Interview With Otaku Dating Pioneers and Mangaka Itsuka Yusa & Alpacako - How Dating Can Make You Creative!

Sure! AELLUNE is a website where otaku can get together to find their better half. You can look at other people's profiles and if someone looks interesting you can send them a message and get to know them little by little. 

There's a space on your profile you can use to write about your interests. What kind of otaku you are, what anime or manga you like... Starting from there, you can find someone with your same passions. 

It was really fun to use! I haven't had many relationships in the past, so when I started receiving messages from many different men I suddenly felt it was finally my time to shine! (lol) On their profiles I could see what their interests were, so I had an idea whether we could get along or not. Since I really wanted to find a partner soon, I was quite selective with my targets. 

When you receive too many messages it can get hard to concentrate on your work. However, if you both like the same things, it gets way easier and you don't have to worry about what to talk about. AELLUNE is much more efficient than other dating websites. From how much time and money you spend on your hobbies to what exactly you're expecting to share with an hypotetical marriage partner, there are many parts that make a lot of sense to otaku, hence it's easier to find exactly what you're looking for.

I am really into dolls and I would be perfectly happy with someone that simply accepts their presence in my house. However, there are doll lovers that absolutely want their partner to go with them to doll related events... That's a little bit too much for me.

I was lucky to find someone who understands my passion for BL (yaoi)! Although I ended up marrying a male BL (yaoi) fan. (lol) 

I think so, yes. The essence of an otaku is their passions, after all. If you can't support them, things might get difficult.

Exactly. We are both quite easygoing! I would rather say that having a common otaku background just increases the chances to have fun together, like at events!  

We basically like the same things, so we never had a fight. What in the beginning was just mutual understanding transformed into common hobbies and passions, and now we have even more to share.

Yes, I was drawing doujinshi all the time!

Ren'ai Suttobashi Kon is almost completely based on a true story. I thought: "My dating life can be turned into a comic!" and that's how it went.

Otaku Dake no Konkatsu Saito de Unmei no Hito wo Mitsukemashita comes from a true story, too. The various episodes in it come from my life experiences, that's what makes them so believable!

There was no such function when I was using it, but it sounds great! Between artists, it's easier to understand how schedules get packed just before some important events. 

I'm talking to you, creative guys out there: it's time to start posting your art! 

I think once you start living your everyday life together, things should feel really natural and not forced. You start guessing how much you're compatible from the frequency of the messages and from how much your potential partner understands about your passions. 

Otaku tend to care more about their hobbies than about relationships. However, if both parts in a couple are otaku, they'll be able to adapt to each other and bring on their hobbies and realtionship at the same time and at their own pace.

I'm planning to write about otaku dating in an even more detailed way from now on, so I would like if my comics were used as a 'manual' in the future!