JAKU-CHARA TOMOZAKI-KUN 2ND STAGE

DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL ComedyJaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun
ANIME ComedyJaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun
MANGA ComedyJaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun Comic

REVIEWS

• 

  8manYeager

  75/100
  A fine rom-com that best showcased the intricacies of high school life. (Spoilers)

  Unlike the title, this anime tells the top-tier story of an unskilled, bottom-tier main character, Tomozaki, who overcomes several challenges in his high school life. This, as the story's major background, is quite appealing to mankind, who like the school-themed genre. Of course, some events must occur to establish the setting. Tomozaki met Hinami and progressed through his "life game," leading to a close relationship with his peers. In this occasion, Tomozaki was assigned the "life game" of dealing with social situations in class. As a result, he has developed and identified his role and capabilities within the group.

  The way social interactions were elaborated as a game was the cherry on top of making the show entertaining. It somehow prompted me to reminisce about the fun time watching Oregairu, which has some similarities. So, if you are a fan of the Volunteer Service Club, you might have a fun time watching Tomozaki-kun. It’s just like how Hikigaya in Oregairu who has a twisted view on life and hence isolates himself from others was developing by helping students in trouble and starting to make bonds in terms of friendship and romance ever since he was allocated to the Service Club. As for Tomozaki, the encounter with NoName or Hinami changed his dull life into a challenging game. The training for redefining his life in a classroom with Hinami is where it all started. In s2, we are able to witness once more how developed Tomozaki has become and how he has influenced the people around him. Somehow, he's made it to a place where he must figure out the value of a relationship and his feelings for the two ladies he wants to be closer to. Certainly, Tomozaki is a total stranger in front of romance. We know that with the progression of the anime so far, it’s either Kikuchi or Nanami. Picking a girl out of two that both have a good feeling for you is something common in rom-coms, and it’s surely unbearable to see the loser after a decision has been made, especially considering that the loser is the one you favour or side with. Although it was heartbreaking for Mimimi, but Kikuchi finally be together with Tomozaki was just lovely. As an anime-only audience, all these dramas of picking a girl out of two have been initiated and led by Hinami, while Tomozaki always obeyed the assignment given to him. Therefore, it will be interesting to know more about Hinami in the future or to see conflict between the mentor and mentee, which we saw at the end of season 1 as the story developed. Although there is an underlying scenario that the MC would end up together with Hinami, so far, the Hinami we have seen is merely a persistent yet sometimes cruel perfectionist, as if she is shielding herself. Nonetheless, what’s the truth behind her facade? As of now, the last episode seemed like a happy ending, which left me pondering about the later story and whether Hinami is the predestined girl for Tomozaki. If that’s the case, what about Kikuchi!? Anyway, it's pointless to speculate on what will happen next; all I can hope for is a sequel announcement as soon as feasible. To be honest, the bullying incident at the start of the show was casual in the sense that it was more of a side quest for Tomozaki to assist Tama-chan, but the rest of the episodes were the major challenge. Overall, the ending may appear rushed and unsatisfactory, but not every anime adaptation or production team can meet the demand for a consistent series composition. In short, Jaku Chara Tomozaki kun might have been the best adaptation, with Project No. 9 providing consistent quality, and the overall watching experience has been rather satisfying, particularly the scenes in which Tomozaki appears seated in between Hinami's thigh gap, which are absolutely fantastic.
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• 

  Seansy

  90/100
  The tl;dr is "great show with interesting characters focuses on character growth/development through a gaming lens"

  If you are curious about this series and haven't watched the first season yet I recommend you check out my review of the first season The tl;dr can be summarized as "great show with interesting characters focuses on character growth/development through a gaming lens." If you enjoy character dramas with well-done romance/comedy and are intrigued by the gaming hook you should give it a try!

  I was honestly torn on whether to do a spoiler free review or not. I decided to have my cake and eat it too by creating this spoiler free review with a separate blog post on MAL under the screen name that goes into more details on the show with spoilers.

  Story/Plot 9

  Continuing from where things left off in season 1, we start with a brief refresher of what happened last season, including the change between Hinami and Tomozaki on their arrangement going forward, with a review of his longer-term goals as well as a new small task for him as part of his continued growth and development. Although, there is a new wrinkle to things now, with Tomozaki pushing back on Hinami’s tasks to clarify that he won’t act fake or make a false confession of love to achieve the tasks Hinami sets for him. It’s a nice callback to the climax of the first season, and a reminder of how things will be different going forward. Expect more pushback from Tomozaki towards Hinami going forward, especially over their conflicting views on ethics. After that, we enter the first arc, the sports festival, as Tomozaki starts gathering information, creating a plan, and then implementing it to try to achieve Hinami’s tasks. Much like the 1st season, while his effort is always there, he manages to succeed and fail in a myriad of ways for all the tasks in season 2. After the sports festival, we get the bullying arc, as Konno starts lashing out in class in the aftermath of the sports festival. Once that is over, we get the longest and last arc of the season, the school festival, with a greater focus on romance as Tomozaki is pushed by Aoi to consider whom he likes so he can decide who to pursue a romantic relationship with as part of his medium-term goal of getting a girlfriend.

  While this review is spoiler free, I do want to address the proverbial elephant in the room regarding romance. Whether it is in the reviews and/or comments on MAL, Crunchyroll, social media, etc. you will find a lot of discussion regarding the romantic direction of the show and Tomozaki’s decision for whom to pursue. Such is the plight of a dramatic romcom with multiple love interests. Watch out for that if you don’t want to be spoiled. Also, if you are the type of person whose enjoyment of a show is predicated on your preferred waifu/best girl winning, this might not be the show for you. While romance takes center stage in the last arc, this is still a character drama at heart. Romance just so happens to be the easiest way to add drama to a show given the emotions at play for the characters. I will go into greater detail on this issue with my blog post, so feel free to check it out after watching the show for yourself, or if you don’t care about spoilers. The one thing I will say here is that the decisions make sense to me given the developments across both seasons. I think part of the issue is the 3-year gap between the first and second season has left a lot of people forgetting some important details from the previous season, but it is ultimately a matter of differing opinions.

  The other thing I want to quickly note about the plot is that the changes made to the story used in the school festival have symbolic significance to the plot. They may seem irrelevant in the moment, but you will grow to understand their significance in time.

  On a separate note, it might just be my own bias since I read the source material after rewatching the first season with the dub earlier this year, but the pacing felt off for me at times this season compared to the first one. For reference, the first season adapted 3 volumes in 12 episodes, while this season adapted 4 volumes in 13 episodes. While the 4th and 5th volumes that make up the first 2 arcs are relatively short, it is clear the director prioritized cutting as much content as possible to end the season with the 7th volume. While I agree with his decision to end it where he did, the climax at the end is beautifully done and had me in tears when I first read it in the light novel, it feels like a little bit too much was lost trying to fit everything into 13 episodes. I thought a lot more of Tomozaki’s internal monologue was needed to help flesh out certain important scenes, including the climax itself. Some emotional depth from the LN was definitely lost in translation in the anime. Another testament to the brutally cutthroat nature of the anime industry? As if we needed more reminders...

  Art/Animation 7

  The character designs themselves remain gorgeous and stand out in the series. The overall production quality is mostly fine, but since the show is a character driven drama the focus is mostly on making the characters look good and their dialogue. I will note that there are a few occasions where the animation looks abysmal, usually involving hand clapping and characters running. The show does a good job of expressing the emotions of the characters through their facial reactions and body language, which is important given how much focus is on the dialogue of the characters.

  Sound 7

  Given the continuity with the VAs from the first season over to the second season, both the Japanese subs and English dub remain as good as the first season. Although I want to continue to shout out Ai Kayano again as I do strongly prefer her performance as Kikuchi’s Japanese VA over her English VA.

  The anime continues to reuse stock tracks for the sound for much of the season, although there are a handful of times that it elevates an important scene using dramatic pauses in the sound and different music than the stock tracks.

  Characters - 10

  I really enjoyed the characters in the first season, and they continued to shine in season 2. They remain well rounded and act in a realistic way given how their characters were established in season 1. Mizusawa becomes an excellent best male friend to Tomozaki as he navigates the social hierarchy of school and his drive for self-improvement. Mimimi is the funny outgoing friend everyone either wishes they had or treasures. Aoi is as sadistic as ever as Tomozaki’s taskmaster pushing him onwards towards his goals. Kikuchi is still the adorably shy bookworm whose insights help guide Tomozaki. Tama and Izumi are charming to watch as they navigate their own personal struggles with changing who they are. All these characters mentioned, with perhaps a notable exception for Aoi, receive development this season as they continue their own personal journey of growth during adolescence, inspired in part by Tomozaki. It is a testament to the character writing that I can imagine all 5 of Aoi, Fuuka, Izumi, Mimimi, and Tama as viable love interests for Tomozaki under the right circumstances when Aoi starts questioning Tomozaki about who he is interested in. They have all received enough development, and Tomozaki has spent enough time with all of them over the 6 months that have elapsed since he started changing, to connect with all of them and establish chemistry in different ways, even if most of them will just be friends.

  One of the great things about Tomozaki’s character is that despite the improvements he has had made over the past 6 months, he will backslide when confronted with situations that push him too far outside his comfort zone. He has spent too many years believing he is a bottom-tier character in life to overcome that self-doubt so quickly. For me, it is good character writing for him to fall back on his old ways of thinking and behavior in those moments until he starts making the biggest change of all: Changing his perception of himself via his own self-esteem.

  Enjoyment – 9

  Despite my complaints about a few issues with the show I still enjoyed it immensely. It’s a rare show for me that manages to be dramatic without feeling melodramatic, while also successfully balancing the romance and comedy together. It’s become one of my favorite series that I am happy to rewatch just because I enjoy the characters and story such that even knowing what happens doesn’t impede my enjoyment when rewatching it. That is an exceedingly rare thing for me to have for this genre of show, because too often these types of shows are either too unrealistic, too stupid, too boring, or just drag on way too long as we wait for the couple to finally get together for me to ever consider rewatching them, if I don’t just drop the show altogether. It is also notable that this show manages to stick out positively for me amongst the sea of self-insert wish-fulfilment fantasy shows that populate the genre. The girls are pretty, but they aren’t models with giant breasts flopping around everywhere for fanservice like a lot of shows. None of them are magically in love with the loser protagonist Tomozaki was in the beginning for little to no reason or are part of a harem of love interests. I could go on quite a while with these common lazy writing tropes, but you get my point.

  Since the strength of anime as a medium for entertainment lies in its ability to show action in ways that live action series either struggle to replicate, or that require outsized budgets relative to animation studios, finding a show engaging enough to maintain my interest without standout animation or lazy writing tropes carrying it as a crutch is notable. This series could easily function as a live action drama with minimal changes compared to the anime. In a sense, that is the highest form of praise I can give the show: Good enough to stand on its own merits without the usual crutches used in anime that prop up lesser works.

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• 

  Judhill

  30/100
  Insufficient in its delivery of themes and character writing. Banality perfected with shredded intimacy and sincerity.

  __(This review contains spoilers. Proceed with caution.)__

  Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki is an anime that suffers an inorganic script despite its desperate attempts to achieve a sincerity that’s only muddled in its convolution and contrivance; its symbolism is so on-the-nose that it disgraces the subtlety inherent in incorporating such in a composition. (Think about any sort of foreshadowing of Mimimi’s infatuation for Tomozaki and Kikuchi’s play here.) It alienates its viewers even during its most intimate because of the rigidity that it’s afraid of discarding for something truly sincere and resonating in its audience’s hearts. With an incredibly mundane script that’s degraded whenever the anime tries to color it with its shoehorned platitudes, the anime remains clunky even in stationary instances, and its delivery always seems insufficient.

  One particular aspect that I furrowed my eyebrows at whenever inserted in the anime’s already lackadaisical script was the occasional usage of video game terminologies and analogies among Tomozaki and Hinami, which are of a nature so ludicrous as to cheese in the savviness of the two characters in video games. It must then follow that the only notable development I ever found in this season was the virtual absence thereof throughout the second half of the story, of which it becomes more bearable without my personal issues with the bland script. However, the plot that carries such, as well as the presentation that burdens itself with that upon its back, erodes the majority of possible, positive comments that I could ever formulate in my head regarding the anime.

  Another feature inherent in Tomozaki that I would like to mention is certain characters’ adjustment to generic attitudes for the sake of soothing themselves into their environment, for Tama’s character demonstrates a development of that gone successful through the generic conversational jabs she learns from her friends, contrasting Tomozaki’s incapability to let a conversation he isn’t intrinsically drawn to flow. Note the following down: Tomozaki isn’t an anime about genuinely expressing one’s own feelings; it is an anime that aims for generic appeal, whether that be founded in its world or in a meta sense. Any hint of sincerity one may derive from Tomozaki is shattered the moment one finds that it is about reaching a level of social moderation; the factors contributing to such matter not. Hinami solidifies this whenever one allows her the moment of speech for Tomozaki. Her plans for him are merely only ways for him to reach a level of accessibility and openness to others around him, whether the way he conducts his strides towards the goals she’s arranged for him is inorganic or of sincerity. What matters first and foremost is the objective; the means through which one achieves such is of secondary importance.

  Tama's character arc is spoiled with a script that doesn't trust the viewer enough to make a point without pampering them. (No, Tomozaki, I would much prefer this scene without your monologuing an already conspicuous element prominent throughout it.) It is detached from provoking any pinch of engagement from the viewer with its convoluted developments and comical tamings of Tama’s character. This banality is only amplified more with its bleak presentation, utterly devoid of any visual literacy: in the most tense, mere pans and amateurishly but adequately stitched sequences; in the most sentimental, attempts at obfuscating a shred of intimacy by over-emphasizing lighting or tonal dissonance, much grounded in the anime's tactlessness to its surroundings. This inflexibility in presentation is elucidated in the latter half of the season, in which the narrative focuses more on character development, one awfully relative to others.

  Soon, Tomozaki, Kikuchi, and Mimimi enter a love triangle that shapes the latter half of the season, in which the most character development Tomozaki acquires from oscillating between the two main heroines is from the manifestation of such selections, when his introspection familiarizes us with his current discontents with his interpersonal relationships with those around him—soon resolved by the action of one of those he holds a comical attachment to, Mimimi. Once this detachment is enclosed, the character development of Tomozaki remains stagnant, and the nourishing of such shifts its focus onto the two, current main heroines: Kikuchi and Mimimi. Any sort of nuance to be possibly found in his self-resolve is disintegrated for the sake of polishing these two and their personal conflicts.

  Kikuchi’s main concern is the overreliance she’s refined in her comfort space, which includes her zealous interactions with Tomozaki and her taciturness, all of which have materialized a desire to branch out from her space of solace for what she obscurely describes as the “world’s ideal,” i.e., how she perceives others necessitates her to become, one she believes contrasts her nature to the presumable perfection of the class Madonna Aoi Hinami. Of course, this is all a confinement she has surfaced with mere assumptions of her environment, which ultimately disregards how she truly feels about certain objects significant to her and so is thus only a self-centered overview on the environment. However, instead of portraying the dimensions to her situation with a cohesive fragmentation that simmers the nuances within such, Tomozaki figures its best utility to be the iron ladle with which it brews an unengaging approach to her conflicts: So little attention is actually focused on Kikuchi’s development as a character because of the rushed pacing of the narrative as well as the narrative’s inclination to molding a character like a boring university lecture (or a dialogue of minimal stylistic endeavor, for that matter). Viewers are spoonfed the situation around Kikuchi whenever the narrative ever cares to showcase her direction of the class’s practices of their play—the script of which she wrote, and so she balances between directing and scriptwriting, though this feat is hardly ever probed upon, something I consider a missing piece in her character development—but the narrative never dares to come close to Kikuchi’s internal conflict aside from superficial instances of interlaced discord, thereby instead focusing on the environment rather than the character. One could argue that this is a commendable touch to the sort of “oppression” Kikuchi feels from her surroundings that are never controlled under her stead, but the dialogue between characters assessing the situation contrasts that notion by trying to empathize with Kikuchi’s inward discontents. Thus, disorientation is founded by an acute clash between two significantly equal layers of narrative in audiovisual form.

  It isn’t any less surprising to say that how the anime showcases Tomozaki’s attempts to trace Kikuchi’s behavior are as insipid as the ambivalence thereof. Again, this structure of the story is struck by its attempt to shoehorn the dynamics of all the characters in a rushed manner. As I previously mentioned, the story arc’s focus oscillates between Tomozaki’s relationship between the two main heroines, Kikuchi and Mimimi, of which the former bears a denser application in the plot. Consequently, whenever the focus of the story awkwardly shifts to Tomozaki and Mimimi’s adorkable interactions (with the subtleties in their expressions and bodies a refreshing touch to see, considering the anime’s abstinence from such in other departments), the perplexing abyss within Kikuchi’s character arc is only ever so enhanced. Though I could have tolerated this sort of attitude had it been handled with more tact, the narrative expects us to consistently understand that Tomozaki is brewing an adequate model of her character in the intervals between his charming banter with Mimimi. Indeed, it plays a role in amplifying the shared experience of the viewer and Tomozaki, both of whom lack the layers through which their lenses may operate under, but it is done at the cost of a contextualization that the anime continues to expect you to hinge upon.

  In the 11th episode, Tomozaki, upon remembering a Michael Andi book of significance to Kikuchi—The Popple on Raptor Isle—decides to leaf through it overnight. Unlike the several, vivid drafts of Kikuchi’s play, crudely titled My Unfamiliar Way to Fly, that are iterated throughout the course of this story arc, the details of the book are simplified so as to deliver a single, direct unveiling of Kikuchi’s character. Naturally, in eschewing the fine minutiae—a characteristic that Kikuchi unequivocally scopes upon due to her inclination towards nuanced character writing, as implied throughout her numerous chats with Tomozaki—the impact intended in such a blow is lost, felt to be shoehorned at best, blundered at worst. This juncture only worsens as the scene progresses, as Tomozaki suggests elements that even the viewer is disillusioned about considering their unfamiliarity of the work being importantly referenced at the moment. He provides her a push that feels weightless to the viewer, so the only good the scene does then is to continue the plot with a forced development.

  Moreover, since Kikuchi’s play’s drafts are iterated throughout the story arc with the essential elements intact (thus decently forming a cohesive whole I shan’t complain about much), the whiplash upon seeing it being shoddily performed on the stage is of attention to my withered eyes. With already salient symbolism that abandons any nuance or subtlety in the concocting of the play and the visceral feelings Kikuchi holds for it, it’s a shallow enough article of reliance that the narrative frequently uses to express Kikuchi’s current states of thought. Bulldozing through the sordidly rigid-looking postures and actions of the actors—of which the characters they portray are representative of Hinami, Tomozaki, and Kikuchi’s personalities (although you already knew that considering the fact that Mimimi utters them with complete conviction, used as devices for maximized comprehensibility of the situation and plot progression, another nail to the head on the anime’s on-the-nose approach to its narrative)—numerous moments of spatial inconsistency, a condensed performance of the story that the viewer’s become all too familiar with, and the other pompous characteristics it blindly wears, one finds Kikuchi’s mundane attitude towards Tomozaki according to her “ideal world.”

  Again, since any shred of character development Tomozaki could’ve attained through this story arc is eschewed for the sake of developing the main heroines instead, Tomozaki is at a stagnance. Though he may have been dejected for a while after understanding Kikuchi’s intentions with that bewildering and perplexing conclusion, a little push from Mimimi sends him to convince Kikuchi in a world that would be ideal for her: not through her words, but through his. Throughout the anime, Tomozaki has always refined Kikuchi’s ideals by offering his own thoughts that then supersede her perceptions for the presupposed “better.” He tells her about refining her solace in the world instead, for that is what she is truly passionate about. Therefore, Kikuchi’s character development isn’t the embracement of a world by her unadulterated accord, but a refinement of it—pertaining to her personal desires—with her reliance on Tomozaki. Therefore, Kikuchi’s character development is practically nil. Of course, her relationship with Tomozaki has deepened, but her state as a character is essentially the same as always, a girl passionate about nuanced artistic expression through language and reliant on Tomozaki as a supporting pillar. However, this holds little difference to her starting square. The whole point of her taking the courage she needed to shape the class play was for her to develop as a girl who others could rely on, for she was dissatisfied with her preceding notions of bonds, but Tomozaki tells her that it’s okay to regress to that as long as she can still branch out while in that state, which is something that Kikuchi had already been doing. Him opening up about this only made her slightly more demanding of his attention—the absolute crux of this character development nonsense. As with how Tomozaki oscillates between Kikuchi and Mimimi in his romantic endeavors, Kikuchi’s story arc has been loaded with her oscillating between the “world’s ideals,” as perceived by herself which immediately questions the concreteness of such a phrase, and her desires—one tiresome, lackadaisical treatment of character writing akin to that of a ping pong match.

  On the other hand, Mimimi’s inner conflicts are more romantically centered than those of Kikuchi’s. Mimimi constantly finds herself in a conundrum with the mass of girls she finds to be held in a potentially romantic regard for Tomozaki, though a fair number of these are her little delusions, such as the moment in which she encounters Tomozaki’s co-worker Tsugumi Narita and her friends and proceeds to comically doubt his decency as a man. Mimimi’s character development is rooted more in resilience and acceptance, as she cherishes the transient moments she shares with Tomozaki while hiding herself with a face of acceptance of his state of affairs, a passive approach that contrasts Kikuchi’s active actions to cater to a world she deems “ideal” in her story arc.

  Besides a few savory moments ruined by the anime’s insipid production values, the moments in which Mimimi interacts with Tomozaki are brimmed with the appropriate atmosphere and tone. Though their snark is repetitive, it feels digestible from a mellow perspective of an adorkable couple of high school youths with a romantic ambivalence tied to their relationship. Mimimi can act in rather exaggerated ways, but they complement the density and rigidity of an individual like Tomozaki. The script doesn’t particularly flourish around these instances, but it definitely has a standard that suffices the dynamics between the two, and it pertains to said dynamic enough to be free of acute criticism.

  However, as with the case of Kikuchi, I find the anime to be too afraid of shifting character perspectives for a satisfactory amount of time. Because of its adherence to unfolding through the lenses of the protagonist Tomozaki, it misses the moments in which Tomozaki’s presence cannot be savored by the environment. When Mimimi tolerates Tomozaki leaving the park to focus on the play with Kikuchi, I wish to see more of Mimimi’s conduct once he leaves. I wish to see the nuances that tug her heart to her desire for him. Most of the time the anime cares to show us Mimimi lamenting over her infatuation for Tomozaki, Tomozaki’s presence is there for her to consider and think about. This reliance the narrative holds for Tomozaki is a flaw that deters the viewer from thoroughly understanding the minutiae the characters bear in themselves, a characteristic I think enhances the resonating quality of a narrative set in one’s juvenile years. Subsequent to pushing Tomozaki to confront Kikuchi about her presumed rejection of him, Mimimi bawls with her broken heart, but that bawling is only a superficial layer to understanding her character, which, once again, eschews the significant reason why this love triangle was set in the first place (to develop its characters).

  In spite of its efforts to produce a raw sentiment among its cast, Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki 2nd Stage lacks a conviction in its delivery dichotomous to the one Mimimi has to support her loved one, even if it risks the structure of her relationship. The series is loaded with superficial elements that hinder any possible nuance in its progression as a truly sincere work. Its presentation is second-rate and insufficient to the anchor its content holds with its saccharine desire to reach a level of sensibility and relatability. At its best, one finds slightly nuanced interactions (not necessarily exclusive to dialogue) between characters. At its worst, an insipid, regressive work that lacks the vitality to achieve the humanity it shallowly emulates. Tomozaki is a banal work that cannot balance any of its layers, thereby propagating one mess of a script of character writing, symbolism, plot progression, all of which is never elevated by its rigid audiovisuals.

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