Romance · School

Love Com

Japanese manga series

Released: —
Platforms: —
Genres: Romance School Slice of life
Developers: —
Publishers: Margaret Comics
Country: Japan

About

Love Com (Japanese: ラブ★コン, Hepburn: Rabu★Kon; stylized as Love★Com, abbreviated for Lovely Complex) is a Japanese romantic comedy manga series written and illustrated by Aya Nakahara. It was published by Shueisha in Bessatsu Margaret from 2001 to 2007, with its chapters 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.

The story has been adapted as a live-action film released in 2006, a 24-episode anime television 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 film were licensed in North America by Viz Media. The anime series was later licensed by Discotek Media, who also re-licensed the live-action film.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

Love Com is a love story between a boy and girl in Sakai, Osaka. The girl, Risa Koizumi, is 172 centimetres (5 ft 8 in) tall—much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Ōtani, is 156 cm (5 ft 1 in)—way below the height of the average Japanese boy. Because of this, the pair are called the "All Hanshin Kyojin" after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference.

During summer break, a tall student named Ryouji Suzuki (from another class) shows up and Risa immediately falls for him because he 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. Their efforts fail spectacularly as Suzuki and the girl whom Ōtani had a crush on, Chiharu Tanaka, end up becoming a couple. All is not lost though, since Risa and Ōtani become close friends. As they get to know each other better, Risa's feelings for Atsushi begin to grow, and her love life gets complicated from there on.

Reception

Love Com won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōjo category. 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 film of Love Com was named by Young Adult Library Services Association as one of 16 films that are 2009 Fabulous Films for Young Adults on the theme of coming of age around the world.