, commonly referred to as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by two people under the pseudonym Nico Tanigawa. It began serialization on Square Enix's Gangan Online service in August 2011 and is published by Yen Press in North America. A 4-panel spin-off manga was serialized in Gangan Joker between January 2013 and July 2015. An anime television adaptation by Silver Link aired in Japan between July and September 2013.

Plot
Fifteen-year-old otaku Tomoko Kuroki believed that she would become popular upon entering high school due to her experience with otome games. In reality, she finds that she has become an unsociable loner, though she still forces herself to try out what she has learned about achieving popularity. As she progresses through high school, Tomoko attempts to improve her social status among her peers.

Characters

Main characters

Tomoko is depicted as a desperate, lonely girl who is characterized by her social anxiety, vivid facial expressions, and bags under her eyes. She has a grim outlook on life, as most of her thoughts involve insulting others or herself. She spends most of her days playing otome games and browsing the web. In her third year of high school, she decides that she wants to be a novelist. Thus, she aims to get into the Literature Department of , influencing her friends to also aim for the same university.

Tomoko's gloomy younger brother, who is a year younger than her. He is often annoyed by her odd behavior and sometimes gets into fights with her. Because he has friends and is a talented soccer player, Tomoko occasionally intrudes upon his room for advice on making friends.

Yū is Tomoko's best friend since their second year of junior high school. Initially a dorky-looking girl with glasses, she enters  with newfound blonde hair. After her radical makeover and relationship with a boyfriend (with whom she later breaks up), she continues to regard Tomoko as her best friend. She is the star of the 4-panel spin-off manga. She later befriends Tomoko's classmates and schoolmates during a summer study camp in their third year. She is aiming to enter the same school as Tomoko, Aoyama Gakuin University.

 Tomoko's second- and third-year classmate and friend, although on occasion they have more romantic interactions. Yuri is often seen with Yoshida and Mako. Often silent and gloomy, she gets upset whenever Tomoko gets along with other people. Tomoko believes that she is a covert pervert based on her interest in reading an ecchi manga on a platform introduced to her by Tomoko. She is also shown to be very strong.

Tomoko's first- to third-year classmate and friend who secretly wants to become a voice actress. Initially considered part of the popular crowd, she opens up about her true otaku nature after Tomoko learns of her dream. Tomoko discovers that she is actually innocent with regards to sexuality despite teasing Akane about it. Hina and Yuri have a friendly rivalry, with each competing to outdo the other in getting closer to Tomoko. She aspires to enroll at .

Tomoko's classmate from second year to third year and friend. She is a stylish gyaru who is kind towards Tomoko, who in turn admires her as a motherly figure. Like Tomoko, she aspires to enroll in Aoyama Gakuin University.

Tomoko's family

Tomoko and Tomoki's mother, who is often concerned about her daughter's well-being.

Tomoko's little cousin who is three years younger than her. Initially looking up to Tomoko as a big sister, she later begins to pity her after she realizes she lies just to impress her. She is described by Tomoko as a "psychopath", as while she was emotional as a young child, she later becomes deadpan and overtly emotional around Tomoko, and emotionless around most other people.

Tomoko and Tomoki's salaryman father.

Harajuku High School

The kind-hearted former student council president at Tomoko's school, who has shown the most affection towards Tomoko. She is now a freshman at Aoyama Gakuin University. She owns a dog named .

Tomoko and Yuu's classmate in second year of junior high school, who first appears in the spin-off manga and is later revealed to be attending Tomoko's high school. She and Tomoko outright dislike each other, only pretending to get along when Yuu is around. She has an excessive crush on Tomoki and is obsessed with the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball team. Tomoko's classmate in third year of high school.

Tomoko's second- and third-year classmate and friend who has a scary appearance and is often referred to as a delinquent by Tomoko. She often acts violently towards Tomoko when she goes too far, and also likes cute things. Like Akane and Hina, she is shown to be rather innocent when it comes to sex-related subjects.

Tomoko's second- and third-year classmate and friend who is also Yuri's best friend. She is generally kind-hearted, though a misunderstanding causes Tomoko to believe she's a lesbian. She aspires to enroll at .

Tomoko's second-year classmate, nicknamed  by her friends, who becomes increasingly conscious of Tomoko's behavior and eventually develops an obsession with her. She is often noted for having emoji-like expressions and for appearing out of nowhere.

Hina's best friend who has a distinguishing hairstyle, and Tomoko's first- to third-year classmate. She initially had reservations about Hina's aspirations to become a voice actress, but quickly accepts it thanks to Tomoko's indirect help.

Tomoko's second- and third-year classmate, a girl with a fanged appearance who is friends with Mako and often speaks badly of Tomoko. She develops an uneasy friendship with Shiki after a falling-out with Sachi and her clique.

Kotomi's best friend and Tomoko's third-year classmate, who is often bewildered by Kotomi's creepier moments. She is good at observing other people.

One of Asuka's friends in another class. She has a strange curiosity with Asuka and Tomoko's interactions with one another, bordering on obsession. Tomoko nicknames her "Sleazy Maiden" and "Gorilla" because of her rather intrusive questions. Fuuka often attempts to one-up Tomoko by showing off her shallow knowledge of sex, which backfires due to her inexperience. As a result, she is the subject of many rumors circulating around the school and is labeled an "idiot" by Miho.

Asuka and Fuuka's friend. She is a cheerful and playful girl who likes teasing Fuuka and Tomoko.

A girl in Tomoko's school who is in love with Tomoki, but constantly has her reputation damaged by Tomoko.

Akari's best friend whose attempts at pairing Akari up with Tomoki prove to do more harm than good. She likes Nakamura, her classmate and a member of the soccer club.
 and 
Masaki's friends in her "delinquent" clique.

Nicknamed "Emoji Mk.II" by Tomoko, she is Tomoko's classmate and friend during their third year. She aspires to be a professional gamer and streamer.

A first-year student in Tomoko's third year who looks up to Tomoko for helping her pass her entrance exams. She has trouble making female friends because her female classmates envy her popularity with boys.

One of Koharu's friends, who enjoys talking behind people's backs and is largely responsible for Koharu's behavior. She seems to have an interest in Tomoki.

Tomoko's eccentric homeroom teacher who often encourages her to make friends, much to her chagrin.

Media

Manga
Written by two people under the pseudonym Nico Tanigawa, WataMote began serialization on Square Enix's Gangan Online service on August 4, 2011. The first tankōbon volume was released on January 21, 2012, with 22 volumes and an official fan book released as of October 12, 2022. An anthology was released on June 22, 2013. The second volume, released on May 22, 2012, ranked #10 in the Oricon charts in its opening week. As of July 2013, the series has printed over 1.5 million copies. The manga gained popularity overseas after fan translations of the series were posted on the English-speaking imageboard 4chan, the Western equivalent of Japan's Futaba Channel. Yen Press has licensed the manga in North America and the UK, and began releasing the series from October 29, 2013.

A spin-off 4-panel manga series, , known as  for short, ran in Square Enix's Gangan Joker magazine between January 22, 2013 and July 22, 2015, and was released on August 22, 2015. A novel anthology written by Nico Tanigawa, Masaki Tsuji, Yugo Aosaki, Sako Aizawa and Van Madoy was released on November 15, 2019.

In the Yen Press English version, individual chapters are called "Fails" and are preceded with "I'm Not Popular, So".

Anime
An anime television adaptation of the manga was announced to have been greenlit in an advertising for the third manga volume on December 20, 2012. The television series was produced by Silver Link and aired between July 8 and September 23, 2013. The series is directed by Shin Oonuma and written by Takao Yoshioka, with character design by Hideki Furukawa. An original video animation episode was released with the seventh manga volume on October 22, 2014.

The opening theme is  by Konomi Suzuki and Kiba of Akiba, which reached #43 on the Japan Hot 100. The main ending theme, featured in all but four episodes, is  by Izumi Kitta. It charted at #79 in Japan.

The ending themes for episodes two and five are  and  respectively, both performed by Velvet.Kodhy. The ending theme for episode six is  by Utsu-P & Toka Minatsuki, featuring vocals by Hatsune Miku (a cover of the original 1990 hit song by Jitterin' Jinn). The ending theme for episode eleven is  by Velvet.Kodhy and µ.

The series was simulcast by Crunchyroll. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series in North America and released it on Blu-ray and DVD on August 26, 2014. After the acquisition of Crunchyroll by Sony Pictures Television, the series, among several other Sentai Filmworks titles, was dropped from the Crunchyroll streaming service on March 31, 2022.

Episode list
{|class="wikitable" style="width:98%; margin:auto; background:#FFF;"
|- style="border-bottom: 3px solid #CCF;"
! style="width:3em;" |No.
! Title
! style="width:17em;"| Directed and storyboarded by
! style="width:10em;"| Written by
! style="width:9em;"| Original airdate
|-

{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber       = OVA
| Title               = Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Become an Enigma
| AltTitle            = Motenai shi, Nazo Meitemiru
| RAltTitle           =  ()
| DirectedBy          = Yoshinobu Tokumoto
| WrittenBy           = Takao Yoshioka
| OriginalAirDate     = 
| ShortSummary        = Tomoko discusses how to make Watamote'''s second season a success with Yū and Kī, only to be informed that a second season is highly unlikely. Three years ago in middle school, a boy named Aomatsu encountered a mysterious girl on the school rooftop, revealed to be Tomoko putting on a chūnibyō act.|
}}
|}

ReceptionWataMote has been the subject of much discussion and debate, particularly in its depiction of social anxiety and the main character Tomoko. Many have debated if the series is a comedy or a study of neurosis, with many varying opinions on whether the subject matter is supposed to be humorous or not. Still, the anime adaptation has been highly praised by most websites, particularly for its main character Tomoko and Izumi Kitta's portrayal of her. Among the most praised aspects of the series, the opening title sequence has received unanimous praise for its opening song and visuals, and how well it represents Tomoko's loneliness, frustration, and intense social anxiety.

In response to WataMote taking the top spot in a poll for Kotaku readers' choice for best anime of the season, Kotaku contributor and anime critic Richard Eisenbeis wrote an extremely negative review for the series, describing the show as being the "most mean-spirited" anime that he had ever viewed as a critic and fan. He criticized the show's main source of humor—the protagonist's social anxiety disorder—as being demeaning to the mentally ill, and he rebuked those who watched it for enjoying the suffering of someone else in order to feel better about themselves.

On the other hand, Anime News Network's review compared the series to other well-known series dealing with subject of social misfits, such as Welcome to the NHK and Genshiken. It suggested that Tomoko is portrayed as a completely anti-moe character, since she is angry and vengeful instead of typically cheery. The review praised the series for being insightful and straightforward in its treatment of social maladjustment.

In 2023, Norbert Daniels Jr. wrote an article for Anime News Network noting that in the ten years since the manga started, it had transitioned from a cringe comedy centered around Tomoko's social maladjustment to a more optimistic story with a larger cast and some yuri undertones, with Tomoko's own growth as a character being apparent. He also suggested that Bocchi the Rock! and Komi Can't Communicate, anime which also feature protagonists with social anxiety, may in part owe their popularity to WataMote paving the way for them.

 Explanatory notes 

References
 No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!'' manga volumes by Nico Tanigawa. Original Japanese version published by Square Enix. English version published by Yen Press.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Other references

External links
Official manga website at Square Enix 
Official anime website 

2011 manga
2013 anime television series debuts
2013 Japanese television series endings
2014 anime OVAs
Anime series based on manga
Dark comedy anime and manga
Gangan Comics manga
Gangan Online manga
Japanese webcomics
Shōnen manga
Sentai Filmworks
Silver Link
Slice of life anime and manga
TV Tokyo original programming
Webcomics in print
Yen Press titles