>>2119560 The anime specifically is one of those gems that is both really dense and informative, but also very whacky and pointless. Give it another watch and don't worry about the over arching plot, there is a space opera going on somewhere in the background with Med-Mechanica, Atomos and whatever else. Focus on Naota maturing from a petulant kid to someone who is willing to "swing the bat" (it's sex, they're talking about sex). By the end he asserts himself to Mamimi and Haruko but it's clear he still has a lot of growing up to do. Humor me a bit I have a story to tell.
I was an incel many years ago with no personality of my own, I was cultured or at least knowledgeable about things and friends had dragged me to several concerts but I never did anything with that and still wallowed in self pity about being a 22 year old virgin. One day I befriended a slightly older woman on /soc/. By some fucking miracle she agreed to hang out with me for a night in a nearby big city and it was a life changing few hours, I was enamored. This person was brimming with humor, wit and charm and they were fine as fuck to boot. But at every step of the evening from a museum to restaurant to bar, I couldn't keep up, I had no jokes, no stories, nothing to contribute and I realized that I had to change, that I had to stop blaming women and others for me not getting laid or being able to make new friends. She very graciously turned me down a few weeks later. But I wasn't hurt because I knew I had work to do. I'm 28 now and I've been living with my current GF for a few years and things are fantastic. My GF always remarks how cool she though I was when we first met since I was fit as fuck and going to concerts and partying regularly, and I always tells her if it weren't for some QT redhead teaching me how boring I was we wouldn't be dating.
I think we're all Naota at some point in our lives but we always have to try and be a better version of ourselves.
