WataMote Chapter 144

Chapter 144
Information
Volume Number	Volume 14
Chapter Title	Because I'm Not Popular, I'll Call You by Your First Name
Published	18 October 2018
Previous Chapter	Chapter 143
Next Chapter	Chapter 145

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

At the Kaihimmakuhari Station on their way to school Yuri encounters Uchi. The side narration reads: "On the morning after GW . . ." The two greet one another, and Uchi asks Yuri what she did during Golden Week. Yuri responds, "nothing in particular." She starts to continue that "together" she and Tomoko, but Uchi sees Tomoko arrive holding a bag and immediately greets her. Surprised and stammering, Tomoko replies with a "good morning." Uchi remarks that the sky is beautiful. Tomoko agrees but inwardly feels surprised that Uchi is conversing with her. Yuri introjects her own greeting to Tomoko, but Uchi interupts to ask Tomoko what she bought. Tomoko replies she bought "Jump," and Uchi asks if it is for One Piece since she also reads it.

In class, Tomoko takes her seat next to Hina. Hina asks her what she did during Golden Week, and Tomoko replies that she went to colleges and studied. As Yuri sits and listens in silence, Hina eagerly begins to tell Tomoko that she also studied and took "lessons (レッソン・resson)." Tomoko asks if "lessons" refer to voice actress (声優・seiyū) training.

Tomoko asks Hina about her eroge game. Sweating, Hina admits she completed it. When Tomoko asks her how it went, Hina hautily claims that while she found some of the pictures and dialogue disappointing, it was "not a big deal," over a flashback of her furiously playing the game in blushing excitement. Tomoko rhetorically asks Hina that since she will not voice anime involving death but will voice eroge and perversion, . Hina tries to retort that it is Tomoko who is perverted for playing such games when she is still a "girl (女の子・onna no ko)."

Tomoko calmly replies that Hina is wrong since it is an eroge for a man "who doesn't do it well," which she figured out just from Hina's description. She then remarks that she never expected Hina to actually play it which leaves Hina speechless for a moment. Hina remarks that she has been trapped, but Tomoko protests that she did not intend to trap her. Sitting behind Mako Tanaka, Yuri sarcastically thinks to herself that she is not in a hurry. Mako notices her and wishes her a good morning which Yuri returns.

During a break, Yuri looks back to see Tomoko reading her Shonen Jump at a desk behind her. Yoshinori Kiyota interrupts Tomoko to present her with a paper to place her name in the class seating chart lottery as Asuka Katō looks on. Katō asks Yoshinori if he is change seats as Tomoko writes down her name on the paper. He replies that since Ogi wilted near the end of the semester, he has become the vice-chairman then asks her to write her name as well. She simply asks Tomoko to right her name next to her own, and Tomoko stammeringly asks if that will be alright as Yuri silently puts on her ear buds.

After the results, Tomoko sits to the right of Katō with Oka to her right, Wada sits infront of her, and the absent Yoshida sits behind her. Mako sits on Yoshida's right, while Okada sits on Yoshida's left. Yuri sits to the right of Hina and behind Koharu. Kotomi sits to Koharu's left while Futaki sits to her right.

Hina jokingly asks Yuri if she is sad that she is separated from Tomoko, Mako, and Yoshida; Yuri responds that it does not bother her without looking at Hina. Tomoko is surprised to hear Yoshinori happily announce that the members of class "1-10" are together. Yoshinori happily continues that he is with Oka, Wada, then adds, "Well, me and Kuroki-san are always together." Tomoko muses to herself that she feels like she did during her first year: "Was that time Hell (地獄)?" She continues to think that, now, she can at least bear it. Her thoughts are interrupted by Yoshinori telling her that Wada also reads Shonen Jump.

Tomoko talks to a guy.

Wada asks her which series in Shonen Jump she likes. Stammering and sweating, Tomoko replies that she reads them all but sort of does that by "inertia." Wada replies that he understands.

Yuri gets up and starts to leave passing Tomoko as she talks with Wada. Mako, sitting next to the now present but napping Yoshida, calls out to her, but she is interupted by an upset Minami. Minami declares the new seating "boring" and complains about sitting next to someone she does not know. Mako tries to encourage her to make the most of the opportunity to make new friends, but Minami continues her protest.

Does she really like One Piece?

Uchi suddenly sits next to Tomoko to ask her again about One Piece while Yuri watches in silence.

During lunch, Tomoko, Mako, and Yuri sit together. Yuri hears Hina call to them as she brings Katō and Okada to join them. As she sits, Hina teases Tomoko about talking to Wada for some time and asks what they were talking about. Tomoko meekly dismisses it as "no big deal." Inwardly as she eats, Tomoko notes that this is the first time she has had a more than five minute conversation with a guy, and the longest in five years not counting her brother. However, she notes that he looks like a shota and since her heart did not skip a beat, she figures she is not a shota lover. She continues her analysis to conclude that you cannot put shota with a chibi with the only pairing she thinks will work is shota with "seductive onēsan."

Katō and Yuri both notice that Tomoko is lost in thought. Katō asks her what she is thinking about, and Tomoko feigns that she simply was thinking how happy she was going to Aoyama University with her. Yuri continues to listen in silence as Hina expresses surprise that Tomoko liked Aoyama. Tomoko blushes and admits she found it completely different from what she imagined and suggests that Hina apply since they have drama and theater majors.

Yuri finally speaks to ask Tomoko, by her first name, if that means she will not apply to Chiba West. Tomoko admits that "public schools are pretty hard to get into," the entrance exam tests a number of subjects, then starts to explain that the majors she wants are not offered, but stops and initially whispers "Yu-Yuri," then more emphatically responds "Tamura-san," to suggest that Yuri apply to a private school like Aoyama. It seems this suggestion shocks Yuri. Yuri emphatically declines the suggestion, and an uncomfortable silence descends on the meal.

At the end of school, Yuri silently leaves the classroom. Hina notices and tells Tomoko that she thinks Tomoko upset Yuri. She suggests that if Tomoko chases after her, she may still catch her. Tomoko sheepishly wonders if Hina had been waiting to use such a trite manga line as that. Blushing, Hina demands that Tomoko get going. As Tomoko runs she inwardly admits that while she teased Hina for suggesting it, "but honestly chasing after someone like this really gets the blood pumping!"

She finds Yuri retrieving her shoes at the lockers. She asks "Yuri-chan" if she wants to walk home togehter. As they walk, Tomoko apologizes for mentioning the universities. Yuri asks her what she means. When Tomoko explains that when she suggested that Yuri apply to a different college than Chiba West, she seemed to become very upset. Yuri answers that that was not what made her mad. Inwardly, Yuri recalls Tomoko hesitatingly calling her "Yuri-chan." At the time, Yuri felt that she should have the courage to address Tomoko by her first name; however, Tomoko then called her "Tamura." She does not feel that she can confess this and merely responds, "I don't want to say."

Tomoko then frankly asks Yuri if she uses sanitary pads or tampons. When a shocked Yuri demands to know why she asked, Tomoko suggests that Yuri is on her period and asks if they should stop at a drug store. Yuri responds by punching Tomoko in her shoulder. As Tomoko silently wonders how a "loner" like Yuri can punch like a "delinquent," Yuri calls her a "moron (バカ・baka)" then tells her to forget about it since she is fine now. Tomoko angrily reacts to the insult and demands to know why she suddenly called her "Tomoko" during lunch: "That was seriously embarrassing you know!"

Yuri wonders how that would be embarrassing, then adds that if anything is embarrassing, it is how Tomoko and "Nemoto-san" call one another "Nemo" and "Kuro."

Characters

In order of appearance:

• Yuri Tamura
• Emiri Uchi
• Tomoko Kuroki
• Hina Nemoto
• Mako Tanaka
• Asuka Katō
• Yoshinori Kiyota
• Wada
• Oka
• Imaki (seating chart)
• Futaki
• Koharu Minami
• Kotomi Komiyama
• Akane Okada
• Masaki Yoshida
• Tomoki Kuroki (mentioned) 

Referbacks

• Katō and Tomoko visit Aoyama University in Chapter 140.
• Yuri and Tomoko visit Chiba West in Chapter 138.
• Yuri's memory of Tomoko calling her "Yuri-chan" comes from Chapter 138.
• When Tomoko thinks she already had that kind of conversation in her first year, this makes referback to Chapter 19.

Cultural References

• Kaihimmakuhari Station
• Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク・Gōruden Wīku)
• Shonen Jump (週刊少年ジャンプ・Shūkan Shōnen Janpu)
• One Piece
• Shota (ショタ): a "little young boy" character in manga and anime.
• Embarrassment: in her own way, Tomoko is very formal publicly. While she inwardly has often salacious nicknames for others, she tends to address them formally by their last names with "san." Her purposeful failure to remember Kotomi's last name or calling Kotomi and Iguchi "dick sisters" is a very intentional insult. Despite depictions in anime and manga, the Japanese do not use first names unless they are very close and even then not publicly. Though there is no suggestion that a Katō or Mako would think less of her hearing someone call her by her first name, this is one of the odd quirks of Tomoko.

Trivia

• Hina calls Tomoko "Kuro (クロ)," uses "chan" with Mako, but "san" with Yoshida.

Memorable Moments

• Uchi greets and talks to Tomoko. Does she really like One Piece?
• Hina accuses Tomoko of trapping people as she has.
• While Tomoko still has problems talking to people she does not know, she has a conversation with a guy.
  • Though she still has a sort of unrealistic view of relationships by expecting her heart to skip a beat if meeting a boy she is destined to be with.
• Hina actually tries to help Tomoko reconcile with Yuri.
• For first time, Yuri calls Tomoko by her first name.
  • Names: as per the the Cultural explanation, Yuri felt Tomoko calling her by her first name suggested that Tomoko considered her a close friend. Thus, the shock is not Tomoko recommending she apply to Aoyama, it is Tomoko correcting herself to call Yuri by her last name with the honorific: "Tamura-san."

Quotes

• "So you don't want to voice any anime characters who die, but you're fine with eroge like that? Are you secretly a huge pervert or something?" - Tomoko to Hina
• "No way! They're all a bunch of loner losers!" - Minami
• "Come to think of it, that was probably the first time I talked with a guy for more than five minutes." - Tomoko
• "I guess since my heart didn't skip a beat, I'm not much of a shota lover." - Tomoko
• "I'll have to have one of those quintessential moments of youth where I catch up all out of breath and say some touching crap." - Tomoko
• "I was mad because . . . when you said that ["Y-Yuri-cha . . ."] back then . . . I thought I should work up the courage to call you by your first name too . . . but then you went and called me Tamura." - Yuri thinking about why Tomoko actually upset her
• "Yu-Yuri-chan, do you use pads or tampons?" - Tomoko

Gallery

First Time
Uchi directly greets Tomoko

Tomoko Seating
She now sits nexts to Katō
Names from Left to Right:
Wada; Katō; Kuroki; Tamura; Tanaka

Chart Reads
Teacher
Imaki - Wada - Kiyota
Katō - Kuroki - Oka
Okada - Yoshida - Tanaka

Chart: Kotomi - Koharu - Futaki
Nemoto - Tamura - Mori [?森]
[Obscured]

Oka (岡)

Wada (和田)

"To-Tomoko"
Yuri addresses Tomoko by her first name without an honorific such as "san" or "chan."

"Yu-Yuri Tamura-san"
Tomoko responds by quietly stammering "Yuri" then more emphatically switching to Yuri's surname with the honorific.