Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku

If you enjoyed the manga and the anime, then you will readily enjoy MANY aspects of this film!

I was really loving this film! Then, about 2/3 into it I was slightly disappointed. It is a DECENT adaptation of Wotakoi, and the two main actors really show the lovingly-awkward-chemistry that Narumi and Hirotaka have with one another. They spend the first half of the movie establishing their relationship, and I LOVED every second of it. They priced together stories from the manga that felt cohesive, and it had really good flow!

However, this movie only focuses on Narumi and Hirotaka's relationship, and that is where it fails a bit. I think if they had brought Kabakura and Hanako's relationship into the film at the halfway point, I probably would have given this an 8/10.

Because the plot mainly focuses on Hirotaka and Narumi by themselves, eventually the writers ran out of the useable source material. They added new drama in their relationship that wasn't necessary (or well executed) in my opinion. Hanako and Kabakura are in the movie separately in a few scenes, but they didn't add very much to the movie.

I really enjoyed the casting for every character, except Kabakura. The acting was much more tolerable than most Live-Action adaptations. Actually the acting was pretty good! It didn't feel like they were actually pretending to be cartoons. The acting was on par for your average asian comedy.

The movie was a musical. I am a big fan of musicals, and I have pretty high standards. Wotakoi LA did pretty good! The composing, lyrics, and dancing were excellent! I'll have to watch it a second time to really give the music parts a better analysis.

In conclusion, it was a lot better than I expected! The first half of the film is worth it by itself that I'm going to rewatch it at some point. So, if you liked the anime, give the Live Action a try!

This excellently executed musical is so underrated!! I don't understand why people don't like it. It's like a Japanese comedy version of La La Land. Perfect cast (especially the leads), beautiful music and cinematography, the plot is sweet and heartbreaking at the same time, funny, of course. The pace is just right, unlike many low-pace Japanese movies. I watched it at late night by myself in my tiny comfy room and I just kept screaming whenever Kento & Mitsuki hug and kiss! They are such a cute match. Love them so much! Love the film, the music, everything! I just hope there could be even more romantic scenes coz I just can't get enough!!

Two autistic anime nerds/childhood friends meet each other again in the business world and start dating because of their "common interest". The story follows their weird relationship from one awkward moment to the next, with random scenes interspersed where music comes on and the protagonists suddenly start singing and dancing like in a musical. The songs are mostly pretty bad techno and do not contribute all too much to the story. It's so random, but funny in a totally ridiculous way. The comedy varies between over the top slapstick stuff and subtle situational humor. The opening scene alone is hilarious and there are some pretty good laughs throughout. Especially the girl is doing a great job playing totally insane, a great contrast to the guy who always keeps his poker face. But the movie has pretty much zero depth and is basically just exploiting this otaku subculture (which deserves to be made fun of and ridiculed actually). To sum it up, the movie is bad. But in a pretty well made, crazy and entertaining way.

What was so wrong with the original material (manga or anime) that they had to change it so much? Neither the story or the characters match. It seems as if someone just watched the first episode of the anime and decided to make a movie based on it. I can't say it was a waste of time. It was worse than that. It was pure torture!

Narumi (Mitsuki Takahata) is determined at her new job to not be known as an "otaku," because she lost her last job when that became known. It turns out that Hirotaka (Kento Yamakazi), both a childhood friend and a fellow otaku, works at the same company she's landed in, and she is worried that he might out her there. But he's not that type of person, and instead they both start re-imagining their childhood friendship into something new, and maybe lasting. In the meantime, the best way that these young people have to express their longings and fears is....by song! With choruses and dancers, lots of dancers! But will they find their different ways too much to agree upon, on the sometimes stormy path to love?

I know literally nothing about anime beyond the word, I've never heard of "otaku" but I *think* (from this movie only) that it's sort of a video-gamer variation of anime. I read that this story is well-known in that world, and I (sadly) saw some reviews of this movie that hated it a lot, presumably by fans disappointed in this real-people version (looks like there's an animation version from a couple of years ago too). But I loved it! I love musicals - that completely ridiculous breaking into song (and with huge dance choreography) at the drop of a hat! And I love a basic love story, where the principal characters first clash, then find their footing together. And I loved that Narumi, especially, is way more than a "chore girl" in the company, she's an accomplished anime author and cos-player in her own right; not just a girl looking for love. People who know more than me about this world seem to dislike this move; for people like me who know nothing of that world (or don't care), this is quite a treat. Made me happy, anyway, and what more can anyone demand of entertainment in these Covid days?