Wotakoi: Being Honest with Your Interests
Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku was developed in April of 2018 by Studio A-1 Pictures (The Goat). It was adapted from its Manga origins, the same name created by Fujita. The story follows the lives of four ordinary office workers. However, these workers hide a deep dark secret that no one can ever find out: They’re Otaku. Together they build their friendships while sharing their love for all things anime. It’s a story of love, acceptance, and finding oneself in the people around you.
When I first watched Wotakoi I was genuinely surprised at how fun it was. At that point in my life, I was mostly into action-adventure anime and just getting into the isekai genre. I didn’t think I had time for a slice-of-life show. And low and behold here comes in one of the coziest slices of life I have ever seen! The story isn’t much in all honesty. If I’m being completely honest it can be drawn up in like three major points.
Office Love, Wholesome Comedy, and Otaku Stuff. Office love and wholesome comedy aside some of you may be wondering what an Otaku is. The more commonly used term these days is a Weeb. Someone who likes anime and such. However, it stems a bit more of a broad term when talking about Otaku. Otaku translates to “your house” or “your family” in Japanese and is usually used with a positive/neutral connotation. However, it has culturally evolved to mean “Obsession” or “Fixation.” We see this too within the anime.
Narumi Momose is one of the main characters in the show and her fixation is on manga of the slightly spicy variety. Nothing hectic just more into the subject of boy romance. While her long-time childhood friend Hirotaka Nifuji, who she now works alongside, is a gaming Otaku preferring to play games like Monster Hunter. These small differences while still fitting under an overarching term help to distinguish the personalities of the individual characters.
Two other characters work alongside the main two. Them being Hanako Koyanagi and Taro Kabakura. Hanako prefers to cosplay as characters from shows and book series while Taro is a more closeted Otaku preferring manga and anime as his preferred pastime. As one can see there are many different roles one can fall into as an otaku and yet it doesn’t mean you are exclusively categorized in that area. Take for example Narumi and Hirotaka. While Narumi prefers her manga and light novels, we often see her playing games right next to Hirotaka. She joins him in his quests when he plays games, even though she isn’t very good at them she still plays them.
It’s especially hilarious when she comments that she hates gaming otaku. While it’s not her area of expertise she still actively engages in it which brings me to my next point. YOU CAN LIKE MORE THAN ONE THING AT A TIME! I cannot stress this enough, if you like anime you are allowed to like manga, if you enjoy cosplay you are allowed to like video games! The Otaku thing is an overarching term. If you want to like being able to dress as characters from a video game go and do it! The number of conversations I’ve had with friends who want to watch anime but say they feel they can’t because they already commit manga is wild!
I mean it when I say that the biggest issue today is that we have an overwhelming amount of content on the internet. Go down the Warhammer 40k rabbit hole you’ll be stuck in it for weeks. And new content is constantly being pumped out as we go. Arcane has just released season 2 and I’m still trying to get through my second viewing of Sword Art Online! (Fun chapter coming out later this week)
I enjoy watching Wotakoi because of its down-to-earth relatable themes. How I wish there was an English Dub, it’s easy to see why people enjoy this show so much. Not only is it comedy gold it’s relatable. We all have at some point tried to hide that weird side to us. The side that liked something so niche that no one else understood. Anime and manga used to be akin to swear words while I was growing up. I remember I was bullied for watching animated shows as a young teen because “who still watches cartoons?”
And yet those shows birthed forth a person who excelled in comprehensive and story-based writing. Someone who could analyze what a character was and how to replicate or create new ones based on character traits. Anime taught me to grow and be myself and open my eyes to see there’s more than reality TV. You can make anything with enough imagination, determination, and perseverance. Wotakoi is one of those fun anime that everyone loves to make fun of if they’re the normie anime viewers who hopped into the genre because it was popular.
If you love something enough don’t be afraid to acknowledge it. If you are truly passionate about something, go out and let everyone know you found something that makes you happy. They may tear you down or try to break you apart but know that there’s a whole community that will stand beside you to help you grow.