Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii – 04

Wotakoi has definitely emerged as the best romance of the season, though we’re still only a third of the way into it and that could still change.  The perspective of this series is quite mature – and it goes way beyond ascribing that to it being a show about adults.  Plenty of anime about grown-ups don’t have Wotakoi’s sense of perspective, believe me.  I like the fact that this show can take a big picture view of relationships without giving up an ounce of focus on the small details that make stories and characters interesting.

The other aspect where that plays into Wotakoi’s favor is in the way that addresses the otaku question.  It’s never the elephant in the room here, because all of the characters are acutely aware of the impact it has on their lives and relationships.  Yet it’s also not what defines them as people, though if one watched this series too casually they might not pick up on that.  Again it’s a matter of perspective, or even balance if you like – the ability to portray people’s lives both in the macro and micro-view without sacrificing one for the other.

Mind you, when you have employees watching Sailor Moon marathons on their phone at work (and crying over them) there’s no denying being an otaku is a pretty intrusive element in their lives.  Really, though, this episode is mostly about Hanako and Tarou, whose relationship is so different than that of the two nominal leads but equally as interesting.  Their cats & dogs routine is hardly original, but there’s a quality of easy familiarity to these two that makes it endearing most of the time.

How an adult deals with the matter of being an otaku is certainly an important question in modern Japan.  Hanako embraces it unreservedly – Tarou chooses to try and “pass”.  He calls it moderation – she calls it hiding his true self.  Who’s right?  The truth is probably somewhere in the middle – no question Tarou’s existence doesn’t revolve around otaku interests the way the other three principals’ does.  But his impassioned opposition to participating in a cosplay experiment (Hirotaka, very much in character, was fine with it) reveals the extent to which appearing normal is important to Tarou.  Even if no one outside their little circle ever sees him in-character, Tarou will always know that it happened – and in his mind, a line he’s not comfortable crossing will have been crossed.

When the four of them finally manage to make it to an izakaya for after-work drinks, it’s an interesting piece of observational fiction.  Hanako is clearly a lightweight, and an emotional drunk at that.  She and Tarou seem to thrive on their constant bickering, though – if being an otaku is what she thinks defines her as a person, I get the feeling that their constant abusive banter is what she thinks defines she and Tarou as a couple.

This is interesting stuff, no question about it.  Narumi has lost three boyfriends because she’s an otaku – or so she says anyway, I’m still not 100% convinced of it.  There’s always the risk that she and Hirotaka are together because it’s “easy” – hell, that was his pick-up line.  But of all these people Hirotaka seems to embody perspective and balance the best – he’s quite comfortable with who he is without having to try too hard like Hanako does.  I feel as if one can sense the healing effect he’s having on Narumi slowly build over time, and I think that gives their relationship a leg up.  And who knows, perhaps being able to watch their sempai from the outside does, too…