There aren’t many rom-com anime streaming and even fewer that feature adult characters instead of teens. ‘Wotakoi: How difficult is love for an otaku’ (We are left with the Spanish title of the manga instead of ‘Love is difficult for otaku’, which seems to have gone through Google translate) It lasts just over 3 and a half hours. and is available on Amazon Prime Video.
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love between otakus
Hirotaka and Narumi are otakus: besides reading manga and watching anime, he is a gamer and she is a fujoshi inveterate (fan of the BL genre). The two meet again at his company, where they keep their hobbies a secret… will love arise?
‘Wotakoi’ is the animated adaptation of Fujita’s homonymous manga, a yonkoma (four-panel comic strips) whose first volumes are summarized in 11 episodes of about 20 minutes each and are animated by the studio A-1 Pictures (the same as ‘Sword Art Online’ and ‘AnoHana’).
As its own title indicates, the anime revolves around several otaku characters (remember that in Japan it is a term that does not refer only to manganime fans but is an insult for “people obsessed with their hobbies”). Thus, there are a multitude of comic situations related to different hobbies: manga, anime, videogames, cosplay, collecting…
Like all comedy It works thanks to exaggerating certain situations. Some of them may clash, but you have to keep in mind that the characters work in a Japanese company, where talking about personal issues is frowned upon and maintaining a professional appearance always prevails, even in front of your own coworkers.
In this way, very amusing contrasts are produced, between the attempts of the protagonists to maintain manners in their work environment and when they give free rein to the euphoria that their hobby arouses in them. obviously the anime it’s full of geeky jokes and nods to other easily recognizable manga/anime/video games.
The romantic part cannot be missing either. We will see how two otaku couples emerge, how they share their hobbies and how their relationship evolves. It’s not particularly cloying but yes has more than one tender moment.
Another positive point of the series is that, despite the fact that it is quite episodic, it manages to give the story some continuity and that it is not so noticeable that the original has a comic strip structure. The main drawback is that, by not covering the entire manga, the ending is quite open. fixed but leaves us wanting more.
‘Wotakoi’ is a nice and casual anime about the daily life of some otakus in the office. Perfect to have a good time in those moments in which you want to disconnect with something simple.