No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 1 (Volume 1) (No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, 1)

For those who watched the anime first, take note that the show doesn't follow the manga chronologically: there's some manga chapters here and there mixed together to make a single episode. It appears that the first 4 volumes of the manga are covered by the anime, and maybe you can continue with the 5th volume, but I'd recommend starting from the beginning with the manga because there are some things missed by the anime.What I love about this manga is how relatable it can be. Much of the humor is cringe-humor, and it's sometimes fueled by second-hand embarrassment. I find myself cringing and feeling Tomoko's embarrassment a lot, but it always turns out funny and very enjoyable. It's also one of the very few slice-of-life manga I really love. And I don't know about you guys, but I really like the added touch of digital hearts that shine in the light on the front and back covers (As shown in the picture provided). The cover art is really nice to look at. If you're into cringe comedy and can handle embarrassing situations, give this manga a try!

Honestly, the first few volumes made me a little uncomfortable about the situations this complex character gets herself into. Her first two years of high school are rough. I almost didn't continue.But something happens as she moves toward her third year that makes the series very rewarding. Without her changing much (beyond learning from some of her really hard lessons), she develops a large circle of friends who become attracted to her in spite of her quirkiness. Her ability to say what is on her mind (even if she regrets it almost immediately) is inspiring to others who wish they could be more open.All in all, a great character arc that develops slowly, but is very rewarding if you keep moving through all volumes, which I highly recommend doing. I'm currently looking forward to April 2022 when volume 19 will be out!

If you've ever been a teenager, chances are that there's been a time in your life when you've felt at least a little socially awkward. It's that weird stage of transitioning from childhood into adulthood that can cause us to do things that make us be embarrassed for ourselves in retrospect. However, the intensity of that teenage awkwardness varies from person to person, so some may be social butterflies, while others are too introverted to bother with having a conversation. Essentially, this book is an intense example of the latter.No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! (what a mouthful!) stars Tomoko Kuroki, a first-year high school student who, despite constantly playing dating games in middle school, is barely able to muster the social courage to say goodbye to her homeroom teacher on the way back home. Although it's not explicitly stated, the amount of shyness and social delusion on display here gives me the strong impression that Tomoko has social anxiety disorder, but it's not impossible to relate to her. Everyone has had that time where they thought their fellow classmates were lame, and everyone's had that time where you've felt a little lamer than your friends; it's just that instances like these are, for the lack of a better term, cranked up to 11.In fact, this is one of the few books I have read where you can get quite the intense feeling of secondhand embarrassment. There were more than a few times when I thought to myself "do I dare look at the next page, or even the next panel?" for fear that I would cringe to the point of collapsing in on myself. While that doesn't make the material sound like much fun to read, it's actually quite entertaining if you look back and think about the lame things you did as a teenager.In short, don't come into this series expecting a cutesy high school story, and the artwork compliments this train of thought quite nicely (some of Tomoko's reactions are just...well, weird-looking). If you're bored with stereotypical high school, slice-of-life manga but still want to read something in the genre, this is the book for you.

No matter how I look at it, it's your guys fault I'm not popular (Watamote) was amazing. I just finished book 7 AND I NEED MORE. I considered myself a mini-otaku before reading manga. I was hooked on anime and understood a lot of references here(my favorites were I WILL BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES and I will stay by your side forever and ever also the batsmen miku references) This is my first manga (and I picked a good one) Having gone through what the protagonist Komoko only months before there were facepalms, sighs, and laughs. I just started a new school and honestly my only in school friends are three girls(well my only good ones) This is an amazing read. The synopsis pulled me in and wouldn't let go. Being a young otaku I have to be careful with what I read (we all know anime/manga isn't always the purist things you'll see. Though neither was this. This is truly good because when you know that you'd be the one to talk to her and offer friendship you really just want to jump in and take her to starbucks(starturfs XD) or McDonalds (wcdonalds) (sorry I had to) One way to know this is a good manga is all the reviews. I don't write long reviews but look what you're reading now. Clearly this manga has touched my heart just as much as a good book could. I'm going to watch Watamote (the anime) on crunchyroll tomorrow😀 PLEASE I AM LITERALLY BEGGING YOU, WRITE VOLUME 8!!!!!!

It’s good but it’s really thin for a book

No Matter How I Look at It, It's Kino!, Volume 1

Termine de ver el anime y sentí muchas ganas de leer el manga, y hasta el momento me ha gustado mucho (^・ω・^ ).

I bought these as a directed gift from a younger relative, and found myself laughing all the way through.I had to learn how to read it back-to-front first, but once that cultural confusion was cleared, the pages turned themselves.An extremely good depiction of being a teenager. The main character sits up all night googling "how to be popular" and worrying obsessively that people won't like her, to the point where it becomes self-fulfilling and she trudges through a lonely school life. True to many teens, she's naive and horrifyingly judgmental of everyone but herself. She takes social cues from the absolute worst possible junk culture, with no defense against heavily-sexualized mass media marketed towards teenagers. I found myself cringing a lot in part-recognition of what life was like during that awkward period, and the many social holes she digs for herself are horribly resonant. Yet her comedic misadventures are bathed in pathos, and you can't help but want her to be happy one day.The fourth volume No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 4 in particular has a heart-breaking sequence in which our anti-heroine splits from a class outing she's been preparing for quite a while, and in one silent page she visits an arcade, then a bookshop, and then mingles anonymously with the Christmas shopping crowds. That one page captures "all dressed up and nowhere to go" perfectly.I don't claim to "understand manga" on the back of this one series, but I can see what the fuss is about now, at least. I was expecting something partly exploitative or crassly sexualized, and got a genuinely funny, genuinely touching, genuinely intelligent story instead. Would that Western graphic novels learn from this sort of Japanese storytelling, we've lost our way in the thirty years I've been reading comics, that's for sure.

So after watching the Anime I had to start reading the manga. The Anime covers most of the first 4 volumes. There being 20 volumes as of today and 18 translated, I had to see where Tomokos story went. Story of a girl called Tomoko with severe social anxiety, with a lot of messed up thoughts in her head. You do feel sorry for her but can't help laugh at the madness she does.