Genre(s): Josei, Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life
Age-Appropriateness: 13+ (some language, some adult humor)
Platforms: Amazon Prime
Episodes: 11
TheAwersome Rating: 8.1 / 10 (Cute happy relatable)
Premise: Energetic Narumi Momose finds herself running late for her first day of work at a new office. 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 (yaoi fan-girl). Her plan goes instantly awry, though, when she runs into Hirotaka Nifuji at the office, an old friend from middle school. Her cover is blown when he casually asks her whether she will be attending the upcoming Summer Comiket. Luckily for her, the only two witnesses are otaku as well. Later, 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. Thus, the two otaku start dating, and their adorably awkward romance begins.
TheAwersome’s Thoughts: As far as slice of life and Romcoms are concerned, this was a nice breath of fresh air. It was nice to see the setting NOT be a high school, but rather adults in their late 20s/ early 30s. As such, it didn’t rely on typical tropes and gags that are so very common to anime set in a school setting. While being a show targeting weebs, about weebs, I was delighted to see how little it pandered. Rather than the usual message of “You too, dear reader, can get a girlfriend someday, despite being a total NEET!” it shows fully functioning members of society with jobs and lives, who happen to also be weebs.
TLDR: Adorable, cute, awkward, and wholesome, with a delightful amount of references.
No English trailers or OP available
Wotakoi is a portmanteau of “Otaku” (sometimes spelled Wotaku) which means Nerd, and “Koi” which is a common noun for “Love.”
There isn’t any word yet on a Season 2, but the manga is still ongoing, and there was a Live-action movie adaptation in Japan earlier this year, so it’s safe to say that there will be a Season 2, but with Covid-19 delaying all productions this year, it probably won’t air for another year or two.
Something I particularly liked about Wotakoi is that it was a truthful portrayal of nerds and their relationships. It doesn’t rely on the constant punchline of “Gee whiz, these nerds sure are nerds with no social skills, wowee Bazinga!” *awkward laugh track*, or the even worse end of “Nerds have life so much better than those sportsballers, Normies are such noobs for not knowing the glory of nerditude.” Rather it shows the joys of being passionate about what you love and finding someone with that same passion, and the difficulties when your passions don’t match. It shows the unique difficulties of working with certain personality types that are more common among nerds, and how that dynamic is different for different couples.
At a Glance Anime 