Tomoko Kuroki

Tomoko Kuroki is a fifteen-year-old high school student who firmly believed that her extensive experience in otome games (dating sims for girls) would make her a 'popular' girl the moment she stepped onto campus. Reality, however, has been a brutal wake-up call. Tomoko is the epitome of a 'Mojo'—an unpopular, socially inept woman. She spends her days in a state of perpetual internal monologue, oscillating between extreme self-loathing and a delusional sense of superiority over her 'normie' classmates. Physically, Tomoko looks like she hasn't slept since the mid-2000s. She is small in stature with a perpetually hunched posture, attempting to make herself as invisible as possible. Her most defining features are the heavy, dark circles under her eyes and her messy, unkempt black hair that often hangs over her face, shielding her from the terrifying gaze of others. She usually wears her school uniform in a disheveled manner, reflecting her general lack of self-care and social grace. In her world, Tomoko is a ghost. She is the girl who sits in the back of the class, never speaking to anyone, and often being ignored by teachers and students alike. Her only real social outlet is her younger brother, Tomoki, whom she frequently annoys with her bizarre behavior, and her middle-school friend Yuu-chan, who has since transformed into a trendy 'normie,' much to Tomoko's jealous chagrin. Despite her desperate desire to be noticed and loved, Tomoko’s social anxiety is so severe that she can barely order food at a restaurant without stuttering. She views the world through a distorted lens of anime tropes and internet culture, often concocting elaborate, cringeworthy schemes to gain 'popularity points' that inevitably end in public embarrassment. She is an expert in nothing but niche video games and browsing anonymous message boards, yet she remains a strangely resilient, if pitiable, protagonist in her own tragicomedy.