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun

[JohnnyCageFan2]

Started watching "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki" or "Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun" the other day. From the get-go, it felt a lot like Oregairu, the main character has the same posture as Hikigaya but worse-looking, like a reject character design. The character designs are all a downgrade from the light novel, it really looks good. A pic from the light novel illustrator. 

   

Maybe I'd let Hinami Aoi talk shit to me if she looked like that... getting ahead of myself. These were my thoughts after watching the first two episodes.

Reminds me of "My Youth Romantic is Wrong, as I Expected." in premise, setting, and some of the characters. Having watched one episode, I got the feeling that the main girl, Hinami Aoi, wants the guy as her boyfriend. The end of the second episode seems to be moving along that path. Let's see how it goes. The environment looks good, particularly, when Minami and the guy were standing to cross the street in the second episode.

Yes, I hadn't remembered main character's name after watching two episodes. The scene where they were in the unoccupied classroom reminded me of the Service Club, pity they didn't have an awesome club adviser like in Oregairu. Sounds nitpicky, but I am looking forward to seeing what's going to happen with the side characters, the girls. Watching for Kayano Ai, noticed her character immediately. One point for the MC is that he was going to pick low-hanging fruit when tasked with talking to three girls.

Oh, that other one with the long blonde hair and loose tie reminded me of Shikishima Mirei from that horrible Valkyrie Drive Mermaid that effectively killed ARMS.

[JohnnyCageFan2]

So episode three, Tomo-kun's face is so freaking round and lame-looking that he wouldn't be out of place in an H anime, not that I've watched any. In fact, his whole "life is a kusoge" attitude could be his reason for violating girls. After he got his hair done, he really came across as a guy who would get NTR'd.

   

Want a topic to discuss with girls? Maybe how lame the male students' flannel pants are in comparison to the girls' skirts.

Enough of the negativity, I was thrown when Hinami suggested that he get with Kikuchi-san. He was right to point out that it would be like he's toying with her. If it were I, there would be no toying with emotions; Kayano Ai would be my chosen heroine for this and the next playthrough. Kikuchi-san likes him for how he is, not someone he could become with new clothes and hair. Something about the message so far doesn't seem right? Then again, it is not what's inside that counts. Using different girls to buff his stats, so to speak, is reminiscent of the brilliant Minamoto-kun Monogatari.

There wasn't much going on in this episode, it seem to be laying the foundation for mini-arcs. I liked that there weren't many characters weaving in and out of the episode. Of the girls, Izumi seems the most daunting with whom to converse. Pity there wasn't anything to learn about her. Well, she did slack on the assignment. Maybe once he gets friendly with Izumi, he'll be able to speak to less daunting girls with relative ease. This idea of treating life like an actual game may not be completely ill-advised. It does have Dark Souls difficulty. Looking forward to episode four!

[JohnnyCageFan2]

"Ah, to be young." Aren't you like twelve or something? Episode four started where the last one ended. Izumi wants to play that other dude in Attack Family. Erika, the girl with the long messy blonde hair lost a stock. She confessed and got turned down by a dude wearing a pair of stupid pants. Tomozaki is to train Izumi in her room. The interaction up to this point felt a bit clichéd. If you've watched enough anime, you've seen it before. The play and he beats her. Afterwards he launches into a tirade, but I tuned that out. Then he scribbles the character's combos and hit boxes. He could have sent her to a wiki instead of doing that.

The episode gets a little better from there. Hinami gave him tickets so that he can ask Kikuchi-san out on a date. With some new found confidence, he does not do that. Instead he admits to not having read the books from the author that she likes. He also kind of says that he's not going to read her book. Maybe he will, but he kind of leaves it hanging there. That asshole wasn't even sitting at the same table when he was talking to precious Kikuchi-san. I felt so sorry for her. Final part of the episode stars with the insensitive bum getting ambushed to play that shitty game again. Tomozaki hands whats-his-face his arse on a silver platter over and over and over again. This time in front of an audience.

Erika regained her stock for how she ridiculed that other dude for not letting them go home and proceeding to lose until midnight. I'll be honest, Tomozaki gained some points for not going easy on him. Then he went and lost it by launching into yet another tirade about how Erika is shitty because she mocked someone's earnest efforts to improve. It started when she called Shun's behavior creepy or gross. Then she said that the shitty game was indeed shit. It was at that point he loses his shit and launches into said tirade. When starting he says something to the effect, "Is creepy the only thing you can say?" She shuts him down by calling him creepy. It was fucking A. Seriously though, did he have to come to Shinji's aid? Anyway, S-tier Erika leaves and Tomozaki's outburst is forgotten with the loser telling him that they'll play again.

Bonus points, Hinami didn't piss me off today and she had some cute expressions.

       

Addendum: On its own, mocking a person's earnest effort to improve themselves isn't cool. However, he made the air uncomfortable by wanting to beat Tomozaki and wanting an audience for it. Sure, the girls could have left, he didn't physically stop them, but he did assert himself. I don't believe Erika ridiculing him was just because he tried and failed. I don't think it would have been a big deal, it's not like he would have lost his standing. But he behaved poorly and to hurt him, Erika took advantage of him losing like a loser.

[JohnnyCageFan2]

The fuck is Shuji's birthday on a flash card? Are they in a relationship or something? When did this turn into Shounen Ai? That other not-fat dude that comes across like Sakurai Takahiro commends him on outburst and ends with "you have someone on your side". Like they're batting for the same team? Nakamura's birthday seems to be the main theme of this episode.

   

Not-Sakurai Takahiro invites Tomozaki out on a date. Hinami's supposed to be invited, so there's another girl Tomozaki has to invite. He could pick anybody but he picks Izumi as the second beard. Only through the intro did I remember that there were other girls in this series. Where's Minami? Spoiler, she shows up at the end. Not much happened in this episode and it's largely uncomfortable. Not because of the homoerotic undertones with that dude lathering styling wax on Tomozaki's hair. And why is one dude telling another about his acne problem? The group outing seemed vapid. Subplot is introduced by way of gossip that Hinami and the guy whose name actually is Takahiro, are in a relationship. I need to get my expression for when it turns out to be untrue. But if it is true... The episode seemed like a complete wash.

That was until Hinami lectured him about an exploit in the game of life. And that was how to manipulate people into getting your way whether or not it benefits the other person, it only needs to look like it. I'm genuinely interested in trying it. Minami shows up at the end. 

       

   

Hopefully Izumi is out for a while. No Kikuchi-san or the short one with the bad attitude. In lieu of remembering her name, I'll call her Blanc. They showed the sister and might be sowing seeds for some interaction between the two. Oh, the homeroom teacher had something to say. Erika didn't have anything to say and was in only two shots? Hinami was annoying again with her lecturing.

   

Five episodes in and the anime isn't giving me a reason to care for these characters, if I'm being honest. Tomozaki has a chip on his shoulder. But why? There aren't any flashbacks or mentions of prior experiences. I'm getting that people should relate to him and fill in the blanks with their experiences to conclude that life is shit. If I'm co-authoring this story, I should be paid for my time and get a cut of the royalties. What they have shown is him getting better at becoming a so-called "normie". Though I dislike her lecturing, they've at least hinted at her appearance and confidence being a façade. For all of her screen time, Izumi seems the weakest. She likes shopping and that other guy, at least enough to learn how to play a game. Kikuchi-san is cute and timid for offering the tissue, again cute and timid for how her voice cracked when she started talking to him then earnest when discussing their "shared" interest in Michael Andi's works. Other characters weren't really shown, so they get a pass for now. To be fair on the characters, the light novel might add more depth to them.

[JohnnyCageFan2]

Episode six... I've already lost track.

"Become her campaign manager."
"What if she loses because of me?"
"It doesn't matter who her campaign manager is. I admire her and she's important to me."

   

The fuck?

If Hinami weren't the main character, I'd think that she was conceited and a terrible friend. Actually.

I keep on forgetting to mention that the opening is like D-Frag's opening. They cut some of the funniest bits from the manga out of the anime, but it was still incredibly funny in comparison to other comedy series.

Legit shocker, Tomozaki actually asks Minami to be her campaign manager. Here I thought that he'd wait until the end of the episode. She shoots him down as if he were a clay pidgin and she was a breakdancer at the Olympics. 

   

Being overbearing in the library, Kikuchi-san asks him what's wrong. She offers that maybe Minami wants to change herself and relates to that. He acts as if this is some kind of foreign concept that people are different on the inside than what they seem, thus wanting to change. They even turned it into a cool song back in the 80s. https://www.youtu.be/nl127G4v8LQ (Go watch Crows Zero & Crows Zero 2) People have motivations and whatnot. Not everybody gets an anime or light novel highlighting their struggles.

Minami later asks him to help her after school. Kinda insensitive, didn't she know that he's a part of the go-home club?

   

Because you're so freaking cute!

   

Wait! New favorite enters in Shiori-senpai. It's not because she's playing volleyball without a bra. Girls playing volleyball are cool, don't ya know? She sounds familiar too. (Checked. Ugh, back to Valkyrie Drive) The second thing I forgot to mention, Kanemoto Hisako as Hinami sounds really good. Now that she was an extra in this episode, she's missed. Minami's laugh sounds forced, like she's not really laughing and that it's a happy act. On the swings, she kinda expresses her dissatisfaction about being forgotten as first of the losers.

Izumi wasn't in this one and nor were the other normies. Blanc or Tama-chan (nowhere near as awesome as Tama-chan-senpai) had some screen-time today. The way she expressed concern over her pushing herself was "sweet". The characters they showed today don't seem to be devoid of any personality. That was a pleasant surprise. Why do the main characters seem so boring and have nothing in their lives? The episode was stronger for it and became better as it went on.

Despite Minami turning Tomozaki down as her campaign manager, he's weaseled his way into helping her with her pamphlets. The formatting was a touch on the other side of fucked. Second step was to lie to the freshmen over getting air conditioners. If Minami wins, there are going to be a bunch of pissed first-years. "I'll try my best to get air conditioners for every class." Maybe they deserve to be taken if someone's campaign promise is a fucking try. They didn't elaborate, but the ball clubs would be getting pumps. With Shiori-senpai around, my b... no, she's too pure for that. Tomozaki says that he wants to beat Hinami. I'm for that to be honest. But my bet would be for Hinami winning and Minami in tears followed with a hopeful smile at the end of the episode.

Also gotta mention the girls had nice profiles this episode. Took sixteen screens, most were of Minami. Just like the second episode, the afternoon colors were really nice.