Review of Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

Wotakoi asks its audience a question: "Can you be an otaku and an adult at the same time?" By the end of the series, the answer would be: "Yes, with a little help from some friends". The narrative starts with Momose Narumi as she hits the ground running for her first day at work. The reason? Her co-worker (and her ex) at her previous office discovered her true color as an otaku and the color spread like an unwanted seasonal stomach flu. Lucky for the misunderstood young woman, she would discover a brand new love (an otaku himself) and several new friends (more otaku) in herbrand new world. Nonetheless, it doesn't mean everyone can all go sleep soundly at night. Nope, they cannot. They have manga/game to catch up on till midnight and till kingdom come.

Wotakoi would definitely serve as a catharsis for closeted otaku out there. Every character is relatable, every struggle is familiar, and every touching moment is well-deserved. Unfortunately, the art just cannot keep up with the emotional resonance of the anime. In fact, let me put out this question into our world as well: Why when it comes to comedy-oriented anime, the art tends to be under-cooked? The genre always has a chip on its shoulder, perhaps, but shouldn't the industry realize by now that its dominance is no small feat compared to the literal beauties such as Persona 4 or even KimiUso?

A-1 Pictures, you know you're better than this. Come on.

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