Watamote: Episode 8

Episode 8: Since I’m Unpopular, I’ll Put on Airs

When Tomoko hears that her younger cousin Kii is going to visit for a few days, she freaks out a bit, realizing that the rather extravagant lies she told the year before might be a bit more transparent now that Kii’s in middle school. Tomoko hurriedly looks for cute clothes to wear and does things with a vacuum that need to be seen to be believed, but that was probably unnecessary, since Kii is pretty gullible. The next day, Tomoko takes Kii to the library to pick up a book, and while waiting she runs into one of the boys she met in episode 3. Kii sees them talking and assumes that he was the boyfriend Tomoko made up, which causes trouble when, the next day, Tomoko and Kii see the boy acting overly friendly with another girl. Tomoko tries to keep up the lie, but naturally Kii figures out the truth. Trying to save face, Tomoko takes Kii to a store where she can show off her skills at a trading card game – by facing off against elementary school children. Kii notices that Tomoko actually cheats to beat a child, and so Tomoko’s attempt to show off backfires. When Kii finally heads home, she still loves her cousin just as much, but her perspective has changed to pity rather than admiration.

This episode really encapsulates Watamote’s strange comedy/tragedy dichotomy. Sometimes it can be pretty painful to watch Tomoko’s pathetic attempts at socializing and impressing people, especially considered that the show is aimed at people who can relate. In episode 8, it’s made all the moreso by the fact that you get a good, long look at her from someone else’s point of view, and that person’s opinion of her changes so drastically. There have been tons of scenes in earlier episode’s where we hear a quick bit of inner dialogue from Tomoki or Yuu, but those have always been very brief, and moreover they’ve been scenes of wondering what’s up with Tomoko. Kii actually comes to understand Tomoko pretty well in a relatively short period of time; without Tomoko admitting to anything, Kii realizes how much her cousin is struggling and how desperate she is for someone to think highly of her. But while this is going on, there are still genuinely funny scenes ranging from over-the-top Yu Gi Oh references and attempts to fake hickies with a vacuum cleaner. It’s probably a difficult line to walk to get the right amount of humor versus painful embarrassment, but I think the show manages to get it right the majority of the time just by being realistic and honest. 

Okay, the bit with the vacuum cleaner wasn't all that realistic, but you get my point.