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Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Light Novel #2
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2 (light novel)
Fumiya Tomozaki's opinion on the game of "real life" has been changing ever since he met Aoi Hinami and began training with her-it may not be the greatest, but at least it doesn't suck. Meanwhile, student elections are coming up, and obviously, Hinami will be running for student council president. But when Mimimi decides to run, too, Tomozaki's going to find out if he's leveled up enough to handle the crossfire!
232 pages, Paperback
First published September 16, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 28, 2021
Despite all I said about the first volume of Tomozaki-kun, I still read this volume. I’ll read the next volume as well, and probably the others when they get released in English. I’ll admit it, I’m a connoisseur of garbage. Tomozaki-kun might not be a good novel series, but it’s at least interesting, and that’s all I can ask for.
This volume of Tomozaki-kun is better right off the bat because we don’t get the cringe-inducing spiel that was in the first volume about how ‘life is the worst game out there’. Tomozaki is actually trying to improve his life, by talking to more people and looking better. He still isn’t working out any, but other than that he’s trying pretty hard to stop being such a loser. Fun aside--he’s discovered ‘negging’, which he calls the ‘Mizusawa Method’ after one of the guys in his class. Good thing he only uses it as a way to start a conversation, and not to deliberately knock girls down a peg. This series is still more morally just than anything PUA-related since Tomozaki’s goal (that was set out for him) is to date a girl by the end of the year, not to sleep with as many as he can. We’ll see if he continues down the right path or falls into the trap down the line.
The girl this particular novel focuses around is Minami Nanami (or ‘Mimimi’ for short). Tomozaki becomes the ‘brains’ of her campaign to become the Student Council Election for their school. Mimimi is running against Hinami, who was the focus of the first volume. Tomozaki is surprisingly good at campaign messaging, perhaps too good. Not that he’s all-knowing and is right about everything, but he seems like the type of person who has never had a political thought in his life. I doubt that he would know what to do besides things related to computers. Then again, his cynical approach to campaigning is probably a reflection of politics in countries like Japan. This whole arc has the potential to be good, but is handled sloppily in the end. The author uses bizarre logic to try to justify why a huge bloc of students voted for a candidate without thinking “Hey, didn’t we hear all of this from someone else a few days ago?”
a lot of bouncing around from the girls that Tomozaki that muddles most of them together. Other than Hinami, the other girls that will probably eventually like Tomozaki for whatever reason have a hard time differentiating themselves from one another. Mimimi gets to do so this novel by virtue of being on the cover and having most of the plot revolve around her. Yuzu Izumi, who had a sub-plot revolve around her in the first volume, is very similar to Mimimi since they’re both ‘normies’. The only real difference is that Izumi is meaner than Mimimi. The other two girls, Fuuka Kikuchi and Hanabi Natsubayashi, have had minimal time in both volumes, with Hanabi having a little more time. Perhaps I’m saying this because I’m reading this before the anime based on this series airs, but it’s hard to put a name to a face for most of these girls.
There’s a subplot in this volume surrounding Hinami and Mizusawa (the ‘Mizusawa Method’ guy) and the status of their relationship. While this could be a potentially interesting plot point, it gets squandered in the name of playing it safe. The mere fact that Tomozaki is interested in their relationship is somewhat entertaining, but it means nothing at this point.
This volume was better than the first volume, although only by a little. There are problems surrounding this series: there are too many plot-points, many characters don’t stand out, and the author’s inability to wrap up an ending, among other things. Given the nature of this series, I doubt that much will change in the near future. Here’s hoping that it will though--there are at least five more volumes at the moment for it to do so.
This volume of Tomozaki-kun is better right off the bat because we don’t get the cringe-inducing spiel that was in the first volume about how ‘life is the worst game out there’. Tomozaki is actually trying to improve his life, by talking to more people and looking better. He still isn’t working out any, but other than that he’s trying pretty hard to stop being such a loser. Fun aside--he’s discovered ‘negging’, which he calls the ‘Mizusawa Method’ after one of the guys in his class. Good thing he only uses it as a way to start a conversation, and not to deliberately knock girls down a peg. This series is still more morally just than anything PUA-related since Tomozaki’s goal (that was set out for him) is to date a girl by the end of the year, not to sleep with as many as he can. We’ll see if he continues down the right path or falls into the trap down the line.
The girl this particular novel focuses around is Minami Nanami (or ‘Mimimi’ for short). Tomozaki becomes the ‘brains’ of her campaign to become the Student Council Election for their school. Mimimi is running against Hinami, who was the focus of the first volume. Tomozaki is surprisingly good at campaign messaging, perhaps too good. Not that he’s all-knowing and is right about everything, but he seems like the type of person who has never had a political thought in his life. I doubt that he would know what to do besides things related to computers. Then again, his cynical approach to campaigning is probably a reflection of politics in countries like Japan. This whole arc has the potential to be good, but is handled sloppily in the end. The author uses bizarre logic to try to justify why a huge bloc of students voted for a candidate without thinking “Hey, didn’t we hear all of this from someone else a few days ago?”
a lot of bouncing around from the girls that Tomozaki that muddles most of them together. Other than Hinami, the other girls that will probably eventually like Tomozaki for whatever reason have a hard time differentiating themselves from one another. Mimimi gets to do so this novel by virtue of being on the cover and having most of the plot revolve around her. Yuzu Izumi, who had a sub-plot revolve around her in the first volume, is very similar to Mimimi since they’re both ‘normies’. The only real difference is that Izumi is meaner than Mimimi. The other two girls, Fuuka Kikuchi and Hanabi Natsubayashi, have had minimal time in both volumes, with Hanabi having a little more time. Perhaps I’m saying this because I’m reading this before the anime based on this series airs, but it’s hard to put a name to a face for most of these girls.
There’s a subplot in this volume surrounding Hinami and Mizusawa (the ‘Mizusawa Method’ guy) and the status of their relationship. While this could be a potentially interesting plot point, it gets squandered in the name of playing it safe. The mere fact that Tomozaki is interested in their relationship is somewhat entertaining, but it means nothing at this point.
This volume was better than the first volume, although only by a little. There are problems surrounding this series: there are too many plot-points, many characters don’t stand out, and the author’s inability to wrap up an ending, among other things. Given the nature of this series, I doubt that much will change in the near future. Here’s hoping that it will though--there are at least five more volumes at the moment for it to do so.
March 28, 2021
The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hinami - but also many polling places - SAD
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2025
A socially awkward main character is a very common trope in light novels and manga. Tomozaki takes this to another level because sometimes I wonder if before the events of this novel Tomozaki has ever even talked to another human being before. For example, in this volume Tomozaki seemingly learns the concept of good-natured teasing in conversations for the first time.
Sometimes though when Tomozaki's life coach, Aoi Hinami explains something about social interactions to Tomozaki I do find myself experiencing the same kind of dumbfounded realization that Tomozaki experiences over learning something that's probably obvious to most other people but not to him (or me).
Like many other manga and light novels with a socially awkward protagonist, the main character's social awkwardness is the source of a lot of the jokes in the series. There are plenty of moments where you're supposed to laugh because of how socially inept the main character is. Since the series is about learning how to learn to socialize this really makes Tomozaki's growth feel satisfying when he learns how to talk to people better.
Most of the characters really aren't memorable even after 2 volumes worth of story. Mimimi (Minami Nanami) who was arguably the focus on this volume despite her constant sexual harassment of the other female characters I do find likeable but that's all I can say really say about her. I still enjoyed reading about Tomozaki's growth like I did when reading the first volume but the story with Mimimi this volume didn't really capture me
Tomozaki's dynamic with the heroines is quite interesting however. Despite the plot like many other light novel and manga romcoms being about the main character suddenly interacting with more girls in their somewhat average live it doesn't feel like self insert wish fulfillment. Part of it is because most of the heroines seemingly aren't really interested in Tomozaki in a romantic sense at this point but more importantly it's not as if Tomozaki is interacting with the girls because of wacky plot nonsense. While having a girl like Aoi Hinami who constantly teaches you about life is somewhat in the realm of wish-fulfillment, Tomozaki himself is the one making an effort to talk to these girls and becoming someone that people would actually want to talk to.
Hinami is really the most interesting character in this series. She contrasts every character really well and after this volume and getting more insights on her character from the perspectives of all the other characters just made me more interested in her. Also I like main heroines who are bit mean.
Sometimes though when Tomozaki's life coach, Aoi Hinami explains something about social interactions to Tomozaki I do find myself experiencing the same kind of dumbfounded realization that Tomozaki experiences over learning something that's probably obvious to most other people but not to him (or me).
Like many other manga and light novels with a socially awkward protagonist, the main character's social awkwardness is the source of a lot of the jokes in the series. There are plenty of moments where you're supposed to laugh because of how socially inept the main character is. Since the series is about learning how to learn to socialize this really makes Tomozaki's growth feel satisfying when he learns how to talk to people better.
Most of the characters really aren't memorable even after 2 volumes worth of story. Mimimi (Minami Nanami) who was arguably the focus on this volume despite her constant sexual harassment of the other female characters I do find likeable but that's all I can say really say about her. I still enjoyed reading about Tomozaki's growth like I did when reading the first volume but the story with Mimimi this volume didn't really capture me
Tomozaki's dynamic with the heroines is quite interesting however. Despite the plot like many other light novel and manga romcoms being about the main character suddenly interacting with more girls in their somewhat average live it doesn't feel like self insert wish fulfillment. Part of it is because most of the heroines seemingly aren't really interested in Tomozaki in a romantic sense at this point but more importantly it's not as if Tomozaki is interacting with the girls because of wacky plot nonsense. While having a girl like Aoi Hinami who constantly teaches you about life is somewhat in the realm of wish-fulfillment, Tomozaki himself is the one making an effort to talk to these girls and becoming someone that people would actually want to talk to.
Hinami is really the most interesting character in this series. She contrasts every character really well and after this volume and getting more insights on her character from the perspectives of all the other characters just made me more interested in her. Also I like main heroines who are bit mean.
September 23, 2020
This was another enjoyable and smooth read!
I only have a few gripes. I really didn't like the fact that Hinami Aoi is apparently great at everything. This probably isn't a spoiler since it was briefly mentioned in the first volume, but I find the fact that she's number 1 in every field of track extremely unbelievable. Really, a girl with that skinny frame apparently master of sprints, long jumps, high jumps, Javelin throws, Discus, shot-put, and 5k runs? Please. Oh, apparently she's great at basketball too, on top of being the number 2 player in Atafumi. Oh, she has the best grades in class.
This is coming from a guy who has participated in a lot of events in track (won a few), played basketball (runner-ups), ran marathons (never won), play lots of games (never a nationally ranked number 1 player in any game as far as I know), read lots of books, and have topped some classes a few times. it is not humanly possible to be number 1 at so many things unless your competition is just rubbish. Given that this story is set in Tokyo it's very unlikely that any of her competition is rubbish. Carrying a basketball team to nationals and finishing second place by being the only strong player on the team? Give me a break.
I'll forgive this lack of realism because it is a light novel, and it's not meant to be taken too seriously, but it's things like these that knocks out a star on my review.
That said, I highly enjoyed the character development of both Nanami Minami and Tomozaki Fumiya. This is where the series shines, as of now.
I will continue following this series because it is a fun read, and I would still recommend it.
I only have a few gripes. I really didn't like the fact that Hinami Aoi is apparently great at everything. This probably isn't a spoiler since it was briefly mentioned in the first volume, but I find the fact that she's number 1 in every field of track extremely unbelievable. Really, a girl with that skinny frame apparently master of sprints, long jumps, high jumps, Javelin throws, Discus, shot-put, and 5k runs? Please. Oh, apparently she's great at basketball too, on top of being the number 2 player in Atafumi. Oh, she has the best grades in class.
This is coming from a guy who has participated in a lot of events in track (won a few), played basketball (runner-ups), ran marathons (never won), play lots of games (never a nationally ranked number 1 player in any game as far as I know), read lots of books, and have topped some classes a few times. it is not humanly possible to be number 1 at so many things unless your competition is just rubbish. Given that this story is set in Tokyo it's very unlikely that any of her competition is rubbish. Carrying a basketball team to nationals and finishing second place by being the only strong player on the team? Give me a break.
I'll forgive this lack of realism because it is a light novel, and it's not meant to be taken too seriously, but it's things like these that knocks out a star on my review.
That said, I highly enjoyed the character development of both Nanami Minami and Tomozaki Fumiya. This is where the series shines, as of now.
I will continue following this series because it is a fun read, and I would still recommend it.
September 28, 2020
This was a good follow up to the first volume, but I found some of the conversations tedious. I still enjoy the My Fair Lady premise, where a super socialite trains a geek to become a normie. We don’t know much about Hinami’s motivations yet, however. Why does she do this? What does she get out of training Tomozaki? Isn’t training Tomozaki a waste of time? I fear we’ll be waiting a long while before getting an answer to those questions. If she does indeed fall in love with Tomozaki, or is already there, Yuki Yaku is saving that bit for a dramatic reveal somewhere further down the line.
In the meantime, Tomozaki’s transformation is fascinating to read. I just wish this volume wasn’t mired in so much slice-of-life dialogue.
In the meantime, Tomozaki’s transformation is fascinating to read. I just wish this volume wasn’t mired in so much slice-of-life dialogue.
August 5, 2020
So in volume 2 Tomozaki continues his learning how to play the game of life. There is a LOT less of the interaction between him and Hinami, but he still manages to work on learning the rues and leveling up. The novel focuses a lot more on Minami Nanami (Mimimi) and Tomozaki's interactions with her. These include the race for Student Council President and her time on the track team.
There is a very little bit of time dedicated to Kikuchi-chan, the supposed love interest. I hope we get to see more of that in the future volume(s).
Verdict: On the whole it was still a good book -- seeing how Tomozaki & Mimimi grow and change was worth the read.
There is a very little bit of time dedicated to Kikuchi-chan, the supposed love interest. I hope we get to see more of that in the future volume(s).
Verdict: On the whole it was still a good book -- seeing how Tomozaki & Mimimi grow and change was worth the read.
February 9, 2020
Ok, starting to write about a series with a review of volume 2 is dumb...
... is the kind of internal commentary the protagonist of this series would say. And if you like a solid, charming, well-thought-out and well-written cast of characters who interact thoughtfully and plausibly and a book that *also* contains some moderately useful life advice (if you’re a socially awkward guy at least) then this series is definitely for you.
But please, start at volume 1 :)
... is the kind of internal commentary the protagonist of this series would say. And if you like a solid, charming, well-thought-out and well-written cast of characters who interact thoughtfully and plausibly and a book that *also* contains some moderately useful life advice (if you’re a socially awkward guy at least) then this series is definitely for you.
But please, start at volume 1 :)
December 1, 2021
Tomozaki-san volume 2 was an improvement of the first volume in many ways. We got to see the characters develop (especially mimimi), which was great. We also got to see Tomozaki slowly develop his communication skills and build deeper relationships with the cast. However, some of the conversations between characters in this novel were lacklustre and at times led nowhere. Besides from this it was a very enjoyable read!
September 13, 2024
4.5
Not because this is a 4.5/5 piece of fiction, but because its so easy to read and enjoy and it does everything it sets itself to do. I would like more development in the kikuchi department but I'll wait, ill wait. I'm glad to see mimimi change and evolve though. Looking forward to reading volume 3 some day this or next year.
Not because this is a 4.5/5 piece of fiction, but because its so easy to read and enjoy and it does everything it sets itself to do. I would like more development in the kikuchi department but I'll wait, ill wait. I'm glad to see mimimi change and evolve though. Looking forward to reading volume 3 some day this or next year.
November 26, 2020
This volume was a bit slower paced early on, but it really picked up about halfway through when it started focusing more on Mimimi (the cover girl.) Her character arc was really good!
February 1, 2021
Another satisfying volume following an outsiders journey to becoming a normie. You can feel Tomozaki becoming more comfortable in this volume. Great Read
May 19, 2024
Todo es culpa de Joaquín.
September 24, 2024
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Specials
November 25, 2021
not as good as the first volume but still good
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews