A tired-looking Tomoko sits in class next to the window taking notes under the gaze of Hina who sits to her right. Katō sits directly in front of Tomoko, Yuri directly in front of Hina, and Minami sits to Yuri's right.
During a break, Hina talks with Katō and Okada, while Minami looks at them and inwardly wonders what she will do for lunch. She then turns to see Mako and Yuri with Tomoko. Minami wants to eat with Mako, but does not want to interact with either Tomoko or Yuri. Mako offers a manga to Tomoko. As Tomoko realizes that it is a shōjo manga, Minami wonders if she will have to get along with Tomoko and Yuri. Mako explains that a friend recommended the manga. Tomoko gazes at the cover and remarks that most shōjo manga involve a rival who bullies the heroine. Mako concedes this. The heroine suffers tremendously but, ultimately, she and her rival become friends. Tomoko declares that she hates this trope which is why she ceased reading shōjo manga, then expounds on dumb protagonists who would forgive a bully. Mako sheepishly takes the criticism when Yuri openly agrees with Tomoko. Mako inwardly marvels that Yuri agrees with anyone. Tomoko does concede that shōnen manga also suffers from the ridiculous trope of the protagonists forgiving the enemy who tried to kill them. Minami recoils and vows not to hang out with them.
After lunch, Hina asks Yuri and Mako where Tomoko is. Mako answers that Tomoko always goes off on her own after eating. Outside on a bench, Tomoko reads the manga. She inwardly rants about the trope of a plain girl, drawn beautiful, who attracts a harem of hot guys. She blames manga like that for giving her the belief that "even a plain girl like me could have a fulfilling high school life."
Shizuku Hirasawa, the girl whom Tomoko helped during the entrance exam, walks by with two unnamed male classmen. Tomoko does not recognize her, inwardly rants that only girls with "good looks" like Shizuku could ever achieve the "shōjoesque high school life," and feels it unbelievable that a first year "has a harem of dudes already." Shizuku recognizes Tomoko, runs over to greet her as "senpai," introduces herself as the girl Tomoko helped during the exam, and then sits with her. Behind a tree behind the two, Uchi watches.
Uchi resumes watching Tomoko as Shizuku sits with her and Yoshida approaches.
Shizuku explains that she has wanted to talk to Tomoko again, but she never learned Tomoko's name. After they exchange names, Tomoko asks her if it is fine to ignore the two boys. Shizuku replies that they only eat lunch together.
While Tomoko inwardly thinks that having lunch together means the boys and Shizuku are friends, Shizuku confesses to her, as her senpai, that she does not have any female friends. Since she did not want to eat alone, she started hanging out with guys which only made other girls hate her more. While Tomoko inwardly wonders if the reason she never got into shōjo manga is because she could never picture herself as the protagonist, Shizuku continues by asking Tomoko if she normally comes to the bench during lunch and offers to eat lunch with her. Inwardly irritated, Tomoko suspects that Shizuku thinks she is a loner since she was reading manga alone.
While Shizuku waits for her answer, Tomoko inwardly protests that she does have people to eat lunch with and has no reason to act like her friend. She wonders, for a moment, that if she was a shōjo manga protagonist would she save Shizuku. She then notes that shōjo manga protagonists usually are the ones who get saved rather than save others. Yoshida's approach interrupts her inward ruminations. Yoshida gives Tomoko a fancy pudding as thanks for the charm she gave her. As Tomoko enjoys the delicious treat, Shizuku inwardly wonders if Yoshida is a delinquent, and if she is Tomoko's friend. Yoshida notices her staring and immediately demands to know if she has a problem with her.
Tomoko asks Yoshida to give a first year who is "just not use to people" a break. Yoshida relaxes then sits on the bench next to Shizuku. Yuri joins them and tells Tomoko that Hina is looking for her. Shizuku inwardly wonders if Tomoko has a lot of friends. When she introduces herself to Yuri, Yuri ignores her. Shizuku laments that Yuri treats her the way her friends started to treat her in middle school when she started to get along with boys; however, she does not understand why Yuri would ignore her when she is not talking to guys.
Hina joins them. Unlike Yuri, she introduces herself to Shizuku and asks her how she met Tomoko. When Tomoko and Shizuku explain they met at the entrance exam, Hina seems to turn severe and wonder why Shizuku would talk to people at an exam. Inwardly, Shizuku panics and wonders if it is her fault that girls hate her rather than her popularity with boys.
Hina then turns to Tomoko and asks her if she wants to eat lunch in the cafeteria with her the following day. Tomoko accepts, and Shizuku inwardly interprets this as a rejection. As Yuri accuses Tomoko of preferring to eat lunch with Hina while pretending not to care and refusing to join, a disappointed Shizuku walks the corridor. Suddenly, Tomoko stops her and asks her when she wants to eat lunch. Shizuku protests that Tomoko will eat the next day with her other friend. As anime sparkles, leaves, and a light breeze to gently move their hair appear in the corridor, a true manga senpai Tomoko tells her that she is her first kōhai and she wants to talk a bit more. Shizuku thought Tomoko was a "wonderful, kind person," when she met her at the exam. Today, she feels Tomoko "was someone far out of my reach." Now, as the breeze breezes, the sparkles sparkle, and the leaves flutter, she is stunned that Tomoko wants to be a friend "with someone like me."
In reality in her mind, Tomoko rationalizes that there is no benefit being Shizuku's friend, but since she "looks like a super slut," she can talk about more than "crappy shōjo manga," such as "some perverted stories." Further, since Shizuku is a first year, if Shizuku finds her talking about sex disgusting, she can easily dump her.
A delighted Shizuku says goodbye when the bell rings. Not paying attention as she happily runs, she runs into the approaching Uchi. Before Shizuku can finish saying "sorry," Uchi verbally crushes her and walks away.
Tomoko rarely eats in the cafeteria since she brings lunch from home.
This is the same day Uchi had her belief that Tomoko found her special and shared her feelings shattered.
Cultural References
Senpai and Kōhai (先輩・後輩): Pronounced and sometimes rendered in English as "sempai" since the "n" takes on an "m" sound before a "plosive" (p/b), senpai is a title given to an upperclassman from a lower classman who is the kōhai (後輩).
Shōjo Manga (少女漫画): Manga targeting young women readers.
Trivia
Japanese Title after the "Because I'm Not Popular" (モテないし・motenaishi) is 先輩後輩の関係 (senpai kōhai no kankei): "relationship of senior-junior."
Mako's recommended shōjo manga.
Mako's Shōjo Manga: Title is The April Sheep-Girl and the July Wolf-Boy. (4月のヒッジちゃん7月のオオカミくん・shigatsu no hijjichan shichigatsu no ookamikun)
Uchi's Insult:
Uchi's Insultcoming soon on Yandere Girl CD!
This is the first time Uchi is seen verbally attacking someone. Uchi does not actually call Shizuku a "bitch" by using slurs usually translated into English as "bitch" in the negative sense. She warns the obvious lower-classwoman Shizuku: "あんまり調子乗らないでね (あんまりちょうしのらないでね・anmari chōshi noranai dene)" or hyperliterally: "Do not get in my way/Do not get on so much/Do not get above yourself." "Don't get (too) cocky" is a good rendering. Whether or not she implies a direct insult like "bitch" is ambiguous, but given her previous inward thoughts regarding anyone with Tomoko, it is not unreasonable.
Memorial Moments
Tomoko clearly now has a "circle of friends."
When Tomoko imagines herself as the protagonist, the rival looks like Katō.
Despite her imaginings, Tomoko retains a negative view of her appearance.
After 132 chapters Tomoko has someone who thinks she is popular.
Yuri shows her difficulty with letting in other people.
Uchi as a possible "rival" to Shizuku.
Quotes
"I hate dumb protagonists like that. You were bullied for ages and you just forgive her like that? I can't stand that sassy rival archetype either." – Tomoko
"I don't believe it! Yuri never agrees with anyone!" – Mako
"Though, I guess shōnen stuff's not really any better. The protagonists there always end up forgiving the guy who tried to kill them." – Tomoko
"Of course in real life, there's no way a hero of hot guys would fall for an ugly girl like me." – Tomoko
"Still, I can't believe that first year has a harem of dudes already. School just started a month ago, come on!" – Tomoko
"Is she trying to humblebrag or something?" – Tomoko
"She's always snapping at people like a hound dog." – Tomoko on Yoshida
"She looks scary, but I guess she's not a bad person after all?" – Shizuku on Yoshida
"What, do you just talk to anyone you can find at entrance exams, or something?" – Hina to Shizuku
Gallery
Color rendering provided in Chapter 132 of scene from previous chapter.
Tomoko criticizes shōjo manga.
Shizuku reveals her name to Tomoko. Uchi watches hiding behind the tree.
Shizuku: shōjo heroine
Yoshida: Bearer of Pudding
Yoshida's Bark is Worse than her Bite. Meanwhile, Uchi has resumed watching Tomoko during their lunch break.
"With Friends Like These"
Tomoko: Shōjo Saver
Tomoko accepts the opportunity to become a senpai.
