Hirotaka meanwhile is a perfect foil, with a rather more laidback and cynical attitude along with not caring in the slightest if people know he is an otaku or not. Narumi is delightfully neurotic about her fandom to the point where she is continuously worrying about how she is perceived by her colleagues (despite the fact several are otaku themselves) whilst at the same time being completely immersed in her hobby (she apparently has several waifu according to her character profile).
It helps to have some entertaining characters that don’t just become two-dimensional stereotypes and this series has them in spades.
But it never comes across as mean spirited and there’s a charm to the series that mostly revels in the quirks of dedicated fandom.
Obviously, the subject matter makes for some easy laughs. This results in more of a focus on relationships and personalities rather than struggling to find the perfect partner. For one thing, it bypasses the usual build-up by having the two main characters get together within the first two chapters. But Wotakoi takes a rather different approach. Otaku love life is a familiar trope/genre in manga, usually examining how difficult it is. But the series has a lot to offer beyond presentation. Beyond the oversized format, it sports a glossier cover than normal for your average manga and has a generous helping of colour pages to boot. The first thing you’ll notice about this opening volume is the very nifty presentation. But he comes up with a counter-proposal: Why doesn’t she just date him instead?
When a chance meeting at her new job with childhood friend, fellow otaku, and now co-worker Hirotaka Nifuji almost gets her secret outed at work, she comes up with a plan to make sure he never speaks up. Narumi Momose has had it rough: Every boyfriend she’s had dumped her once they found out she was an otaku, so she’s gone to great lengths to hide it. This month marks the debut of the Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otakuanime series on Amazon Prime, and – very conveniently – Kodansha Comics have released a deluxe collection of the first two volumes of the original manga in its English language debut.
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