I also like that romance isn’t always the focus and that the friendships between our main cast are also well developed. I really appreciate that the three primary relationships in Wotakoi are all in a different stage, Koyanagi and Kabakura with the solid, already established relationship, Narumi and Hirotaka with their relationship making the shift from friends to lovers, and Ko and Naoya, still very much in the friend stage. I appreciate that the second half of the volume shifted focus to Koyanagi and Kabakura, it was really great seeing how their relationship developed and how they have(n’t) changed. I initially wasn’t sure about the introduction of a new character, but Ko grew on me pretty quickly and her depiction of social anxiety felt very believable.

While I'd categorize Wotakoi as a romantic comedy, it isn’t a series that always makes me laugh out loud, but it never ceases to put a smile on my face and make me feel warm and happy. Wotakoi is exactly my favourite kind of romance manga as I love a story that focuses on the more innocent sides of romance, where we get to see the characters slowly start to develop romantic feelings for one another. I was really pleased with the overall outcome, and love seeing Narumi and Hirotaka's relationship gradually evolve. This type of organization had me constantly wanting to continue reading because I wanted to know how their date was progressing. On the first half of the volume, I think Fujita was very clever in the way she organized this volume, in that the storyline I was most invested in, Narumi and Hirotaka’s date, was made up of several chapters sprinkled throughout the volume. We also get flashbacks to the origins of Koyanagi and Kabakura’s relationship, and Naoya makes a new friend. In volume 2 of Wotakoi we get to follow along on Narumi and Hirotaka’s first “real” date, where the two have agreed that they won’t discuss otaku related things at all.

Love is hard for otaku 3