Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

***Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku*** (Japanese: *Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii*) is a Japanese webmanga series written and illustrated by Fujita. It was first posted on Pixiv on April 17, 2014. It began serialization in *Comic Pool* (a joint web manga publication project by Ichijinsha and Pixiv) on November 6, 2015. Ichijinshabegan publishing the manga in print on April 30, 2015 and nine volumes had been published, with over 10 million copies printed (including digital edition) as of August 2020. An anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired from April to June 2018 on the Noitamina programming block.

## Plot/Synopsis:

Having slept through all four of her alarms, the energetic Narumi Momose finds herself running late for her first day of work at a new office. As she races to catch her train, she makes a promise to herself that none of her coworkers will find out about her dark secret: that she is an otaku and a fujoshi. Her plan goes instantly awry, though, when she runs into Hirotaka Nifuji, an old friend from middle school. Although she tries to keep her secret by inviting him out for drinks after work, her cover is blown when he casually asks her whether or not she will be attending the upcoming Summer Comiket. Luckily for her, the only witnesses—Hanako Koyanagi and Tarou Kabakura—are otaku as well.

Later that night, the pair go out for drinks so that they can catch up after all the years apart. After Narumi complains about her previous boyfriend breaking up with her because he refused to date a fujoshi, Hirotaka suggests that she try dating a fellow otaku, specifically himself. He makes a solemn promise to always be there for her, to support her, and to help her farm for rare drops in Monster Hunter. Blown away by the proposal, Narumi agrees immediately. Thus the two otaku start dating, and their adorably awkward romance begins.

## MAL info:

**Score:** 7.98

**Ranked:** #547

**Popularity:** #264

**Licensors:** None found, add some

**Studios:** A-1 Pictures

**Source:** Web manga

**Duration:** 22 min. per ep.

**Rating:** PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

**Producers:** Aniplex,  Dentsu,  Fuji TV, Half H.P Studio,  Ichijinsha,  Kanetsu Investment

## Characters:

* **Momose Narumi:** (Main) Manga, comics, and cosplay are up her alley, and at one time she had a superficial knowledge of the fashion scene. She's a fan of multiple genres, loving many of them at the same time. She's known Hirotaka since childhood (he's the one responsible for getting her into the otaku life), and is the only one who really knows about her being an otaku.
* **Nifuji Hirotaka:** (Main) He specializes in video games, but he also reads a lot of manga and watches a lot of anime. (He likes all kinds of games, but he's especially fond of FPS games, fighting games and action games, where it's not necessary to level up.) He goes for one person in video games and finds everything from visuals to status as being important. He prefers e-mail for communication as the tension isn't as high as it is otherwise.
* **Koyanagi, Hanako:** (Main) She likes things like drama, stage theatre, and 3D. She also has a soft spot for anime and manga, as well as BL. Wifely characters who love someone with all their might are the type of people she admires and for some reason, feels similarly about minor characters.
* **Kabakura Tarou:** (Main) He's majorly into manga and games, which he has good taste in. He also has good taste in the merchandise he owns. Compared to the typical otaku, however, he falls a little short. Before he gets into new characters, he takes into consideration the guilty feeling he has about crime fiction and married life genres, former wives and current wives meeting genres, and the system type of wife-donos entering temples.
* **Nifuji Naoya:** (Supporting) is Hirotaka's cheery younger brother; a university student. Naoya cares very deeply for his brother, and quietly worries about him and his introverted nature. Unlike his brother, Naoya is not an otaku, and is very bad at video games.
* **Sakuragi Kou:** (Supporting) is a socially anxious solo gamer from Naoya's university with a habit of saying "I'm sorry". Kō's reclusive nature initially reminds Naoya of his brother and thus decided to become Kō's gamer friend. Naoya brings her into his group of friends - not realizing she's not a guy until later.

## Official sites:

https://myanimelist.net/anime/35968/Wotaku\_ni\_Koi\_wa\_Muzukashii?q=wota&cat=anime

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wotakoi:\_Love\_Is\_Hard\_for\_Otaku