Lovely Complex (Final Episode) – She’s So High Above Me…

Though it would not be called an atypical shojo love comedy by any stretch, one thing that Love-Com does well is make good use of it’s comedic effects while adding just enough drama. It did this well enough to keep my wife and I following the story rather religiously to the end. After a while, it became kind of a guilty pleasure. We both painfully and gleefully watched our favorite All Hanshin Kyoshin duke it out with their own hang ups, meddling friends, previous other and wannabe love interests, as well both of their tendency to be outright clueless. From the very beginning, it’s not hard to have a strong sense that the stars will most likely align to bring this vertically mismatched couple together in a state of harmonious dysfunction.

LoveConHansinLoveConUmibouzuLoveConWaterslideLoveConDrinkLoveConFightLoveConShock

Although they differ greatly in the height department, they are in fact as much alike as two people can get. This fact bonds them together as an inseparable duo when it comes to there favorite rock star Umibouzu, the Uber-slide at the water park and exotic mystery drinks at the cafe (as well as countless other activities that anyone else would have found weird or childish). Unfortunately though, their similarity also becomes one of their greatest points of contention as it often drives them to bicker back and forth like an old married couple. Not to mention the drama caused by the fact they both so clueless and stupid as to realize each others obvious feelings for each other at any given worst moment.

The season ending plays out very fittingly for this love comedy as the two reach their final hurdle, which is both touching and laughable. It is with a fair amount of comedic skill and ability to pluck and the romantic’s heart strings that the creators only slightly rush to wrap everything up in the final 25 minutes. After finally getting past most of the love hate drama, everything comes to a head when Otani’s household is mysteriously infected with nothing short of the bubonic plague just before his big college entrance exam. [spoiler] Even before all avenues of residence are exhausted, it becomes pretty obvious where Otani will end up staying the night as the “Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka” music starts playing in the back of your head. [/spoiler] The roller coaster ride that ensues is only befitting this hapless couple and serves to show exactly what kind of bonds they possess. The rest is up to your imagination, unless you watch it for yourself, of course.

Overall, I would give it two thumbs up, one for me and one for my significant other (who just so happens to be right around my same height).

Author: Jeremy

Jeremy was first introduced to anime with heavily edited versions of Mazinger Z (aka Tranzor Z in the US), GoLion (aka Voltron) and Macross (aka Robotech) while growing up in the 1980's. Since then his tastes have evolved into a fairly eclectic mix of anime with a soft-spot for underdog shonen stories, psychological/cyber-punk stories and select love comedies. Jeremy was also the head organizer of Anime Souffle anime club in Los Angeles. It was at an Anime Souffle meeting where he met Michael Huang and eventually was invited to join as a guest co-host for Scattered Cells Podcast episode #6 in February of 2007. Afterwards he became an official part of the Anime Diet crew.

5 thoughts on “Lovely Complex (Final Episode) – She’s So High Above Me…

  1. I watched until the end, enjoying it mainly because of Risa. Gangly, adorably spazzy, master of facial expressions, she is an utter delight and so far my favorite female anime character of the year. Otani doesn’t deserve her.

  2. I really liked about half of it. The rest was way too rushed and in a way wasn’t fair at all to Otani since it took 18 episodes for them to get together and it’s basically all her work throughout. The manga delves deeper and longer into the story and makes them a more believable couple. It’s enjoyable nonetheless.

  3. I liked Risa too and thought Otani was often taking her for granted through much of the series. However, I can’t say that Risa is without her faults in the relationship too. Remember the incident with Kohori and the Umibouzu concert?

    I think Otani’s character just proves a construct that to many “nice guys” don’t get. It is that if you are too nice and overly interested in a girl, generally speaking it won’t get you anywhere. For the most part, girls would rather have guys that are rather cocky and require some effort to get their attention. Remember it was the scoundrel Han Solo that got Leah, not the whiny nice guy Luke. Not to mention that Leah ended up being Luke’s sister, which ultimately didn’t help things much…

  4. I agree anne that the story could have been longer and have added more depth to their relationship. This no doubt added to a negative slant against Otani as well. However, this seems to be something that can only genuinely pulled off in manga form quite often. Unfortunately, I think that the odds of this kinda show getting more funding to continue on enough to cover the story to it’s fullest potential is rather low. Nonetheless, I’m just glad they gave it more closure then Nodame Cantabile or Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi ji Henge.

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