Review: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 1 | Fujita

This review contains spoilers.

“You’re too much, you know…”
“Hm? What?”
“Forget about it.” 

Series: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku
Published: 2018, by Kodansha Comics.
Pages: 256
Format: eBook/ARC from Netgalley
Genre: Young Adult, New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Sequential Art, Manga, Graphic Novels
Contains: Sexual Content, Crude Humour.

I received a copy of this book from Kodansha Comics through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

‘Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku’ is a romantic comedy manga that tells the story of two childhood friends that return to each others lives at the same workplace. Otaku, Narumi Momose and Hirotaka Nifuji, find comfort in their interests in fictional worlds, meaning they’re fairly unsuccessful at dating. However, after meeting each other, they discover that by sharing their love of geeky things, romance comes easy.

I haven’t read a manga in a while, and after reading the description on Netgalley, I couldn’t not read it. It didn’t disappoint.

Narumi Momose makes for an adorable protagonist. She’s kind, caring, and incredibly sweet; the fact that everyone loves her is believable – you can’t help but not route for her the entire volume. Her interaction with Hirotaka is perfect; they’re polar opposites, her open with her emotions and excitement, while he is more poker-faced and reserved; they balance each other out. It makes their relationship completely plausible and adorable.
Hanako Koyanagi is possibly my favourite character, however. I adore her feisty personality throughout the volume. She’s strong, independent and has no problem putting her boyfriend, Taro Kabakura, into place. She’s incredible. The constant arguments between the pair were hilarious, there was numerous times where I let out a little giggle at their interaction and the history between them is extremely interesting. I can’t help but question why it is that they argue so much – I wonder if this is explored more in future volumes?!

The history of the characters was an incredibly interesting read, going into more detail in the volume as to how they knew each other and their lives as children; I especially loved the heart-rendering story-line of Hirotaka’s fear of thunder. Their faults made the characters appear so authentic.

The bonus chapters, however, were my favourite part of this volume. These little inclusions were hilarious and explored the characters in ways that might not be necessary in the main plot-line, such as; Hanako’s cosplay and the selfies they share with another. It was so adorable. (Can you tell I find this book the cutest?)

Overall, I loved this book, and it made for the perfect afternoon read.

5/5