Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun

Fumiya Tomozaki is Japan's best player in the online game Attack Families, commonly known as "Tackfam." Despite holding such a revered title, a lack of social skills and amiability causes him to fall short in his everyday high school life. Failing to have any friends, he blames the convoluted mechanics and unfair rules of life, forcing him to give up and proclaim himself a bottom-tier character in this "game."

After a fateful meeting with another top-tier Tackfam player, Fumiya is shocked to discover the player's true identity—Aoi Hinami, a popular, smart, and sociable classmate who is the complete opposite of himself. Aoi, surprised at how inept Fumiya is at everything besides Tackfam, decides to assist him in succeeding in what she calls the greatest game of them all. Through the gruesome ordeals of social interactions and relationships, Fumiya begins to advance tiers in the glorious game of life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hinami, Aoi Main

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Tomozaki, Fumiya Main

Satou, Gen Japanese

Nanami, Minami Supporting

Hasegawa, Ikumi Japanese

Kikuchi, Fuuka Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Izumi, Yuzu Supporting

Hieda, Nene Japanese

Natsubayashi, Hanabi Supporting

Maekawa, Ryouko Japanese

Mizusawa, Takahiro Supporting

Shimazaki, Nobunaga Japanese

Narita, Tsugumi Supporting

Fujita, Akane Japanese

Nakamura, Shuuji Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Takei Supporting

Mizuno, Shuntarou Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Ozawa, Fumihiro Producer

Koutani, Satoshi Producer

Reviews

Mar 26, 2021

dotta

Recommended

I want to iterate this before all else being it’s important: This is not nearly as gimmicky as the synopsis puts it. Not only is it arguably one of the most fascinating and culturally relevant anime that has aired in the last decade or so, but it’s a show that contains genuine character exploration and growth.

I can’t blame you for thinking that sounds impossible based on the surface level display this show gives off. Though it’s simplistic and very much adapted from a light novel, it’s fully aware of both its audience and the landscape of anime similar to it. It demonstrably stresses the ... importance of self-improvement, but primarily it's biting against irrational subconscious anti-social mindsets that cause people anguish.

Fittingly to this narrative, Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun opens with a scene that can easily be interpreted as generic and a meaningless interpretation of a gamer, but in actuality is one half of communicating the entire message of the show. Tomozaki is ranked 1 in TackFam, the universe’s depiction of a popular fighting game. Up against Nakumura, a regular classmate of his and someone far beneath his skill level, he easily destroys him. But Nakumura is arrogant, he blames the game, the characters. He resorts to blaming the matchups. Tomozaki proves it's a matter of skill, talent, and effort. He beats him even with the worst of matchups. A low level Marth player would still get destroyed by a top level Fox on FD, to put it into Smash Bros. terms, the game TackFam is based on. Tomozaki takes pride in his devotion to the game, and won’t accept baseless slander from someone who hasn’t put in the work he has. When we contrast this to the other half of the basis of the show: Tomozaki’s first interaction with Hinami, we become aware of what the major focal point actually is. When it comes to “real life”, Tomozaki is Nakumura in TackFam. He blames others for his own personal woes. (The ‘characters’) He believes there is a sort of social hierarchy he can’t break free from (The ‘game’), and that some people are just born better than others.(The ‘matchups’) It’s the exact same whiny and arrogant point of view he himself rebuked being directed towards TackFam. It’s blaming others when it's your own lack of effort that has you in the position you are. Why can’t it be any different when it comes to reality? Tomozaki is proven hypocritical.

Make no mistake—this isn’t just about someone growing into a socially viable person, it's a show that’s directly criticizing the type of self-loathing and presumptuous belief that it’s others—
not you— culture that anime itself tends to glorify and coddle those with a similar mindset. This was remarkable, and as a devout anime and light novel adaptation consumer, I was legitimately shocked that a show like this could exist in the climate of modern anime.

Even though I was already sold after the first episode, the show continues forward with a main character who receives proper development, and a cast of side characters who are used to explore other plaguing mindsets. If it isn't already clear by now, this is more of a character driven drama rather than a rom-com with hyperbolic tropes of a gamer and normie popular kids.

Tomozaki is directed down a path of social improvement by Hinami. This isn’t just basic advice, however. It's a decisive strategic motion to make friends and create interest in oneself. Easily said, the key to getting to know people is by showing interest in them or their surroundings. People won’t care about you if you don’t care about them. Yuzu likes Nakumura? Help her find ways to appeal to him. Mimimi wants to run for student council? Ask her if you can support her bid. Let people in, share secrets with them, gain their trust and become someone they can rely on. Fuuka likes a certain author? Read their books. When a time comes where you can ask her out to see a movie adaptation of the same author, you have both an excuse and are giving the other party respect by showing admiration to their interests. It’s physical improvements as well. Get a haircut. Stand up straight. Speak louder and stop looking so grim. Take care of your appearance and dress well. This show talks the talk and walks the walk.

Of course, it can sound problematic to see interest in people as “goals” or for your own sake rather than by genuine curiosity and the desire to get to know someone, but the show has answers to this. Gradually throughout, Tomozaki gains his own agency. He realizes that being himself makes the other person more comfortable. Perhaps it was only through deliberate effort and a push from the back that Tomozaki was able to form relationships, but eventually he grows past the need to seek orders. He changes.


The side characters are real people, not bloated tropes. Anime has a tendency to demonize “popular kids” and make them one dimensional bullies solely for the main characters to ultimately dunk on. I can assure you that with the exception of one single character in one scene, none of the characters in this show are like that at all. Yuzu, Mimimi, Takahiro, and Nakumura are vulnerable in some way. Deconstructing what commonly “popular characters” appear as in anime in a show like this seems even more important when it’s all about demonstrating the importance of having and maintaining relationships. As showing what would be the formidable unapproachable characters in other shows as real people, it’s encouraging and a reminder that we are not so different.

Frequently I was struck at how overwhelmingly positive the show could get. Tomozaki would relish in and internalize his growth. He described the feelings of successful social interactions as “primal” like a necessary need. He grows if only a little bit each and every episode. It’s fun watching him gain the trust of others. It’s heartwarming seeing others take interest in him and care for him. He quickly becomes someone you can route for and support.

It’s a rarity of a show. It manages to be mindfully indulgent, bold, and have meaning. And even if it's not as well-written as other more culturally influential anime, it’s accessibility and ease of entry may give someone what they really need.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 26, 2021

Stark700

Mixed Feelings

We all have our own ways of separating ourselves from the real world. Video game is a hobby that has become synonymous with society especially with the ongoing worldwide pandemic. Of course, that’s the real world I’m talking about. Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun takes place in a fictional world that shows how one character decided to be a bottom-tier loser. And how does he spend all his time? Playing video games. Talk about being a degenerate.

Based on the light novel, I admit coming into this series intimidated me a bit at first. Watching Tomozaki’s life as a gamer contrasts greatly between his real life image. It’s almost ... like he’s living a double life. In the virtual world, he is unstoppable and a pro gamer. But from the real world, he’s a friendless loser that people want to avoid. I’m sure this type of character is relatable in some way at a school or workplace you’ve been to. This is a sharp contrast to characters such as Aoi Hinami, Mizusawa, or Mimimi. Those three represent the popular kids at school, the type that everyone wants to be friends with.

Speaking of Aoi Hinami, she meets Tomozaki after the two faces each other in an online game. It doesn’t take long for her to realize Tomozaki’s outer image. So what happens then? She decides to teach him to play real life. That’s right, Tomozaki has his own personal life coach. It’s the hardest game Tomozaki will ever have to play because life is not like a game. He lacks friends, social experience, and in general, has a low self-esteem. No wonder he’s at the bottom tier. This is where Aoi’s role comes in. She teaches Tomozaki how to win at life but it doesn’t come easy. From the first few episodes, we see how lonely he is with a depressive attitude. He is afraid of himself especially with what he says to others and hence, he always try to be responsive than initiating conversations. It’s not until Aoi enters his life that he begins to change. Because in her opinion, Tomozaki can be just as great in real life compared to video games.

From a character perspective, it’s shown that Tomozaki is actually quite intelligent and always analyzing situations before acting. Although he lacks confidence, he isn’t afraid of being honest and himself. Being truthful to others is especially important as creating a fake image is no way at winning in life. This contrasts to Mimimi, a popular girl who hides her vulnerable façade behind her cherry personality. With Aoi’s influence, Tomozaki begins to open up more including changing his appearance to be look more appealing and even learning how to smile. His social skills also improve as he learns from Aoi through first-hand experience. This includes talking to girls, going on a vacation trip, and interacting with the popular teens at school. It’s like Tomozaki is following a walkthrough with Aoi as her guidance. He’s not just playing the game. He’s living it.

By storytelling standards, you get what you expect. Every episode has Tomozaki advancing forward in some way or form in real life. He makes new friends while gaining new skills and even an appreciation in himself. Now obviously, you have to be patient to see how Tomozaki changes but let’s just say that he makes quite bit of progress. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to his relationship status with the main cast. Even with the time they spend together, it feels like Tomozaki and Aoi’s relationship really went nowhere. Being labeled as a romantic dramedy, you’d at least have to expect some form of development right? Well not quite. From the first episode to the last, this show does a bottom tier job at relationship development. I’m not even entirely sure why this anime has ‘romance’ tagged under its umbrella. There’s barely any romantic elements in this show besides the ship teasing. Tomozaki and Aoi is the complete opposite of each other that it’s almost like Beauty and the Beast. His relationship with Izumi and Mimimi also goes to nowhere. So if you came to this show with a curiosity about romance, this is not the right place.

Finally, I would like to mention that while the show has its fair share of drama, it’s mostly light so don’t expect the anime to be a tearjerker either. In fact, I’d label this show more of a lighthearted drama with a big chunk of social dialogues. Whether the show has its right target audience can be a bit ambiguous. However, this isn’t a complex storyteller either. It’s simply about a guy following a walkthrough in a real life.

While the show isn’t a grand spectacle to look at, I will give credit where credit is due. The character designs appeals to teenage youth especially for the popular characters. It seems the camera itself is self-aware that focuses on certain body parts of the female cast. Whether this is intentional or not is up to you decide but it’s obvious the anime wanted to give the female cast an appealing image, especially for the popular characters. On the other hand, Tomozaki is portrayed with a moody face and dressed like a loner. Of course, it isn’t until he meets Aoi that his image begins to shine more. Finally, this show pays its video game homage. Attack Families is obviously based on the popular Super Smash Bros. franchise. It’s actually quite clever the show decided to pay homage to Super Smash Bros. as it’s among the most popular fighting game in the world.

Look into his eyes and what do you see? A changed man or someone who didn’t win the game? Tomozaki has his life coach this season but it’s up to him to follow the steps to win. According to the famous Albert Einsten, “life is just like a game and you have to first learn the rules. And then play it better than anyone else”. How do you think Tomozaki played his game?

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 10, 2022

Piezuri

Not Recommended

Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun is about your typical loner gamer dude who plays *not* Smash Bros at a very high level, and decides to one day meet up with the person right after him on the leaderboard, who ends up being a cute, popular girl from his class. After this meeting, this girl, Aoi, having scolded our protagonist, decides to help him out by teaching him how to become a riajuu, a “normie” you could say.

I really wish I were be here right now saying good things about this show and how I used some of the advice Aoi gave to Tomozaki myself, but alas, here I ... am, incredibly disappointed by what could have been a nice romcom with a school setting. The show presents an interesting idea, I haven’t actually seen anything like it before, but the execution of the premise set in place by the first few episodes is a complete miss.

So, what is this premise? Tomozaki goes through several lessons with Aoi, who teaches him basic social skills, manners, posture, and so on, and gives him challenges such as “talk to three different girls” or “force a smile while wearing a mask”. Tomozaki doesn’t necessarily do well at completing these challenges, but he does try his earnest to do so, more often than not with the help of Aoi. Here is my first issue with show. If the whole premise is about the evolution of a loner into a riajuu, then why does Aoi do most of the work for him? It would be way more satisfying to watch Tomozaki do these challenges on his own, failing them or not, with all the cringy situations that these challenges may bring. I fail to understand why Aoi would be so invested into a random dude she met online. She’s not in love with him, and Tomozaki’s first impression on her was awful. Is it pity? Is it self-fulfillment? Who knows, but Aoi intervening as much as she does only reinforces all of the problems this show has.

There’s an analogy Jaku-Chara brings up regarding real life and games, even though it’s slightly “cringy”. If real life is treated as a game, then the social skills and achievements can be the equivalent of the skills and achievements in a video game. Tomozaki being really good Tackfam comes with a contrast of him being really bad at real life. This brings up quite a disparity. If you’ve ever played a fighting game, you’d know how much effort it takes to be good, let alone a top level player in said game, even in a game like Smash Bros. It takes years and years of practice before you could consider yourself competent at a fighting game, practice that Tomozaki has clearly put into Tackfam out of his passion for the game. So why is it that he goes from being a complete loner to a good looking socially capable guy in the span of 4-5 episodes?! How come the show is 12 episodes long when Tomozaki achieves all but one of his goals in 5 episodes? Of course, the rest of the show feels like filler content that serves close to no purpose to the overall plotline. I will attribute this to poor pacing. I assume that the light novel goes way deeper into Tomozaki’s struggles and hardships, or at least I hope so.

You might now ask me, “why am I comparing real life scenarios to fiction?” or “Why does it matter that Tomozaki achieved his goals quickly?”. The answer to that is simple, suspension of disbelief.

I’ll let you google what suspension of disbelief means if you don’t know this term, but it’s a fancy way of referring to the reader or watcher believing and investing themselves into a given scenario. Here lies the main problem of Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun: I do not believe a single event that happens in the anime.

When you pick a school setting for your work of fiction, you can go down two paths, a realistic depiction of high school life with down to earth, believable characters (for example, Hibike! Euphonium), or an absurd depiction of high school with extraordinary events and out-of-this-earth characters (for example, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu). These paths aren’t that well defined, and most of the time you can get away with mixing absurd characters with regular high school events (for example, Chuu2Koi), which ends up being quite a nice way of showing what a character is going through, be it a completely exaggerated depiction of an emotion or an emphasis on the importance of a particular event in the character’s life. Chuu2Koi does this with chuuni magic battles, Monogatari does this with long elaborate dialogue, although Monogatari isn’t your typical high school setting show. Point is, your story and characters have to be believable or relatable. You want the reader or viewer to care for the characters you’ve written. As for Tomozaki, his only relatable point is that he’s a loner, and so are most anime watchers. Nobody will relate to being the best at a certain game, and very few will relate to being competent to a high level at a certain game, and most certainly NOBODY will relate to Tomozaki’s character progression. Without being relatable, the main character now must appeal to the audience with his actions, most of which are dictated by a third party or happenstance. He’s effectively a puppet of the other characters in the show, sometimes adding his own ad lib to the situations he finds himself in. Even after becoming a “normie” 5 episodes in, Tomozaki just comes off as bland and uninteresting. He’s nothing like OreGairu’s Hachiman who’s a way better example of a loner working on himself in order to become a better human being. This is the main problem, Jaku-Chara is too unrealistic to be a down to earth high school romcom, and too ordinary to be an absurd high school romcom. The viewer is stuck in a situation where they cannot relate to the main character while also not being able to enjoy his personality or the results of his actions. They cannot “suspend their disbelief” in order to fully invest themselves in the show.

The other characters don’t help. Aoi has no personality, she hardly even fits a trope. She’s somewhat twofaced, but not enough for her to be an appealing or interesting character. Minami isn’t a character; I refuse to acknowledge that someone wrote her as she is. She’s an amalgamation of completely different charm points and gags that the writer probably finds appealing in a waifu. She is so over-the-top energetic that it becomes hard to watch any scene that involves her. Izumi is your generic high school girl, again, without a personality. Out of the female characters, this only leaves Kikuchi, voiced by Kayano Ai, who I like a lot, and Hanabi, who’s cute and inoffensive. I could mention the male characters, but other than Nakamura, who’s sort of another rival to Tomozaki, they, yet again, serve no purpose and just act as filler content, NPCs for Tomozaki to interact with.

Speaking of Kayano Ai, her and Nobuhiko make this show bearable. The rest of the voice actors are unremarkable at best, obnoxious at worst. Hasegawa Ikumi does an awful job at Minami, but then again, Minami is an abomination of a character, so that’s most likely because of poor direction.

The opening is a cheerful song by DIALOGUE+, an unknown idol group, and sounds as generic as you’d expect it to. I thought it was ok at first, but it very quickly got obnoxious to listen to. The ending is unremarkable, as one would expect.

Finally, the art and character design are fine. They’re bland, and I absolute hate the modern character design standards when it comes to drawing eyes and faces, but that’s just me. Again, unremarkable, but at least the animation isn’t appalling.

Without a solid and interesting story, Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun fails to entice the viewer with its unremarkable characters. The viewer finds themselves watching seemingly unbelievable events unfold as the main character lackadaisically moves from happenstance to happenstance that just happen to work out in his favour. Without achievements that can be attributed to Tomozaki’s efforts, the show feels like an empty shell with no substance, an exhibition of events that collectively have no impact.

There is very little to take away from Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun, I wouldn’t recommend trying Aoi’s advice in real life, let alone watching the show. If you want a good story about a loner working on himself, watch OreGairu.

TL;DR:

Pros:
-Kayano Ai voicing a cute taciturn bookworm
-The first couple of episodes and tips

Cons:
-Unremarkable characters
-Unbelievable events
-The show fails to suspend the viewer’s disbelief
-Little to no substance – an exposition of random events
-Minami
-Awful pacing

Final Score: 2/10

Thank you Kayano Ai for saving this show from being a 1/10. God bless.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Anyone else disappointed on whom does tomozaki date? (LN SPOILERS) Elma_fer - Mar 20, 2021	25 replies	by Shubham-gupta »» Aug 30, 1:43 PM
	Poll: Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 29, 2021	140 replies	by vinnywizanime »» Aug 23, 8:04 PM
	Poll: Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) KANLen09 - Jan 22, 2021	124 replies	by vinnywizanime »» Aug 21, 5:42 AM
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	Poll: Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) KANLen09 - Jan 8, 2021	245 replies	by vinnywizanime »» Aug 13, 5:35 AM