Let’s get this out of the way now. I picked up Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku late in the season after its charming intro wore down my defenses. Wotakoi is a romantic comedy slice of life centered around four 20-something Japanese nerds working in the same office.
Based on a webmanga created by Fujita in 2014, the anime aired on Fuji TV’s noitaminA block in Japan, the same block that Kids on the Slope debuted on. Here in the U.S. it was available to stream via Amazon Prime.
The premise of Wotakoi has some obvious appeal for anime fans. Central characters Narumi, Hirotaka, Hanako and Tarou are all otaku who find each other at work, and the story revolves around their developing friendships and relationships.
Narumi and Hirotaka are childhood friends who meet again when Narumi takes a new job in the same office as Hirotaka. Narumi is friendly but excitable. Hirotaka plays video games and has trouble emoting.
Hanako and Tarou are their colleagues and were once captains of sports teams at the same high school. They are competitive and argumentative but seemingly much more secure in their relationship.
I enjoyed the story more than I expected to, but I’m not going to dig into it too much here. It’s not a story where very much happens, and while I think most people can guess at the arc of the show within the first episode, I don’t want to spoil anything.
One aspect I did struggle with a bit was the characters’ intense desire to conceal their interests from work colleagues, exes and the general public. Some of this was clearly played for comedic effect, but there’s a stark difference between American and Japanese nerd cultures. My desk at work is decorated with a DC Comics calendar and a collection of Funko Pops. Harumi admits to having changed the anime-themed background on her phone when she went on dates.
The character designs in Wotakoi are great, and they got a lot of fun wardrobe changes throughout the short series, though I think my favorites are in the opening and closing sequences. I especially liked some of the video game scenes.
The backgrounds are pretty static, but that didn’t bother me. I appreciated how detailed Hirotaka’s video game and console collection was.
There were a few occasions where character models were off due to odd angles or poses. In one episode in particular (the theme park episode), it seemed like everyone’s feet and legs were much too small for their torsos. These issues were occasionally jarring enough to take me out of the moment.
One of my favorite aspects of the show were the numerous references to other shows, video games and franchises. I’m 100% sure I didn’t recognize all of them, and that alone may merit the show a re-watch down the line just to see what I catch this time.
I really got a kick out of this show. I’m still not doing ratings, but if you like romantic comedies, slice of life or if you’re just an anime fan that wants a show with lots of reference, I definitely recommend it. Until tomorrow!
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