[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Lovely Complex: First Impressions
Every now and then I want to sit down with something different from what I normally watch. Lovely Complex fits the bill perfectly: slapstick comedy, a Jpop-laden musical score and styles of visuals and storytelling that have ’shoujo’ written all over them. No angst, no sci-fi, no complicated plotting; just playful, lightweight fun.
Kouizumi is a brash tomboy who’s taller than most girls. After an unfortunate incident at her graduation ceremony she winds up in summer catch-up class…along with Otani, a short guy who has always annoyed the hell out of her. Right from the off they are clearly the worst of enemies but at the same time best of friends as well! When Kouizumi confesses her love for another classmate to Otani they decide to work together to sort their respective love lives out. The thing is, their ‘comic duo’ reputation suggests that the two of them are more suited to each other than they’d ever dare admit…
My knowledge of shoujo romance is limited to say the least. The slow pacing of Bokura Ga Ita, compounded with a house move, meant that I never finished it; His and Her Circumstances on the other hand is one of the finest pieces of animation I’ve ever seen. I don’t think Lovely Complex can match the brilliance of Kare Kano but nevertheless I really enjoyed the opening episode and immediately got the general gist of what’s going on. The pastel shades and summery colours are very much in the shoujo vein, as is the idea of getting the premise set up very early on in the run - I don’t know how many episodes there will be but it ought to be just fine at twelve or thirteen.
This all makes for a show that feels as if you’re revisiting familiar territory, even if your experience with the genre is as thin on the ground as mine is. With this in mind, the thing that will keep me watching is likely to be the dynamic between Kouizumi and Otani - some of the puns in the name-calling that flew between them needed subbed notes but their antics had grinning and chuckling all the way through. As long as the wisecracking, platonic side of their relationship stays fresh and funny the rest is just coincidental; I don’t think Lovely Complex is going to try and surprise us, but it certainly delivers on the laughs.
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