Reviews

Part of becoming an adult is finding hobbies that enrich our life and fill the time after exhausting days at work. Wotaku centers around 4 main characters who are obssessed with hobbies society frowns upon, some of whom have little to no social skills at all. Momose, the main lead, is obssessed with manga, especially Yaoi, something she's had to hide from all her previous boyfriends and friends. The other 3 aren't much different: Hanako is also into yaoi and cosplay, her boyfriend Kabakura obssesses over yuri and gaming, and Nifuji games almost to the expense of all else. Momose and Nifuji are childhood friends, and he comes to an idea: they won't have to hide they're both otakus if they date.

The art and character models are stock standard for modern anime, and the soundtrack is sufficient but nothing special. There's promise in a story of adult couples who pursue their own hobbies, finding their own group that values what they do. Let's ignore Momose and Hanako's love of fetishized yaoi, or Kabukara's hyper-infantilized yuri, which is opening a can of worms. The major flaw is the characters are engaging as soggy noodles in a watered down broth. The female leads have their boy's love extend into their real life partners, getting excited by any close interactions between the two. They debate in a single scene which one is the top and which is the bottom. The character dynamics revolve around their eccentric hobbies, but we never get more than a superficial glance at those hobbies.

But the biggest flaw is the characters seem to not care for each other. Nifuji and Momose's relationship never extends past childhood friends, even after they start dating. She's not particularly attracted to him, and he makes it clear he'd be into a girl with larger breasts. Their relationship and interactions barely progress or regress. It feels like one of convenience and never develops from that. We never really dive into their actual interests, besides passing references and some stock standard online gameplay.

Hanako and Kabukara constantly fight when others are around, even if their interactions are much more lukewarm when they're alone together. Hanako's hobbies are probably the most engaging: she's a well-known cosplayer, and diving into the process she designs and creates the costumes could be an excellent story. At least they seem to care for each other, and spend some enjoyable moments together.

The entire character dynamic is "are the straights ok" the anime. With a stronger cast, a deeper dive into their interests, or a stronger plot, Wotaku could be engaging with an adult cast so desperately needed in romance anime. Instead, we get something that anyone but a hardcore otaku could really enjoy. Wotaku pales in comparison to other stories revolving around otaku like "Princess Jellyfish". The dive into online gaming is superficial unlike "Recovery of an MMO Junkie". The obsession with yaoi never extends to what we see in "Kiss Him, Not Me". It's not particularly bad but it's uninspired at best.