Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!

[neflight86]

2008

"* Based on a love comedy manga by Yanagida Fumita.

Tomo and Jun have been best buds since they were little kids, but now that they're in high school, Tomo wants to be more than friends...too bad Jun just sees her as 'one of the guys.' Tomo may be a tomboy, but she's determined to prove to Jun that she's a woman, too!

Source: Seven Seas Entertainment"

Genre(s): Comedy, Romance

https://subsplease.org/shows/tomo-chan-wa-onnanoko/

________________

1-3

Probably the easiest show to watch I've seen this season due to the pace. Another 4-koma adaptation, but the micro-chapters flow together really well, and what seems like a punchline typically also serves to lead into the next scene seamlessly. Tomo is too much of a dude-bro for Jun to ever notice her that way and wants that to change. It's a tired setup but the gags largely keep things interesting and, more importantly, off-kilter. This show lightly tugs at your attention in regular intervals that feels pretty unique outside of your typical slice of life show. The supporting cast bounces off the main pair great, too. You could do worse this season!

[Kraco]

The manga original managed to keep me interested till the end. I'm in no hurry to drop the anime either. The character work pretty well in the anime adaptation, including their voices. I'm happy even Cotton Candy works.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 08

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Big Misuzu fan here, but story-wise I love Mochi's "play dumb, actually smart" act. It means things can end up happening because of her craftiness instead of just randomness/luckiness. And she's just as spiteful as Misuzu.

[MFauli]

This has become one of my comfort-shows this season. It's neither original nor truly great, but it's the kind of harmless romcom I needed. Except for last episode. The attempted rape was just unneeded - yeah, rape would never occur in a romcom like this, but I couldn't stop thinking "so, what if Tomo-chan had NOT come to the 2 girls' rescue?!". Real bad vibes there and it was all laughed off.

Anyway. Recommendation to all who want something (mostly) inoffensive.

[Kraco]

Big Misuzu fan here, but story-wise I love Mochi's "play dumb, actually smart" act. It means things can end up happening because of her craftiness instead of just randomness/luckiness. And she's just as spiteful as Misuzu.

I like how Misuzu always has a few stray strands of hair jutting out, like bed hair, when she's otherwise depicted as a character who's very much in control of her life. Of course she also has those occasional clashes with Jun that don't always end according to her plans. She can control Cotton candy even less than Jun, which is great.

[Kraco]

Episode 9


- -- -


I do think this show does put its cast of characters to a very good use. Most series of this sort, high school comedy with romance, often fail at creating a really diverse cast where the various characters' strengths are exploited to their full extent. In fact often even the main couple wouldn't really have two truly unique characters, but just one that's developed deeply with their own quirks, the other one being much more plain. Then there would be a few sidekicks with their tropes, but they may not ever rise much above their initial (trope) characterisations. In this show you could say the roles are quite strong. Maybe the ways the characters are developed is not always anything revolutionary, but it's well executed nonetheless, and they all do get their dose of development, in their own ways, plus it's not in arcs where they are kept separated, but all the other characters somehow will play their roles in it, in their varied ways.

Anyway, it was interesting to see Cotton Candy broken for a little while. The ending was really good as well. Hard to say if Gundou won or lost.

[MFauli]

Really great episode, ACTUAL plot development, yay, we have a new couple!!1

The initial premise of the anime is overplayed by its emphasized title, but that aside, it's a fun romcom.

[Buffalobiian]

Gundou is going to be left without a pairing at this rate :'(

Carol spoke in actual sentences this episode too.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 10

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Ah, now all the gaps in the backstory are filled. Misuzu's and Junichiro's motivations to date being all centered around Tomo was funny. Misuzu's motivation for buying time in the current doesn't make as much sense if she's already been comforted by Tomo previously that despite their differences she's happy to hang out together.

[Kraco]

SubsPlease released yesterday a version with only English audio. I'll have to download the v2 this evening.


Ah, now all the gaps in the backstory are filled. Misuzu's and Junichiro's motivations to date being all centered around Tomo was funny. Misuzu's motivation for buying time in the current doesn't make as much sense if she's already been comforted by Tomo previously that despite their differences she's happy to hang out together.

I like how even Misuzu, despite being the calm and intelligent character in the show, isn't actually so purely logical and methodical. Half the time her plans don't turn out successful and often enough she's just doing whatever, just like the other characters, even if she tries to make it look like it's some masterful plan. She's pushing Tomo and Jun together relentlessly, but she's smugly gleeful every time Tomo happens to value her company over Jun's.

This is probably one of the best romcom in depicting how a dense character slowly overcomes their own density. Maybe it works because Jun isn't only dense for the sake of being dense, like is the case in 99% of harem series, but there was so much history behind it. Of course the background reasons still follow the needs of the plot, so they might not be realistic, but they are there. In this episode Jun even noted how it's impossible he didn't notice Tomo's gender (which realistically speaking is absolutely the case), it's rather that he actively refused to acknowledge it.

[Buffalobiian]

Interestingly, it's Misuzu who still calls Junichiro by his first name.

[neflight86]

Just caught up from ep 3, and yes to all the above. Tomo-chan really gets some mileage out of its full cast of characters and their interactions to advance multiple plot threads satisfyingly. It reminds me of a less zany School Rumble. The pacing is spot on, too.

[David75]

The VA cast is just full of geniuses. The animation and character design is average at best but the acting is so good it's not even a point.

[Buffalobiian]

One of my favourite voice acting moments from this show occurred a few episodes back when Jun placed his hand on Tomo's shoulder and she went "That's perrrrrrfect!". Oh, and her "Yo senpai, I've been dying to see you."

And Misuzu in general. And Mochi's...

... Yeah, it's been great.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 11

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"You're not Gundo right?"

Gets roasted Gundo style.

[Kraco]

The roles were perfect for the play. If Gundo is now mentally divided between supporting Jun and trying to block Jun, what's better than Gundo really needing to face Tomo eye to eye as prince-Tomo's princess in the play?

Jun can imagine himself as Steven Seagal in his role as a tree: A martial artist who's as good at acting and as expressive as a solid block of wood.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 12

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Akemi's boobs was Jun's first love. Fucking dead.

[Kraco]

It's kind of ridiculous this muscle comedy actually had so good character development compared to many of the actual romance manga I've read over the years. And I haven't even read that many of them. Maybe it's because this isn't exactly textbook romcom. Even the male MC wasn't dense for real. The only weak character was Tanabe, the dude who unsuccessfully kept hitting on Misuzu. He wasn't really used for anything at all and his romantic aspirations were totally meaningless for Mizusu's character development. Only Tomo, Cotton Candy, and Jun had any role in affecting Misuzu. Maybe Misaki in a very minor manner since he was tied to Cotton Candy, who mattered.

This anime was a positive surprise, as an adaptation.

[neflight86]

Hear hear! A great adaptation of an average manga. I'll remember this one down the road.

[Buffalobiian]

Tanabe had a horrible start where he was interested in Tomo, then quickly changed target to Misuzu. I imagine most girls would see that as being rather ingenuine.

"Will any girl do?" type of thing.

[Kraco]

Tanabe had a horrible start where he was interested in Tomo, then quickly changed target to Misuzu. I imagine most girls would see that as being rather ingenuine.

"Will any girl do?" type of thing.

Yet even that wasn't used to develop his character. I don't recall the manga would have done it either. He was just a character that possibly was intended to be developed along with the rest, but quickly abandoned and left as a background actor with the occasional but repeated foreground scenes that don't belong to extras, creating a very weak minor character. Maybe he wouldn't have looked so bad if the main characters and the real supporting characters weren't so strong.

[Buffalobiian]

The thing that makes him a bit wishy-washy I think is that he not only stuck around as a recurring character like any romcom, but they made him specifically interested in Misuzu and stuck with her - for no apparent reason other than because she didn't have a romantic interest. So yeah, it's like he didn't matter initially, then he became something slightly more by being around and hooked on Misuzu, but never became anything more after that. Even if they threw something in for the final ep, I'm not sure that it'd sound convincing.

The pairing is actually more Carol/Misuzu, with Misaki only providing a penis whenever a male is required to be around (eg the dancing scene here).

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edit: Ah... just rewatched the Misuzu/Jun scene and realised I missed her reaction:
Misuzu: was I your first love?
Jun: No, you weren't.
Misuzu: So I wasn't your first. BTW I never loved anyone.
Jun: *leaves*

Misuzu: happy at the fact that Jun did love her, even if she wasn't his first.

And we know that Misuzu also did like Jun for a brief half a day until he made her do a Tour de France.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 13

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Very much an epilogue-type episode where everything has already fallen into place and we're just seeing things play out. In that sense, this was a weaker episode in terms of surprises and enjoyment, in comedy even - but it felt conclusive.

I'm glad they didn't shoehorn Misuzu into a relationship since that wouldn't have made sense.

Overall, this was really good.

[Kraco]

Yeah, this was a good final episode. It wasn't particularly grand, including the fight, but this was a romcom series, so how grand could it even be? This did, though, give a pretty good impression of what kind of romantic relationship Jun and Tomo will have. A nice twist was Gorou's reason for the whole challenge thing, which wasn't "I won't give my daughter to some snot-nosed boy" at all. After all, he actually likes Jun and has got nothing against him.

I fully agree on Misuzu and her lack of romance. It wouldn't have fit her character, at least in the setting of a high school, so it's much better not to force it. She feels like the kind of person who will only get together with someone once she's already a working adult.

A much better anime adaptation than I expected.

[MFauli]

Feel sad for Mizusu. Still a good ending, yeah. More than one could have hoped for, really. But it's okay to be over. No need for a s2.

[Buffalobiian]

Feel sad for Mizusu. Still a good ending, yeah. More than one could have hoped for, really. But it's okay to be over. No need for a s2.

There's no more. The manga's finished. Events have been omitted, but the timeline has been adapted from start to finish.

[David75]

We even know Tomo will evolve to ressemble Junichiro's first love :D

[DarthEnderX]

Is this good?

[Buffalobiian]

Is this good?

Yes. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like romantic comedy then try it.

[DarthEnderX]

The VA cast is just full of geniuses.Megumin has crazy range. :p


Maybe it's because this isn't exactly textbook romcom.Let's see...

Fireworks Festival
Sports Festival
Cultural Festival...with maid cafe and haunted house...

Yep. Yep. Yuuuuup.......*sigh*...yup...

[Kraco]

Let's see...

Fireworks Festival
Sports Festival
Cultural Festival...with maid cafe and haunted house...

Yep. Yep. Yuuuuup.......*sigh*...yup...

I added the "exactly" for a reason. This is close enough, for sure, but in my opinion, although I'm hardly the greatest consumer of romcoms, this had enough other elements to make this not exactly a textbook one. The characters themselves have more quirks than in the more stale examples, where you will utterly forget pretty much the whole cast after taking a break of some length from the series. Furthermore, it's not the core theme in most romcoms that the FMC must struggle to make the MMC look at her like she's a woman, not just another "male" buddy. Not that an old childhood friend being revealed later in time to be a girl would be a novel idea as such.

[neflight86]

Agreed. It hits the same 'doki doki' story beats as most rom coms, but the underlying character dynamics and personalities felt fresh because they were put to better use than just inserting them into the same tired old events. The events themselves weren't the point.

Clearly they weren't as fresh or entertaining for Darth.

[DarthEnderX]

I added the "exactly" for a reason.Well sure. The big changeup here was we started in the spring. So the fireworks festival was in the middle of the season instead of the last episode. What a rollercoaster! :p


although I'm hardly the greatest consumer of romcomsI only really started watching them with Love Is War. And since then, any time I try one, it follows this exact formula. Like, it's just as bad as isekai in that regard.

I don't know why I keep letting Mother's Basement trick me into thinking these are worth my time. A couple really likeable characters can only do so much.


Clearly they weren't as fresh or entertaining for Darth.Tomo is entertaining. But no, I did not find the show "fresh".