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MANGA.TOKYO > Anime Reviews > Spring 2018 > 1st Episode Anime Impressions: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

1st Episode Anime Impressions: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

by manga.tokyo

2 years ago

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Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Anime Visual

(c)ふじた／一迅社

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Anime Info | Simulcast | Official Pages

Episode 1 Review

Japanese Title: Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii (ヲタクに恋は難しい)

Summary

This is romance comedy about otaku. Narumi Momose is an office lady and secret fujoshi, and Hirotaka Nifuji has the looks but is a severe game otaku.

Impressions

Martina

I really like how relatable the characters are, how cute all of them are and how not-really-romantic-but-romantic the first episode was. The whole relationship between Hirotaka and Narumi is really nice to watch and I can’t wait to see more of them. I also expect a lot from the other characters like Hanako and it might be that the first episode was still easing us into the whole story and that the speed will pick up soon with jokes etc.

It is a good story, so I recommend it to any otaku that is already working and to those who want to have a funny romance story.

Jennifer

If you are a grown adult with otaku tendencies, then this anime may be for you! Wotakoi is a romantic slice-of-life comedy about the life and relationships of a group of people with nerdy aspects to their personality. The main character is a fujoshi-allrounder who tries to hide her otaku lifestyle, her childhood friend Hirotaka is a serious gamer, and her new coworker Hanako is a famous crossplayer! We have more otaku (and non-otaku!) to meet, but I won’t spoil it here. What makes this anime so lovely and wonderful is that it is really relatable! I personally am a full-on fujoshi who has been living in Japan for almost 6 years, so I know a thing or two about the fujoshi lifestyle (I relate to Narumi on so many levels, it’s unreal). What I think the most important thing to note may be is that this series is about ‘ria-juu’ otaku. ‘Ria-juu’ is short for ‘real juujitsu’ (satisfied with real life) and refers to people who lead a fulfilling real 3D life. Often ‘otaku’ and ‘ria-juu’ are thought to be opposites, and a common phrase seen on otaku forums is ‘ria-juu bakuhatsu shiro!!’ (ria-juu should all explode!!). However, the average otaku probably DOES lead a normal life and consumes anime, manga, games, theater, etc. as an enjoyable form of escapism. It’s perfectly reasonable to be both. It’s so refreshing to see otaku portrayed in a positive light, and with different kinds of otaku to boot!

Unfortunately, some of the jokes may not land if you are not familiar with certain aspects of Japanese otaku culture (which can differ quite a lot to overseas otaku culture), but it’s still an enjoyable show! For example, I probably won’t understand some of the gaming references as I’m not a gamer at all, but it won’t lessen my enjoyment of the show!