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Reviewed by Michael Aronson “Risa Koizumi is the tallest girl in class, and the last thing she wants is the humiliation of standing next to Atsushi Ôtani, the shortest guy. Fate and the whole school have other ideas, and the two find themselves cast as the unwilling stars of a bizarre romantic comedy. Rather than bow to the inevitable, Risa and Ôtani join forces to pursue their true objects of affection. But will their budding friendship become something more complex?” This is possibly the most modest high concept for a shojo series – or any comic series – I’ve ever come across, and yet it’s one we’ve all encountered at one point in our grade school days: the social awkwardness of the tallest girl or the shortest guy. How will they ever get dates? What member of the opposite sex can take them seriously as a potential love interest? With age comes maturity and acceptance, but face it: at 15, any deviation from the norm sticks out like a “kick me” sign. What follows in Love*Com (simply pronounced “Love Com,” short for “Lovely Complex”) is Risa’s reluctant partnership with Ôtani in overcoming their height challenges, though their efforts are only further sabotaged by their own dislike for each other. Their traded barbs and insults are pretty sharp and witty, and while I can’t tell whether the dialogue here is translated from the original script or an approximation in English of the Japanese intent, I salute the translator and editor’s discretion. The dialogue and character dynamics sustain the momentum of the book, and pretty clearly provide most of its thrust, because the plot seems to meander slightly behind. The plot takes no leaps or bounds to throw twists into Risa’s efforts but instead hangs back to allow every conversation to reach a pat conclusion. On one hand, we’re spared hokey unrealistic devices such as unlikely coincidences, magic, mysterious artifacts, long lost relatives and other shojo clichés, but as a result the plot is kept frustratingly simple and more than a little predictable. The art instantly reminded me of about half a dozen other manga artists and I’m genuinely surprised that this is the first book by Nakahara I’ve come across. Expect the relentlessly familiar in visuals. I’m not sure I like this series enough to want to see it through to its conclusion, but I admire its intent to keep things as grounded and plausible as possible. That way I’m more likely to swallow its predictability as it tries to mirror trends found in real life. Comment on this review of Love*Com v1 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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