Many students and other people have a bias against manga and comics seeing it as either not appropriate, weird or embarrassing. “Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku”, more commonly referred to as “Wotakoi” shows this relatable side to its characters in an hilarious comedy.

“Wotakoi” is a manga centered on characters Narumi and Hirotaka, and Hanako and Taro as they navigate their respective relationships and their obvious quirks. All characters have some sort of “geek” or “weeb” related interest such as manga, anime or video games.

I was able to personally relate to some of the characters, especially Narumi. She finds it hard to express her otaku side, otaku being a Japanese related word meaning obsessed with computers or something in pop culture. A lot of my interests may be considered weird, like liking manga or anime, and I had a hard time being able to find someone to relate with in that topic, and others may too.

The fact that this is a comedy and a really easy and fast read is what originally appealed to me. If you need a break from more serious YA literature, or want something you breeze through, then this “Wotakoi” is probably right for you.

This manga also has an anime and live action adaptation. I watched the anime first and decided that I liked it enough to buy and read the manga version. I prefer the anime myself but the manga has more story line and extras to it.

“Wotakoi” has probably reached the spot as one of my favorites.

The manga can be found online or at Barnes and Noble and the anime can be found on Prime Video.