Love Com

Love★Com (ラブ★コン), also known as Lovely Complex, is a romantic comedy shōjo manga by Aya Nakahara. It was published by Shueisha in Bessatsu Margaret from 2001 to 2006 and collected in 17 tankōbon volumes. The series is about the romance between a tall girl and a short boy who are treated as a comedy duo by their classmates. In 2004, it received the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo.

The story has been adapted as a live-action movie released in 2006, a 24-episode television anime series broadcast in 2007, and an adventure game released for PlayStation 2 released in 2006. Two drama CDs have also been produced. The manga and the live-action movie are licensed in North America by Viz.

A sequel series called Love★Com D (or Lovely Complex Deluxe) began serialization in the May 2009 issue of the bimonthly shōjo manga magazine Deluxe Margaret, focusing on Risa's younger brother.

Plot
Love★Com is a love story between a boy and a girl. The girl, Risa Koizumi, is 172 cm tall—much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Ōtani, is 156 cm—way below the height of the average Japanese boy. Because of this, they are called the "All Hanshin Kyojin" after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference.

During summer school, a very tall student named Ryouji Suzuki (from another class) shows up and Risa immediately falls for him, as she has had bad luck with boys in the past because she is tall. There is a girl that Atsushi likes as well, so Risa and Atsushi decide to put aside their differences and help each other get their love interests. But as they get to know each other better, Risa's feelings for Atsushi begin to blossom, and her love life gets complicated from there.

One notable fact about Love★Com is that instead of speaking standard Japanese, almost all characters speak in Kansai-ben (the story takes place in Osaka). While having one or two characters speaking Kansai-ben is common in many anime shows, having all characters doing so is unusual in media produced for a nationwide audience.

Characters

 * Risa Koizumi (小泉リサ i)
 * Drama role by: Ema Fujisawa,
 * The protagonist, Risa Koizumi is not your average Japanese high school student. Standing 172 cm, Risa's height is well above that of most Japanese girls her age (the average height for a female is 160 cm) Ironically, her surname means 'little spring'. She and other characters compare her to a giraffe. Risa can be impulsive and strong-willed at times, and is rarely willing to display her softer side. She had a crush on Suzuki before he started dating Chiharu. In the beginning of the series, Risa is 170 cm but she gains 2 cm in height to become 172 cm.


 * Risa starts developing feelings for Ōtani and soon admits to herself that she likes him. She then starts trying to confess. Failing the first time, Nobuko and Nakao try to help, Nobuko often giving Risa advice on what to do. Finally she very directly tells him. She immediately regrets it, and tells Ōtani to pretend it never happened, but in spite of herself she tells Ōtani once again that she likes him. Ōtani responds that he couldn't see her as a girlfriend yet, so her new goal is to make Ōtani regret that and make him like her as well. Eventually they start going out.


 * Atsushi Ōtani (大谷敦士)
 * Drama role by: Teppei Koike,, Voice actor for game/drama CD: Takahiro Sakurai
 * Atsushi Ōtani is one of the main characters. He is very short for a boy, standing 156 cm. The average height for a male in Japan is 171 cm. Like Koizumi, Ōtani's surname (roughly, "big valley") is a pun on his diminutive stature, and he can be thoughtless and rude; at heart, however, he is kind and a little silly. Ōtani is also the star player of the school basketball team.


 * His ex-girlfriend is Mayu Kanzaki, the manager of his middle-school basketball team. She broke up with him for a much taller boyfriend, and this is one of the reasons Ōtani is sensitive about his height, but he later finds out that wasn't the reason she broke up with him, it was because she was in love with someone else already who just happened to be tall. He doesn't know quite yet how he feels about Risa, and only responds that he can't see her as a girlfriend (at the moment) when Risa confesses her feelings. But later, he realizes that he does care for her, and he kisses her. Later on in the series, Ōtani gets the wrong idea when Risa keep doing suspicious things with her co-worker Kohori, and then breaks up with her. However, after seeing how devoted she is to him, Ōtani reconsiders and they make up on Christmas Eve.


 * Nobuko Ishihara (石原信子)
 * Drama role by: Nami Tamaki,
 * Fashionable and charming, Nobu is Risa's best friend. She is generally wiser than Risa or Chiharu in the ways of love, and is always ready to offer her advice. She's mostly the one who sets up all the 'alone time' moments with Risa and Ōtani, but it usually ends up failing and Risa goes back to her for comfort. She's utterly in love with her boyfriend, Nakao, and is always calling him her 'honey', 'darling', and 'baby'.


 * Heikichi Nakao (中尾平吉)
 * Drama role by: Yusuke Yamazaki,, Voice actor for game/drama CD: Kenjiro Tsuda
 * Nobu's boyfriend and Ōtani's best friend. Considerate, sensitive, mild-mannered and easygoing. Nakao is absolutely dedicated to Nobu, and when he is not playing basketball with Ōtani, he can usually be found helping with her match-making schemes.


 * Chiharu Tanaka (田中千春)
 * Drama role by: Risa Kudo,
 * One of Risa's closest friends, Chiharu has such a shy, demure personality that she fears most boys her own age. Ōtani once harbored a crush on her (she resembles Kanzaki, his ex-girlfriend, or vice-versa), but Chiharu instead fell for the gentle Suzuki.  The two are now a couple. When everybody starts making college plans, Suzuki and Chiharu applied for the same college, but Suzuki got rejected. He sadly tells Chiharu somebody else would be able to protect her. For the first time, Chiharu breaks out of her shy character and violently lifts up a desk and throws at him (narrowly missing), frustrated that Suzuki thinks he can be replaced. They later make up and Suzuki promises to join Chiharu in her new school the next year.


 * Ryoji Suzuki (鈴木涼二)
 * Drama role by: Hiro Mizushima,, Voice actor for game/drama CD: Masaya Onosaka
 * Chiharu's boyfriend. Suzuki's cool demeanor is often mistaken for standoffishness, and so he has few friends.  Oblivious to Risa's crush on him, he develops feelings for Chiharu, and eventually asks her out. Like Chiharu, Suzuki is shy and easily embarrassed. When failed to get into the same university as Chiharu, he promises to try again the year after.


 * Haruka Fukagawa (深川遥)
 * , Voice actor for game/drama CD: Ryotaro Okiayu
 * A handsome, effeminate young man who developed a childhood crush on Risa when she defended him from a gang of bullies. Though he is popular with many of the other girls (dating seven at a time), he says it's all preparation for when he goes out with Risa, but she always rejects him. According to Risa his grandmother is English. It is also suggested that he might have a crush on Seiko.


 * Mayu Kanzaki
 * She is the ex-girlfriend of Ōtani. She and Chiharu look very similar, which is one the most likely reasons that Ōtani had that crush on Chiharu. They started dating in middle-school, and she was the manager for the school basketball team. She broke up with him, leaving him completely heartbroken, because she was in love with someone else who was tall, causing his inferiority complex.
 * She invited Ōtani to the team Christmas party, and though Ōtani accepts, he ends up going with Risa to the Umibōzu concert instead. She then visited Ōtani's school to see him, but encountered Risa and Nobu. Risa is convinced that Ōtani is still in love with her, so she goes to clear up a misunderstanding. It is then that Mayu tells him that it was not because of his height that she broke up with him. However, she appears again later, after having broken up with her boyfriend. When she asks to meet up with again, he says "Sorry, I can't because if I do there'll be an idiot who'll cry."
 * She invited Ōtani to the team Christmas party, and though Ōtani accepts, he ends up going with Risa to the Umibōzu concert instead. She then visited Ōtani's school to see him, but encountered Risa and Nobu. Risa is convinced that Ōtani is still in love with her, so she goes to clear up a misunderstanding. It is then that Mayu tells him that it was not because of his height that she broke up with him. However, she appears again later, after having broken up with her boyfriend. When she asks to meet up with again, he says "Sorry, I can't because if I do there'll be an idiot who'll cry."


 * Umibozu
 * Drama role by: Susumu Terajima
 * A popular rapper that both Risa and Ōtani are avid fans of, leading to Nobu's suggestion that the two are compatible. Risa and Ōtani accidentally cross paths with Umibōzu while on a class trip, and learn that he is actually a devoted family man, with a wife and son with a similar story of how they became a couple. He is named after the mythological creature Umibōzu due to his bald head.


 * Kuniumi Maitake (舞竹国海)
 * Drama role by: Shosuke Tanihara,
 * Student teacher at Risa and Ōtani's school. Maitake, who prefers the nickname "Maity" or "Mighty", is taller than Risa and extraordinarily good-looking. He bears a resemblance to "Cain-sama", a character in one of Risa's favorite visual novels, and soon acquires a legion of female fans. Gaining affection from Risa, Ōtani soon becomes jealous and quickly starts to realize his feelings for her. It is later revealed he has a fiance - much to the disappointment of his fan club - and that he is Haruka's cousin.


 * Mimi Yoshioka
 * Ōtani's next door neighbor. She is in love with Ōtani and brings him milk every day in hopes that he would one day grow taller. She is about the same height as Risa. Mimi harbors a burning hatred and jealousy for Risa because (despite her having the same height issue as Mimi) she had successfully won Ōtani's heart. She comically switches between her alter egos, acting sweet towards Ōtani, yet sour to Risa behind his back.
 * Ōtani's next door neighbor. She is in love with Ōtani and brings him milk every day in hopes that he would one day grow taller. She is about the same height as Risa. Mimi harbors a burning hatred and jealousy for Risa because (despite her having the same height issue as Mimi) she had successfully won Ōtani's heart. She comically switches between her alter egos, acting sweet towards Ōtani, yet sour to Risa behind his back.


 * Risa's senpai
 * Drama role by: Shugo Oshinari


 * Dancing Yoshiko
 * Drama role by: Eiji Wentz


 * Kohori Kazuki
 * A young student who works part time with Risa in Ikebe. He is notably shorter than her, although slightly taller than Ōtani (158 cm.), and has distinctive black hair with a red streak. Risa soon discovers that he is also an avid Umibouzu fan. He very soon develops feelings for Risa, who admits to herself that she finds him 'cute'. Against her better judgment, Risa attends an Umibōzu concert with Kohori which leads to complications in her relationship with Ōtani. He even proclaims his love for Risa, which causes Ōtani to give him a right hook. Around chapter 60 in the manga, Risa's classmate Abe is shown to have a crush on Kohori.
 * A young student who works part time with Risa in Ikebe. He is notably shorter than her, although slightly taller than Ōtani (158 cm.), and has distinctive black hair with a red streak. Risa soon discovers that he is also an avid Umibouzu fan. He very soon develops feelings for Risa, who admits to herself that she finds him 'cute'. Against her better judgment, Risa attends an Umibōzu concert with Kohori which leads to complications in her relationship with Ōtani. He even proclaims his love for Risa, which causes Ōtani to give him a right hook. Around chapter 60 in the manga, Risa's classmate Abe is shown to have a crush on Kohori.


 * Seiko Kotobuki (寿聖子)
 * A blonde who has a large crush on Ōtani. She is transgendered and biologically a male, stating that God placed her in a wrong body. Prefers to be called Seiko instead of Seishiro (birth name) because it sounds more feminine. She kissed Ōtani, when tending to his injury in the school infirmary. Ōtani was shocked when he found out Seiko's sex, but still chooses to be her friend.
 * A blonde who has a large crush on Ōtani. She is transgendered and biologically a male, stating that God placed her in a wrong body. Prefers to be called Seiko instead of Seishiro (birth name) because it sounds more feminine. She kissed Ōtani, when tending to his injury in the school infirmary. Ōtani was shocked when he found out Seiko's sex, but still chooses to be her friend.


 * Matsubara-san (松原さん)
 * The manager in charge at the restaurant where Risa works. She wears glasses and is quite nosy. When she is intoxicated, she turns wild, and does things that she won't remember the next day.

Creation and development
According to the afterward of volume 6, Ōtani ("big valley") was going to be named Nakatani ("middle valley"), but Aya Nakahara changed her mind because naka was "too middlin'."

Manga
The manga was written and illustrated by Aya Nakahara. It was initially serialized in Japan by Shueisha in the shōjo (aimed at teenage girls) manga magazine Bessatsu Margaret from September 2001 to December 2006. The untitled chapters were collected in 17 tankōbon volumes. The manga is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media, with 16 volumes published as of January 2010. The Viz edition is licensed for distribution in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment, which released volume one in May 2008. The series is also licensed in France by Delcourt, in Italy by Planet Manga, in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini, in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing, and in Vietnam by TVM Comics.

Movie
Love★Com was adapted as a live-action movie directed by Kitaji Ishikawa with screenplay by Osamu Suzuki. It starred Ema Fujisawa as Risa Koizumi and Teppei Koike as Atsushi Ōtani. It was released in theaters on 2006-07-15, and on DVD on 2007-01-01. A subtitled DVD was released in English in North America by Viz Media on 2008-02-19.

Anime
The television anime was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Konosuke Uda, with music by Hironosuke Sato and character designs by Hideaki Maniwa. The opening theme songs were "Kimi + Boku &#0061; Love?" (キミ+ボク&#0061;LOVE?) by Tegomass (episodes 1–13) and "Hey! Say!" by Hey! Say! 7 (episodes 14–24); the ending themes were "Kiss ~ Kaerimichi no Love Song~" (キッス〜帰り道のラブソング) by Tegomass (episodes 1–13) and "Bon Bon" by Hey! Say! 7 (episodes 14–24). It was broadcast on TBS, CBC, and MBS from 7 April 2007 to 29 September 2007.

The Italian distributor Dynit licensed the anime for a DVD release.

Reception
Love★Com received the 2004 Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga. The French edition was named the second best new manga of 2007 by the magazine AnimeLand.

The English edition of Love★Com has been favorably reviewed, with praise especially for Nakahara's comedic timing, sympathetic characters, and deft depictions of emotions. A reviewer at Anime News Network praised it as "the standard by which all other modern romantic comedies should be measured" for its handling of the range of its characters' emotions. The first volume was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as among the best graphic novels for teens for 2007.

The live-action movie of Love★Com was named by Young Adult Library Services Association as one of 16 movies that are 2009 Fabulous Films for Young Adults on the theme of coming of age around the world.