Lovely★Complex

Love is unusual for Risa Koizumi and Atsushi Ootani, who are both striving to find their ideal partner in high school—172 cm tall Koizumi is much taller than the average girl, and Ootani is much shorter than the average guy at 156 cm. To add to their plights, their crushes fall in love with each other, leaving Koizumi and Ootani comically flustered and heartbroken. To make matters worse, they're even labeled as a comedy duo by their homeroom teacher due to their personalities and the stark difference in their heights, and their classmates even think of their arguments as sketches.

Lovely★Complex follows Koizumi and Ootani as they encourage each other in finding love and become close friends. Apart from their ridiculous antics, they soon find out an unexpected similarity in their music and fashion tastes. Maybe they possess a chemistry yet unknown, but could love ever bloom between the mismatched pair?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Koizumi, Risa Main

Okamura, Akemi Japanese

Ootani, Atsushi Main

Nagata, Akira Japanese

Ishihara, Nobuko Supporting

Higashi, Saori Japanese

Kotobuki, Seiko Supporting

Takimoto, Fujiko Japanese

Kohori, Kazuki Supporting

Shimowada, Hiroki Japanese

Nakao, Heikichi Supporting

Tokuyama, Yasuhiko Japanese

Umibouzu Supporting

Smokey, Tetsuni Japanese

Kuniumi, Maitake Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Fukagawa, Haruka Supporting

Onosaka, Masaya Japanese

Tanaka, Chiharu Supporting

Kojima, Kazuko Japanese

Seki, Hiromi Producer

Abe, Junko Producer

Uda, Kounosuke Director, Episode Director

Fukutomi, Hiroshi Episode Director

Reviews

Feb 4, 2025

Trillium_ovatum

Recommended

"Always leave them wanting more."

Lovely★Complex is almost great but it ends up being merely good because it couldn't adhere to this maxim.

There's a lot to love here! The conceit is well-executed! The art is great! The score is absolutely fantastic! The two main characters, Koizumi Risa and Ōtani Atsushi, are vulnerable and endearing and their respective seiyuu absolutely elevate this show from the rest of the romance pack!

I would be lying if I said this show didn't touch my heart more than once.

The problem is that it overstays its welcome by about six episodes. If released today, it really should be a ... tight 12 or 13 episode show but it instead continues to manipulate its audience back and forth before the curtain falls after 24 episodes. Even for its time, 18 episodes would have been perfect. This is partly due to all the annoying side characters getting involved and extending various plot contrivances. They added very little for me, especially the ones introduced later who serve only to stoke conflict and serve no other purpose.

It also bears mentioning that the show is transphobic in a really bizarre way: The two main characters treat the sole trans character well and she explains who she is in an incredibly cogent way -- especially for the time -- and then everybody else kind of sucks about it which makes me think the writers knew better but committed to the lazy and mean bit anyway.

I'd still say I recommend it overall despite its flaws because when it's on, it's really on. I got so giddy when OP1 would start up. It's just always a disappointment when a show is almost unforgettable.

As it stands (at 172cm), Lovely★Complex left me wanting less.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Trillium_ovatum (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Feb 11, 2025

MidniteAndBeyond

Mixed Feelings

That awkward moment when the "freakishly tall" character is almost a foot shorter than you...

This is one of those shows you can figure out if you're gonna like it or not just by watching the first episode. Just your typical rom com with a VERY overdone "will they or won't they" that's played out for 24 episodes when the outcome was so incredibly obvious that it all could've been done in just 1. While I definitely think the episode count could've been trimmed down, each episode is still incredibly fast-paced and jam-packed with various scenarios and set pieces; albeit very samey scenarios and set pieces. ... The visual gags were also a lot more over the top than I was expecting. Nothing "laugh out loud" funny, but I can see it being that for somebody else. There's also some, shall we say, very dated writing in it, just a friendly warning. The dub, which came out 20 years after the original show thankfully makes an attempt to fix some of these issues and make it more accessible to a modern audience. But if you'd rather just avoid the show altogether due to these stereotypes, I completely understand. In the end, it all just boils down to whether or not you enjoy romances that involve two people teasing, fighting, and insulting one another until they get together in the end, or couples that... actually like each other.

5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by MidniteAndBeyond (113)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Nov 25, 2023

BadGuyBoog

Not Recommended

Funny

This is another shoujo that I heard was pretty good, and even had great reviews on Letterboxd. But looking at it in hindsight it’s kinda… weird. Like in From Me To You, it was a romance between the least popular girl in school, the one everyone bullies, and the most popular guy in school. Ok, that’s something that girls can relate to and desire. Makes sense. Forbidden love, classic. But in this show it’s: “wait, those two people who get along perfectly well to the point that we have a pairing name for them fall in love!??!?!??!??! But, she’s tall and he’s short???? Impossible. Inconceivable. ... I can’t believe those two people who we always saw paired together could possibly be interested in each other romantically. This is the most surprising thing ever. Of all time.” Like, why is this seen as so weird? Why is it such a big deal that they can’t see each other romantically? It’s like “he only sees me as the second half of his comedy act”. Like what the fuck does that mean? Are you goddamn Penn and Teller??? You’re not fucking business partners in stand-up comedy, you’re two friends who play off each other well, who bicker and get into entertaining arguments. That sounds like the perfect couple pairing to me. So why is it so inconceivable that they fall in love? I just don’t get it. Anyways yeah it was pretty good. Besides that glaring flaw the drama was alright, I guess. Still cringe, yada yada. I kinda feel the same way about this one as I do about From Me To You, just with a lot less coherent plot.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by BadGuyBoog (75)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Animes que Precisam de Dublagem Br Pt.10

by Davi4cs

38 Entries · 2 Restacks

150 Animes with good female characters - Part 2

by TudoYas

50 Entries · 57 Restacks

romance watchlist

by peaceink

23 Entries · 2 Restacks

Q4 2023 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 11/17]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime and manga licensed in the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2023. Fall 2023 anime which were licensed before...read more

Sep 29, 2023 8:05 AM by Snow | Discuss (8 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Here are the North American Anime & Manga releases for March 2015. Week 1: March 3rd - 9th Anime Releases Chronicles of the Going Home Club Complete Series Blu-r...read more

Mar 3, 2015 6:49 PM by Snow | Discuss (20 comments)

	Poll: Lovely Complex Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) cyruz - Oct 11, 2007	222 replies	by FZREMAKE »» Mar 6, 3:17 PM
	Poll: Lovely Complex Episode 22 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Madonnalal - Sep 19, 2007	121 replies	by FZREMAKE »» Mar 6, 2:35 PM
	Poll: Lovely Complex Episode 19 Discussion ( 1 2 ) cyruz - Aug 20, 2007	96 replies	by FZREMAKE »» Mar 5, 1:44 PM
	Poll: Lovely Complex Episode 18 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Xinil - Aug 9, 2007	162 replies	by FZREMAKE »» Mar 5, 1:22 PM
	Poll: Lovely Complex Episode 17 Discussion ( 1 2 ) cyruz - Aug 6, 2007	63 replies	by FZREMAKE »» Mar 5, 1:00 PM

Top 15 Best Shoujo Anime of All Time

Shoujo is one of the most recognizable genres in anime world... but how much do you really know about it? Is it really just about high school romance aimed at young girls or perhaps there is more to it? Let's learn more and take a look at 15 most popular shoujo anime on MAL!

by FreeNightFalls

2,451,052 views

RecommendationCollectionAnalysisKawaiiLoveSchool Life

12 Best Romantic Comedy Anime of All Time

Great for a good laugh, a rainy day or cozying up to with a tub of ice cream; these are the top 12 romantic comedy anime of all time!

by animeChristian12

1,253,428 views

CollectionLove