I Want To Be Seen As A Girl / A Terrifying Challenge
Tomo-chan Is a Girl episode 1 begins with Tomo Aizawa telling Kubota Junichiro (Jun) she loves him. However, Tomo runs into an issue. Jun doesn’t view her as a girl but as one of the guys. He takes her love as a sign of brotherhood instead of romance. The next day, Tomo leaves her home and runs into Jun. They’ve been hanging out with each other since they were toddlers. She recalls arriving at school in a skirt and Jun making a strange comment about how it doesn’t suit her. In the present, Jun slaps Tomo’s rear, causing her to deliver a punch to his gut. Tomo reveals that she’s dabbled in karate. They arrive at their high school called Uenomizu High School. Tomo attends class and discusses things with her friend Misuzu Gundo. Misuzu reveals she’s been friends with Tomo and Jun for years. Misuzu argues Tomo deserves to be treated like a boy since she always participated in boy-like activities. Misuzu tells Tomo she should try lowering her tone and sounding more polite. Tomo meets up with Jun and sounds more polite. Jun tells Tomo she sounds like an elderly man, angering Tomo. They get into a heated argument, leading to Tomo uppercutting Jun. At home, Tomo meets her dad, who gets heated after seeing bruises on her face. Tomo reveals she got into a fight with Jun. Her father’s furious because she brought dishonor to their family by losing. Tomo retaliates that she’s a girl and that her father shouldn’t have trained Jun in the sport. In the morning, Jun and Tomo walk to school, and Jun apologizes for his actions. He admits that his life would be boring without her around. While his kind words make Tomo blush, Tomo notes that they undergo this routine after each fight. She accepts his apology, and they pound fists. At school, Tomo attends a lunch session with Misuzu on the roof. Misuzu wonders why Tomo likes spending her lunch break with her instead of Jun. Tomo admits it would make her look like she’s dating Jun, which boggles Misuzu’s mind. Misuzu leaves to ask Jun to eat lunch with them and he isn’t pleased by her appearance. The three eat lunch together, and Tomo reveals Misuzu and Jun don’t see eye to eye. Tomo feeds Jun her fried chicken and gets taken aback by her action. Later, Jun’s friend Tanabe approaches Jun alone. Tanabe asks him if he’s made a move on Tomo and shares how much of a rocking body she must have. Misuzu doesn’t find their conversation appealing. She heads to the rooftop to provide Tomo with some intel about it. Misuzu tells Tomo that Jun admitted to participating in sensual activities with Tomo to his friend Tanabe. In reality, he was referring to her and him partaking in martial arts. Misuzu’s misinformation gets Tomo riled up–leading to her beating up Jun for his crude remarks. Misuzu encounters Tanabe and tells him the truth about Tomo and Jun, showing that she set Jun up for failure. Misuzu calls Tanabe scum for thinking about Tomo in a sensual manner, but Tanabe ignores her comments. He wonders what he can do to help them become a couple, but Misuzu tells him to back off. She feels she’s the only one who’s allowed to toy with them. Misuzu meets up with Jun and recounts how they’ve grown distant since maturing. Jun admits they all used to get into some fun mischief as kids and that Misuzu would create extreme pranks. Whenever they’d get into trouble, Misuzu would never be around. Jun says he didn’t like participating in clubs because he found it more fun learning karate at Tomo’s house. He admits that boys’ and girls’ clubs were always separate, and it’d be no fun if Tomo wasn’t with him. Misuzu asks Jun how he’d react if Tomo got a boyfriend and starts spouting words to get Jun upset. Tomo arrives and wonders what’s going on. Jun asks Tomo to walk home with him, but she asks Misuzu instead. Misuzu is frustrated by Tomo’s actions and Tomo walks home with Jun instead. Jun compliments Tomo about her fragrance, and she runs away from embarrassment. Meanwhile, Tanabe encounters Misuzu and asks her if she’d like to get under his umbrella. However, Misuzu takes his umbrella and leaves him be. Jun finds Tomo, but before he can say a word, he notices water got onto her shirt, revealing some things. He hands her the umbrella and runs away in embarrassment. The segment concludes with Tomo wondering what’s wrong with Jun. The next set piece starts with Tomo fighting someone in martial arts. Internally, her opponent compliments her for her looks and skills. Tomo kicks the boy to the curve, and we learn his name’s Misaki. Tomo apologizes for her actions. Misaki asks her if she’s gotten used to the boys’ club. Tomo admits she’s okay with being the only girl in class. Misaki offers to put in a good word for her if she ever wants to return to the girls’ club. However, Tomo admits other female martial artists don’t want to spar with her. Tomo says she’s a failure as a girl, but Misaki reassures her that she’s a charming girl. Tomo asks him what about her makes her evoke a girl aesthetic and how she can improve in that field. Misaki tells Tomo she only needs to improve her confidence. After school, some girls spot Misaki leaving and gaze upon his charming looks from afar. Tomo comes rushing out and the girls plan to stop her from putting the moves on Misaki. The next day, Misuzu approaches Jun and tells him she noticed a boy walking with Tomo the other day. Later, Tomo arrives at class but forgets her textbook. She asks Jun if she can peep at his, and Jun asks her about the boy she’s been hanging around with in karate class. Tomo informs Jun about Misaki, revealing how he is the captain of a karate club she’s a part of. Tomo shows him a picture of her and Misaki, but Jun mistakes Misaki for a girl. He asks Tomo if she’s closer to any girls besides Gundo. Tomo says she’s not, leading Jun to ask her how she’d feel if Misuzu got a boyfriend. Tomo admits she can’t see Misuzu falling in love with anyone but argues she’d feel lonely without her. Tomo leaves class and gets approached by two girls named Mifune and Ogawa. They tell Tomo to meet her after school, but Tomo has a hunch that they’re not looking to become friends. She intimidates them, causing Ogawa and Mifune to flee. Tomo informs Misuzu about her trouble with Ogawa and Mifune. Misuzu tells her that fighting girls in school wouldn’t be ladylike. Misuzu suggests engaging in a verbal quarrel with them. Tomo meets with Mifune and Ogawa after school. Mifune reveals that they had a crush on Misaki and noticed Tomo being buddy-buddy with him. Tomo mistakes their words and thinks they came to her for love advice because she knows Misaki. Tomo says they should become her friends if they want to get close to Misaki. The girls unwillingly accept Tomo’s offer. The next day, Tomo reports to Misuzu about what happened between her and the girls. She wonders if she has a ton of feminine appeal now. Jun butts in on their conversation and asks Tomo to attend the school store. The girls realize that Tomo is more ladylike than they expected. The episode concludes with Tomo wishing Jun saw her as a girl.
The Episode Review
This was a fun start for this romantic comedy series. We get introduced to our players, and each offers a great personality. Many who’ve watched series like the recent Netflix romantic comedy Romantic Killer will adore hearing Rie Takahashi take on the mantle of providing dialogue for Tomo in this series. She captures Tomo’s mannerisms and demeanor well, making everything feel authentic. This show did a wonderful job of establishing some of the show’s side characters too. Misuzu may lack Tomo’s brute strength but her manipulative and shrewd tactics will appeal to many fans. She received more of the spotlight than I expected and is shaping up to be a possible fan favorite with all the antics she pulls in this episode. That said, the relationship between Jun and Tomo comes off as a tad strange. There are select points in the episode where Jun exhibits jealousy over Tomo meeting other guys. Yet at the episode’s start, he takes Tomo’s romantic confession as an act of brotherhood and not romance. It makes the whole skirmish over Misaki and Tomo’s possible connection feel bizarre and questionable. Otherwise, the episode has a decent art style and standard animation. There were some hilarious slapstick moments, but nothing too groundbreaking to warrant calling this a masterful beginning. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for our characters and Tomo’s pursuit of getting Jun to recognize her as a loving woman.
