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Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Light Novel #4
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 4
The tutorial phase is over!
After finishing the busiest summer of his life, Tomozaki is ready to get back to school. He may not always agree with Hinami's approach, but he's still working to find the best strats for clearing the game of life. His first challenge of the new to influence none other than Erika Konno, one of the scariest girls in class! As a reigning queen bee, she's decided the school sports tournament isn't cool enough to care about, and she's dragging everyone else down with her...Can Tomozaki be the one to change her mind?
After finishing the busiest summer of his life, Tomozaki is ready to get back to school. He may not always agree with Hinami's approach, but he's still working to find the best strats for clearing the game of life. His first challenge of the new to influence none other than Erika Konno, one of the scariest girls in class! As a reigning queen bee, she's decided the school sports tournament isn't cool enough to care about, and she's dragging everyone else down with her...Can Tomozaki be the one to change her mind?
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 30, 2017
25 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 25, 2020
Volume three of Tomozaki left us at the beginning of a new arc. One where Tomozaki doesn’t follow Hinami’s instructions and quests for the purpose of ‘leveling up’ (social climbing, status, etc.), but one where he has fun with his newfound friends while learning new skills from Hinami. What’s the point of treating life as a game if you can’t have fun while playing it? This volume, volume four, is the first volume where Tomozaki is in control of his own destiny (sort of).
Tomozaki’s main assignment in this volume is to get the other ‘Most Popular Girl in the Class’, Erika Konno, to get excited for the upcoming Athletic Festival. At the beginning of the volume, she plays cool and pretends to care less about it. The goal of doing this assignment is for Tomozaki to learn how to ‘read the room’ and ‘manipulate the mood’. To learn why Erika is playing it cool in the first place can be used against her to get her to care. While learning how to 'manipulate the mood' sounds evil and PUAish, it really isn’t that bad when it’s used for something as benign as making someone care for a sports day.
The thing that continues to surprise me about this series is the attention to minute details about something as insignificant as small talk or deciding captains for the Athletic Festival. Due to Tomozaki’s way of ‘gamifying’ everything, something that I would view as being psychotic is now viewed as Tomozaki analyzing social situations to come up with 'strats' for engaging what Hinami has set out for him. Kind of weird, but not alarming. Especially for picking up hints on how to ‘manipulate the mood’ to make Erika care about the festival, it feels like I’m reading someone trying to play a game. Tomozaki even states that this assignment was like an RPG quest. While I would not ever recommend anyone to do this is real life, the focus on Tomozaki’s mission to gain social skills in terms of a video game makes it way more enjoyable to read.
The one complaint I have about this volume is that it feels like I’m reading filler. From the beginning to near the end, the most important thing that happens plot-wise is that two side-characters start going out. Other than that, this volume has nothing important going on other than the cliffhanger ending. It almost feels like this volume was an intermediary between the first arc and the next major arc.
Tomozaki has been compared to Oregairu for its similarities. While each series’ end-goal is similar, the way they approach it is the polar opposite to each other. While Oregairu relies on the reader/viewer reading in between the lines to pick up the subtext of what is actually going on, Tomozaki has everything set out in front of you, showing everything that is going on, down to the point of explaining the subtext of the current scene. It’s not that the novels think that you’re too stupid to understand what’s going on, it’s the way that we can understand Tomozaki’s decisions and why he made them. With that being said, we’re only four volumes into this series, still enough time to change the tone if it wants to. I hope it doesn’t though, since it would lose most of its charm if it did.
As I stated with my review of the first volume of this series, reviewing light novels like these almost seems like a waste of time. Most light novels are meant to be entertaining, not good. While one can be both at the same time, it’s better to be wacky and entertaining than serious and boring. In that sense, trying to rate one based on how 'good' it is can be pointless. That being said, it would be unfair to this series to not take it seriously based on the format it is released. Tomozaki has gotten better with every volume (from ‘bad’ to volume one to ‘okay’ from volume three and four), and I hope it continues getting better. I enjoyed the third volume more than this one, but I still got enjoyment out this one nonetheless. Even though this volume was the same length as the other three, it still felt too short. Maybe it has something to do with it being a start to a new major arc, or maybe I read it too fast. That being said, see you guys in November when the fifth volume comes out.
Tomozaki’s main assignment in this volume is to get the other ‘Most Popular Girl in the Class’, Erika Konno, to get excited for the upcoming Athletic Festival. At the beginning of the volume, she plays cool and pretends to care less about it. The goal of doing this assignment is for Tomozaki to learn how to ‘read the room’ and ‘manipulate the mood’. To learn why Erika is playing it cool in the first place can be used against her to get her to care. While learning how to 'manipulate the mood' sounds evil and PUAish, it really isn’t that bad when it’s used for something as benign as making someone care for a sports day.
The thing that continues to surprise me about this series is the attention to minute details about something as insignificant as small talk or deciding captains for the Athletic Festival. Due to Tomozaki’s way of ‘gamifying’ everything, something that I would view as being psychotic is now viewed as Tomozaki analyzing social situations to come up with 'strats' for engaging what Hinami has set out for him. Kind of weird, but not alarming. Especially for picking up hints on how to ‘manipulate the mood’ to make Erika care about the festival, it feels like I’m reading someone trying to play a game. Tomozaki even states that this assignment was like an RPG quest. While I would not ever recommend anyone to do this is real life, the focus on Tomozaki’s mission to gain social skills in terms of a video game makes it way more enjoyable to read.
The one complaint I have about this volume is that it feels like I’m reading filler. From the beginning to near the end, the most important thing that happens plot-wise is that two side-characters start going out. Other than that, this volume has nothing important going on other than the cliffhanger ending. It almost feels like this volume was an intermediary between the first arc and the next major arc.
Tomozaki has been compared to Oregairu for its similarities. While each series’ end-goal is similar, the way they approach it is the polar opposite to each other. While Oregairu relies on the reader/viewer reading in between the lines to pick up the subtext of what is actually going on, Tomozaki has everything set out in front of you, showing everything that is going on, down to the point of explaining the subtext of the current scene. It’s not that the novels think that you’re too stupid to understand what’s going on, it’s the way that we can understand Tomozaki’s decisions and why he made them. With that being said, we’re only four volumes into this series, still enough time to change the tone if it wants to. I hope it doesn’t though, since it would lose most of its charm if it did.
As I stated with my review of the first volume of this series, reviewing light novels like these almost seems like a waste of time. Most light novels are meant to be entertaining, not good. While one can be both at the same time, it’s better to be wacky and entertaining than serious and boring. In that sense, trying to rate one based on how 'good' it is can be pointless. That being said, it would be unfair to this series to not take it seriously based on the format it is released. Tomozaki has gotten better with every volume (from ‘bad’ to volume one to ‘okay’ from volume three and four), and I hope it continues getting better. I enjoyed the third volume more than this one, but I still got enjoyment out this one nonetheless. Even though this volume was the same length as the other three, it still felt too short. Maybe it has something to do with it being a start to a new major arc, or maybe I read it too fast. That being said, see you guys in November when the fifth volume comes out.
September 28, 2020
Alas, this volume was a step back for me. The first three fourths were quite excellent as Tomozaki worked on things from his own angle. I liked how the breakup between Tomozaki and Hinami was handled, as well as their reconciliation. Kikuchi is also a delightful character. I especially adore how Yaki Yuku uses poetic, florid prose to describe Kikuchi, and only Kinuchi.
What I didn’t like about this volume was the suffocating last fourth. I’ve been wondering through the first few volumes why we weren’t dealing with bullying yet. Although I feel the changes Tomozaki is making to his personality are believable, as are his exercises, I remain skeptical that fellow students will allow somebody to rehabilitate their image so quickly. People, especially bullies, are cruel and like others to know their place. I also find it hard to believe that Konno held back her abusive behavior for three volumes. It seems to me that she should have targeted Tomozaki after he balled her out a couple of volumes ago.
As for this volume, I didn’t enjoy Tomozaki’s passive role. He sits and frets while others are bullied? Hinami just shrugs her shoulders? For pages and pages and pages? I don’t take issue with the characters acting this way, but rather disliked how the last fourth of the book was drawn out as padding leading up to the cliffhanger. The action felt stalled, the resolution delayed, and the characters going through the motions. It wasn’t entertaining reading.
Still, the first three fourths of the story were a good read. The I’ll be back for the fifth volume soon.
What I didn’t like about this volume was the suffocating last fourth. I’ve been wondering through the first few volumes why we weren’t dealing with bullying yet. Although I feel the changes Tomozaki is making to his personality are believable, as are his exercises, I remain skeptical that fellow students will allow somebody to rehabilitate their image so quickly. People, especially bullies, are cruel and like others to know their place. I also find it hard to believe that Konno held back her abusive behavior for three volumes. It seems to me that she should have targeted Tomozaki after he balled her out a couple of volumes ago.
As for this volume, I didn’t enjoy Tomozaki’s passive role. He sits and frets while others are bullied? Hinami just shrugs her shoulders? For pages and pages and pages? I don’t take issue with the characters acting this way, but rather disliked how the last fourth of the book was drawn out as padding leading up to the cliffhanger. The action felt stalled, the resolution delayed, and the characters going through the motions. It wasn’t entertaining reading.
Still, the first three fourths of the story were a good read. The I’ll be back for the fifth volume soon.
March 28, 2021
Enjoyed about 80% of it. Last 20% and next V5 of the bullying of Tama was really eh to me since just taking pictures of Konno kicking Tama's chair and harassing her regularly for proof would be enough to get teachers to make her stop. Most bully stories kind of fall to pieces with that, and it just felt a smidge forced for the sake of drama.
V4 itself, I like the idea of motivating Erika Konno the asshole class queen, but I think there's other ways to motivate her. Ex have anonymous flyers around that label her as one of the physically weakest or so to drive her competitive edge. I also don't love how much Tomozaki had to rely on others, though I appreciate that he did gather the tools and plans.
Enjoyed his basketball layup shot but wish he was more physically fit or at least trying to be. But enjoyable overall. The series does make sense as far as the logical steps it takes for a lot of the problems and solutions.
My fave characters are Tomozaki and esp Kikuchi (though I wish her cuteness/beauty wasn't praised so overly much) who I like for being very pure and honest but straightforward and true and genuine and believes in the good of all people. A very purehearted girl and can understand Tomozaki liking her gradually more.
V4 itself, I like the idea of motivating Erika Konno the asshole class queen, but I think there's other ways to motivate her. Ex have anonymous flyers around that label her as one of the physically weakest or so to drive her competitive edge. I also don't love how much Tomozaki had to rely on others, though I appreciate that he did gather the tools and plans.
Enjoyed his basketball layup shot but wish he was more physically fit or at least trying to be. But enjoyable overall. The series does make sense as far as the logical steps it takes for a lot of the problems and solutions.
My fave characters are Tomozaki and esp Kikuchi (though I wish her cuteness/beauty wasn't praised so overly much) who I like for being very pure and honest but straightforward and true and genuine and believes in the good of all people. A very purehearted girl and can understand Tomozaki liking her gradually more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2025
3.5
Come on you can't finish there!! Making me want to read the next one right away.
While there were problems, and most of them were not coming from within tomozaki but from the social group he "formed" around him, it was absurdly difficult to relate and see it as actual problems. I had to remind myself way too many times that I am not the target audience and that's not something I normally need to do. Even the bullying felt so... unrealistic and mild that I had to toss it to cultural differences.
Now, I wish this didn't affect my opinion but on the last book I made a point of mentioning how I was getting very uncomfortable/tired of the sexualization of the character's and this one had little of that, only 3 moments which I can recall. Which is nice! until the author proceeds to spend a good portion of the afterword on the tighs of yuzu on the book cover. I understand spending some time thanking the illustrator for their work throughout the book/s but, come on. That was just plain ol disgusting and ruined the momentum of finishing the book for me.
Come on you can't finish there!! Making me want to read the next one right away.
While there were problems, and most of them were not coming from within tomozaki but from the social group he "formed" around him, it was absurdly difficult to relate and see it as actual problems. I had to remind myself way too many times that I am not the target audience and that's not something I normally need to do. Even the bullying felt so... unrealistic and mild that I had to toss it to cultural differences.
Now, I wish this didn't affect my opinion but on the last book I made a point of mentioning how I was getting very uncomfortable/tired of the sexualization of the character's and this one had little of that, only 3 moments which I can recall. Which is nice! until the author proceeds to spend a good portion of the afterword on the tighs of yuzu on the book cover. I understand spending some time thanking the illustrator for their work throughout the book/s but, come on. That was just plain ol disgusting and ruined the momentum of finishing the book for me.
January 27, 2021
A solid volume, though not perfect, that starts a new arc. Tomozaki still has things to learn form Hinami, but he's not willing to just be a lump of clay sculpted by her. He wants to take part in his development and asserts himself thusly. As usual the situations feel like they could be fairly real with HS cliques. Even the need to observe to learn what is going on and how it is happening. However, that is the "not perfect" mentioned above. It isn't just a couple of days, weeks are mentioned and while it can take a while to learn these things, it just felt like Tomozaki would not really have waited that long to take action with the changes he'd made. The book leaves us with an invitation to the next and I for one will be reading it.
January 11, 2024
En este vol ya se puede ver como tomozaki toma decisiones por su cuenta y ha empezado a cambiar pero, también vemos la evolución de Izumi y todo lo que ha logrado por su cuenta gracias a que ha decidido creer más en sí misma
Y como olvidar a tama-chan, su convicción la hace una persona fuerte y honesta cuando se trata de decir las cosas y es alguien que también ha decidido dar un gran paso hacia adelante y seguir luchando en lo que cree. Estoy ansioso por ver el progreso de rama en el siguiente vol ✨🙌🙂👌
Y como olvidar a tama-chan, su convicción la hace una persona fuerte y honesta cuando se trata de decir las cosas y es alguien que también ha decidido dar un gran paso hacia adelante y seguir luchando en lo que cree. Estoy ansioso por ver el progreso de rama en el siguiente vol ✨🙌🙂👌
December 31, 2021
It seems the translation/writing has really improved in this volume. This volume centers around "the mood" of the social group, a seemingly popular theme in various Japanese stories, be it manga, anime or light novel. Unfortunately, it's not a theme I find particularly enjoyable. It's still a good entry into the Tomozaki-kun series, but I felt that this wasn't as interesting as the previous volumes. Mimimi doesn't make a lot of appearances in this one, so that's also quite disappointing.
January 30, 2022
Un volumen muy bueno eh de decir, me gustó ver los roces entre la forma de pensar de tomozaki-kun y Hinami, uno puede llegar a entender el punto de vista de cada uno, el asunto de Izumi y nakamura obtuvo una conclusión satisfactoria, aunque la sorpresa del volumen vino con el capítulo final el cuál nos mostró una situación llena de cosas inesperadas y un adelanto emocionante de lo que veremos en el siguiente volumen.
February 20, 2022
3.5 ⭐️
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews