Review by Dennis D. McDonald

I've been watching the series "Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku." I’m pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it is.

The series follows a group of young Japanese office workers in their daily relationships. Despite leaning in the direction of budding romance the series never seems to fall headlong into romantic cliche. Instead, it focuses on one young couple each of whom is an obsessed pop culture fan. The guy is obsessed with gaming. The girl is consumed with "cute" pop culture including a semi-secret obsession with "boy's love" fiction.

While the series abounds with obscure (to me) Japanese cultural references — nothing that Wikipedia can’t solve — the relationships portrayed are surprisingly sensitive and even awkward. Plus, the animation is top notch. Facial expressions and body movement are, in my opinion, some of the best I’ve seen in a TV series.

It also helps that occasionally the show is laugh out loud funny. Watching a group of mid to late 20s adults acting out and acting on what appears to be a remarkably sustained adolescence is fascinating to watch. The personalities of the 4 main characters are sensitively and subtly draw and we watch as they begin to come to terms with adulthood and how to deal with their holds on their childhood interests. Recommended especially if you are looking for a good break from sci-fi or fantasy.

Review copyright (c) 2019 by Dennis D. McDonald

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