Lovely Complex 12

I like this series quite a bit, but I can’t help comparing it to High School Debut, another no-frills high school romance with a steady main couple.  High School Debut is the one I prefer between the two, only because that one has slightly less comedy to break up its serious moments.  Not that the comedy in this one is bad.  It’s actually kind of cute, but I think I just prefer slightly less comedic series.

This series covers pretty much all the bases when it comes to what I like in (non-dramatic) high school romance, though.  The main couple is in a healthy relationship, neither one of the main characters lacks intelligence and/or common sense for plot and/or joke purposes, and the humor is more gag-style humor rather than comedic over-reaction (though it sometimes does fall into that trap).

Otani’s exam results are posted in this volume, and most of the first half is Risa stressing out about what Otani will do if he fails to get into the school he wants.  There’s a big search mission on at one point when nobody can find Otani and they fear he’s run away in shame, et cetera.  You know how that goes.  Risa has a really weird dream about him becoming a kappa at the beginning of this section, and the kappa fear is sort of reiterated a lot throughout the rest of the volume.

The second half is about a character who didn’t pass the exams, and everyone tries to console this person while they sort of get down on themselves about their self-worth.  The person’s family piles on the shame, too, and there’s a bit of a cliffhanger when their significant other gets angry about… well, this person’s self-esteem issues, basically.

And at the beginning of the volume, Risa and Otani go out on a date and discuss a little bit about Risa’s future.  It’s all pretty straightforward stuff, and it’s nice to see both of them so positive about everything.  Usually these types of stories have a lot more doom and gloom in them.

I also just like the way Risa and Otani work together as a couple.  I know that the series has its start comparing the two as a comedy team, but they really do laugh and joke around well, and it’s really cute when one lets their feelings for the other slip through.

It seems like a really fun series, but again, I’ve only read two volumes of it.  I’m still not entirely convinced I should go back and start at the beginning, but I think I’ll probably stick with it to the end.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.