Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku (2020)

Takahata Mitsuki's Singing Stands Out

There are No Spoilers

Watch this at your discretion. Everybody has different viewpoints, and this is mine. I was anticipating this live-action film last year because I loved the manga and anime. After viewing the Musical as it is a Musical more than a Live-Action Adaptation, the Director disregarded the original intent of the manga. I think it's appropriate for people who don't understand the manga should not make a live-action movie. Fukuda Yuichi is better at directing dramas/TV shows, so he should stick with that; he is better than this.

I cannot comprehend why a musical element was applied. The Director's attempt at connecting episodes from the manga/serialization was too long and dull. The Director should have utilized the music Niconico Suite or something else if he valued a musical piece. I initially thought to construct musical scenes for Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku was a great idea.


The Director was thinking outside the box, but the musical scenes poorly edited it would have been better if the song and dance had been a little shorter and had a sense of speed. Side note Ms. Takahata's singing was too good; I did enjoy her voice; if it's a bit of a treble. The repeated singing and dancing scenes, the shape of the characters became infinitely shallow, including the two main characters for me. I can't empathize with this, and I did not enjoy it. You may have a different experience when watching it.


Takahata Mitsuki's character does not feel a sense of incongruity. Her acting is incredible, trying her best at a weak script putting her talents at work. I appreciated Jiro Sato drunken performance that will force a laugh or two. Nanao's role as Koyanagi Hanako was exciting to a certain extent, and she is beautiful, but sometimes I felt like where did she go? Tsuyoshi Muro's strong acting stood out to me. Now, Yamazaki Kento's character is expressionless from beginning to end that I think it was fun with an easy-to-understand role; a world Fukuda created himself.


I loved the characters, but it was the dances and songs that diminished my viewing experience. The content of the story is a little thin for my taste. What happened to the depiction of the birch flower? I kept thinking to myself I love this game, I love this game, so I compelled myself to finish the movie. Maybe it is not a good idea for a person who has read the manga has a little million thoughts circling his head.


The one good thing is the Otaku-like expression is not much different from the manga. I am not going to bore you on every little detail. It was a feature film for the masses that did not honor the work of illustrator and writer Fujita. Critics of movies can be wrong too. I am not sure if Fukuda Yuichi did not have the budget or resources available to him to edit this Live-Action Musical. It would have aided big time. Some people will want a Sequel, and others will be like me. In my opinion, this movie is just for the sake of seeing its cuteness.

Final Rating: 6.05/10
Acting: 8.68/10

I am not rewatching this. I cannot. Some of you may find it a great film, and worth rewatching.

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Listen. I love Wotakoi. I love musicals. I also love shrimps and dulce de leche but I don't eat them together.

This is one of the most bizarre cinematic experiences I had this year. For all intents and purposes, it should have been absolutely my cup of tea. It has several elements that I'm into, including a property I really like, otaku subculture references, musical theater references and Saito Takumi singing and dancing which, as someone who saw the guy first in tenimyu, I appreciate.

But man, this did not work.

They pretty much took the source material for about 20% of its plot and then went in strange directions that hindered not only the possibilities of the movie as an adaptation but also the movie in itself as an experience. Because this movie goes nowhere. You could say there is a development of the main relationship if you squint but that would be generous, especially if you have any frame of reference from the manga or the anime as a comparison.

What is frustrating to me is that the cast was pretty well picked, for the most part, especially Takahata Mitsuki did a really good job. But I have honestly no idea what Fukuda Yuichi was thinking when he adapted this and why he thought Wotakoi was a good basis to built this bizarre musical experience.

There is a dissonance between the source material and why it works and the way in which movie musicals (and musical theater) is built.

Wotakoi is a comedy with a very dynamic pace, it uses multiple characters with different personalities who represent different fandom experiences to create their comedic energy. It's built around references and jokes that tie with gaming, anime, manga, cosplay and many other things, but it's also built in the clumsy yet heartfelt interactions of characters who have a lot of trouble navigating social situations and stumble over each other in a fun yet sincere way.

Musical theater uses songs to move along the plot and to delve into character motivations, feelings and relationships. Songs are used to set the story, they are necessary for us to understand the characters and their environment. We need Jean Valjean to have a soliloquy to make us understand the moment of emotional turmoil that sends him into making a decision about his life, for example.

That ruins the dynamic of Wotakoi. Their interactions and their pacing which plays off of each other and moves the plot while also providing a rhythm and a narrative identity is interrupted and put to sleep by these musical moments. Especially when you have characters like Hirotaka singing about his feelings, which is something much better shown in his attempts at figuring out his relationship with Narumi than told in a weird number while she's drawing. Or Narumi's entire dichotomy of trying to hide that she is an otaku and blending in with the normies, which feels a lot less relatable as a musical number in Shibuya with some idol outfits.

And if you are here for Hanako and Kabakura I was too and I'm so sorry to say you're gonna have to scrape to the bottom of the film to get something.

The movie wasn't an entire waste of my time, but it could have been so much better if who made it was actually interested in making a live action adaptation of Wotakoi instead of bending it with whatever musical idea they had and shoehorn it there for some reason. With this cast and this production value, the live action could have been really great. And, honestly, with some of these songs and performers, an entirely different movie musical could have also been really great.

But both together in the same thing? Nope.

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