Tomo-Chan Dubbed

How Did Tomo and Jun Meet? Best Friend’s First Meeting!

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Tomo-Chan is a Girl! Ep. 7 Review

You know what I love seeing in TV shows? Extended flashbacks. They can reveal so much about a character’s backstory, what made them into the person we know, and provide greater context to how characters act. In this case, we get an entire segment dedicated to learning how Jun and Tomo first met. And we also get a beach episode.

The Day Jun Met Tomo

The first segment takes place almost exclusively in flashback form, with Jun remembering the day he met his best friend Tomo. It was literally the day after he and his family moved from Tokyo that she wound up in his backyard…and then broke his copyright-friendly DS or 3DS. He punched her in response, her parents begged for forgiveness, and just like that, they became friends.

The entire first segment’s a fun way to show how Jun first met Tomo and Misuzu, and helps to establish much of the group dynamics they have as teenagers. The funniest part is the fact that Misuzu was, and always has been, a massive troll when it comes to Jun. That smirk of hers might rival Anya Forger’s when it comes to meme-worthiness.

More importantly, this segment also proves my point about why Jun keeps Tomo in the friendzone despite her throwing out a ton of signals.

The short version: after Tomo got Jun’s DS back from some bullies, Jun hated how weak he was. So he told her she could keep it until he got stronger than her, started training with her dad, and the rest is history. However, it’s been ten years, and Jun still doesn’t think he’s surpassed Tomo. It’s the hallmark of putting someone on a pedestal, and it’s what’s keeping him from seeing Tomo as the romantic partner that she wants!

As a side note, the fact that kid Jun’s heart wouldn’t stop pounding whenever Tomo did something cute makes it obvious. Our boy Jun is in denial about liking her!

Too bad for him, Tomo and Misuzu have other plans.

The Beach Episode is the Perfect Way to Make Jun Notice Tomo

The beach episode, a staple to many romcom/slice-of-life anime. The perfect opportunity to provide some fan-service…or get your crush to notice how great you look in a swimsuit.

In an effort to force Jun to acknowledge Tomo’s gender once and for, Tomo, Misuzu, and Carol drag him to the beach for a day of fun and relaxation. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. Jun takes one look at Tomo in a bikini, realizes how amazing she looks, and now he can barely think straight. It also doesn’t help that Tomo, following Suzu and Carol’s advice, refuses to let him out of her sight. The results are super effective. By the end of their beach day, Jun’s a mess.

This entire segment confirms that Jun does see Tomo as a girl, but is in denial over it and the feelings he clearly has for her. Not only does he freak out over her figure in a swimsuit, but when some creep hits on her, he pulls up on them and scares them off. Granted, Tomo could’ve broken the guy’s spine, and he does the same thing for Carol, but it’s the thought that counts.

The takeaway from this review is that this was yet another fun episode of my favorite romcom of the Winter 2023 season. And the best part is that Tomo’s finally starting to wear Jun down. We might see him caving into his feeling before the end of the season! Either that, or we’ll get a second one. 

I Give “Junichiro’s Promise” and “When Tomo Puts On a Swimsuit…” a 4.5/5 each. 

Jun, Stop Treating Tomo So Delicately!

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Tomo-Chan is a Girl! Ep 8 Review

Whether Jun likes it or not, he can no longer deny the facts: Tomo is a girl. She’s a badass girl who’s also super cute when she tries to be, and one he very much finds attractive. Many people do; why else would Gigguk include a call to join the Church of Tomboys in his review for the Winter 2023 anime season? So why isn’t he doing anything about it? 

We still have until April for the season to end, so there’s more time to see these two lovebirds try and figure out their relationship. More fun for the rest of us, though!

The Summer Festival, another classic trope of Slice-of-Life anime

It’s summertime, and in slice-of-life anime, that almost always means two things happen. Firstly, we get a beach episode. Secondly, we get the festival episode, where the cast dresses up in kimonos, visits stalls, and watches fireworks. And, thanks to Misuzu, Tomo will spend the local festival alone with Jun. Let the romance begin!

There’s just one problem…ever since the beach trip, Jun’s been way too flustered to act like his normal self around Tomo. It gets worse in this episode when Tomo goes to the festival in an amazing kimono, and almost every guy’s floored by how beautiful she looks. The stall attendants are so blown away when they start sharing a photo of her, and the reactions are priceless. Everyone looks at Tomo like she’s this beautiful goddess walking amongst mere mortals. 

As funny and heartwarming as everyone’s reactions are, though, they highlight Jun’s biggest issue. He knows Tomo’s a girl and finds her attractive. Yet whenever he acknowledges this, he starts treating it way more delicately. Tomo likes that to an extent. However, she still wants him to be her best friend and her boyfriend. 

Girl or not, though, Tomo can still kick most people’s butts. And it takes a certain incident to get Jun to snap out of his funk.

Don’t Mess with Jun, Tomo, or Misuzu. 

Once the new term starts, Tomo’s bummed out by how more cautious Jun’s treating her and complains about it to Carol and Misuzu. And as the season’s progressed, it’s clear that Misuzu’s secretly jealous of them and doesn’t want to lose her best friend. However, that gets sidelined due to a certain incident.

If you’ll recall, this pack of bullies made the mistake of going after Tomo earlier in the season, and she cleaned their leader’s clock. Then Jun did the same to all of them at once. When they spot Misuzu and Carol, though, they see this as the perfect chance for revenge, leaving the two girls to run and hide…and call Jun for help. Tomo soon learns, and before long, the cavalry arrives to save Carol and Misuzu. Oh, and Kousuke, the captain of the karate club, comes because Carol’s his friend/and or fiance.

The following curb stomp serves as a reminder to Jun that he sorely needed. Tomo might be a girl, and while it’s fine for him to protect her when she needs it, she can still kick most people’s asses. Given everything we’ve seen of the two, neither can reconcile these aspects.

Okay, Real talk, Tomo and Jun

I normally don’t do this in a review, but I feel like it’s necessary. Jun doesn’t realize how lucky he is to have Tomo.

Tomo is one of the best waifu’s I’ve seen in an anime in a long, long time. Not only is she cute, but she’s also a badass. That is seriously awesome to have someone like that as your best friend. And despite the fact that both are attracted to and perfect for each other, Jun’s as scared as Tomo is about taking that next step. They don’t want to give up their status as best friends, even if it means they become lovers. But is that what will happen?

Real talk: there’s no rule against your best friend being your lover as well. If anything, that’s the best of both worlds. The fact that they’re best friends means they don’t have to put on an act in front of each other and be themselves. That’s the best thing that could happen in a romantic relationship! So for both of their sakes, they better figure that out soon.

Alright, rants over. Once again, Tomo-Chan knocked it out of the park. I love this anime, and it’s one of the best of 2023. 

Also, never anger Misuzu. She will destroy your social life.

I Give “The Night of the Summer Festival” and “The Distance Between Them,” a 4.5/5 each. Best Episodes yet

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

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It might be premature, but Iโ€™m now putting Tomo-Chan on my list for best anime of 2023. This weekโ€™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-Chanโ€™s Birthday Makeover

In our first segment, itโ€™s Tomoโ€™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 thatโ€™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 heโ€™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 hasnโ€™t gone soft on him! 

As funny as this whole thing was, it does give us some insight into what Jun sees in Tomo. Heโ€™s suffering from the classic โ€œputting someone on a pedestalโ€ syndrome. 

Dodgeball is Serious Business

In the second segment, a dodgeball tournamentโ€™s coming up. And since Tomoโ€™s too strong for the girls, she has to play on the boyโ€™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 andโ€ฆthey still win, but itโ€™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, sheโ€™s the strongest person he knows, and heโ€™s always been trying to catch up to her, even though she doesn’t see it that way. As a result, heโ€™s got this inferiority complex with Tomo. He knows things are different between them now, but he doesnโ€™t want to move forward until he thinks heโ€™s strong enough to rival her.

In other words, normal teen love drama. 

Best Episode Yet

In a show thatโ€™s already given us plenty of laughs, this episode of Tomo-Chan is probably the best. Itโ€™s got the right balance of hilarious and heartwarming. Say what you want, but I think itโ€™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

Misuzu Scares Us When She Smiles

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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