first official review on anilist, so bare with me :]

Do you ever add something to your watch list while mindlessly scrolling through recommendations but end up unable to stop thinking about it until you watch it? That was the case with Wotakoi.

There is a line in the OP (which, by the way, might just be one of the greatest things about this anime) that stuck with me during every sequence.

A story with no coherence, the story is one and only one.

Honestly, I think that's a pretty accurate summary of this show. Across eleven episodes, there's only one focus: the shenanigans of four adults brought together by the power of hobby-coincidence--a vastly underrated and powerful thing if you ask me. That's pretty much the entire point of this anime, with the sub-plots being centered on the path of funny and albeit confusing romance.

While a young teenager might have a laugh here and there watching Wotakoi, I think this hits closer among young adults that constantly battle between the line of day-to-day work-life appearances and Oh-God-There-Is-So-Much-Media-I-Consume-It's-Eating-Me-Alive. Superheroes might live a double life, but none as strenuous as this, seriously. Not only does it show us this usual struggle to keep one's interests at a moderate level, but also manages to nail down the monotony and, quite frankly, boringness of being an adult, with a clear example of this being episode 6 Bleak Christmas with its "I need to budget for gifts" and "what are you doing for Christmas?" dilemma. Working, not having enough money, and grocery shopping: the three pillars of adulthood.

While the easy-going and comedy-filled plot is a big thumbs up for this anime, it is bleak in comparison to its true charm: the characters. From Narumi's bubbly personality to Kabakura's denial of his hobbies, the characters are what make Wotakoi such a great ride. Every one of them brings their own thing to the table, making them such an odd yet interesting friend group. Their dynamics are one, if not the absolute best thing of this anime, with every single of their interactions managing to bring a smile to the viewer's face. There are many ways to describe this group of people, but I might have to stick to my all-time favorite boiled down summary of their personalities.

every squad got the manipulate mansplain malewife, bisexual with a plushies and boba addiction, misandrist lesbian, and a scorpio pic.twitter.com/YilgU2BrVv

— the mingi rapture (@yujification) May 14, 2021

Although the downsides of this anime are slim to none, they are still there. One is the lack of presence from the world outside of the main characters. Aside from the last two or three episodes, we don't get to see any other characters or settings aside from our principal crew. While introducing unnecessary characters every few episodes might make a show exhausting, sometimes they're needed to ensure a balance and nice flow in the story. The other downside to Wotakoi is its anti-climatic ending; there was no sense of either closure or a cliffhanger, just kind of an open-ended finale that leaves you craving for more, both the characters and the romance. But with the anime covering only half of the manga and it still being labeled as releasing as of mid-2021, plus the undisputed good reception of the show, its fans stay with fingers crossed that one day season two might see the light of the day.

!fallback text

What started as a gut feeling to watch something ended up in discovering what is now one of my favorite animes, so even if this doesn't make you watch Wotakoi: Love is Hard for an Otaku, I hope it will at least convince you to trust your instincts when choosing what to watch next!