Review of Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

This was without a single doubt my favorite anime this season. It helps that this was my most anticipated anime of the season. It ALSO helps that I’m caught up on the manga and already love the series. From beginning to end, this was an extremely fun and lovable anime. It was also an amazingly accurate adaptation. Wotakoi follows four adults all working in the same office. All of them happen to be Otaku. Hirotaka is a gaming Otaku, Narumi is a manga/anime Otaku, Kabakura is a manga Otaku, and Koyanagi is Cosplay/BL Otaku. As it turns out, Kabakura and Koyanagi have been dating forquite some time. Hirotaka and Narumi are actually childhood friends, but haven’t seen each other in years. Soon, they start to date as well.
Wotakoi is a romance/slice of life that follows actual working adults. All of these characters are in their 20’s and some have prior dating knowledge. Due to this, there are almost NONE of the common romance troupes. There are no misunderstandings, miscommunications, love triangles, harems, dumb decisions, or anything like that. These are all adults, not drama filled high school students. This was a breath of fresh air. It still manages to be wholesome and adorable as hell at times. Since all of the cast are Otaku, viewers are treated to some genuine Otaku conversations and activities. You can tell they’ve been Otaku for years now and it’s just natural for them at this point. There are a few instances of drama, but even that feels fresh. When two Otaku start to date, they start to wonder if they really do like each other or if one (or both) of them are simply making a compromise with dating someone with similar interests because it’d be easier. I love how a few episodes play with this dynamic and address it appropriately. Since the characters are all adults, they actually stop to talk about this with their partner instead of keeping it bottled inside.
The humor is too notch in Wotakoi. While there are plenty of anime, manga, and video game references, the anime doesn’t rely solely on them to be funny. I can appreciate the fact that the references can be noticed by all sorts of anime fans. It’s not limited to certain genres or years.
The main things holding back Wotakoi however are all production related. The animation isn’t all that good, but it’s not bad either. It’s somewhere between “Good” and “Adequate.” The soundtrack kind of gets repetitive with the same 2-3 background tracks always playing. At least the OP and ED are phenomenal. This is a critique/comment from someone who’s a huge fan of the manga, but I would’ve loved to see the anime take more chances with anime-only material. It would’ve been nice to see if the studio could make their own moments with the same character dynamics and humor as the manga material. Either way, Wotakoi was truly a gem to watch. I might rewatch it at some point this summer just because of how enjoyable it was. Without a doubt, I’ll be playing the opening theme at least 4 times a week.
(Side Note: I doubt we’ll be getting a 2nd season anytime soon. Maybe 3 years from now. The anime basically covered all of the manga chapters. It started relatively recently and it’s a monthly updated manga, so there’s not a lot of material out thus far and it’ll be awhile before enough material for a 2nd season is available.)