Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! - Ch. 238 - Since I'm Not Popular, We'll Have The Wrap-Up Party Here Again (Part 1)

[rmrs]

I think out of all the characters in the book told me it would have to be my favorite And I’m glad that the author never forgot about her

Pretty sure the illustrator has said Kotomi is her fav character. She's a good girl, when she's not being wildly inappropriate. Fits right in!

 

[goseired1]

Pretty sure the illustrator has said Kotomi is her fav character. She's a good girl, when she's not being wildly inappropriate. Fits right in!

It would be great if kotomi pop out more I’d also like to see more interactions with hatsushiba, hopefully we’ll get more in the future

 

[Panino]

It's been long cemented in the manga itself that Yuri sees Mako as a mom (Yuri said she would be okay with kissing other girls in a play as long as it doesn't involve Mako for this reason). The same is also hinted for how Minami sees Mako, in fact, there's a parallel between Yuri and Minami in which both depend on Mako's company because they often don't have anyone else to talk with because they don't have a very "socially acceptable" personality, as Yuri has lowkey neurodivergent traits of being unable to hold a conversation and read the mood with conventional people while Minami is a bully that can't socialize without shittalking.

Mako's primary characteristic was always being the kind friend, the glue that connects these two to other social circles no matter how inconvenient these two acted, in other words, she's the forgiving "mom friend" that seemed to promise unconditional friendship more than Asuka herself. However, anyone that notices the themes behind Watamote will notice that many characters over the course of the series gradually show more complex fronts than what they started as.

What we're currently noticing about Mako is that she's not the """perfect""" archetype of an overly kind girl common in moe anime and has her limits, but not only that, she has her own needs to be attended as well. She doesn't want to be the only one serving others, she wants to be recognized for her efforts as well.

With this in perspective, this "twisted" Mako we've been seeing lately is less of hating Yuri or anyone else herself but is more related to the fact her own desires aren't being met despite how much she helped others in previous arcs: as most have figured out by now, Mako grew to strongly care for Yoshida. So much that she tries to interfere in the yankee's future life decisions to the point of loathing the idea of both boys and girls being in potential romantic situations with her and even attempting in her own way to sabotage the possibility. Her affection turned into obsession, so one can conclude that Mako grew to have different priorities since meeting Yoshida, so she wants to spend more time with Yoshida and less on being the "mom friend" to our childish duo Yuri and Minami. And since our neurodivergent Yuri can't understand what is going on with Mako, Mako gradually is letting go of her kind persona and instead is turning her emotions more transparent; therefore, the reader is actually seeing now when Mako gets fed up, when Mako gets jealous, when Mako gets manipulative.

To sum up, while more and more people around her are starting to be true to themselves, Mako was and is still living a lie and can't cope.
Really, the most evil character in this series, a being full of falsehoods, satan itself.

 

[mgRdr]

I get Asuka sometimes is subtly rude to girls who get close to Tomoko, but she doesn't do that to Yuri or Emoji, and Nemoto's not into into Tomoko like Emoji is either.

She recognises that any Kattines would either fly over Yuri's head or it would wound her fragile ego too badly, and also that Yuri's bond with Tomoko is rather that of codependence. Ucchi is capable of cutting through bullshit and fighting back, besides, for all her stalking, Ucchi hasn't gotten close to Tomoko to be registered as anything but an acquintance.
A more prosaic explanation why Asuka shittalks Nemoto is that, just like Mako is getting fed up with Yuri's bullshit, so is Asuka getting fed up with Nemoto's otaku act.

 

[tamarakko]

Amazing write-up, thanks for the details! I found the bit where Yoshida cluelessly stabs Mako through the heart.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on why Asuka's kinda catty with Nemo - "Are you drunk" comment here, the backhanded reassurance after her parents see her lewd voice acting in Ch. 234 ("I wouldn't worry too much, Nemoto-san. Your parents are also responsible for giving birth to you."). I get Asuka sometimes is subtly rude to girls who get close to Tomoko, but she doesn't do that to Yuri or Emoji, and Nemoto's not into into Tomoko like Emoji is either.

That Yoshida panel is an intriguing one because it makes me remember back when Tomoko consciously acted distant with Ucchi because she thought our normie Emoji wouldn't want to be associated with a creepy loner. We can't be sure as of now for what Yoshida's thoughts are so it's just a possibility that I'm raising, but I have a feeling that she has a similar line of thought to Tomoko as in her natural instinct is to "fulfill" a delinquent role and downplay her friendship with other girls whenever she's in front of people she isn't familiar with.

Regarding Asuka, by the examples we've seen so far, I'd say the times we see her not being her usual gentle self are generally a response related to her dismayal with unwholesome behaviors that also often happen to be combined within a place of concern for Tomoko: Minami making fun of Tomoko behind her back, Fuuka's vulgar persona, Yuu prankgifting Tomoko a condom, Ucchi calling Tomoko 'gross', etcera.

For Nemo, she came out as an otaku that is willing to voice for erotic roles, has the habit of unawarely flash her panties and also left a mark on Tomoko's eye once. Those instances could've worked as triggers behind Asuka starting to treat Nemo worse than she did before (as is the case for Fuuka). The impression is that Asuka tends to be more transparent of her criticism with extroverts in contrast of acting more lenient and welcoming with less outgoing people.