Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki: Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun

[Munsu]

Tomozaki is one of the best gamers in Japan, and in his opinion, the game of real life is one of the worst. No clear-cut rules for success, horribly balanced, and nothing makes sense. But then he meets a gamer who's just as good as him, and she offers to teach him a few exploits.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/enc...e.php?id=23783

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki: Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun should be airing in a few hours. I usually don't gravitate towards romance-comedy anime, but this one I've seen it recommended often so I'll give it a shot. I believe it's going to be hyped up, if it isn't already (though honestly haven't seen much talk about the anime itself).

From what I gather, the appeal of the series is not necessarily the romance, but the process of potential self-improvement for the main character... like he's leveling up socially or such. Something along those lines.

[Munsu]

Watched the first episode, not winning me over yet. Some of the premise is failing for me and some of the effects are not showing too well here, for example the removal of make-up to make a character look uglier when to us the viewers the character looks practically the same. I can see somewhat why it's often compared to OreGairu, particularly since the MC can come off maybe as a lame Hachiman. Have to see if he remains that way, or maybe that's the point of the series, leveling-up so that he isn't that pathetic... I mean, most of it is self-image rather than REALLY being bottom-tier.

Will give it a few more episodes to see how it goes, but not sold on it yet.

[neflight86]

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"* Based on a romance comedy light novel written by Yaku Yuuki and illustrated by Fly.

Tomozaki is one of the best gamers in Japan, and in his opinion, the game of real life is one of the worst. No clear-cut rules for success, horribly balanced, and nothing makes sense. But then he meets a gamer who's just as good as him, and she offers to teach him a few exploits...

Source: Yen On"

Genre(s): Romance, Comedy, Drama, Phycological

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Probably my favorite of the new season, so far (of new shows). I get serous Rom Cam Snafu vibes from this, but it is legally distinct.

Not an oversaturated genre, the "girl tells a guy to quit sucking" story archetype is usually harder for me to enjoy because the main character typically fights being better the whole way, generally being insufferable to the audience of a functioning adult. You see, while Tomozaki has some unfortunate prejudices about his lot in life (being a 'low spec character'), he avoids having a bad attitude about it. That makes all the difference in watchability. Just look at how he, in episode two, conscientiously performs his 'assignment' without being absolutely paralyzed by anxiety, and is rewarded for the effort. Is it super realistic? Maybe not; but it also isn't an ordeal made of nothing like so many tortured wallflowers in anime make it.

I also enjoy what the young lady (and by extension the show) has to say about putting a modicum of effort to bridge the gap in a practical way for being successful. Highly recommended- give it a try.

[David75]

The effort you bring to the table to bridge gaps in a positive way might be totally useless with the people you think you want to share/work/live with, but it might instead bring into light people you tought were not compatible and people you don't know yet...
Why ? It's a little hard to get positive people and people who seek positivity, when you're neutral or negative.
Positive in the way they talk, act , how they want to improve and help.

Edit:sorry if it feels like a bot mail

[neflight86]

Ep3

I wonder if this is what its like to watch your children learn to walk?

Cute interactions, and Tomozaki brings up a good point that a lot of what he is doing to shoe-horn conversation with people is somewhat fake, but compromise is the oil in the machine of social interaction.

Of course she wants to learn how to play smash brothers...

[Munsu]

Episode 4...


Caught up, still not good as I saw hyped... maybe it's better in the LN, but I guess I'll keep watching for a change of pace. That said, that monologue rant was quite cringey, Tomozaki needed a better VA for that.

[neflight86]

Oh yeah; that was a very embarrassing speech that I can only abide coming from a teen with little self awareness. I like that the young lady wasn't phased by it (as she shouldn't be), but the sermon was more for the blonde guy's benefit anyway.

Please anime, don't talk about game theory when you have bigger things to focus on.

I still really enjoy this, but to be clear that is in spite of the setting, and because Tomozaki is putting in genuine effort, and doesn't feel like a blank slate.

[neflight86]

8

So the end of our little Mimimi arc played out much better than I thought it would. As the title of the episode said, Tomozaki really had almost nothing to do with her recovery. He had to coordinate a supportive friend re-affirming her worth to break her free of her slump. I wouldn't say the lessons he learned so far seemed to play heavily into his new found insight, but the show is implying as much, and I can hand-wave that in hindsight, as he did get results in a believable way.

It is also telling how Aoi's chartacter has been further defined. Firstly, while Mimimi compared herself to Aoi for self validation (she would have been happy besting her at one thing), Aoi seems to put herself below anyone who outperforms her in almost any field she puts effort into, as crying at the basketball tournament suggests. That explains her despair at Tomozaki's slovenly lifestyle upon meeting her TakFam idol. Secondly, she immediately assumed that Tomozaki was 'like her' in that he should be incredibly frustrated to lose, but he is surprisingly level headed about being inferior at a variety of things, framing the conflict of competition against his own actual self- not anyone else. That seemed to take Aoi by surprise. I wonder if she is going to need support for this later down the line. After all, she is the one still training in the rain because she seems to fear falling behind so much...

[neflight86]

9-11

Lets kick this to the top one more time.

In the transition from 'my first normie outing' to 'people can see through my preparations', I like the unexpected turn that Tomozaki now has an opportunity to help his 'master' see a potential error of her ways that could be holding her back. I have always liked the idea of exploring just the various levels of intimacy in friendship, and awkwardness sort of comes with the territory. It was hinted at with the blue haired girl's arc, but Aoi really is as fake as can be, as her credence would prescribe. That the first thing she does is cancel the student-teacher relationship once Tomozaki questions the methodology (a sign of social growth and introspective I really was pleasantly surprised by), is indicative of some self indoctrination or perhaps trauma. I look forward to see if even this bottom tier character can pull off a 'win' by potentially softening Aoi's callus worldview.

[Munsu]

Not sure if I've watched the latest one yet, last one I watched ended with Tomozaki giving his report on the Festival date in which he disobeyed the mission.

But overall, the series has grown on me some. I know for most people, seem to like the Hinata-like personalities as "best girl" for the MCs in many animes, but I mostly hate those types of characters. But even without the confession now, I think it's a given that they'll end up together.

I prefer someone like Mimimi or her friend.

[KrayZ33]

I quite enjoyed this show. A lot was going on in every single episode and thus it was never really boring.

I'd prefer Mimimi over "Hinata" too. Nothing wrong with Hinata, but it's pretty boring in comparison if you ask me.
Mimimi seems to be a fun character. At first sight, a typical "genki", but also enjoyable to watch because she isn't just that.
Gotta admit though, looks (long hair + ponytail) is making me biased.

But it's true that Kikuchi isn't much of an active character in this show, even during her arcs, so it's a bit of a pity move and the typical loner-meets-loner setup in my book.

It was, overall, a better "romance" show than Go-Toubun. Episode 4(?) had a really huge "cringe"-factor (when he faced Erika the "Queen Bee") in it that could've been handled much better and in a more awesome way and the whole "game" theme - and especially game "talk" - was a bit too much at times, but it was alright for sure.


Seems like this show went till novel no.3 by the looks of it? Can anyone confirm. I might pick this up over the easter holidays if it's only animated up to #3.
Going to root for Mimimi all the way - although two more obvious heroines are way more likely.
The drawings look sweet.

edit: ugh, nevermind, can't buy this in germany. Would have to find the fan translation or something.

[neflight86]

Yeah, I should have seen the 'you can't beat my gamer powerz' argument being the only real leverage he had over Aoi angle coming a mile away. And the start of the episode was pretty depressing to see that he had 'regressed' to shut in status without his teacher, but then things began to get better. I would almost say that an entire arc of self-discovery and development took place within this one episode in an awkward way that reflects Tomozaki himself. Well played, show- I didn't notice you go meta there for a second.

I liked that his sister gave him the inciting encouragement- he now has feedback that putting in effort did produce desired results in that people better liked him. Then book girl broke down that polishing and using those skills alone will (sooner or later) be seen though and lead to a disconnect preventing him from forming deeper friendships (keep it light, so to speak). Internalizing these lessons, Tomozaki decides that, like many of anime's greatest hurdles, this too can be overcome with fusion of these two elements.

Aoi is unconvinced that there is even a possibility for deep relationships (true desire) and can only be brought to a stalemate in that she can't prove they don't exist either. A nice compromise that doesn't lean to heavily into the 'student becomes the master' trope. The two maintain a working relationship and strive to better themselves still.

Drama through and through, this was very entertaining and certainly worth a watch if RomCom SNAFU left a hole in your heart, as it did mine.

[Munsu]

I'd prefer Mimimi over "Hinata" too. Nothing wrong with Hinata, but it's pretty boring in comparison if you ask me.
Mimimi seems to be a fun character. At first sight, a typical "genki", but also enjoyable to watch because she isn't just that.
Gotta admit though, looks (long hair + ponytail) is making me biased.

But it's true that Kikuchi isn't much of an active character in this show, even during her arcs, so it's a bit of a pity move and the typical loner-meets-loner setup in my book.

It was more of an observation, that in general in otaku fandom, when these meek characters get introduced, for some reason they all want to ship her with the MC, and often enough from what I've seen they end up being the main pair. Personally I don't care much for them, mostly because I find their voices irritating when they talk like that. In general, I never root for those types of characters (relationship wise) over other options, even if they're the sweetest.

[neflight86]

S2 Ep1

Loved it like it never left. I like that there was no artificial 'power down' or regression; Tomozaki understands his growth, abilities, and even can gauge when he cannot influence the mood of a room (yet). He is shown to be better than he was, and that's great. This latest assignment is already exciting in that he is being unorthodox yet crafty instead of bouncing off the prickly personality of the blonde JK directly, and the video game lingo wasn't overplayed. This season is off to a great start so far!

[neflight86]

Ep2

Good twist in blowing over the actual sporting events and going straight to the aftermath no one was expecting with the bullying. Passive aggressive bullying is always frustrating to watch, but it wasn't taken lying down (at least by someone) and the cracks in Aoi's self preservation philosophy as Tomozaki is questioning her more and more in his head; she bends her own convictions when it comes to her personal circle he now understands and won't be objective like her usual self.

That he has grown enough to have his own apprentice is cute, and I never expected Tama to gain this level of screen presence.

[KrayZ33]

One of the few shows I actually phyiscally own the LN from (to a certain point.)
I'll chime in when more episodes are available - or all of them.

Liked the first season, doubt the second will be much worse.

[neflight86]

3

The most straightforward, concise show airing this season for how complex its ideas are, and it's refreshing to take in. Tama's attitude optics problem coming off that way due to not being interested in her classmates is a great idea and solid life advice for us wall flowers as well. I like that Aoi isn't a fixture completely 'sitting this one out' even if she doesn't necessarily approve of Tama's transformation. I wonder if the bully will get a comeuppance or if a more creative solution will be put into play?

[neflight86]

5

The systematic destruction and turning of the class against Erica was a really interesting conflict, at least as a spectacle. Tomozaki, now armed with the skill to see the techniques being slyly used to destroy Erica's social standing in one fell swoop was cathartic and in line with what we've 'learned' with Tomozaki throughout this season and last.

Even though Erica's bullying was mean and petty, one might wonder if this retaliation was a bridge too far? All ended well enough though, and more importantly, the fissure between Tomozaki and Aoi's true personalities are being given front billing. Aoi is demure and perfect socially, but beneath it all can be uncompromisingly cruel. Tomozaki is struggling to not be creepy, but has much more genuine compassion for other people besides his close friends. Seeing that play out in his commentary and even pleading for Aoi to not crush Erica so hard when the damage was already done is top shelf intrigue to me. I hope this leads to a conflict of interests down the line where Tomozaki's genuine and awkward style of friendship is directly pitted against Aoi's fake pandering and perfection. If I recall, Aoi doubts a real, true, vulnerable friendship isn't even realistically possible. Through her growth, even Tama realizes that Aoi was going for the throat and regrets that.

The stakes couldn't be lower, but the drama and interplay are really compelling.

[neflight86]

6

I like how frank these characters get to be, in a series about how being somewhat fake is how you establish and maintain social relationships. Tomozaki pressed Aoi about her excessive tactics, and she quickly admitted she was angry at Erica took it out on her. I like the "I'm not allowed to get mad?" retort. Interesting to see how she views her role as mentor/teacher does not include self-denial.

Also, it is finally time for Tomozaki to begin his pursuit of romance... as a means of improving his people skills. That's whack. That said, shy book girl would be 'easy' mode; she'll fold like a cheap tent. Mimimi is a solid possibility, provided she's into boys in the first place. Hanabi would need another season of interaction to be a 'maybe'. Aoi is too broken to be romantically active, and I think she knows it. Her suggestion that he go after Yuzu was a huge red flag and eyebrow raise all in one. I wonder who gets 'picked'?

[neflight86]

7

At the crosswalk, that was some quality doki-doki with Mimimi, for sure. If not for the silly picture assignment weirding out the mood over ramen, that might have sealed the deal for a confession from her. Anyways, I like the homework of getting sweaty about the play including Fuuka's writing and growth in putting herself and her work out there. Nothing is stagnant and isolated, and that is a sign of good storytelling, in my opinion.

Hanabi and Tomozaki's silly faces were more cute than silly, you darn animators.