WataMote Chapter 175.5

Special Chapter
Information
Volume Number	Volume 18
Chapter Title	Special Chapter
Published	April 1, 2020
Previous Chapter	Chapter 175
Next Chapter	Chapter 175-2

私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い!

Watashi ga Motenai no wa dō Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!

No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular!

Synopsis

With the title "Special Chapter (別編・betsu hen)," the cover depicts Asuka sleeping between Yuri and Uchi. The side narration announces the full recovery of Nico Tanigawa then introduces how each room spends its night.

Not Shown: A Serial Killer . . . probably.

Without opening her eyes, Asuka calls out to "Tamura-san." She explains that she is curious about why Yuri was holding her underwear and laughing when she came out of the bath. Yuri wonders how she should respond. She inwardly recalls that she was confused to see "Katō-san" naked, then finding her underwear, and she thought she was being a bit like Tomoko which made her laugh. She decides to make up something to fool Asuka. She simply replies that she just remembered something funny, but Asuka asks her what she remembered. Yuri haltingly replies that it was about Tomoko, to which Asuka asks why seeing her underwear would remind her of Tomoko. Yuri laments that Asuka is more persistent than she surmised, then thinks that if Mako were present she would easily brush off Asuka.

Emiri interrupts to reveal that during their second year, on the final day of their school trip, she shared a room with "that woman (女・onna)." As Yuri marvels that Emiri is telling a story, Emiri explains that "that woman" was looking through her things while she was taking a shower. When she finished and returned to the room, she noticed that Tomoko had stolen her panties. Emiri rhetorically asks why she would do such a thing. She then states that she saw Tomoko's face, and "that girl . . . Kuroki" did not say anything but just grinned and laughed. As for why Asuka's panties reminded Yuri of Tomoko, she exclaims the question that they served to summon "Kuroki's gross soul (黒木のキモ霊・Kuroki no kimo rei)," which briefly possessed Yuri to make her laugh.

Asuka calmly asks her what she is talking about: "A horror/ghost story?" Yuri responds that Emiri is wrong, and she inwardly insists that this is pretty difficult without Mako.

With an animesque transition, Itõ sits and watches Kaho painting an extra lid on her eyes. She suspects that she is numb from spending so much time with Kotomi as she imagines herself in chibi form with a chibi Kotomi discussing basebal, short and light novels, and anime and manga and their characters. She wonders about girls putting on make-up in a late hour. She finally confesses to Kaho that she had been thinking during their bath and now sees this is how Kaho does her eyes. Kaho explains that she did not like the look of a single lid, had friend showed her how to do it, and she has been doing it ever since. She asks Itō if she wants to try it.

While surprised, Itō dutifully sits and lets Kaho work on her. As she works, Kaho explains the technique of using glue to create the extra fold as discussed in the link provided in the Cultural References. As she works, and they are both bathed in anime sparkles, Kaho recalls Asuka working on her eyes.

Satisfied, she announces she is done and Itō sits a moment. They are interrupted by Kotomi returning drying her hair with a towel. She stares at Itō for a moment, then she asks if she got cosmetic surgery on her eyes. Itō denies it, and Kaho explains that it is just eyelid glue while happily wondering what would happen if Itō had gotten cosmetic surgery. For her part, Kotomi cheerfully declares that Itō's double eyelids are "Satozaki Grade." Itō does not know what that means, and when Kotomi explains he is the Lottes catcher, Itō asks if that is actually a compliment. Kotomi insists it is: "Satozaki's very popular." When Itō responds that it is then fine, Kaho wonders that she is fine with that.

Characters

In order of appearance:

• Asuka Katō
• Yuri Tamura
• Emiri Uchi
• Tomoko Kuroki (Mentioned)
• Mako Tanaka (Mentioned)
• Hikari Itō
• Kaho Kusunoki
• Kotomi Komiyama

Referbacks

• "What Big Eyes You Have, Tomoko-chan!": Asuka made-up Tomoko's eyes in Chapters 106 and 135. The Volume 14 Omake reveals Tomoko's reaction as well as Uchi's reaction to her reaction in Chapter 135.
• "I was being a bit like Tomoko and ended up laughing": Yuri accidentally saw Asuka naked when she came out from the shower, then laughed while she held Asuka's underwear in the Chapter 172.
• "On the final day of the school trip... I shared a room with that woman": Emiri narrates her experience from Chapter 80.
• "... I got a friend to teach me...": The friend of whom Kaho is talking about is Asuka, who made-up her eyes as she did for Tomoko in Chapters 106 and 135.

Cultural References

• Blepharoplasty: which is a surgery very popular in Japan and other Asian countries to convert the epicanthic fold. In Japanese, this is a conversion of the 一重 (hitoe), or single eyelid, to the 二重 (futae), or double eyelid. This link, Japanese Double-Eyelid Surgery by Yumi Nakata, contains a very detailed discussion that includes the non-surgical techniques including glue as practiced by Kaho. It also appears that Asuka painted a "double-lid" on Tomoko. This is a recent video discussing the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khKFg0DlIng
• Sumikko Gurashi: A popular set of characters created by San-X. They all have slightly negative personalities and are seen as castaways of everyday life which is surprisingly relevant to WataMote’s themes of social anxiety.

Trivia

• "Satozaki Grade": Kotomi rates Itō based on Tomoya Satozaki, a member of Chiba Lotte Marines, and whose surname is shared by Kiko Satozaki. Interestingly, Hikari and Kiko have very similar eyes.

Memorable moments

• WWMD ["What Would Mako Do?" – Ed.]: Yuri thinks that Mako would handle Asuka's questions better, which begs the question, given that Mako would probably have simply told Asuka the truth, why did Yuri lie to her.
• Eye Make-Up: interesting suggestion on how Asuka meets people.
• Woman, Thine Name is Tomoko!: WataMote Wiki will strive to avoid paragraphs of speculation. Emiri's characterization of her night with Tomoko should be compared with the chapter. It does suggest that part of her fascination came from wondering why Tomoko seemed, in her imagination, sexually attracted to her. She returns to using her catch-phrase "disgusting/gross" after her first use of "lesbian" in the previous chapter. Now do Yuri or Asuka have any idea what is going on with Emiri?

Quotes

• "That girl . . . Kuroki without saying anything just grinned and smiled." – Emiri Uchi
• "As for why Tamura was reminded of Kuroki the instant she saw those panties . . . it's because Katō's panties served as a catalyst to summon Kuroki's gross soul, causing her to briefly possess Tamura and make her do that creepy laugh, isn't it?" – Emiri

Gallery

Kaho becomes Asuka

"Who You Gonna Call?"

Original Art from Nico Tanigawa Twitter