I blogged about Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku back when it aired in Spring 2018. I’m not as fond of it nowadays (and I did rewatch it recently) but it’s still a fun romcom anime with a charming cast and a fair share of solid jokes. After the finale, the show received three additional OVA episodes over the next couple of years. To my embarrassment, I’m long overdue to covering them. Aside from being busy with life and prioritizing on other backlogged anime, I must admit that I also kept forgetting these episodes came out. It’s not officially available in the U.S. and I don’t actively check for fansubs so these episodes slipped my mind. Really, when I listed these in the to-do list part of my announcement posts, I was reminding myself that these episodes exist.
This first OVA, released in 2019, doesn’t really advance the story. Here, Koyanagi (Miyuki Sawashiro) tells Narumi (Arisa Date) and Hirotaka (Kent Itō) about how she and Kabakura (Tomokazu Sugita) hooked up. The two of them were volleyball team captains at their high school and clashed over space in the gym. Being a third-year, Kabakura claims ownership of the gym for the boys’ team but Koyanagi blackmails him into giving some time to practice by threatening to share a picture of him checking out some anime merchandise. Kabakura does get the opportunity to play an Uno reverse card when Koyanagi asks him to teach him some volleyball tricks and he demands to have the photo of him deleted. To Koyanagi’s relief however, that’s all he asks and the girls’ team is still allowed to practice. The two gradually begin to bond as Kabakura gives Koyanagi some pointers.
Technically, Wotakoi already divulged the general backstory for its secondary couple, mainly that they met back in high school and were volleyball team captains who fought over the gym. Broadly speaking, this OVA doesn’t reveal anything new to the viewer. That said, I still enjoyed seeing the beginnings of this romance. These two always bicker like an old married couple so watching the early days would be interesting no matter what. The blackmailing is a bit scummy of Koyanagi but it is unfair for her team to get the short end of the stick. Plus, she’s blackmailing with the pettiest thing ever so really, Kabakura has it coming. Honestly, it’s kind of fitting that this is how it all starts. The two argue all the time so of course it would begin with something so toxic. It is a little odd that Kabakura doesn’t try to reclaim the gym when he gains the advantage but that does befit his character. The dude can be a bit intimidating but he is a nicer guy than one would assume.
I particularly like the part where Kabakura admits that he imagines his favorite anime theme song to amp himself up when performing a jump shot. It’s a pretty silly secret but the fact that Kabakura divulges it to Koyanagi and only her explains why the two ultimately hook up. For all their bickering, the two open up to each other and that draws them to each other. Also cute is finding out that Koyanagi still has the picture she used to blackmail Kabakura. When you think about it, that photo is what led to the couple to start dating each other so it makes complete sense that Koyanagi has held onto it as a memento. Plus, it’s pretty funny that Kabakura never bothered to check if the photo was deleted; he just took his now girlfriend’s word for it.
There are a couple of missed opportunities here. Towards the end of the flashbacks, the boys’ volleyball team loses a key game and they fail to advance in the championship. Koyanagi consoling Kabakura over it is nice but I am disappointed that you don’t see the girls’ team play after that. It would’ve been cool if Koyanagi scored her a team victory using the tricks her future boyfriend taught her. I also question the big confession scene after that. The thing about this moment is that neither Koyanagi nor Kabakura can get the story straight and they completely disagree over who confessed first and who hugged who. Since Koyanagi is the narrator however, we see Kabakura hug her. We could still believe Kabakura’s version and assume that Koyanagi is an unreliable narrator but the ambiguity would be stronger if the episode actually presented the moment as ambiguous. I think this episode is pretty sweet overall but I do think it could’ve been even better.
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