Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku is no ordinary rom-com anime series. Due to the demographic of many anime fans, many romantic series are set in high schools (as are anime of other genres), but Wotakoi is set in the modern workplace instead, and this is no easy place for a dedicated otaku to work. Just ask Hirotaka Nifuji or his co-workers, such as Narumi and Hanako.
Hanako Koyanagi is part of the "otaku squad" in the office, and like her friends, she is juggling a double life where she's an ordinary office employee by day, and a passionate pop culture nerd by night. Hanako is a great friend, and anyone who gets to know her can't help but like her. What else should fans know about Hanako?
10 She Prefers Handmade Cosplay Costumes
Cosplay is a huge industry in real life, and fans around the world can dress up as their favorite anime or comic book heroes and really bring those characters to life. Hanako Koyanagi is a total cosplay enthusiast, but it won't do to just buy a costume off a rack.
Instead, Hanako takes great pride in making her costumes by hand, and she will visit tailor shops and fabric stores to gather all the raw materials beforehand. Then she uses her magic fingers to assemble unique costumes she can take pride in.
9 She Wants All Her Friends To Cosplay Too
Hanako isn't content to keep her hobby to herself. What's one costume compared to a whole team of cosplayers? Time after time, Hanako urges her friends, from Narumi to Hirotaka and Taro, to don some costumes and show off their good looks.
Narumi Momose was never the type to dress up in real life, but once she became friends with Hanako, it was time to dress up as the cutest anime and video game characters, all with Hanako acting as her cosplay coach.
8 She Makes Convincing Male Cosplays
Many real-life cosplayers have fun with crossplay, cosplaying as a character of the opposite sex or reimagining a character as the opposite sex. Often, female cosplayers will make gender-bent versions of popular characters, even the likes of All Might, and Hanako Koyanagi takes this one step further.
Hanako loves to cosplay as attractive male characters, and with the expert use of contact lenses, makeup, accessories, costumes, and even chest-flattening items, Hanako can cosplay as utterly convincing male characters who never fail to draw a crowd. Many girls think that Hanako's male characters are quite handsome.
7 Hanako Doesn't Fit Her Astrological Sign, Virgo
Hanako's birthday is August 28th, meaning she was born under Virgo, an earth sign of the western zodiac. Virgos are known for being patient, calm, and methodical, as a typical earth sign. But Hanako is rather different.
Instead, Hanako is highly expressive and gets riled up easily, often when her boyfriend (later fiancee) Taro Kabakura teases her, and she gets excited when she comes up with a new cosplay idea. Perhaps a fire sign would have expressed her better, as far as horoscopes are concerned.
6 Hanako & Alcohol Don't Mix
Some fictional characters can handle their booze better than others. Some people can inexplicably chug beer or mixed drinks and feel fine, while others are getting rowdy and make a scene after just a drink or two. The latter case describes Hanako.
The simple truth is that after just one decent mug of beer, Hanako flies right off the handle, and she'll blurt out all kinds of wild things or get carried away over the most trivial arguments. Her friends have learned to keep a careful eye on her when they go out to drinking establishments.
5 Hanako Likes To Jump-Start Other People's Love Lives
Hanako's relationship to Taro Kabakura is intense, but even so, Hanako finds the energy to invest in other people's love lives too, such as that of Hirotaka Nifuji, who is a bit of a tsundere (in a gentle way). Hanako once gave him a pep talk on matters of the heart.
Hanako didn't say anything especially profound, but she did speak from the heart, and she is confident that with a little nudge, Hirotaka and Narumi can really push their relationship to the next level. Hanako's simple but essential words earned her a heartfelt "thank you" from Hirotaka when they parted ways for the day.
4 She's Tough & Soft At The Same Time
Hanako isn't the type to let people just walk all over her. Much more so than Narumi, Hanako will stand up to anyone who insults her or mistreats her, and she will do the same on behalf of a friend. But there's more to her personality than that.
More than once, Hanako will get riled up and butt heads, usually with Taro, but she'll cool off as soon as the other party says sorry and offers a gesture of goodwill. Hanako has a short fuse, but she also forgives easily (within reason). That keeps her well-balanced.
3 She Bonded With Narumi Easily
When Narumi first met Hanako Koyanagi, she was downright intimidated, and she was careful to hide her otaku side (she loves BL fiction and drawing her own manga). But once Narumi sat down and talked to Hanako, they hit it off at lightspeed.
Good news: Hanako was a passionate otaku too, and she and Narumi bonded over that, and they had a "us vs the world that doesn't understand our passion" attitude together. Narumi felt relieved and empowered after getting to know Hanako, and there's no doubt that Hanako would do this for another otaku, too, if they ever met.
2 Hanako Isn't Enthusiastic About Sweets Or Cake
Many intimate details about the Wotakoi characters have been unveiled in the original manga (by FUJITA), and one of the hidden details about Hanako concerns desserts and sweets. Is she likely to order dessert when eating out with friends?
Just a little. Hanako enjoys bitter, dark chocolate (a healthy choice), but she's not terribly enthusiastic about cake or desserts, either. She'll try them if offered, but overall, her sweet tooth is a modest one.
1 She Bonded With Taro Over Volleyball
While Wotakoi is certainly not a dazzling sports anime/manga franchise, the characters have indulged in sports before. Back in her high school days, Hanako was the captain of a volleyball team, and Taro, who was one year ahead of her, led another, separate team.
This is how they first met, by arguing over who should borrow the court for practice and when. Hanako dared Taro to impress her and prove his worth, and he did so by demonstrating an incredible serve. Ever since, Hanako and Taro have been quite close, even if they left volleyball behind after graduation.