Characters appearing in Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku. Beware of potential spoilers.
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Narumi Momose
- Voiced by: Arisa Date
The heroine, whose plan to hide her otaku interests from her new officemates backfired quickly when her childhood friend Hirotaka outs her. They later start dating. She is a fujoshi who also likes otome games and idols, and she writes and draws doujinshi both as a hobby and to make cash on the side at Comiket.
- A-Cup Angst: Hanako is stacked. Narumi is not (as an omake page wants to remind you). Hirotaka likes to bring up Narumi's lack of assets, a Berserk Button for her which causes her to throttle and swear at him. She even gets jealous of the busty figurines on Hirotaka's shelf, turning them to face the wall. One omake responding to a set of replies to fan suggestions for a scenario where Narumi gets bigger breasts has her calmly stack the replies in a pile, set them on a table, and then punch the replies and the table in half with just one fist, all while smiling.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Naru" to Hanako.
- Ambiguously Bi: Narumi definitely likes men—she's currently dating Hirotaka, has only ever had boyfriends in the past, and is a Yaoi Fangirl—but there are more than a few indications that she finds Hanako attractive, such as how she often privately notes to herself how big Hanako's breasts are and how she practically drools over Hanako's Hot Witch avatar in the RPG they play. She also sometimes talks about having "waifus" (a term usually used for fictional female characters), but it's never made clear what the genders of her "waifus" are.
- Babies Ever After: Gets married to Hirotaka and has a son with him.
- Childhood Friends: She and Hirotaka were elementary and middle school classmates. When they reconnect, it becomes a Childhood Friend Romance.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Downplayed; but Narumi never takes it well when she over hears other women call Hirotaka attractive. She and Kabakura also angrily shoot down Hirotaka and Hanako's joking suggestion of switching partners.
- Closet Geek: Before the beginning of the story, she hid her otaku interests from most people she knew and intended to do the same at her new job, especially since her previous boyfriend dumped her after finding out she was an otaku. Hirotaka outs her very quickly, however, and she later remarks how nice it is to be able to share her geeky interests with the other main characters.
- Color-Coded Characters: Pink. It's her hair color and it features in her outfits.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: She goofs up a lot when first starting her new job, such as making hundreds of bad copies, but she's no less adorable for it.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She wears a lot of pink, likes cute things and for the most part is pretty girly, but she tends to slip into harsher, more masculine speech when she's angry and is just as fond of shonen manga as she is of BL and otome games. This is best exemplified by her MMORPG character, who's an elf girl wearing frilly pink clothing; Kabakura assumes she must be a summoner, but she's actually an assassin since she wants her avatar to look cute but also likes having high attack and speed stats.
- Happily Married: After falling in love with Hirotaka and tying the knot, she is happy with him and gives birth to their son.
- Has a Type: Mentions that tall, scary-looking guys like Kabakura are usually more her type, but she gets with Hirotaka, who isn't like that at all.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: While she isn't related to Naoya, she's still very protective of him. When she thought someone made him cry, she was ready to inflict some pain.
- Oblivious to Love: Her profile states that even though she's had a lot of dating experience, she's oblivious whenever someone is in love with her. In fact, the underlying theme of her and Hirotaka's story is how she's becoming more aware that she's starting to take him more seriously as a romantic partner, and yet still hasn't fully realized how much Hirotaka truly loves her.
- Pink Means Feminine: She has pinkish hair and dresses in the color, corresponding with being the perky, friendly, girly protagonist.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Kind and friendly, if a bit harsh, with peach-colored hair.
- Still Believes in Santa: During the Christmas Episode she admits that she kept her belief in Santa well into middle school. Hirotaka (who outgrew Santa relatively early, in kindergarten) comments that it's in line with her sweet and naive personality.
- What Does She See in Him?: Inverted because Hirotaka is her nerdy childhood friend and isn't conventionally attractive, Narumi has a habit of underestimating how often other women may find him attractive. Hanako even exasperatedly tells her that he is catch.
- Yaoi Fangirl: Loves BL and makes cash on the side writing and drawing doujins. She explicitly refers to herself as a fujoshi more than once.
Hirotaka Nifuji
- Voiced by: Kent Itou
Narumi's childhood friend and new coworker, who becomes her boyfriend after a couple of after-work drinking sessions. Hirotaka is a stoic video game otaku; unlike her, he doesn't bother hiding his hobby.
- Aloof Archer: In the MMORPG the cast plays, Hirotaka's character is a cool-headed, high-leveled archer befitting his personality. Scenes where he's playing Monster Hunter in both the anime and the live-action film show him using the Wepwawet Bow as his weapon of choice as well.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Apparently makes for a pretty woman when persuaded to cosplay.
- Babies Ever After: Gets married to Narumi and has a son with her.
- Birds of a Feather: With Kou, whom he meets and instantly likes due to her being quiet, nerdy, and a skilled gamer like him. This is mentioned by Narumi as being unusual for Hirotaka, as he doesn't usually pay attention to people or remember their names.
- Blind Without 'Em: Hirotaka is so nearsighted that he can't see past his nose without glasses.
- Blue Is Calm: His Color Motif is blue, often wearing the color and having blue hair, and he has a calm, laidback personality, rarely emoting anything other than boredom, mild interest, and mild annoyance.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: A believer in this; his bishoujo figurines are all notably busty, much to the chagrin of the flat-chasted Narumi.
- Color-Coded Characters: Blue; his hair and eye color as well as his outfits are all blue.
- Forgets to Eat: Hirotaka sometimes gets so engrossed in gaming that he ignores hunger pangs completely, up to collapsing at times. When Narumi visits once, there's only bacon, leeks and some instant rice in his fridge, end even those were left by Naoya, who usually cooks something when he stays with his brother.
- The Gadfly: As much as he loves Narumi, he also can't resist poking fun at her.
- Gift Shake: Hirotaka's seen in a flashback jiggling the Christmas gifts his parents left in an obvious hiding place. His guesses are all video game related.
- Happily Married: Ties the knot with Narumi and even starting a family with her.
- Has a Type: Keeping up with the theme of the show, Hirotaka admits that his normal preference for women are the more mature looking ones with big boobs, just like Hanako. The irony that he's carried a torch for Narumi for so long despite that isn't lost on him.
- Hidden Depths: While his friends, including Narumi, think he only thinks about games, he's been haunted by his crush on Narumi for well over a decade.
- Indifferent Beauty: Women tend to consider him attractive In-Universe, but he's either oblivious or doesn't care at all.
- Insecure Love Interest: Has a habit of comparing his own intimacy with Narumi to how close Hanako and Tarou are. When he fears that he's not progressing quickly enough in their relationship, he tries to take preemptive measures.
- One Head Taller: To Narumi since they are a foot apart in height; side-by-side, she doesn't reach his shoulder.
- Proud to Be a Geek: Downplayed since he's rather stoic and doesn't loudly proclaim how much of an otaku he is, but he's still completely open about how much he loves video games. This puts him in contrast with the other three main characters (especially Narumi), who hide their otaku interests from everyone at work.
- Shipper on Deck: Downplayed, as it's not in Hirotaka's nature to matchmake or meddle in other people's lives, but he vocally likes Kou and supports her getting together with Naoya.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With his younger brother Naoya, being stoic, anti-social, and a hardcore gamer.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Despite being a Chick Magnet, Hirotaka only has feelings for Narumi. Hirotaka was jealous when she was dating another man before him but eventually, he got to be with her, and he was extremely happy especially after getting married to her and having a son together.
- The Stoic: Hirotaka hardly expresses himself and is often deadpan in his deliveries.
- Stoic Spectacles: An unflappable nerd with glasses, although he's more socially inept than usual examples.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: While he doesn't emote often, Hirotaka is a lot more emotional under the surface than he lets on.
- Understanding Boyfriend: He accepts Narumi's fujoshi nature without judgement, mans her yaoi doujinshi table at Comiket in her absence, and lets her take cosplay photos of him dressed as a girl without complaint.
- Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: Despite getting with Narumi years after he first starts crushing on her, she's his first and only steady. He never seemed to love anyone else nor date anyone else in between the years they knew each other and the day they reunite.
- When She Smiles: Hirotaka doesn't smile often, but when he does, it's adorable.
Hanako Koyanagi
- Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro
A senior at the office, and Tarou's longterm girlfriend. She quickly befriends Narumi after learning that the younger girl is a Yaoi Fangirl. Has a wide variety of otaku interests, but most visibly expresses it in her hobby of cosplaying handsome men.
- Affectionate Nickname "Hana" from Narumi.
- Ambiguously Bi: Similarly to Narumi, she's currently dating Kabakura and is an avid Yaoi Fangirl, but she also has a bit too much fun teasing Narumi and she says her first love was actress Yuki Amami
, who played male roles as part of the Takarazuka Revue for almost a decade. - Animal Motifs: Snakes. When Hanako is at her angriest, she's drawn with snake eyes, a long forked tongue, or both.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Her main hobby is cosplaying as male characters, and she looks very good when she does it, to the point that she has a sizeable amount of fangirls (including Narumi).
- Babies Ever After: Gets married to Haro and has a daughter with him.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She has an ample bust, which gets the attention of guys like Aiba and Baba.
- Can't Hold Her Liquor: Hanako is an incredible lightweight, and a couple of beers is enough for her to rant incoherently and stumble right and left. Hilarity often ensues.
- Color-Coded Characters: Green. It's her hair color and it shows up in her outfits.
- Cool Big Sis: To Narumi, despite their age difference being only a year or so — Hanako is a senior at the office and is noted for being confident and good at her job.
- Cosplay Otaku Girl: Her most visible otaku hobby is cosplaying male characters, and she's racked up a not-insignificant fanbase doing so.
- Happily Married: She finally ties the knot with Kabakura in volume 9, after getting engaged back in volume 7.
- Has a Type: Likes Prince Charming-type men and considers Hirotaka a good catch, but she's with Kabakura, who is rougher around the edges.
- High-School Sweethearts: She and Kabakura have been dating since they were in high school. The trope is fully realized after Kabakura proposes to her and they later get married.
- Insecure Love Interest: A drunken rant reveals that she is insecure about not being Kabakura's usual type and worries that he's only with her because it's convenient for him. He's quick to set her straight.
- Ms. Fanservice: Downplayed, but her more confident personality and curvier figure means she gets more fanservice scenes than Narumi.
- Suppressed Mammaries: In-Universe, she flattens her chest when cosplaying. Since she's very well-endowed and typically cosplays as male characters, it's a given that she'd have to do this in order to convincingly pull off her costumes. Narumi is shocked when Hanako first demonstrates it, demanding to know where her boobs went.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Koyanagi is a cosplay otaku who convincingly dresses as handsome young guys, so much so that it's nigh impossible to tell she's a woman aside from her voice while crossdressing.
- Yaoi Fangirl: To a lesser extent than Narumi, but she also indulges in BL and is not opposed in the slightest to Hirotaka posing suggestively with Tarou.
Tarou Kabakura
- Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita
A senior at the office and Hanako's longterm boyfriend. Mostly a manga and game otaku, although he's not as intense about it as the other main characters.
- Babies Ever After: Gets married to Hanako and has a daughter with her.
- Color-Coded Characters: Orange. It's the color of his hair and his outfits tend to be reddish/brown to compliment it.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Taro doesn't like anyone thinking of getting with his girlfriend (even though barely anyone knows they're in a relationship).
- Face of a Thug: He tends to have an frowny expression on his face and he breaks into anger veins when he's particularly ticked off. People think he usually has a very scary expression most of the time.
- Fiery Redhead: Brash and fairly quick to anger to go with his orange hair.
- Has a Type: According to Hanako, his actual type is sweeter girls like Narumi or Ranka Lee. However, he's dating Hanako, who is pretty far from said archetype.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Is a swordsman in the MMORPG the cast plays. Narumi lampshades that it fits his personality.
- High-School Sweethearts: He and Koyanagi have been dating since they were in high school. The trope is fully realized after he proposes to Koyanagi and they later get married.
- Mistaken for Romance: Upon first meeting Naoya, he and Hanako jump to the conclusion that Naoya and Narumi are exes. Later, he continues to think Naoya has romantic designs on Narumi until Naoya reveals himself to be a Shipper on Deck for Narumi and his brother.
- Tsundere: He's gruff and gets mad very easily, but he always means well and is quick to get embarrassed.
- Vibrant Orange: His Color Motif is orange (his hair color is orange and he often wears orange and brown in the anime) and he is brash with the shortest temper of the main group.
- Violently Protective Boyfriend: Though he doesn't of course ever hit anyone, it's safe to say that Kabakura has murder in his eyes when his co-workers start happily gossiping about Hanako's, em... attributes.
- When She Smiles: His Face of a Thug on a regular basis allows his smile to be disarming, especially towards Hanako.
Naoya Nifuji
- Voiced by: Yuki Kaji
Hirotaka's younger brother, who works at a coffee shop near the office. A genial university student who is notably not an otaku.
- Affectionate Nickname: His college friends and Narumi (who have all known him since he was little) call him "Nao-chan".
- Animal Motifs: Cats. He's often drawn with a Playful Cat Smile, his in-game avatar is a Cat Boy, and Kou wins a cat plushie for him at the arcade.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: As the only "square" in the group, he gets to look after his brother — such as cooking him something when the latter is deep in the game. He also ships his brother with Narumi whenever he can.
- Color-Coded Characters: Yellow. His hair is bleached blonde and he has a very sunny personality to go with it.
- Family Eye Resemblance: Since he dyed his hair, his family resemblance to Hirotaka is mostly in their similarly-drawn eyes.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: The most open and friendly member of the cast, with (dyed) blond hair. His purity scale ranks him as a 10.
- Naïve Newcomer: Not being an otaku himself, most of the slang and terminology the others use go over his head.
- Nice Guy: He never has anything mean to say and is almost always smiling.
- Perpetual Smiler: In contrast to his older brother who rarely smiles.
- Relationship Upgrade: He finally, properly confesses to Kou in chapter 77.
- Secret-Keeper: Being brothers with Hirotaka, he knows that his older brother's had a crush on Narumi since middle school. Not that he'd ever say anything about it, since Hirotaka forces him to clam up about that tidbit.
- Shipper on Deck: Breaks into Tears of Joy upon learning that Narumi and Hirotaka are dating, since he knows Hirotaka has been hung up on her for years.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With his older brother Hirotaka, being expressive, friendly, and a non-otaku who's terrible at video games.
Kou Sakuragi
- Voiced by: Aoi Yūki
A gamer otaku who goes to the same university as Naoya, she's very shy and reclusive. She initially reminds Naoya of his older brother, leading him to try and make friends with her.
- Animal Motifs: Rabbits, befitting her shy nature. Her avatar in-game has a pair of rabbit-like ribbons and she has a rabbit toy on her bed.
- Apologizes a Lot: Due to her Shrinking Violet personality, she tends to apologize often.
- Birds of a Feather: With Hirotaka. Kabakura thinks he and Kou are this when he sees her reading shoujo manga and assumes that Kou's a fellow male shoujo fan, unaware that Kou is a girl.
- Big Damn Heroes: It's her who rescues the group (sans Hirotaka) and heals them when they encounter a monster they can't beat in their video game. They (sans Naoya who knows the character's identity) think it's the older Nifuji because at that point they don't know who she is.
- Bookworm: Although her main hobby is gaming, in later chapters Kou is often shown reading novels, and also gets a job at a bookstore.
- Color-Coded Characters: Purple. It appears in several of her outfits, including that of her MMORPG avatar. As an amusing bonus, she also happens to be a Shrinking Violet.
- Friendless Background: Didn't make any close friends before university, due to her extreme shyness and anxious nature.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Combined with her short hair, unusually tall height for a girl, and lack of chest, Kou ends up naturally looking like a guy. Naoya is actually convinced that she's a guy for a while after he first meets her, until he realizes the truth when he sees her walking out of the women's restroom. She sometimes borders on being viewed as a Bifauxnen, as a background character comments on what a pretty "boy" Kou is, and Hanako is actually jealous of Kou's androgynous, cool appearance and encourages the younger woman to crossplay.
- Nervous Wreck: Kou is really uncomfortable when it comes to any kind of social situation, and overthinks her every perceived faux-pas to a paralyzing degree.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: After being taken under Hanako and Narumi's wing at the mall, Kou shows up to her movie date with Naoya in a more traditionally feminine outfit, and looks quite pretty.
- Shrinking Violet: Unlike the other otaku characters, she's very shy and anxious.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Despite her masculine looks and being an avid gamer, she admits that she prefers shoujo manga over shonen manga.
Other Characters
Aiba and Baba
- Voiced by: Taku Yashiro (Aiba), Takuma Terashima (Baba)
- All Men Are Perverts: If their admiration towards Hanako is anything to go by.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Blissfully unaware of Hanako and Kabakura's relationship, Aiba and Baba have an unfortunate habit of perving on Hanako to Kabakura's face, which safe to say he isn't too pleased about.
- Those Two Guys
Chiba
- Voiced by: Rika Nagae
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: While she initially thinks that Hanako and Narumi are a thing, one glimpse of Narumi interacting with Hirotaka brings her to the conclusion that Narumi is in an unhappy relationship with her boyfriend and pines for Hirotaka. Who is her boyfriend.
Kensuke and Yoshiki
- Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Kensuke), Kenji Akabane (Yoshiki)
- Affectionate Nickname: "Ken-chan" and "Yokkun" by Nao.
- Childhood Friends: They and Nao have been friends since elementary school.
- Shipper on Deck: Yoshiki ships Nao and Kou, and convinces Nao to take her to the movies one-on-one.
- Those Two Guys: They are seldom seen apart.
- Troll: Yokkun more than Ken, but they both knew all along that Kou was a girl; they decided to wait and see how long it would take for Nao to notice.
