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Short Synopsis
Wotakoi is a show about a group of four otaku all in romantic relationships who work at the same company a show that zooms in on the different aspects of Otaku culture and the different communities each represented by each character and the different people who are Otaku giving an inside look into the daily lives and progression of each of the characters romantic relationships.
all the while having a smorgasbord of subtle and not so subtle references to iconic manga and anime as well as doused with tons of terminology
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CHAPTER 1.
I Hate Highschool Romance Shows (most of the time)
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a frustrating part about romance anime is the fact that most of it takes place in High School of all times its not necessarily that I think these shows are bad or that the setting inherently saps quality away but rather that I think that the use of High School can sometimes feel overindulged at times for the genre and that the setting gets blander and blander.
not to say that I've never liked a high school romance Beastars uses its high school setting in a way that explores what it's like for adolescent teenagers in an anthropomorphic built society with their own interpersonal conflicts that stem from what they are and how it affects how they are
School has become a used and boring set piece
besides most of the high school setting in anime blending into a nebulous hazy image where you've seen the same backgrounds, seriously how many school anime shows have you seen with the same copy-pasted background that you've seen a million times.
Spoiler, click to view
Highschoolers are boring
when it comes to Highschool romance there's a quality in which the romance basically becomes the center point of these characters' lives to the point where it's all they think of or all that happens with these characters.
It makes the characters seem as if they have no other interesting aspects other than being in love with each other which is a downside cause if I don't care about the characters on their own as individuals with their own aspects I don't feel any tension with the romance plot.
And a lot of the time's romance shows put heavy emphasis on the build-up to a confession or eventual dating of two characters witch can be done well but very rarely I feel that
A. This is the entire goal for the show and its characters and
B. That it takes entirely way too long for characters to get to that point
I think this heavy emphasis on the build-up can kinda exaggerate romance way more than it needs to be at times Wotakoi keeps it nice and simple and honestly in a more relatable manner in which the characters do have emotional moments but it's with more tuned down than any drama for the sake of trying to deliver a sense of tension
I've never delivered heartfelt confessions like I was staking my entire being on it and I find this aspect of
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CHAPTER 2.
Enter Wotakoi
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instead of going for the signature type of romance Wotakoi is way more laid back the cast of characters have their own passions and interests which makes them interesting on an individual level without the romance aspect being pushed
Narumi is an Otaku specifically in the realm of Boys love or BL manga and making self-published works she tends to compartmentalize her passion and interests due to how society tends to view Otaku as an embarrassing title and past failures at maintaining relationships which makes her feel as if she needs to keep a strict fence around work and relationship life
knowing the character's personal likes and dislikes and who they are and aren't as people help's to add to the romantic element of the show as its in the ways that contrast with their own partners that make for really meaningful, mature, and substantial relationship writing.
forgive the rant but often times but sometimes I feel like romance anime has a tendency to have characters fall in love for love's sake similar to falling in love with the idea of falling in love despite not having synergy with the partner.
this leads me to the next thing I want to talk about the show which is
Good Group Dynamics
Not an easy thing
I just want to talk about how each of the characters contributes to the group in ideology or a different perspective wether its ont their personal likes and dislikes of what kind of Otaku they are or how it influences their own personal relationships
For instance, like I've said before Narumi represents a person more reclusive with being an Otaku as its affected her relationships in contrast to this we have Koyanagi who is not afraid she neither fights or flees when it comes to her passionate hobbies of cosplaying
and you can see this throughout the Group
Hirotaka is the outwardly cold, blunt, and quiet dispositioned gamer of the group who openly games a lot on breaks all the time he's not anti-social but he's also just naturally introverted
Narumi is a Bl obsessed girl who can often times procrastinate but also ironically is very passionate when releasing her own self-published works she's also extroverted yet a bit shy or embarrassed when it comes to cosplay and mixing her Otaku life with other aspects of her life
Kabakura is similar to Narumi also wanting to keep a lid on his hobbies due to embarrassment whilst being a rigid and slightly strict yet empathetic senior at work he's inadvertently one of the most passionate Otaku when it comes to his own personal feelings seemingly recording all the seasonal anime and binging it
this makes it so that the characters can naturally clash in entertaining ways which only further highlights their own personalities and sometimes I think this plays in romance where I wouldn't have gotten into something without being dragged and begged into it which is how I got into Devilman and Undertale funnily enough
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Prologue
Wotakoi is an exception for me to most romance anime and if you dont watch it after reading this well lets just say it wont be pretty
choose wisely my friend
