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Where to begin with this one... Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun is a boring, uninspired mess. The protagonist is introduced as an antisocial loner who is the number one ranked player at “tackfam” ,or Smash Bros as we know it, and meets his rival who happens to be the perfect girl at his school. She is smart, athletic, popular and the ideal role model for everyone around her but to me she was unbearable. The school has this unwritten rule that popular girls wear neck ties and the unpopular ones wear bow ties which leads me to my main criticism of relatability.

Relatability is a key part of ... anime and this one did not handle it well which ruined the show for me. The characters introduced, other than the MC, are so “socially perfect” that it eliminated any potential relationship to form between the viewer and the cast. The MC is a total wreck and treats social skills like it’s a Skyrim speech tree, Aoi (the rival) is the one providing these “lessons” and cannot be liked by the viewers as she is too far away from reality; Ironic really as that’s what the premise of the show is. I highly doubt the world created here is anything like the experiences any of us have had which is why it’s so boring.

My next gripe is more about a recurring phrase, “this game of life”. I don’t know why but every time This was muttered my skin would crawl, it’s just frustrating to hear as I find the premise of treating the real world like a game cringe-worthy. The show tries to delve into complex themes, similar to Oregairu, but fails due to the nature of them. They treat the real world like you need xp to talk to popular people and if you don’t meet the level requirements you’ll become a laughing stock. This couldn’t be farther from reality as people naturally drift to those with similar interests and hobbies regardless of popularity.

I’m going to wrap this up as I’ll be here all day discussing every issue otherwise. The only saving grace is the middle of the show where they focus more on the trips out and less on the game aspect, it feels like they’ve built an average romance story with the typical growth of a boring MC and tried to force the growing popularity of the gaming genre into it. It fails this task and the ending leaves the characters in the same spot as the beginning, “training” the MC into becoming socially acceptable.

I cannot put into words the disgust I felt reading the final chapters of this manga. It’s like putting your all into preparing for an exam and you shit on the paper. (Spoilers ahead) Every arc in this was so promising but it ultimately leaves you wondering “why did I read this”. My original rating for this was an 8 and now it stands at a 3 because so many plot lines are left unexplained, wasted or unanswered. The whole university arc meant nothing, Masumi’s feelings are ultimately wasted as she ends up with a guy, Taichi wanting to be best friends with Touma is ... ripped away in one chapter as he splits up with the only person that he explicitly expressed love for even though it’s reiterated time and time again how much their romance is meaningful as they want to attend the same university; but in 5 words and a blank background, their story ends with Futaba ending up with some random guy and Taichi and Touma ending as lovers. It’s like chapters are missing as they go from resolving the feelings of Touma and remaining “best friends forever” to lovers in a few pages. I honestly can’t fathom the ending of this manga and I am genuinely angry after reading it. If the final chapters were removed or it was an alternate ending I would be happy to give this show an 8 or possibly higher with an ending that utilises the many arcs involved. However, as it stands currently this manga falls flat on its face and should serve as a reminder on how not to end a manga.