Dodgeball is practically an anime rite of passage at this point.
Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko never seems to stray too far from its core mission, which is to be funny. But though it’s not necessarily a high bar, I would adjudge this to be the most “serious” episode so far. At least for me there was a certain wistful aura to it that was stronger than in the first five episodes, especially where Junichiro is concerned. In fact I would say this ep presented Jun’s side of things to a much greater extent than we’ve seen up to now.
For starters, we have Tomo’s birthday – her 16th. That’s not many, but it comes sooner than Jun or Misuzu’s, and since Tomo is still thoroughly a kid she makes sure to lord it over them about it (annually). Jun gives her a pair of slick shades she’s been hankering for, but it’s Carol’s gift (accompanied by yet another fanfare) that sets off events – a brick of gold. Eff that, I’d have taken it, but this is an absurdist comedy so Tomo begs off and Misuzu convinces Carol to put her bottomless purse to the service of giving Tomo a makeover. Not a simple “slightly less boyish tomboy” thing, but a full-on feminization complete with makeup and heels.
Carol’s motives seem relatively straightforward here, Misuzu not so much. She’s still a troll (that’s a given), she claims to hold a grudge against Jun (I think that’s overblown), and – most crucially – she clearly has some feelings for Tomo herself. My read is that this is all so conflated in her mind that Mizusu herself isn’t 100% sure what’s driving her where Tomo and Jun are concerned. In any event, when Carol and Misuzu kick Tomo out of the house on a sham ice cream run to set up her surprise party, the shit really hits the fan, courtesy of Tomo running into Jun at the konbini.
This kind of denial-fest is definitely one of the charming elements of Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko. Tomo manages to convince herself that Junichjirou doesn’t recognize her. He does of course, immediately – but the idea of this being Tomo so alters his worldview that he convinces himself it’s not her despite mounting evidence to the contrary. After she faceplants (seriously, heels are bad for your health in every way) and he helps her up, she winds up asking to walk with him despite her brain screaming at her to get the hell out of Dodge as fast as she can on those heels. She likes the way Jun talks to this version of her, whether he knows it’s her or not, and she doesn’t want to let the moment die.
In truth once Jun started baring his soul Tomo really should have made sure he knew it was her, but we’ll let that slide given the emotions of the moment. Speaking of dodge, that’s the next twist in the tale. It’s time for the school ball sports tournament, and Tomo-chan gets dumped on the boys team after she proves too terrifying for the girls. And Tomo and Jun carry the class to breezy wins over all opposition (including poor overmatched Misaki-kun) until running into third-year “gorilla” Goma Takeru (Yamashita Taiki). Goma is not quite as out of place as Billy Watkins, but only because these are high schoolers and not second-graders…
Goma has the brawn to handle even Tomo, but she relies on brains to outsmart him (with an unplanned assist from Tanabe). And in the end (as I rather suspected) he turns out to be not such a bad guy. He’s not the first one to be puzzled why someone as talented as Junichirou refuses to join a sports club, and effectively fighting Goma to a standstill at his own sport – judo – does nothing to answer the question for him. But that’s OK, because Jun does a good job of answering it himself – and that’s where that wistful side I was talking about really comes into play – starting with the fact that Jun doesn’t like the idea that he’s physically surpassed the girl he always idolized.
The truth of things is pretty clear. Junichirou and Tomo are never happier when they’re just roughhousing, playing sports or games, hanging out. Romance can be wonderful, but it does complicate things immeasurably. These two can never have the simple love they had in childhood back, and they’re acutely aware of what that means – especially Jun. This is still a comedy and I don’t expect it to get really sentimental and philosophical about all this, but I do think it’s at the heart of the premise – they’re at the start of a rather terrifying journey and neither one has any idea to where.
