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#1 Feb 07 2014 at 1:59 AM Rating: Excellent
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I don't usually watch anime, but the other day a friend showed me a series the other day called Watamote. Today, it is all I can think about. Reverse the gender of the main character, add more brothers and a sister, and it is like looking into a mirror of my life before I met my wife. I can't even begin to explain it. Every little thing that happens-- every thought and reaction... I get this clenched feeling in my gut the entire time because I feel like I'm reliving things that have actually happened to me, like some twisted real life Ebenezer Scrooge forced to watch scenes from the past but can do nothing to change them. It is like torture, but I keep watching anyway. I just can't emphasize enough how surreal this is. I really feel like I'm losing my mind here. I keep thinking: "How could they have known I did that? You can't make that **** up!" Like this scene where Tomoko sets the alarm on her cellphone to make it appear to be ringing, so she could have a faux conversation with an imaginary person so the person behind her would overhear the situation and speak to her. I HAVE DONE THIS!

I would go to extreme lengths like that all the time to get some person or people to speak to me or to get a hint, all because I was unable to talk to them. The ending was always the same as well. Nothing would happen-- the desperate silent screams completely unnoticed.

Maybe it's just that no one talks about the problem Tomoko has. People don't seem to realize how crippling social anxiety can be, often not even the people who suffer from it. I can't help but think about how everything could have been so much different if my brain would just allow me to speak to people. Granted, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. Not even close. It is still painful talking to people I don't know, but at least it doesn't stop me anymore.
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#2 Feb 07 2014 at 3:23 AM Rating: Excellent
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I only got to see a few episodes, but the manga was always a decent read. I think part of it was refreshing because most main characters are depicted as being amazing with a few flaws for comedy relief, whereas Tomoko is flawed to the core, yet has a few redeeming qualities that make here endearing. She wants to better herself but is all but lost on how to do it.

Her being a raging pervert certainly doesn't help much.
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#3 Feb 07 2014 at 8:52 AM Rating: Good
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You were creative Kuwoobie.
#4 Feb 07 2014 at 10:02 AM Rating: Good
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I tried the first couple of episodes, but honestly it made me uncomfortable because I can't relate to it and it was just super awkward. I think you hit the nail on the head though for why it appeals to a lot of people - they see at least something in Tomoki that they can relate to. I probably would too if I gave it another shot, but eh.
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#5 Feb 07 2014 at 10:16 AM Rating: Good
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Yeah, that show makes me uncomfortable to watch as well. I'm really glad that the anime that most reminds me of myself and others I know is Minami-ke and not Watamote.
#6 Feb 07 2014 at 1:54 PM Rating: Good
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Yeah. Many of my friends I've talked to about it say it makes them uncomfortable because they can't relate and how awkward it is, not to mention depressing as hell. There might be varying degrees of of this, but for me it was spot on in the deepest way possible, save for the female aspects like shopping for panties to appear attractive and her reactions to hot guys (just trade them for hot girls.)

I'm going to see if I can find the manga. Apparently it goes quite a bit further than the measly 12 episodes the anime had. The voice actor for Tomoko was flawless though. I hope they make more.
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#7 Feb 08 2014 at 8:10 AM Rating: Excellent
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mangahere.com is where I read it.
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George Carlin wrote:
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#8 Feb 14 2014 at 1:35 AM Rating: Good
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Kuwoobie wrote:
I don't usually watch anime,


I just watched Kill la Kill up to episode 18 which was released today. I think I'm feeling the whole anime thing again.

We have to talk about Kill la Kill now.

For anyone else who has seen it:

Oh my @#%^ing god. What the actual @#%^!?

Edited, Feb 14th 2014 11:24am by Kuwoobie
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#9 Feb 14 2014 at 4:47 AM Rating: Excellent
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This is not the thread I was looking for.
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#10 Feb 14 2014 at 8:28 AM Rating: Good
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Uglysasquatch W. Griswold wrote:
My family and I are looking for sechs.
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George Carlin wrote:
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#11 Feb 16 2014 at 12:50 PM Rating: Good
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Like this scene where Tomoko sets the alarm on her cellphone to make it appear to be ringing, so she could have a faux conversation with an imaginary person so the person behind her would overhear the situation and speak to her. I HAVE DONE THIS!


My old phone had a feature (an app, in today's parlance) just for that, so I assume this kind of thing is fairly common. Of course, there are lots of reasons you might want to fake a phone-call, e.g. to get someone to bugger off.
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