I'm really liking this recent trend of "Kuroki Tomoko with a yuri harem". I've never been a particularly big Watamote fan, but lately, I've actually been really looking forward to seeing fanart of it and have been considering actually checking out the manga.
I'm really liking this recent trend of "Kuroki Tomoko with a yuri harem". I've never been a particularly big Watamote fan, but lately, I've actually been really looking forward to seeing fanart of it and have been considering actually checking out the manga.
Same here. From what I remember hearing about it, it’s a cringe comedy, though it gets better about that over time.
Same here. From what I remember hearing about it, it’s a cringe comedy, though it gets better about that over time.
Or more like, it completely loses track of what its premise is supposed to be and/or just flat-out runs out of material so it has to turn into a completely different story.
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The whole premise from the start was to say, "Hey, otaku, you see this girl? She's YOU! Yes, she may be a skinny girl instead of a fat guy, but that's just because you wouldn't watch a story that didn't focus on a girl. She's going to do all the things the worst among you do, and live a miserable existence while we make PAINFULLY obvious just how hypocritical every single thing she says and does really is. And you're going to fap to your own misery, because you can't help yourself if you see a girl who's into anime culture." (For example, the little brother is just a gender-flip of the standard little sister archetype. It's saying "You love those little sister characters so much? Well, here's how an actual younger sister would react to seeing your porn collection or making an ass of yourself in public! And you still want to see incest porn of them, don't you, you sick fucks?!")
After a couple volumes, I was really turned off because Tomoko was SO completely unsympathetic as a character. I thought that surely, there was no possible way for someone to be SO low that they would actually, say, try to show off to their younger cousin by playing a children's card game with actual kindergartners and then STILL cheat to win. Then I saw some of the YouTube reviews, and people admitting that yes, they actually did that. (Stop the world, I want to get off...) Anyway, I pushed through just recognizing that this was pointing and mocking people who have sunk even lower than I'd even thought possible.
Somewhere a few volumes in, however (sorry, only read the manga, and it was several years ago, so I can't say exactly), the series pretty much decides to soft reboot itself, several of the plot arcs and characters just straight-up vanish without a trace, and Tomoko gets reintroduced to some girl from middle school that was one of her best friends but she completely forgot existed because she was too busy trying to get close to Yu-chan. This girls is basically in a similar boat as Tomoko, being a hopeless nerd, but unlike Tomoko, is an orphan that has a backstory explaining her awkwardness, isn't nearly as bitter or hypocritical about things, and is generally vastly more well-adjusted and sympathetic, which is why Tomoko decides to make her life a living hell on a very, VERY bumpy path to learning some Very Important Lessons About Friendship (TM). I didn't ever finish the series, and there's some characters in this pic I don't recognize, but the story from here on is basically a character development arc where they teach Tomoko how to be a human being. Along the way, Tomoko basically interprets any human interaction that doesn't involve recoiling in horror or a punch to the face to be an invitation to sex (acting upon which invariably involves recoiling in horror or a punch to the face), so that's basically where the "yuri harem" thing pops up.
(There's actually a spin-off manga that was started somewhere around this point just covering Tomoko's middle school years, where she's obviously spending way, way more time being rivals for Yu-chan's attention with the new best-friends-all-along-she-just-didn't-realize-it-at-the-time character for her just "forgetting" retcon to lose even the slightest amount of credibility.)
For me, the manga became much more interesting after that class trip with the group of 4 (if I'm not wrong). Then, she began to have friends without realizing that much.
Along the way, Tomoko basically interprets any human interaction that doesn't involve recoiling in horror or a punch to the face to be an invitation to sex (acting upon which invariably involves recoiling in horror or a punch to the face), so that's basically where the "yuri harem" thing pops up.
Not quite; the current trend of yuri harem fanart was specifically inspired by the events of several recent chapters.
Not quite; the current trend of yuri harem fanart was specifically inspired by the events of several recent chapters.
Could you possibly tell me where it starts? Because based on NWSiaCB's description, I don't really wanna read any of the earlier stuff (not that I'm offended by what it has to say about Otaku- there's a reason I refuse to call myself one even though I'm obsessed with anime- it just seems like it would be unpleasant), but again, the yuri harem stuff seems pretty interesting.
Could you possibly tell me where it starts? Because based on NWSiaCB's description, I don't really wanna read any of the earlier stuff (not that I'm offended by what it has to say about Otaku- there's a reason I refuse to call myself one even though I'm obsessed with anime- it just seems like it would be unpleasant), but again, the yuri harem stuff seems pretty interesting.
Speaking seriously, while Ucchi's lust for Tomoko is very real, it's mostly the fanart playing up the "harem" angle.
Doesn't Tomoko state at one point that she'd go "lesbian" if it made her more popular though? She doesn't even consider bisexuality, mind you; just straight up dropping any interest she had in men (if it was genuine to begin with) and going for women exclusively.
