Hear me out.
Tomoko, the main character of No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! (aka Watamote) is a sad sack whose life gradually rolls downhill as her own delusions of greatness collide with the reality of her crippling social awkwardness. You can even see this in the fact that, contrary to original translations of the manga, the title emphasizes that she blames other people for her problems. Some of those problems are real, some imagined, but what’s generally true is that she makes things worse for herself.
A lot of characters are likened to Tomoko as a kind of shorthand to understand the humor, horror, and appeal of her character. I’ve seen Shinji from Evangelion, Wile E. Coyote (because of how everything she does backfires), and I was originally even fond of comparing Tomoko to Charlie Brown, but the more I think about it, the more that I realize that ol’ blockhead for all of his misfortune doesn’t quite cut it, and that there is only one true answer.
- Obsessed with media and entertainment, but also thinks a lot of it is crap
- Not entirely incompetent, but definitely overestimates his own intelligence
- Awkward, stuttering laugh
- Hears dirty words where there are none
- Misguidedly misanthropic
- Plans to make his life better backfire constantly
- Sometimes believes he got “laid” just by being near a girl
Think about it. I guess the only thing is that Butt-head “wins” more often because he enrages his principal.
But is Butt-Head a moe trigger?
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I had no idea that Butthead became the mess that he is from trying to become “normal” and popular in high school. Hmmmm! . Will have to rewatch B+B
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I see her more as George Costanza’s Japanese niece.
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“Yeah, fire, FIRE!” Can’t. Unhear.
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It’s not Tomoko’s fault she’s ugly, thus people shunning her and her living a shitty life because of it.
Looks = everything.
Think about it, if you looked like a tall handsome male model, you would live a fulfilled, happy life with lots of hot women after you.
Instead, you live as a sad lonely ugly incel trying to cope with his inceldom by viewing jap comics/cartoons.
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Oh, that’s harsh.
This comparison fits also in that the viewers are both laughing at the character and being mocked by/modelled by the character. We laugh at their faliure so we can forgot our own.
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Where is her Beavis?
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Oh, that was cruel.
Still, put the male Tomokos in perspective. Nobody feels sad for them.
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