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Kaito Suzuki, the editor-in-chief of Fujita’s Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku manga has said that the series may not have achieved its breakout success if it had debuted in a traditional shojo manga magazine. Suzuki made this claim during a recent interview with Comic Natalie alongside series author.
According to Suzuki, Wotakoi’s themes and character presentation were considered too unconventional for mainstream print magazines at the time, and that its online growth was key to its popularity.
He explained that the female lead Momose Narumi’s exaggerated facial expressions and sharp-tongued moments were unusual for shojo heroines at the time. Those traits, now considered part of her appeal, were seen as too “edgy” for the print-first editorial standards of the era. The web format, on the other hand, allowed the story to develop without those constraints.
While Suzuki firmly believed Wotakoi had the charm and quality to become a hit, he noted that a conventional shojo magazine might not have approved it.
The author, too, echoed this sentiment and believed that the flexibility of Comic Pool, a newly launched web magazine when Wotakoi began, played a significant role in shaping the series.
She recalled submitting a manuscript in the morning and seeing it published the next day, something she emphasized would have been impossible in a print workflow.
Suzuki added that pixiv’s editorial team also pushed themselves to support the series during that period, even operating on schedules they would not attempt today.
Suzuki Reveals What Made Wotakoi Standout:
Suzuki first came across Wotakoi on pixiv and said he was struck by how polished it was compared to other user-generated works gaining traction on pixiv and X. Many posts relied on fast, punchline-driven humor, but Suzuki felt Wotakoi had both strong comedic timing and artwork that already looked ready for publication.
He emailed Fujita immediately, though she did not respond at first due to receiving numerous offers after ranking on pixiv. When she was trying to decide which publisher to choose, Suzuki sent a second email promising that they could print 20,000 copies if she worked with them.
Fujita said the number surprised her. At the time, 8,000 copies was considered strong for a debut volume, and 10,000 was exceptional.
The promise of 20,000 became the deciding factor, even though Suzuki admitted he had not yet gotten the number approved internally. He said he believed the series’ potential justified the commitment, based on his experience with successful web-origin titles.
When plans for publication moved forward, internal discussions within the company continued, but Suzuki said the project gained strong support from his supervisor, who advocated directly to the company president.
As a result, the debut volume’s initial print run exceeded even Suzuki’s expectations, rising from the promised 20,000 copies to approximately 90,000.
He credited the backing of the entire company and department for making it possible.
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, first posted on Pixiv in April 2014, began serializing on Comic Pool, a joint digital manga platform operated by Ichijinsha and Pixiv, on Nov 6, 2015, where it continued until July 16, 2021.
Ichijinsha started releasing the manga in print, with the first tankobon volume published on April 30, 2015. In total, the publisher released eleven tankobon volumes, with the final volume arriving on Oct 14, 2021.
In North America, the manga has been licensed for English release by Kodansha USA.
The series received an anime television adaptation by A-1 Pictures, which aired on Fuji TV’s Noitamina block from April to June 2018. A live-action film adaptation later premiered in February 2020.
Source: Comic Natalie
