Tomo-chan Is a Girl!

Episode 13

My crops are watered and my heart is full. Even though this episode is basically an epilogue for the series, there are still a few things to go into. Everyone has had their character arc so there's not really much else except to see the main relationship blossom. The underlying plot with Tomo's dad being this random last-minute obstacle in the way of these two progressing in their relationship felt a little bit unneeded but I'd be lying if I said the buildup to the end of this episode left me unsatisfied.

My favorite part of this episode was probably the first third when Jun and Tomo were just going out on a date and Tomo getting obsessed with the idea of trying to fluster Jun because he's just taking being in love with Tomo with such stride after going through his character arc. I like how that tied into the overall climax where she kisses Jun at the end because it shows that there's still that competitiveness in their relationship. This time, that competitiveness will just take the shape of them trying to out-fluster or out-romance each other which honestly is probably one of the healthier versions of competitiveness you could have in any relationship since it's all about finding new ways to express how you feel. Also, the visual gag with the rocket going off in Jun's head might be one of my favorite bits in the entire series. I laughed so hard.

Regarding Tomo's dad, I honestly have some mixed feelings about it because it almost feels sort of unnecessary. If you are going to introduce one more obstacle for these two it would be nice if it was an obstacle that Jun and Tomo tackled together. For a show that seems to play jump rope with the idea of femininity and gender roles, I thought a team-up was what we were heading for in the end, especially after Misuzu makes that line about whether or not Tomo will really just sit back and let two men decide the course of her life. I feel like I'm missing something and maybe something was cut out of the original manga. I feel like there was supposed to be more context to what the dad was actually doing but since this is the end and since the show did leave me with a lot of warm fuzzy feelings, I'm a bit more lenient towards it in the end. Tomo-chan probably isn't my favorite romantic comedy in the past couple of years but it definitely has a lot of shining moments with some genuine surprises and laughs. The fact that it contains everything in this nice package is also a bonus that makes an easy recommendation from me to others.

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Tomo-chan Is a Girl! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.