Anime Profile: Lovely Complex

Lovely Complex (sometimes called Love?Com) is a story of an unlikely romance between Risa Koizumi, a very tall Japanese girl, and Otani Atsushi, a very short Japanese boy. Risa is self-conscious and loves gaming, while Otani is rather loud and a comedian.

Within the course of the anime, they appear to think they are friends, and even help each other try to get dates with crushes Chiharu Tanaka (Otani) and Ryoji Suzuki (Risa).

Yet, Risa falls in love with Otani on the way.... I won't spoil any more, but overall Lovely COmplex is very enjoyable!

High school love is not so kind for the All Hanshin Kyojin Koizumi Risa-who is taller than the average girl-and Ootani Atsushi-who's shorter than the average guy.

It all begins when Koizumi, Ootani, Nobuko, Rakao, Chiharu, and Suzuki all go swimming, thanks to Koizumi's brilliant idea to get Suzuki to like her, only to spend the entire time with Ootani. Thus, Chiharu and Suzuki make the second couple, with Nobuko and Rakao being the first. Skip a few episodes, and Koizumi starts to like Ootani when they go to an Omibouzo Christmas concert.

From there Koizumi puts all her heart into winning Ootani's, with obstacle after obstacle in her way. These include: a victim of childhood bullying that Koizumi defended who's till in love with her moves back to Osaka, Ootani's ex trying to win him back, and a homosexual transvestite who goes by the name of Seiko-chan whom gives Ootani his first kiss being the most hilarious. When she finally does tell him, he thinks she's making fun of him. It does take quite a few episodes for him to figure it out, after she puts it so blatantly, again. Turns out he just can't think of her as a girlfriend for being best friends for so long.

Skip ahead. Yeah, he can, so they start going out, but then College Exams are coming up and Ootani has to go to cram school, taking up all his free time. Koizumi wants to walk with him more often, so she gets a job as a waitress-a very clumsy one at that. Here she meets her haggy boss, and her friend Kohori. But he thinks of her as more than a friend. One day she stays at work late and falls asleep trying to memorize the menu. Kohori is just about to kiss her when she wakes up, and at the same moment-as luck would have it-Ootani shows up to walk her home only to find her cheating. She pleads and he gives her a second chance. She blows it when Kohori asks her as a friend to see the latest Omibouzo concert. Against her better judgement she goes, and once again is caught. Ootani dumps her, but she's persistant to win him back.

After all the hooplah, they end up together again, and it's the day before exams. Everyone in Ootani's house has the flu, so he's kicked out of his home, and none of his friend's will take him in. He ends up going to Koizumi's, where he meets her extremely tall-and nutty-family. That night it snows and they're all locked in, but Koizumi won't let him give up on his dream to become an elementary school gym teacher. She bike-rides him to the nearest subway, and he goes, and takes the test, and PASSES! YAY! She fells bad because she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. On the way to celebrate, they come along their model friend Mimi during a photo shoot. The photographer demands she be a model for a bit, and she reluctantly agrees. While she is amazingly cute, she is stiff in front of the camera, but she meets the stylist, and she finally realises her call in life. SHE'S GOING TO BE A STYLIST!

It all ends with the cutest kiss scene ever, they're in the park walking on stairs and he asks her to turn around and he kisses her. Cute why? Because that's the one time he's taller than her!