Fumiya Tomozaki is an ace gamer, but a bottom-tier character in real life. His favorite game is called Tackfam, which is an in-universe parody of Super Smash Brothers. One day while playing Tackfam online, he was invited to meet in-person with an old gaming rival called NONAME. When he arrived at the spot where they agreed to meet up, he was surprised to discover that NONAME’s true identity was none other than his classmate, Aoi Hinami, Tomozaki has always been jealous of Aoi’s high social status — with her intelligence, confidence, and charisma — and wishes he could be like her. Aoi was just as surprised as he was. She begins to unload her disappointment in finding out that her gaming hero, known online as the great Nanashi, is actually a rock-bottom loser who has given up on life. Tomozaki tells Aoi that someone as popular as her knows nothing about how it feels to be unconfident in everything. He also says that no one can change their character like they can in a game, but Aoi begs to differ. She begins to teach Tomozaki how to play the ultimate god-tier game called life, beginning by setting some goals for Tomozaki to achieve. The ultimate goal is for Tomozaki to get a girlfriend by his third year of high school, a goal that makes him gasp in fear. Will Tomozaki succeed? Let’s take a look at his candidates.

Minami Nanami is a bouncy and bubbly class flirt. Her creedo is to always live life with a smile on her face no matter how bad she feels on the inside. At first, Tomozaki tried talking to her in his Home EC class, but his awkwardness caused her to burst out laughing. The next evening, Tomozaki walks home with her when he learns that Minami considers herself to be a young maiden with lots of worries. Tomozaki hasn’t made much progress with Minami since then, but perhaps his campaign isn’t over yet.

Fuka Kikuchi is a shy bookworm who has a secret eye for Tomozaki. Aoi noticed this when she and Tomozaki ate lunch at a restaruant and were surprised to have their food be served by Fuka. Aoi noticed that Fuka addressed Tomozaki first despite herself being more popular and and of the same gender. On another day, Tomozaki met Fuka in the library where they talked about her passion for books and her favorite author, Michael Andi. Tomozaki only pretended to follow the conversation to win favor with Fuka, but later he apologized to her for faking it. Aoi thinks Tomozaki’s relationship with Fuka is his most promising so far, and is certain she will become his girlfriend.

Yuzu Izumi is a glamor girl who sits next to Tomozaki in his first class of the day. The bottom-tier protagonist would always try to strike a conversation with her — usually something about her hair, her clothing, or their last homework assignment — but it always ended up getting awkward. Then one day, Yuzu asked Tomozaki if she would teach him how to play Tackfam. The reason why is because a guy she likes, named Nakamura, has been playing none-stop and won’t let her play with him because she is too weak. Yuzu invited Tomozaki over to her place where he begins his instruction. He uses some of Aoi’s tactics, showing he is learning what she is teaching. What Tomozaki learns from Yuzu is that she also wants to change so that she doesn’t always worry about what other people think of her. Although, it had a rough start, Tomozaki seems to be starting to understand Yuzu.

Shuji Nakamura is an egotist, and the most popular guy in Tomozaki’s class. (Nakamura is not one of Tomozaki’s candidates for a girlfriend.) He heard that Tomozaki was good at Tackfam, so he challenges him to a match at the very beginning of the first episode. Tomozaki absolutely creams him, but Nakamura doesn’t like to think that anyone is better than him at anything, so ever since then, he was been practicing in preparation to defeat Tomozaki once and for all. Nakamura got his rematch at the end of Episode 4. He tried and tried again, but still could not defeat Tomozaki. Finally, a girl who Nakamura previously brushed off, named Erika, ridicules him for wasting his time, trying to get better at a stupid game, and it was all for nothing.

“What did you say?” asks Tomozaki, because if there’s one thing you don’t do, it’s insult Tackfam in front of him. Tomozaki rips into Erika for calling the game stupid and defends Nakamura for all the hard work he put in to try and beat him.

“I hate people who make fun of Tackfam, but even more than that, I hate people like you, who mock someone else’s efforts,” screams Tomozaki.

It seems like Tomozaki has had quite the character development, going from a social bum to someone who seems to be getting to know each of his classmates one-by-one. Who will Tomozaki get to know in this episode?

Hiro Mizusawa

Near the beginning of Episode 5, one of Nakamura’s stooges, named Mizusawa, approaches Tomozaki and says he admires him for standing up to Erika in the last episode.

“Being too serious is just plain annoying–and kinda lame, y’know?” says Mizusawa, “I know people might call you a freak for that, but me? I think what you said was really great…So I wanted to let you know that you’ve got people like me on your side.”

He tells Aoi what Mizusawa told him, adding that he said they should get a bite to eat sometime with Aoi and and another girl. Aoi challenges Tomozaki to invite that other girl, seeing as it will help him make progress towards his small goal: “Go somewhere with a girl, not Aoi, just him and the girl.” Tomozaki thinks through all of the girls he knows.

“How about Izumi?” suggests Tomozaki.

“Can I ask why?” asks Aoi.

“I talked with her this morning about Nakamura’s birthday. If she wants to buy him a present, Mizusawa’s there for advice–and you’re good at that kind of thing, too.”

So Tomozaki tries inviting Yuzu to their shopping trip, but she says, “Oh, no, I couldn’t! You’re going out to eat, right? I wouldn’t want to drag everyone on my shopping trip.”

Tomozaki realizes that Yuzu reads the room, and always considers how people will see her. She also doesn’t like letting people do things for her. The ace gamer starts formulating a new strategy plan.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tomozaki begins, “because I’ll be buying one, too! A gift, for Nakamura! Like to…patch things up! And I figured his birthday would be a good opportunity.”

“That is great, Tomozaki!” cries Yuzu, as she springs up from her chair, “Honestly, I was feeling iffy about this whole thing. You know how I’m friends with Shuji? And lately I’ve been talking with you a lot, too, right? And since you’re both good guys who’re friends with me, I don’t want you two to be fighting! Anyway, I think that’s a fantastic idea!”

Tomozaki runs into Mizusawa at the locker room, where he has already heard that Tomozaki has invited Yuzu to their foursome shopping trip.

Mizusawa leans in closer to Tomozaki and says, “You’re up to something, aren’t you?” He points out the change in Tomozaki’s hair, expression, and the way he talks. Not to mention the bond he seems to be forming with Yuzu and Aoi.

“Don’t tell me,” continues Mizusawa, “You read a de-geekification book!”

(Well, that’s two for two.)

A Gift for Nakamura

When Saturday arrives, Aoi and Tomozaki are the first to meet up at the mall. Mizusawa and Yuzu arrive shortly after. They go to a clothing shop to look for a present for Nakamura, but Yuzu isn’t sure what would be best for him. While Yuzu and Tomozaki are talking it over, they see Aoi and Mizusawa chatting a few feet away from them.

“You know what?” whispers Yuzu to Tomozaki, “There’s a rumor going around about those two. That they’re dating.”

(Geez, how many love triangles are going to appear in this show?)

They continue discussing what to give Nakamura while taking a coffee break.

“I asked Hiro (Mizusawa’s first name), and he said Shuji’s been worried about acne lately, so get him some zit cream,” says Yuzu, “He’d be furious if I gave him that!”

“The Nakamura I know likes Tackfam, is good-looking and strong, and has a real normie hairstyle,” says Tomozaki.

“Styling wax! Wouldn’t styilng wax be good?”

“Oh, yeah, maybe!”

Aoi and Mizusawa then approach with their coffee.

“You’re having fun,” says Mizusawa.

“What’s going on?” asks Aoi.

“What do you think about styling wax?” asks Yuzu.

“Good idea!” says Mizusawa, “I know just the kind he’d like, too.”

Aoi gives Tomozaki a look, because he’s supposed to make two suggestions about places they should go to together. The bottom-tier protagonist is about to make his first suggestion, but Mizusawa beats him to it.

“Then let’s hit the west entrance after this,” he says, “I know a place with a wide selection.”

“Nice suggestion, Takahiro,” says Aoi, “Right, Tomozaki?”

Mizusawa brings them to a store called Arohe, and leads them to a shelf full of styling wax. He demonstrates his own styling skills by using some sample wax on Tomozaki’s hair. Then, Yuzu successfully buys Nakamura’s present. As the foursome is heading down the escalator, Tomozaki checks his reflection in the glass window to his side. A lot of thoughts run through his head, most of which are about how he usually is harder on himself than he should be.

Tomozaki also gets Nakamura a present, but we as the viewer, don’t see what it is.

Finally, Mizuawa says he wants to get a bite to eat. Everyone else says they are somewhat hungry, so Mizusawa picks a place that has lighter stuff. The specialty of this place is an “Ultimate Four-Cheese Special Pizza”.

Aoi suddenly changes her mind about not being hungry.

That’s Hinami, thinks Tomozaki, If there’s cheese involved–

“If there’s cheese involved, Aoi is all in,” Mizusawa says out loud.

The look on Tomozaki’s face says that if Mizuawa knows that, then he must be close her, giving more evidence to the rumor that the two of them are dating.

They get pizza, Yuzu parts ways, and Tomozaki gets off the train – leaving Aoi and Mizusawa to keep riding it. He texts Yuzu and asks how she knew about the rumor, and Yuzu just says everyone’s saying it. (Sounds like a pretty well-known “secret”.)

And thus, it’s the end of another successful social day for Tomozaki.

The Next Section is Really Good,

You Should Keep Reading!

The next day, Aoi and Tomozaki meet in the sewing room again, where Aoi grills him about why he didn’t complete his task.

“I did suggest the electronics store,” says Tomozaki.

“You needed two suggestions,” reminds Aoi. She asks if he picked up on anything or has any questions about their shopping trip.

“I’d say the thing that struck me the most was the realization that my appearance had slightly improved,” responds Tomozaki.

“Ah, moving in the right direction!” says Aoi.

Tomozaki also notices that Mizusawa’s suggestions had some “real substance” that he could use when he tries again. Aoi asks if Tomozaki thought the pizza was tasty.

“Not especially,” analyzes Tomozaki.

“Right?” responds Aoi, “Taking pizza as an example, it doesn’t actually have to be delicious as long as you get people interested and make them think it might be. That’s the key to a successful suggestion.”

“So you could trick someone into a suggestion that just sounds good?”

“That’s right.”

“What the hell is that?!” cries Tomozaki, as he leaps out of his chair, “The better suggestion doesn’t always win out? That’s just weird!”

We’ve seen Tomozaki be skeptical of Aoi’s philosophies before, but until now, he has always trusted them. This is the first time we see Tomozaki really start to question the morality of Aoi’s practices, which will continue to grow throughout the season.

Aoi just makes another comparison to a negotiation-style game, and Tomozaki seems to fall right back in line. (The animation of this game analogy looks like an Ace Attorney parody.)

At the very end of the episode, a teacher announces they will begin accepting nominations for student council, and asks who would like to run. Aoi raises her hand and says she would like to. No one is surprised, but they do get surprised when another girl raises her hand. It’s Minami!

She turns to Aoi and says, “If we’re fighting over grades, I’m gonna win!”

To Be Continued…

Thoughts: Players or Pawns?

I don’t really have any unique thoughs for this episode, so instead I will recap all of the “Thoughts” sections I have written for this series and analyze how this episode builds on each one of those themes.

For Episode 1, we talked about Aoi’s character — how she views herself as above her peers because of her exceptional social and academic skills. When she played Tackfam online against Nanashi, she thought she had finally found someone like her — someone who is constantly improving themselves to be better at everything in life. After meeting Nanashi in person, she was gravely disappointed that he was improving in everything, but life. To help satisfy her ego, Aoi begins teaching Nanashi, whose true identity is her classmate Tomozaki, how to view life as a game and become better at playing it.

We know that Aoi views herself as above her peers, but there is something else about her character that remains ambiguous, but is growing more evident as the series progresses. If Aoi views life as a game, does she view the other people in her life as players in the game, or pawns in her game. When Aoi teaches Tomozaki how to give people enticing suggestions that trick them into agreeing, her view of other people as pawns in her game becomes slightly more apparent. We’ll have to see if any more evidence presents itself as the series progresses.

In Episode 2, we talked about the concept of social masks and how some characters in the show tend to hide how the truly feel in order to fit in with the people around them. When Aoi and Tomozaki are waiting at the mall for the others to show up, Aoi dishes out a slew of criticisms towards Tomozaki, but as soon as Mizusawa shows up, she switches to her cutesy, nice demeanor. The characters in this show like to banter each other, but none of it feels very real or genuine. It’s almost like the characters are acting — like they’re in some sort of slice-of-life harem anime.

Also, in Episode 2, we talked about Minami and how she smiles on the outside to hide the pain she feels on the inside. The next episode will give us even more insights into her deep feelings.

In Episode 3, we talked about goal-setting, and in Episode 4, we talked about how this show feels like a self-help book put to an anime. There is definitely more added to that idea in this episode, since Aoi teaches Tomozaki about the principles of effective conversations and suggestions. Personally, I prefer analyzing literature and emulating characters instead of reading self-help books, but with this anime, it feels like I am doing both.

That’s all for this episode, if you want to stay up-to-date, be sure to follow my blog for more reviews of Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki.