Otakus in Love

Suzuki Matsuo’s strikingly droll ‘Otakus in Love’ is about two young Manga fanatics who bump into each other on an empty street and then gradually fall in love. The pair’s will-they-won’t-they courtship serves as a backdrop to the sprawling Manga culture that dominates much of Japan as they take in Manga bars, Anime sing-a-longs and dress up as prominent computer game characters. ‘Otakus…’ is a screwball romance which is so in tune with the Manga “scene”, it achieves an almost documentary-like instructiveness. It’s also a film which shares the profound respect for the Manga/Anime form as its two fanatical and mawkishly endearing lead characters.