anime winter 2023 season

I Think I Figured Out Jun-Chan’s Deal About Tomo-Chan!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime , , , , , , , , , ,

It might be premature, but I’m now putting Tomo-Chan on my list for best anime of 2023. This week’s episode has to be my favorite one yet. Besides Tomo going from total badass to awkward teenager, it also gives us some sweet moments between her and Jun.

Tomo-Chan’s Birthday Makeover

In our first segment, it’s Tomo’s birthday, and she starts acting smug to the others since she has her birthday before them. Besides getting sunglasses from Jun that give her the power of the drip and an actual gold bar from Carol, Tomo receives a special birthday present. Carol and Misuzu give her a mega-makeover. One that’s way more extensive than the one she got for her date with Jun. then Carol and Misuzu send her out into the world to give her confidence.

Then, as if by fate, she runs into Jun at a convenience store. And Jun does recognize her in her makeover, and he’s super confused about it! So confused that the day afterwards, he goes out of his way to get punched by her to make sure she hasn’t gone soft on him! 

As funny as this whole thing was, it does give us some insight into what Jun sees in Tomo. He’s suffering from the classic “putting someone on a pedestal” syndrome. 

Dodgeball is Serious Business

In the second segment, a dodgeball tournament’s coming up. And since Tomo’s too strong for the girls, she has to play on the boy’s team with Jun. Since the two are unstoppable together, they slaughter the enemy. Dodgeball is serious business to high schoolers, after all!

Come the final round, the two face off against the strongest person in school, and Jun gets knocked out protecting Tomo. So Tomo tries to turn the thing around by getting Jun back in the game, but Jun zones out and…they still win, but it’s anticlimactic. 

There is a reason why Jun messed up, though: he was expecting Tomo to win without him. This whole episode reveals that Jun has Tomo on this pedestal in his head. To him, she’s the strongest person he knows, and he’s always been trying to catch up to her, even though she doesn’t see it that way. As a result, he’s got this inferiority complex with Tomo. He knows things are different between them now, but he doesn’t want to move forward until he thinks he’s strong enough to rival her.

In other words, normal teen love drama. 

Best Episode Yet

In a show that’s already given us plenty of laughs, this episode of Tomo-Chan is probably the best. It’s got the right balance of hilarious and heartwarming. Say what you want, but I think it’s a great anime.

That, and I want to meme the heck out of Tomo with her sunglasses.

I Give “Birthday Present” and “Burn Up! The Ball Sports Tournament” a 4.5/5 Each

I’m Now Convinced Carol is Messing With Us!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime , , , , , , , ,

Another week, another episode of Tomo-Chan is on the books. The rom-com, slice-of-life genre isn’t my usual go-to when it comes to anime, but I’ll make an exception every now and then. If the plot or characters are entertaining enough, I’ll watch anything. And between Tomo, Misuzu, Carol, and Jun, Tomo-Chan has a fun cast. Especially Carol, given how last week gave us this gem.

I had no idea what was going on, and I loved it.

Carol is From a Family of Airheads

Carol Olston might be one of the most airheaded girls I’ve seen in recent anime. Her thought process is a mystery to everyone; she always seems happy. Did I mention the headband thing? That was so random and hilarious!

So when Tomo and Misuzu get invited to her house, it should come as no surprise that we learn that Carol’s mom is just as much an airhead. She mistook Tomo for a boy, she can get lost walking back to her own mansion…and she’s just as affectionate as Carol.

This must be Misuzu’s worst nightmare. Then again, what happens next might be Misuzu’s worst nightmare.

Carol Olston: Ditz, Genius, or Genius Ditz

There is a trope that is known as obfuscating stupidity. Essentially, it is when a character in fiction pretends to act dumb or clueless when, in truth, they’re way smarter. Some people do it to avoid suspicion or the stress of their talents, and others do it for the lolz. After this next short, I’m convinced Carol might be the latter case.

So, the midterm’s are the next day, and Tomo’s freaking out since she forgot, so Misuzu offers to help her study at her place, and Carol joins them. Given how the subject in question was math, I don’t blame Tomo for freaking out. Math was my worst subject in school, and it caused me far more stress than it should have. Unfortunately, if she wants to go to the same university as Misuzu like she wants, she’s got to do well.

Carol, on the other hand, doesn’t need to put much effort into studying for math. She manages to get the top score on their math test, taking Misuzu’s spot as number one, much to her irritation.

Until we learn otherwise, I’m convinced that Carol might be a bigger troll than Misuzu.

The Big Sleepover

The real meat of the episode comes in the third segment, though. When Jun gets a new video game that he and Tomo have been dying to play, he invites her over to his house. Overnight. While his parents are out of town. You see where this is going?

I don’t know what Tomo would be more stressed over. The fact that she’s spending the night over at a boy’s house (even if he is her best friend), or her parents are perfectly fine with it. Her mom even says she will start thinking of names for her grandkids! She says that! It’s hilarious; embarrassing and hilarious.

While Tomo and Jun do spend most of the night just playing video games and best friend stuff, to the show’s credit, they do have a few moments where they could take things a step out of the friend zone. There’s the standard “fall on top of you” scenario, and at one point, Jun accidentally grabs onto Tomo while he’s asleep on the floor. However, they don’t take that next step because it’s too awkward for them. And it stays that way for a week afterwards.

As annoying as this is, though, it did show me one key thing. I’m almost certain that Jun’s into Tomo like she’s into him because he was as flustered as Tomo was. He’s just in super denial over it. 

Now, the anime’s only thirteen episodes long, so I doubt anything will get resolved before the season’s out. If it does well enough, though, it might get a second season, so if you wanna find out if they get together, then support this show on Crunchyroll. Do it for Tomo and Carol, who I’m also nominating for the best girl of 2023!

I Give “The Girls of the Olston Family”, “A Feeling I Won’t Give Up” and “Heart-Pounding! A Gaming Overnighter” a 4/5. a 3.5/5, and a 4.5/5

Misuzu Scares Us When She Smiles

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime , , , , , , , ,

Tomo-Chan is a Girl Ep. 4 Review

In my teen years, one of my go-to romcom anime was To-Love-Ru from the halls of Shonen Jump. Say what you want about harem anime and the fanservice, but it’s a lot of fun when it does stuff right. And one of the best things To-Love-Ru did at one point was splitting the episodes up into segments, letting them tell more stories in a single episode. Some of them didn’t even revolve around the main character; they could be about the supporting cast. Why am I talking about all of this, though? Because Tomo-Chan has reached the pointed where it can start to break each episode up into more segments and focus on the side characters. And the side characters are still pretty funny. 

Misuzu Gives Me all Kinds of Red Flags

An interesting thing about Misuzu: in the dub, she’s voiced by the talented Jad Saxton. A lot of her roles over the years have a recurring theme of being characters who are

  1. Associated with cats.
  2. Actual cat-girls.
  3. Cold & sassy tsundere’s
  4. All of the above

Going by this criteria, I’d say Misuzu was meant for someone like Jad. She acts prickly to almost everyone, and…she’s one of the best characters on the show.

The thing about Misuzu that the first short drives home is that she’s scary. Jun says that when she smiles, it’s like the Devil’s smiling at him. Even Tomo’s a little scared of her smile. However, Misuzu’s scary in a good way because you know she’s going to do something fun. 

Plus, she does care about her friends.

Misuzu Craves Tomo’s Affection

Misuzu may not say it outright, but as the next short makes clear, she deeply craves Tomo’s affection. They’ve been best friends since they were babies, and they balance each other quite well. Tomo brings out the best in Misuzu, and Misuzu keeps Tomo grounded when she lets her emotions run wild. So, when Tomo decides to become more physically affectionate with her girlfriends and winds up getting glomped by Carol all day, she gets jealous. 

Misuzu’s what we call a tsundere. Someone whose harsh to people at first but warm and affectionate to people once she’s warmed up to them. However, Misuzu’s pride also keeps her from expressing her emotions properly. Thankfully, Tomo and Misuzu’s bond is too strong to be broken by things like that.

As a side note: Jun’s a total hypocrite. When he surprises Tomo with a hug out of nowhere, it’s fine, but when she does it, it’s not cool? Either it’s cool for both of them, or it isn’t, man!

Tomo’s Parents are Just Like Her

The final short, while a bit all over the place, is also my favorite because we get to meet Tomo’s parents for the first time. After seeing them, her personality starts to make a lot more sense.

First, there’s her mom, whose just as fiery and passionate as her daughter is, to the point where she threatens Jun when he doesn’t call her by her first name. Then, we finally meet her dad, the head of the Aizawa Dojo. Despite being as much of a meathead as Tomo and Jun can be, he’s powerless before his wife. It’s clear that she wears the pants in the relationship. 

Despite what Tomo thinks of her Dad, Jun understands Mr. Aizawa a little better. He may not look cool in front of his wife and daughter, but Jun understands that he doesn’t need to put on airs in front of his family. He can be himself with them, and that’s the best thing anyone can ask for. The rest of the segment revolves around Tomo standing up to a group of bullies for her girlfriends. And when they seek revenge, Jun whups them offscreen. 

They may not have been as organized as some of the other episodes so far, but I’m still having fun watching them. Better wait for long-term for Jun to wise up to his best friend’s crush on him, though. 

I Give “The Reason for Her Smile” a 3.5/5, a “I Want to Be Playful Like a Girl” a 3.5/5, & “Heroes Fall a Lot” a 4/5