Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku
Cover of the first volume of manga as released in Japan by Ichijinsha, featuring Hirotaka and Narumi.
ヲタクに恋は難しい
(Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii)
Genre Romantic comedy
Manga
Written by Fujita
Published by Ichijinsha
English publisher
Demographic Josei
Magazine Pixiv
Comic Pool (November 6, 2015 – present)
Original run April 17, 2014 – present
Volumes 6
Anime television series
Directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike
Written by Yoshimasa Hiraike
Music by Akimitsu Honma
Studio A-1 Pictures
Licensed by Amazon Video (streaming)
Original network Fuji TV (Noitamina)
Original run April 13, 2018 – June 22, 2018
Episodes 11

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (ヲタクに恋は難しい, Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii) is a Japanese webmanga series written and illustrated by Fujita. It was first posted on Pixiv on April 17, 2014. It later began serialization in Comic Pool (a joint web manga publication project by Ichijinsha and Pixiv) on November 6, 2015. Ichijinsha began publishing the manga in print on April 30, 2015 and five volumes have been published as of April 2018. An anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired from April to June 2018 on the Noitamina programming block.

Plot

Narumi, a female office worker who hides her fujoshi lifestyle, and Hirotaka, a handsome and capable company man who is secretly a game otaku. The two seem perfect for each other, but love is difficult for otaku.

Characters

Narumi Momose (桃瀬成海, Momose Narumi)
Voiced by: Arisa Date[1]
Narumi is a fujoshi otaku, who also likes otome games, and idols. She blames being an otaku for difficulties in her life and attempts to keep it a secret, especially at work. She is childhood friends with Hirotaka and is dating him.
Hirotaka Nifuji (二藤宏嵩, Nifuji Hirotaka)
Voiced by: Kent Itō[1]
Hirotaka was Narumi's childhood otaku friend. Hirotaka is a gamer otaku who spends most of his free time gaming and unlike Narumi, does not care if everyone knows that he is an otaku. He is also considered to be very attractive by girls, although he doesn't seem to care. He has been in love with Narumi since childhood and the two are dating.
Hanako Koyanagi (小柳花子, Koyanagi Hanako)
Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro[1]
Narumi's senpai at the office, she is secretly a famous cosplayer otaku who usually cosplays as a male character. She also plays games and reads yaoi manga. She is dating Kabakura.
Tarō Kabakura (樺倉太郎, Kabakura Tarō)
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita[1]
Hirotaka's coworker at the office and a less intense otaku; he likes heroes and bishojo. He is dating Koyanagi.
Naoya Nifuji (二藤尚哉, Nifuji Naoya)
Voiced by: Yūki Kaji[1]
Hirotaka's cheery younger brother; a university student. Naoya cares very deeply for his brother, and quietly worries about him and his introverted nature. Unlike his brother, Naoya is not an otaku, and is very bad at video games.
Kō Sakuragi (桜城 光, Sakuragi Kō)
Voiced by: Aoi Yūki[2]
A socially anxious solo gamer from Naoya's university with a habit of saying "I'm sorry". Kō's reclusive nature initially reminds Naoya of his brother and thus decided to become Kō's gamer friend. Unbeknownst to Naoya, Kō is actually a girl.

Production

Initially, Fujita began posting the manga on Pixiv (a Japanese online community for artists) as a rookie author.[3] Ichijinsha then launched a digital manga magazine with Pixiv titled Comic Pool, and started serializing the manga on a regular basis.[4][5] The manga was selected for Comic Pool because it was the most popular work on Pixiv.[6] On April 30, 2015 Ichijinsha started the publishing of the manga in print.[7]

Media

Manga

The first volume was released on April 30, 2015 and five volumes have been published as of April 2018.[8] The manga is set to be released in English by Kodansha Comics.[9][10] Each Volume Contained 2 Volumes of the Original Release.

Volume list

No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
1 April 30, 2015[11] ISBN 978-4-75-800846-4April 17, 2018 ISBN 978-1-63-236704-4
2 March 31, 2016[12] ISBN 978-4-75-800899-0April 17, 2018 ISBN 978-1-63-236704-4
3 December 23, 2016[13] ISBN 978-4-75-800934-8June 12, 2018 ISBN 978-1-63-236705-1
4 July 26, 2017[14] ISBN 978-4-75-800951-5June 12, 2018 ISBN 978-1-63-236705-1
5 February 2, 2018[15] ISBN 978-4-75-800979-9October 2, 2018 ISBN 978-1-63-236706-8
6 July 31, 2018[16] ISBN 978-4-75-800987-4——

Anime

An anime television series by A-1 Pictures aired from April 13 to June 22, 2018 on Fuji TV.[1] The series is directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike who also oversee the scripts. Takahiro Yasuda designed the characters, while Akimitsu Honma composed the music.[17] The opening theme titled "Fiction" (フィクション) by Sumika and the first and second ending theme titled "Kimi no Tonari" (キミの隣, lit. "Next to You") and "Ashita mo Mata" (明日もまた) (ep 9) respectively are performed by halca. Amazon streamed the series on their Amazon Video service. The series ran for 11 episodes.[18] An OVA entitled "Youth" is scheduled to be released March 29, 2019 to coincide with the release of the seventh volume of the manga.[19]

Episode list

No. Title[20][lower-alpha 1] Original air date
1"Narumi and Hirotaka Meets Again, and..."
"Narumi to Hirotaka no Saikai. Soshite…" (成海と宏嵩の再会。そして…)		April 13, 2018

26-year-old Narumi Momose is a die-hard fujoshi otaku who recently switched jobs, in hopes of being able to play off an image of a perfect, beautiful young lady. However, her hopes are crashed when she reunites with her middle school classmate Hirotaka Nifuji, an avid gamer otaku that knows about her secret. Both reconnect over alcohol and Hirotaka promises he won't tell on Narumi's otaku secret, commenting on how love is difficult for people like them because others think they're "abnormal" and "weird".

After Narumi's second day at work, she promises to meet him at 6pm for drinks but is unable to finish her work on time so Hirotaka stays behind for her. As they drink, Hirotaka asks Narumi out, offering to her pass her game levels as a benefit. Excited, Narumi accepts.
2"Are We Now Dating?"
"Koibito? Hajimemashita" (恋人？始めました)		April 20, 2018
3"Sales Event and Gamers Meetup"
"Sokubai-kai to Gēmu-kai" (即売会とゲーム会)		April 27, 2018
4"Is Mature Love as Difficult?"
"Otona no Koi mo Muzukashī?" (オトナの恋も難しい？)		May 4, 2018
5"Introducing Naoya and Gamers Meetup (Part II)"
"Naoya Tōjō to Gēmu-kai Pātsu Ⅱ" (尚哉登場とゲーム会PartⅡ)		May 11, 2018
6"Bleak Christmas"
"Yūutsuna Kurisumasu" (憂鬱なクリスマス)		May 18, 2018
7"Online Gaming and Their Respective Nights"
"Netoge to, Sorezore no Yoru" (ネトゲと、それぞれの夜)		May 25, 2018
8"Weakness is Thunder and Years of Insecurity"
"Nigatena kaminari to, Ki ni naru otoshigoro" (苦手な雷と、気になるお年頃)		June 1, 2018
9"Go Out on a Date with Me!"
"Dēto e ikou yo!" (デートへ行こうよ！)		June 8, 2018
10"Introducing Kou-kun and Online Gaming Revenge"
"Kō-kun Tōjō to Netoge Ribenji" (光くん登場とネトゲリベンジ)		June 15, 2018
11"Love is Hard for Otaku"
"Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashī" (ヲタクに恋は難しい)		June 22, 2018

Film

On July 26, 2018, a video promoting the sixth volume of the manga also revealed that a live-action movie adaptation was in production.[21]

On September 18, 2018 the cast for a live action was revealed, it will stars Mitsuki Takahata and Kento Yamazaki as double lead to play Narumi and Hirotaka, distributed by Toho and Paramount Pictures, and will be released in Japanese theaters in 2019.[22][23]

Notes

  1. ↑ All English titles are taken from Amazon Video.

Reception

The manga's compiled book volumes have frequently ranked on Oricon. Volume 2 was ranked first, and has sold up to 208,765 copies in its first week.[24] Volume 3 was ranked fourth, and has sold up to 209,102 copies in its first week.[25] Volume 4 was ranked first, and has sold up to 283,523 copies in its first week.[26] The manga has up to 4.2 million copies in print as of July 20, 2017.[27] It manga was ranked first in the 2016 edition of Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook.[28] The manga was ranked ninth in the Zenkoku Shotenin ga Eranda Osusume Comic 2017 (Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2017) poll on February 1, 2017.[29] It was nominated for the 41st Kodansha Manga Award in the Best General Manga category.[30] In September 2017, it won the Web Manga General Election.[31]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii Anime Premieres in April 2018". Anime News Network. July 21, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii Anime Casts Aoi Yūki". Anime News Network. December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ "ヲタクに恋は難しい". Pixiv. April 17, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ "一迅社×pixivのWebマンガ誌・comic POOL誕生、「ヲタ恋」など連載". Natalie. October 30, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Ichijinsha, pixiv Launch 'Comic Pool' Digital Manga Magazine". Anime News Network. November 2, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  6. ↑ "ウェブで人気　単行本化続々". Yomiuri Shimbun. August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  7. ↑ "ヲタク同士の恋描くWEBマンガ「ヲタクに恋は難しい」書籍化決定". Natalie. April 17, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, January 29-February 4". Anime News Network. February 7, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Amazon Lists Release of Fujita's Otakoi: Otaku Can't Fall in Love?! Manga by Kodansha Comics". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Kodansha USA Confirms Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Manga Release". Anime News Network. January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  11. ↑ "ヲタクに恋は難しい (1)". Amazon. April 30, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  12. ↑ "ヲタクに恋は難しい (2)". Amazon. March 31, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ "ヲタクに恋は難しい (3)". Amazon. December 23, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  14. ↑ "ヲタクに恋は難しい (4)". Amazon. July 26, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  15. ↑ "ヲタクに恋は難しい (5)". Amazon. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  16. ↑ "ヲタクに恋は難しい (6)". Amazon. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii Anime Reveals Promo Video, Staff". Anime News Network. January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Anime Listed With 11 Episodes". Anime News Network. April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  19. ↑ Inc., Natasha,. "「ヲタ恋」7巻特装版が来年3月発売、樺倉＆花子の高校時代描く新作アニメ付き - コミックナタリー". コミックナタリー (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  20. ↑ "ストーりー" (in Japanese). Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Fujita's Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Manga Gets Live-Action Film". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  22. ↑ 高畑充希×山崎賢人、福田雄一監督作「ヲタクに恋は難しい」で初共演！歌うラブコメに挑戦. eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-09-18.
  23. ↑ Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Live-Action Film Casts Mitsuki Takahata, Kento Yamazaki. Anime News Network. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
  24. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, March 28 – April 3". Anime News Network. April 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, December 19–25". Anime News Network. December 28, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Japanese Comic Ranking, July 24–30". Anime News Network. August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii Manga Gets TV Anime on Noitamina (Updated)". Anime News Network. July 20, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Reveals 2016's Series Ranking for Female Readers". Anime News Network. December 10, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  29. ↑ "1位は「からかい上手の高木さん」！書店員が選んだマンガランキング2017". Natalie. February 1, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  30. ↑ "41st Annual Kodansha Manga Awards' Nominees Announced". Anime News Network. April 2, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Fujita's Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashi Wins Web Manga General Election". Anime News Network. September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
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