Festivals - Fantasia 2020 : Wotakoi : love is hard for Otaku, North American Premiere on August 28th

By Mulder, 16 august 2020

After wowing Fantasia audiences with several landmark works, including HK: Forbidden supr hero and HK2: The abnormal crisis (which can be found in the Fantasia 2020 classics section), director and screenwriter Yuichi Fukuda returns with the superb musical/romantic comedy Wotakoi: love is hard for Otaku, adapted from Fujita's hugely popular web comic. The man behind the diptych Gintama surpasses himself here by delivering an extremely funny and delightful work where musical numbers ranging from J-pop to jazz, perfectly adapted to the story, have nothing to envy to the success of Fantasia 2019 Dance with me. The sparkling performance by Mitsuki Takahata, who plays the voice of the cat Nana in The traveling cat chronicles (also available at Fantasia this year), and the impassive performance by Kento Yamazaki (Jojo'S Bizarre Adventure, Kingdom) are simply phenomenal.

Synopsis :
The term “otaku” is often dubiously associated with antisocial behaviour, attached to an almost pathological obsession with popular culture. It’s for this reason that Narumi is keen to hide her visceral enthusiasm for anime, and especially yaoi manga, in which heterosexual men share moments of burning passion. However, her childhood friend Hirotaka, himself a video-game otaku, works in the same company and knows all about Narumi’s passions. Although she initially shuns him, they reconnect over a few games of Mario Kart and vow never to reveal their secret. As they spend time together, Hirotaka falls in love with Narumi, but she, out of fear of the gaze of another, has no intention of falling in love with another otaku.

Wotakoi : love is hard for Otaku
Written and Directed by Yuichi Fukuda
Produced by Hiroki Wakamatsu
Starring Mitsuki Takahata, Kento Yamazaki, Nanao, Takumi Saito
Music by Shiro Sagisu
Cinematography : Tetsuya Kudô
Release date : February 7 2020 (Japan)
Running time : 114mns

(Source : Fantasia 2020 official website)