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"Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Go See the Fireworks" (モテないし、花火に行く Motenai shi, Hanabi ni Iku?) is the sixth episode of the anime adaption of WataMote. The episode was written by Ayumi Sekine and directed by Tomoka Nagaoka. It aired in Japan on August 12, 2013.

Synopsis[]

Tomoko spends much of the evening finishing the Planetary Prince otome game. She then insists on discussing such games with Tomoki as part of their nightly conversation. Tomoko believes that, like in a game, she can just trust fate. As she babbles on, Tomoki can only wonder if she is this "stupid."

The scene shifts into opening titles which leads to Tomoko sitting down for breakfast the next morning. Her mother remarks on how in high spirits she seems. In class, the blackboard announces that Summer Break will begin in five days. The unnamed girl with a brown ponytail asks Akane what she will do for the break while Tomoko walks through the group of her, Akane, Hina, and Suzuki. Akane responds that she wants to go to the beach while Hina volunteers that she wants to go camping. As she makes her way, Tomoko inwardly dismisses them as those who do not know "true love." She then hears Suzuki mention that the fireworks show happens on the day of the closing ceremony. All four decide to attend that after karaoke.

Sitting in a bathroom stall whilst playing with the toilet paper, Tomoko recalls that she went to see the fireworks with  the previous year. Tomoko stares into her reflection in the empty toilet's water and thinks sadly that Yū will go with her boyfriend this year. As she washes her hands at the sink, she mentally reviews her year in a hideous montage of failure and shame. She then looks at herself in the mirror and notices her dark circles are gone. She is stunned at how gorgeous she looks. As two unidentified girls enter to put on make-up, Tomoko flees again into a stall inwardly cursing them for doing their make-up at school. She looks at herself in her hand-held mirror and admits that she is, indeed, cuter. She then overhears one of the girls claim that "Miho" must have a boyfriend. The other agrees that she changed all of a sudden and that girls get cuter when they have boyfriends. A stunned Tomoko thinks she has figured it out.

The scene shifts to the convenience store. Tomoko browses teen magazines, one of which claims that having sex "makes you shine all over!" While she feels only "stupid girls" read such, the title intrigues her. She is drawn into an animated discussion on how estrogen makes women sexier in all sorts of ways to which mere words cannot do justice. As fireworks burst behind her in imagination, "peasant girl" Tomoko realizes it is all about "Sex!" She then looks outside through the store window to see two cats dancing the light fantastic with the male cat giving off a satisfied "meow!" She falls to her knees and is bathed in light as she clutches the magazine to her chest.

With this "revelation," Tomoko dives into her otome games imaging how she will be transformed into a literally bouncing buxom babe who would make quite a few anime heroines cry in jealousy, and to whom, again, mere words cannot lend proper justice. She eagerly concludes that she will have someone invite her to see fireworks in no time.

The next morning, the ever-bleary-eyed Tomoki sees that Tomoko has a "sheen" caused by oil in her hair and her face. Inwardly, he wonders how she can look so filthy in just the morning. Tomoko misinterprets his staring as attraction. The television in the background declares that listerners will have "maximum luck," which includes a lot of attention from the "opposite sex," with the "lucky color" black. Walking to school, though she does not really believe in horoscopes, Tomoko decides to combine her "maximum feminine hormones" with "maximum luck" by purchasing a black "Cola-Cola" drink, which explodes into her face when she opens it.

In P.E. class, Ogino allows the girls to do as they wish. Tomoko sits alone depressed that not even one guy has approached her. She notices a line of ants and starts playing with them. A line of ants make their way up Tomoko's right leg. Tomoko freaks at literally having "ants in her pants." Back in the building, she looks out the window wondering just where her "maximum luck" went. A boy walks behind her and notices an ant crawling up her shoulder. He tries to remove it, but Tomoko only notices him behind her staring at her and about to touch her. She panics as he explains, pointing to his own neck, that he merely wanted to remove a bug on her. His words, and his appearance, break up in her mind as she is excited that a boy she does not know touched the back of her neck.

In her English class, Tomoko cannot concentrate. The boy next to her notices an ant crawling up her right arm. As Tomoko fantasizes about how she should have reacted to the boy who tried to remove the ant, this boy tries to get her attention. By the time she notices, the ant has disappeared. She tries to seductively stare at him wondering what the purpose of his "tease" was, but he concentrates on his classwork.

On the train home, Tomoko sits next to a boy who is sitting next to another girl. He notices that he is texting a friend about the "cute high school girl" sitting next to him. The other girl gets up to leave for her stop. As Tomoko is caught up in her imagination, the boy texts that the cute girl ran off. He looks towards Tomoko and is shocked to see ants crawling all over her hair. Tomoko, however, is delighted at her success. She celebrates by purchasing another black Cola Cola, shaking it, letting it explode  in her face, then drinks it with a gusto modeled after a certain female beer enthusiast from a minor anime series about angels, we think, maybe. Staring into the sunset, she feels her time has finally arrived. She rushes towards home and sees her brother walking. She eagerly greets him; he watches in horror as his ant-covered sister approaches. That night, Tomoko replays the game, finds it boring, and then complains to her brother how staying with only one guy becomes boring. "Maybe she really is stupid," Tomoki wonders. "Yep, she's stupid," he concludes as the scene fades into the advertisement break.

The black board announces that Summer Break starts in one day. The male homeroom teacher lectures the students on proper behavior. Tomoko realizes that it is the day of the fireworks and she still has no one to go with. Joined by Yoshinori Kiyota, Suzuki complains to the girl with the brown ponytail, Hina, and Okada that they were suppose to go to karaoke before the fireworks. Like the previous scene, Tomoko walks through their group unnoticed. The girl with the brown ponytail complains she wants to wear her yukata; Kiyota likes the idea. Tomoko rationalizes she can always just watch the fireworks on television, that the evening will be too hot, and she 'didn't even want to go." Walking in the hallway bathed in shadows, a depressed Tomoko cannot believe her first semester ends today. All of the students she passes on either side of her are paired boys and girls. She cries a single tear.

Tomoko breaks from her depression to declare she will not give up: she wants to see the fireworks with someone, and she does not care with whom. The hallway becomes lit normally as she runs to the library. Only the "social misfits" would be in the library on the last day of school, she figures. Like a video game, Tomoko enters the library. She sees a guy with glasses and a girl reading at different tables. Too shy to introduce herself to a boy, Tomoko concentrates on the girl. She notices that the girl is reading a book she has read. Tomoko plays out the scene of introducing herself as if she is part of a manga. Just as she starts to talk to the girl, the girl is accosted by two friends. Worse, all three are clearly making boys wait for them.

Left with just the boy with glasses, Tomoko sits reading at the table in front of him at 1:07 P.M. She wonders why he does not invite her himself. She sets her phone to ring five minutes later to pretend she is receiving a phone call from a friend who cannot go with her to see the fireworks. She then loudly proclaims she wishes someone would ask her to see the fireworks. When she returns to her seat, the boy keeps reading. By 4:00 P.M., Tomoko realizes he has left. She sees him through the window walking away from the building.

Tomoko slowly walks home across a bridge. She looks at the apartment building whose roof she and Yū watched the fireworks from the year previously. Tomoko enters the building, ignores the "No Entry" signs, and makes her way to the roof. In the sunset, she is happy it has not changed other than getting a bit dirtier. She imagines herself standing heroicly drapped in black with her middle-school Yū behind her. She reminds herself that she came to the roof often dressing in black with Yū. Returning to the present, Tomoko figures she might be able to see some of the fireworks. She then notices the "Hotel Fantasista" to her immediate right which had not been there before.

Two middle-school-aged boys enter the roof. The two wonder what they should do as Tomoko has a beautifully depicted and scored revelation that the roof is no longer hers. She walks past them towards the door, then, stammering, asks if she can stay and watch with them. The two agree to Tomoko's delight. A single tear forms as she reminds herself she did not just want to see fireworks, she wanted to watch them together with someone.

A light turns on. A window shows the silouettes of a young boy and girl sitting together. The boy embraces the girl. The scene shifts to Tomoko's left eye then pulls back to reveal they are watching the window of the next-door Love Hotel. One boy excitedly exclaims that he cannot believe they left the curtains open. The boy next to her reminds her to keep her head down. They watch the "fireworks" progress. Tomoko, as her mind goes back to her with Yū, wonders if this was what she wanted to see. As she turns to the boy next to her, the actual fireworks start exploding above them. Tomoko gazes in awe at one explosion as a tear forms. The boy next to her excitedly directs her attention back to the window. There is a flash of the ♀︎ and ♂︎ signs joined as her iris and pupil constrict with her gasp. "This is getting crazy," the boy next to her opines as a single bit of drool drips from the corner of Tomoko's mouth. As the sounds of the girl "enjoying the fireworks" escalates in volume and enthusiasm, Tomoko thinks that she just wanted a good time with someone having a good time. She smiles broader, becomes more excited, and the opening to "Natsu Matsuri" starts. Fireworks explode above in the shape of the conjoined ♀︎ and ♂︎ as the sounds of the girl reach a creshendo. Tomoko suddenly exclaims that "you don't see that in girl games!" as the boy cautions her not to be so loud. The view rises into the sky over the hotel as Hatsune Miku begins singing and the real fireworks burst over the credits. When they and the music ends, Tomoko's voice notes, "Summer Break starts tomorrow."

The cartoony preview Tomoko accuses her brother of seeing fireworks with a girl in a yukata. He confesses he went with a bunch of guys and gals. A shaking Tomoko vows she will be on the "winning side" by the end of the break as Tomoki wonders exactly what she is fighting against.

Adapted From[]

Chapters 6, 11, 12 and Volume 1 Omake

Referbacks[]

  • Tomoko's imagination of herself in a manga looks like the drawing made of her in Episode 2.

Characters[]

  • Tomoko
  • Tomoki
  • Mrs. Kuroki
  • Akane Okada (unnamed)
  • Hina Nemoto (unnamed)
  • Ōmatsu (unnamed)
  • Suzuki (unnamed)
  • Yū Naruse (mentioned then appearing in a flashback)
  • Ogino (unnamed)
  • Unnamed Boy (tries to remove ant.)
  • Male English Teacher (unnamed)
  • Unnamed Classmate (sits next to Tomoko)
  • Male Homeroom Teacher (unnamed)
  • Yoshinori Kiyota (unnamed)
  • Yui (girl in library)
  • Middle School Boys Interested in "Fireworks."
  • A Couple setting off "Fireworks"

Cultural References[]

Memorable Moments[]

  • An actual animation of a, thankfully, empty toilet flushing.
  • Cats having sex.
  • Tomoko temporarily loses the bags under her eyes.
  • Past the comedy, Tomoko realizes she wasted a semester and, instead of returning to spent the evening with herself and her games and the internet, tries to meet people, even though the efforts largely fail. Small steps.
  • On a roof with two middle-schoolers, Tomoko spies on a couple having sex in an adjacent love hotel. Comedy aside, Tomoko really does not know a lot about "what goes on." At least until now.

Trivia[]

  • The first kanji of Tomoko's last name "Kuroki" (黒木) literally means "black."
  • Tomoko's reaction to drinking the Cola Cola references  Misato Katsuragi's to drinking beer.
  • Watatani Miki (綿谷ミキ) author of the book インスドーレ (Instole) the girl in the library reads: currently unable to find if he is based on a known author.
  • The Oranges of Wrath, the book Tomoko reads, probably references Steinbecks' The Grapes of Wrath .
  • The boys call Tomoko "Big Sister"--お姉さん--oneesan.
  • Human irises do not actually constrict. Their size remains unchanged; their central constriction decreases the diameter of their appeture which is the pupil. Same when pupils dilate.
  • "Natsu Matsuri" (夏祭り "Summer Festival") sung by Hatsune Miku (based on version by Whiteberry which was a cover of the song by JITTERIN'JINN) is used for the end credits.

Quotes[]

  • "I mean, meeting the one person she loves is what makes a woman shine, right?" – Tomoko
  • "Girls really do look cuter when they get a boyfriend, huh?" – School Girl
  • "Sex Makes You Shine All Over!" – Un Un Magazine
  • "Talk about a magazine only stupid girls would read." – Tomoko
  • "I got prettier because I basically had an 'air' romance and 'air' sex when I played that game?" – Tomoko
  • "It's only morning and she looks filthy!" – Tomoki
  • "If I had to compare it [Tomoko's appearance] to something it'd be a crow drenched in oil." – Tomoki
  • "There's a high school girl sitting next to me with ants in her hair! You probably have no idea what I'm talking about . . . And I don't either." – Boy on Train
  • "I want to see the fireworks with someone! I don't care whom!" – Tomoko
  • "There they are! The social misfits!" – Tomoko
  • "Don't read if you're a bitch!" – Tomoko
  • "Yes . . . I just wanted to have a good time with someone . . . Have a good time . . . A good time. . . ." – Tomoko
  • "Whoa! You don't see that in girl games!" – Tomoko

Gallery[]

Navigation[]

Story Navigation
Anime Episodes 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | OVA
Manga Volumes 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22
TomoMote Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 10th Anniv
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