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No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! #2
No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 2
Despite having made it to high school, her long-awaited promised land, poor Tomoko Kuroki continues to strike out with her peers and remains utterly, wretchedly unpopular. And before she knows it, the first school term is nearly at its end! Can Mokocchi manage to make at least some happy memories over the break? Plunge into one girl's summer of . . . agony!
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 22, 2012
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171 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 27, 2024
This is the second manga I've read, besides Lovesick Ellie, that deals openly with a girl's sweaty thirst.* This one is somewhat the polar opposite of Ellie--Ellie's embarrassment is confined to her interactions with the guy who will eventually be her boyfriend. Tomoko's inability to keep her feelings walled up, even in situations that would all but require it, often leads to public mortification (store, library, school, etc.). Tomoko's family seems to take her bizarre behavior in stride. Maybe they're used to it by now.
* Another, I gather, is O Maidens in Your Savage Season, but I haven't read that one.
Another recent point of comparison is Komi Can't Communicate. Both leads have crippling social anxiety, that expresses itself in very different ways. Why I should appreciate this one, and be less appreciative of Komi, is anybody's guess. Maybe Komi's being tall, curvy, and stunningly beautiful, and Tomoko a scrawny thing with baggy eyes and messy hair, a disaster both inside and out, is a factor.
I continue to enjoy seeing Tomoko's painfully inept attempts to freshen up her image, that nearly always lead to terrible humiliation. It's hard to imagine someone who's gone so far off the creepy deep end making friends or, heaven forbid, finding a boyfriend.
I hope there aren't too many people out there who see this pathetic, warped creature as anything close to their mirror image. Maybe it's the patheticness, the raw unanswered need for somebody out there to understand and accept her, that makes Tomoko rather sympathetic despite how physically gross she gets sometimes: , etc.
Kind of funny that a title about a terminally unpopular girl got popular enough to be made into an anime.
* Another, I gather, is O Maidens in Your Savage Season, but I haven't read that one.
Another recent point of comparison is Komi Can't Communicate. Both leads have crippling social anxiety, that expresses itself in very different ways. Why I should appreciate this one, and be less appreciative of Komi, is anybody's guess. Maybe Komi's being tall, curvy, and stunningly beautiful, and Tomoko a scrawny thing with baggy eyes and messy hair, a disaster both inside and out, is a factor.
I continue to enjoy seeing Tomoko's painfully inept attempts to freshen up her image, that nearly always lead to terrible humiliation. It's hard to imagine someone who's gone so far off the creepy deep end making friends or, heaven forbid, finding a boyfriend.
I hope there aren't too many people out there who see this pathetic, warped creature as anything close to their mirror image. Maybe it's the patheticness, the raw unanswered need for somebody out there to understand and accept her, that makes Tomoko rather sympathetic despite how physically gross she gets sometimes: , etc.
Kind of funny that a title about a terminally unpopular girl got popular enough to be made into an anime.
February 23, 2024
Og femcel
February 22, 2017
Another day, another manga read. This time it was No Matter How I Look At It,It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol. 2 by Nico Tanigawa, a pseudonym used by the two creators. The second volume in the series continues with Tomoko's misadventures in high school. It's just as fun as the first volume in the series, and one I definitely enjoyed.
Small note here: The title is often shortened to Watamote, which is also the title the anime is known by. This is what I will be using to refer to this volume for the rest of this review. Because the full title is just too damned long. Great title. Perfectly explains the manga. But just way too long.
Volume 2 of Watamote continues following Tomoko through her high school career. We’ve reached the end of the first term, and summer break is looming just around the corner. She still isn’t popular, with just a single friend to her name. But that’s going to change. She’s going to make a friend and go watch the fireworks with them. Or, at the very least, keep being the cool older cousin when Kii-chan, who is still in middle school, comes for her annual summer visit. However, this proves to be much harder than it sounds.
This series never ceases to make me squirm uncomfortably. Not because Tomoko’s antics are all that bad. Okay, well, maybe they are sometimes. She does make multiple dubious choices that have us cringing before their full consequences are actually played out. But the real reason for all the uncomfortable squirming is because the manga hearkens back to my own high school days and the awkward things I wish I’d never done, no different than the first volume. The scene in the coffee shop rang particularly true for me.
I feel that Tomoko was a little more honest with herself in this volume. Where in the first volume she’s utterly convinced that things will just change for her now that she’s in high school, she doesn’t act quite as passive here. She isn't quite as overtly angry at the turn of events (or lack thereof) as she was at times during scenes in the first volume. She is obviously upset by the lack of change through the first term, but we see Tomoko make an effort to change things. Maybe not a very coherent, well-formed effort, but an effort nonetheless. We did see a bit of this in volume one, but it feels different here.
The scene in the school library where she falsely assumes that anyone there on the last day before summer break is a loner with no friends like her is probably the most honest with herself she has been thus far. It’s Tomoko’s first somewhat coherent attempt at making a friend. That’s not to say she goes about it perfectly, or even half-decently, but we see her try.
Something else I noticed in this book is that in some scenes Tomoko loses her gung-ho attitude and does become a little more sad and subdued. She really does want to make a friend and not be quite so alone all the time. More importantly, she states this, maybe not aloud to those around her but to the reader nonetheless. The incessant rantings on how her classmates are all horrible, terrible people and why would she want to hang out with people like that anyway are also a bit fewer. There are times, plenty of times, where she name calls or makes a too-hasty judgement of strangers, but overall there there is a little less of it.
Volume 2 of Watamote is also a bit more focused on Tomoko’s role as a the oldest sibling and oldest cousin. She wants to be the cool older sibling/older cousin. And, well, yeah, that’s another thing we’ve all tried to do. At least those of us who are the older sibling and oldest cousin. Like the first volume, I still find the representation of the sibling's behavior very true to life, which is something I find is often lacking in many manga and novels. This is best seen in the scene where Tomoko is too scared to go to the bathroom after reading scary stories all night and wakes up her brother to escort her through the dark, quiet house. He does walk here there and wait for her. He’s not happy about, but he does it. And he definitely makes sure Tomoko knows just how unhappy with it he is. And that’s pretty much exactly what would happen between me and my two siblings.
The art is once again wonderful. I did find that I enjoyed some of the over the top faces Tomoko made in Volume 1 more than in Volume 2. Her expressions were still exaggerated, but a bit subdued in comparison to Volume 1. However, I do feel that the faces fit the overall tone of this volume well. Once again there is a section at the end of the volume for translation notes. It’s a bit shorter this time, only one page, but still just as useful as the last time.
This is a series I will definitely continue. No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol. 2 by Nico Tanigawa is funny and strangely heartfelt. If you are a fan of the anime, like humorous stories, or are a fan of young adult novels looking to branch into the manga genre this is a manga you'll definitely enjoy. If you don't enjoy slice of life manga, or disliked the anime you might want to skip this one.
Review originally found on Looking Glass Reads.
Small note here: The title is often shortened to Watamote, which is also the title the anime is known by. This is what I will be using to refer to this volume for the rest of this review. Because the full title is just too damned long. Great title. Perfectly explains the manga. But just way too long.
Volume 2 of Watamote continues following Tomoko through her high school career. We’ve reached the end of the first term, and summer break is looming just around the corner. She still isn’t popular, with just a single friend to her name. But that’s going to change. She’s going to make a friend and go watch the fireworks with them. Or, at the very least, keep being the cool older cousin when Kii-chan, who is still in middle school, comes for her annual summer visit. However, this proves to be much harder than it sounds.
This series never ceases to make me squirm uncomfortably. Not because Tomoko’s antics are all that bad. Okay, well, maybe they are sometimes. She does make multiple dubious choices that have us cringing before their full consequences are actually played out. But the real reason for all the uncomfortable squirming is because the manga hearkens back to my own high school days and the awkward things I wish I’d never done, no different than the first volume. The scene in the coffee shop rang particularly true for me.
I feel that Tomoko was a little more honest with herself in this volume. Where in the first volume she’s utterly convinced that things will just change for her now that she’s in high school, she doesn’t act quite as passive here. She isn't quite as overtly angry at the turn of events (or lack thereof) as she was at times during scenes in the first volume. She is obviously upset by the lack of change through the first term, but we see Tomoko make an effort to change things. Maybe not a very coherent, well-formed effort, but an effort nonetheless. We did see a bit of this in volume one, but it feels different here.
The scene in the school library where she falsely assumes that anyone there on the last day before summer break is a loner with no friends like her is probably the most honest with herself she has been thus far. It’s Tomoko’s first somewhat coherent attempt at making a friend. That’s not to say she goes about it perfectly, or even half-decently, but we see her try.
Something else I noticed in this book is that in some scenes Tomoko loses her gung-ho attitude and does become a little more sad and subdued. She really does want to make a friend and not be quite so alone all the time. More importantly, she states this, maybe not aloud to those around her but to the reader nonetheless. The incessant rantings on how her classmates are all horrible, terrible people and why would she want to hang out with people like that anyway are also a bit fewer. There are times, plenty of times, where she name calls or makes a too-hasty judgement of strangers, but overall there there is a little less of it.
Volume 2 of Watamote is also a bit more focused on Tomoko’s role as a the oldest sibling and oldest cousin. She wants to be the cool older sibling/older cousin. And, well, yeah, that’s another thing we’ve all tried to do. At least those of us who are the older sibling and oldest cousin. Like the first volume, I still find the representation of the sibling's behavior very true to life, which is something I find is often lacking in many manga and novels. This is best seen in the scene where Tomoko is too scared to go to the bathroom after reading scary stories all night and wakes up her brother to escort her through the dark, quiet house. He does walk here there and wait for her. He’s not happy about, but he does it. And he definitely makes sure Tomoko knows just how unhappy with it he is. And that’s pretty much exactly what would happen between me and my two siblings.
The art is once again wonderful. I did find that I enjoyed some of the over the top faces Tomoko made in Volume 1 more than in Volume 2. Her expressions were still exaggerated, but a bit subdued in comparison to Volume 1. However, I do feel that the faces fit the overall tone of this volume well. Once again there is a section at the end of the volume for translation notes. It’s a bit shorter this time, only one page, but still just as useful as the last time.
This is a series I will definitely continue. No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, Vol. 2 by Nico Tanigawa is funny and strangely heartfelt. If you are a fan of the anime, like humorous stories, or are a fan of young adult novels looking to branch into the manga genre this is a manga you'll definitely enjoy. If you don't enjoy slice of life manga, or disliked the anime you might want to skip this one.
Review originally found on Looking Glass Reads.
June 6, 2018
Ew she's so gross
How does she exist
Ew
I like the other characters a lot tho
Like her brother and cousin and best friend etc
How does she exist
Ew
I like the other characters a lot tho
Like her brother and cousin and best friend etc
August 19, 2017
Another volume full of awkward moments and laughter. This one was not as funny as the first volume, but one particular scene made it well worth reading.
November 17, 2023
This was fun but it's getting dark. I was hoping that the nerd from the first book would become the center of plot progress in this second book, but this remains a series of alarming one-offs where Tomoko tries everything but normal, friendly conversation with her classmates. Some of these are sad, some are poignant, some are cringe, but she never learns or grows. She does watch some people having sex through a window with some middle school boys. I'm still suspicious that someone reasonably popular in middle school wouldn't at least have girlfriends she never sees outside of school in high school. Tomoko never speaks to a soul. Her relationship with her brother is bleak, and her parents have clearly given up on her. Thirty plus manga on this theme is too sad. I'm tapping out.
January 8, 2019
This is such a strange book. I felt like giving it another try since the first volume was pretty good but this just got real weird real fast. I wouldn't recommend it.
September 19, 2014
The second-hand embarrassment I get from Tomoko and her antics is so strong. I spent most the time reading thinking "oh no" or "don't do that" and the like. But oddly, that's why I like it? Tomoko's awkardness is very relatable for me. My rating is more like 3.5 stars, since I wouldn't quite give it 4 despite how much I like this series. It's growing on me for sure.
January 30, 2014
My favorite panel...when she is sitting on the floor with the three pieces of Pocky in her hand like Wolverine's metal claws....and the best concept, when her heart breaks, it is a piece of Pocky snapping. Just not quite as good as the first one, but almost there....
July 10, 2022
I've been reading manga for years now and this is by far one if my favourite series, volume 2 is just as good as volume 1 and I can't wait to read the other volumes, if your looking for a relatable, somewhat dirty, edgy series to get in to then give Watamote a go, you wont regret it!
March 8, 2014
The funniest part was when Tomoko tries to give herself hickeys with the vac
March 24, 2024
kind of like if george costanza was an anime girl
July 4, 2013
4.5 Stars
Ohhh, Tomoko...
Ohhh, Tomoko...
March 21, 2017
Pfft. Chapter 17 killed me XD.
Oh Tomoko you're such a funny girl.
Oh Tomoko you're such a funny girl.
September 3, 2024
This volume was even funnier than the first.
The ant chapter in particular is so off the walls, and one of the best ending drops ever. I was laughing so hard when reading that ending. On top of that the other one with her little cousin coming to visit was so cringy it made my face hurt from cringe, but I loved it.
This is really such a funny manga with such a dumbass but somehow loveable main lead.
The ant chapter in particular is so off the walls, and one of the best ending drops ever. I was laughing so hard when reading that ending. On top of that the other one with her little cousin coming to visit was so cringy it made my face hurt from cringe, but I loved it.
This is really such a funny manga with such a dumbass but somehow loveable main lead.
September 24, 2018
I'm enjoying this continuation of the series, I like that it was easy enough to pick up volume 2 and remember what had previously happened despite having read volume 1 a while ago. This was nicely paced and I like that there are not to many characters in it. I feel I can somewhat empathize with the main characters loneliness. Looking forward to the next volume.
October 18, 2018
About as solid as the first volume, although this is getting a little formulaic, particularly around the misunderstandings around boys. There was the side aspect of the adoring cousin, which slightly changed the pace. Will try one more volume to see if it evolves at all.
May 26, 2021
It can be painfully cringy and awkward at times, and also bring up bad memories of bad experiences in school as well... But I was compelled to keep reading. Still quite enjoyable throughout and unfortunately a little relatable. I'll keep reading this series!
February 22, 2017
This book was so embarrassing that I had to continuously put the book down and take a breath.
July 31, 2017
This book was not as funny as the first but it was still really good. Tomoko is still epically failing at being popular. I really liked the manga.
April 20, 2018
Just like the first volume I really enjoyed this manga. It's comedic moments and realistic portrayal of social anxiety in Tomoko's character really make me enjoy it as time goes on.
July 7, 2018
3.0 out of 5 stars
This one felt even weirder than the first one and definitely even more socially awkward. I cringed so hard reading it.
This one felt even weirder than the first one and definitely even more socially awkward. I cringed so hard reading it.
July 20, 2018
3 out of 5 stars!
I just enjoyed the first volume way better than this one. I'm hoping the quality will be top notch again in the third volume though. Not dropping the series by any means.. <3
I just enjoyed the first volume way better than this one. I'm hoping the quality will be top notch again in the third volume though. Not dropping the series by any means.. <3
August 14, 2018
Read this book in one sitting at the library, found i had to stifle my chuckles as it made me laugh out loud more than once.
April 24, 2019
Not as good as the first volume but still entertaining :3
✨3.5 stars✨
✨3.5 stars✨
July 12, 2019
Not as good at the first but I STILL NEED MORE!
November 18, 2021
Relatable in some places but without an overarching plot I'm losing interest and there's isn't much incentive to read the third one. Her perversions are pretty hilarious though
November 21, 2021
I love a good farce. And this is a great farce. Short vignettes that are timed out just right.
February 5, 2022
It's a rough read, watching someone self destruct. But it does have some interesting commentary on loneliness.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews