FIF#199-Tomo Chan is a Girl

Tomo Aizawa and Junichiro Kobata are childhood friends who have been around each other most of their lives.  When they enter high school, Tomo confesses her love for Junichiro.  But…there’s one small problem: Junichiro is blissfully unaware that Tomo is a girl.  A shock to her system, Tomo resolves to win the heart of her best friend by becoming more feminine, even if some old habits that make her cool are hard to shake.  But is true love with your bestie possible when they only see you as “one of the guys?”

 
I’m not ashamed to admit I have a soft spot for Romance Anime.  I’ll peak at one here and there and depending on the characters, writing and situation, I could genuinely come to care about the outcome of whatever romantic drama is unfolding.  Romantic Comedy Anime are ones I seldom delve into and sometimes you find wins like My Dress Up Darling or Komi Can’t Communicate and occssional duds like Love Hina.  I’ll admit, I was drawn to Tomo Can is a Girl based on the design of the titular character alone.  She’s freaking cute and reminds me design wise of Red Blood Cell from Cells at Work (another title I need to get to for review sometime).  I knew from the title alone, without even looking at a synopsis, this would be about her tomboyish appearance…but WOW I was not expecting this and I mean that in a good way.  I think I’ve found a Rom Com I can actually get into because much of Tomo Chan’s first episode had me in stitches.
 
Tomo is a great character and easily to fall in love with or just be very cool friends with.  Obviously she’s hot but she’s also easy going and a kicker of ass, having to be slotted into the Boys Karate Club because of her ferocious strength.  On the flipside, there is no way in Hell her eternal bestie is unaware of the fact that Tomo Chan is a very attractive girl right? Right?  Well the show bases much of its premise on the stupidity of Jun’s inability to see Tomo as more than the greatest dude bro in the world.  And the signs are there that he is well aware of Tomo’s beauty but for whatever reason, Jun remains oblivious.  It makes one wonder why Tomo is willing to try so hard to win his heart but there in lies the true reason to stick around for Tomo Chan is a Girl.  Tomo’s reactions to everything are on par with those of Komi Shuko, both hilarious and adorable.  And she’s so instantly likeable that while you know she can do better in the guys department, you want to see Tomo succeed in knocking some sense into Jun and winning his heart (though she does kick the crap out of him too at times and it’s great).
 
I cant go through a First Impression without talking about the one I now dub the Wednesday Addams of Anime.  From her wardrobe to dour demeanour, Misuzu Gundo, may not be a character instantly created to cash in on the huge success of Netflix’s Wednesday series but man it can feel that way sometimes.  Misuzu is both cold and blunt but also hilarious with her manipulations.  She’s simultaneously in Tomo’s corner but is also annoyed and entertained by her failures and the failure of Jun to see the clearly obvious.  She’s also got a pretty fun mean streak too.  We see in a flashback that Misuzu left Tomo and Jun to take the fall for a prank and at one point, Misuzu threatens a pair of girls in a manner befitting the Daughter of the Addams family and you KNOW she’ll carry out a threat.  Tomo is rightfully the star of her own show but Misuzu is easily the MVP.
 
Cant believe I’m saying this but I’m gonna stick this one out and see what happens.  While the premise has the potential to get a bit tiresome and repetitive, I think there’s enough freshness in Tomo’s spirit and Misuzu’s wild card character to merit watching a few more episodes.  I wonder how long it will be though before I shout at the screen, “TOMO YOU CAN DO BETTER, LET THE DUMBASS GO ALREADY!!!!”  That said, keep going Tomo Chan, I’m rooting for you.