Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku First Impressions

“Making you my boyfriend would be such a waste. You’re one of my good otaku friends.”

I can’t exactly say I’ve been sitting on my hands with this review, since my primary reason for it being late is that I was just too damn busy, but I’ve meant to write up a review for Wotakoi for nearly a week now. I know I said in my Steins;Gate 0 review that I was probably done with reviews for this season, but I realized that, between Dorei-ku and Wotakoi, I could potentially go for an even 10 reviews. That’s a nice crisp number, and how was I supposed to deny that? Plus, it turns out that Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku is a charming series that deserves of the attention. The territory it treads isn’t exactly untouched ground, this season’s Real Girl has a noticeably similar premise, but, by allowing its subject matter to play out in a rather nontraditional, non-school setting with refreshingly unique characters, it succeeds in setting itself apart.

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii or Love is Hard for Otaku focuses on the trials and tribulations of one Momose Narumi, an office worker who has been forced to shift to a new employer due to the co-workers at her previous workplace becoming aware of role as a fujoshi. I know have covered this previously during my review of Watashi Ga Motete Dousunda, but, for those who are unaware, the term fujoshi translates roughly to ‘rotten girl’ and refers to a female otaku who is a fan of male-male romance material. Their emergence in recent years as a sizable subsection of otaku culture has been both transformative and contentious, particularly in Japan, but there have been several great works that can draw a direct line to that shift in the fandom. At first glance, leaving a job does seem like a strong reaction to that information getting out, but Narumi isn’t particularly comfortable with that information becoming public, and she isn’t just a fan. She creates doujinshi. Not to turn this into an anime/manga glossary, but doujinshi are self-published works that are usually made by amateurs. They aren’t inherently pornographic, but, given that there is a running gag where every utterance of Narumi’s pen name is censored, I think it’s fair to assume that was the nature of her work. However, Narumi’s attempts to hide her fandom are undermined when she runs into an old friend, Nifuji Hirotaka, and he immediately lets slip an allusion to her involvement in the community. Hirotaka is a fun foil to Narumi. I know I’ve made references to the series Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-kun several times lately, but their dynamic definitely echoes certain qualities of Nozaki and Sakura’s. Like Sakura, Narumi is bubbly and cheerful, but also has a certain klutzy quality to her, while Hirotaka’s aloof, deadpan persona feels highly reminiscent of Nozaki, albeit with an open game-otaku approach instead of being a mangaka. Conversely, there is a key factor that sets the series dynamic apart from Nozaki-kun’s, Hirotaka is the one with feelings for Sakura and not the other way around. Seeing the aloof, deadpan introvert confess ask the female protagonist out at the end of the first episode is something particularly refreshing, and I’m eager to see where it goes from here.

The production is solid. The office environment doesn’t call for A-1 Pictures to show off too much, and it doesn’t feel like they’re trying to make this show the visual standout of the season, but they do their job, and don’t seem like they’re phoning it in. The comedy can be a little hit and miss for me, but, regardless of whether a joke got a laugh out of me, it always carried with it a sense of charm. There is some integrated CG pedestrians that can occasionally be seen, but they didn’t catch my attention the first time I watched the episode, and I doubt they’ll be a deal breaker for anyone looking to give the show a chance. If I was trying to encapsulate the tone of this series, I’d say it was a blend of Nozaki-kun, Servant x Service, and maybe just a pinch of Genshiken 2… That is a pretty niche selection of anime to reference, so if you’re a fan of any of those titles be sure to check out Wotakoi. If you’re unfamiliar with all the titles I listed then check out Wotakoi and then go back and sample those shows as well.

Before I wrap up, a few Notes and Nitpicks:

• This has been a question in the back of my head for years, but how do you pronounce noitominA? Is it just pronounced how it is spelled, or it the ‘A’ pronounced independently, like in A-1 Pictures? I think it’s the former, but with the capitalization at the end, I end up pronouncing it like the latter. The former would make more sense though, since it’s just the inverse of ‘Animation.’
• We only get a brief introduction of Narumi and Hirotaka’s coworkers, but they seem like they could be appealing. Narumi’s senpai, Koyanagi Hanako, is revealed to be a regular cosplayer. Little is revealed of Hirotaka’s friend, Kabakura Taro, though, so he ends up being the least interesting of the four, by default.
• This is apparently adapted from a webmanga, which is a bit of a surprise. I’m curious as to what degree of polish and professionalism the original work has. It was apparently the most popular title on the platform that hosted it.
• Real Girl just didn’t seem to click with me, but this might have just edged out Tada-kun Never Falls in Love as my favorite romance premiere of the season.
• I particularly love the OP for this show. I almost forgot to mention it, but I’m a sucker for cast members dancing along to a show’s opening theme. It’s hard to say, but I think this is my favorite opening of the season. I just love how their 8-bit Final Fantasy-esque sprites stop in the middle of the screen and start dancing along.
• I’m pleased to go out on this First Impression rather than Dorei-ku. I didn’t hate it or anything, but that seems like an odd tone to finish up this season’s First Impressions with.