Lovely Complex

Lovely Complex is an anime based on the manga created by Aya Nakahara consisting of 24 episodes that aired back in 2007. What starts out as a love competition between Atsushi Otani and Risa Koizumi, who have a height of 156 cm and 172 cm respectively, turns into mutual love for one another despite the height complex both of them suffer. Of course, as with any potential relationship, there are misunderstandings, jealousy, and other drama that come up during the series. The notable aspect of this anime is the humor, shown best by the dialog and chemistry between the characters, and the hilarious yet sometimes grotesque facial expressions which brings out the emotion of the protagonists in a unique way. For anyone who wants to experience a quirky shoujo series, Lovely Complex is a must. For more reviews, Google will be your friend. Youtube has all of the episodes subbed. For the lazy, here’s the link to the first episode:

The lively opening gives a good feel for what the anime is going to be like. All of the main characters are introduced and various scenes flash through. There’s a point where the camera zooms into a manhole cover that displays a lighthouse (00:20). As it turns out, it’s a landmark of Sakai, a city in the Osaka prefecture.

Figure 1. The left picture appears in the OP while the right is a real cover that is displayed in the sidewalks of Sakai.

The two images in Fig. 1 are essentially identical and confirms of the main setting of the series. The Western-style lighthouse was built in 1877 during the Meiji era and was used to navigate foreign ships around the port [1]. An English architect known as Biggleston was responsible for the design and was funded by citizens who were currently living in Sakai at the time. This was an important era for Japan culturally for it was a time when Japan finally opened its doors to other countries and would signal an end of feudal isolationism and the beginning of modern Japan as we know it today.

If you watch the ending from season 1, you will find that there are numerous pictures of the Osaka region, including the sign for Xavier Park, previously known as Ebisu Park, a place commemorating the arrival of Francisco Xavier more than 400 years before. You will also see another picture of the Old Lighthouse and the mascot for the IAAF World Championships (more on this below).

Figure 2. The first one has the Old Lighthouse displayed on a plaque, second is the mascot for the 2007 IAAF World Championships, and the third is a sign for Xavier Park.

The setting fits perfectly well with the voice acting that comes with it. Interestingly, this is one of the very few animes that uses voice actors who are all of Kansai-bent. This can easily identified from the first episode where their way of saying “What the heck” is different than how most Japanese speakers would approach it. In addition, “aho/ahoka” is used in place of “baka” – both meaning idiot. Apparently people from the Kansai region take much more of an insult from being called a “baka” than Tokyo speakers. However, most people do not seem to mind being called “aho/ahoka”, which is used more often to call someone “silly” or a “twit” [2]. It makes sense that Toei Animation Studio probably intentionally picked people from the Kansai region to do all of the voice acting since that’s the setting. The dialect itself is actually quite pleasing to hear, yet distracting if it’s too pleasing or annoying at times. After watching the anime a few times, the characters seem to be alive because of this unique dialect. Or maybe the voice acting is just too good…ha!

Now that the setting’s established, let’s move onto the characters for a little bit. Risa Koizumi is already shown sleeping during the end-of-term ceremony while Atsushi Otani is having trouble even reaching for a box on top of a closet. They throw insults at each other and annoy each other like crazy. The teacher labels them as All-Hanshin-Kyojin, a comedic duo in Japan. Unfortunately, not too much information that I can understand is out there and if you Google the name, most of the pictures and articles will be about Koizumi and Otani, which is not helpful. There are many videos that show their act on Youtube, but seeing that they are not translated has not been helpful. Oh, they talk really fast. I will be on the hunt for more information about this duo. In the meantime, if you have any information about this duo, let me know!

Figure 3. Comparing Otani/Koizumi with All Hanshin Kyojin.

As revealed from the first episode, most people attend classes during summer break if they did not do well during the earlier term, especially those who did not do well on exams or were unable to take them due to illness (Suzuki being one of them). I am not aware of how much this is true in Japanese secondary education, but I am fully aware that Japanese high school students attend school 240 days during the year where the year begins in April and ends during the following March [3]. As far as I can tell, the Japanese secondary education system is quite rigorous and very taxing for students. On top of the 7-8 hour day they spend in classes, many participate in extracurricular activities, while others may spend extra hours at a cram school or “juku”/”yobiko”. Otani does participate in a cram school after school during the months before his university entrance exam during episodes 22 and 23. With so much time spent on academics, is there time for anything else?

Parents, junior high and high schools generally discourage dating and the amount of unsupervised time is extremely limited, making it difficult for girls and boys to go on dates. Despite this, dating still does occur and a good percentage of high school students have a girlfriend/boyfriend. However, it has been reported by the Women’s Net Kobe, a non-profit organization against domestic violence, that a good number of relationships involve “violence, coercion, and restrictions” [4]. Obviously, the relationships illustrated in Lovely Complex are of the polar opposite. While understandings do come up within a couple, feelings for one another are not necessarily figured out completely, and personalities do clash at times, these are all normal in a relationship. It’s interesting to note how welcoming their parents are to Otani and Koizumi when they come visit during episodes 13 and 24. Keeping in mind that dating is not highly encouraged, Japanese students instead find other ways to show their affection. One way is Valentine’s Day in Japan, where it is traditionally celebrated by having girls buy chocolate for the guys. Three kinds of chocolates exists: giri-choco (obligatory), honmei-choco (affectionate), and tomo-choco [13]. As far as I’ve seen from various blogs and videos, it seems as if this on the decline and is practised less every year. However, the Lovely Complex makes a big deal out of this where Koizumi makes a cake for Otani but ends up giving it to Haruka instead. A crowd gathers when a student sees Koizumi ready to hand the cake over to Otani. The anime doesn’t mention a White Day, which is when the men give something back to the girls who gave them something during Valentine’s Day. For more information on this, other websites will have to do. Valentine’s Day is a very common theme in shojo manga/anime, although in reality, it is largely commercialized and is devoid of very much romance.

Figure 4. Zepp Osaka tickets and exterior view of the actual venue. And of course, Koizumi and Otani going all out during the Christmas concert.

One of the places that they both go to multiple times is the Zepp Osaka. Although the ticket is shown in the anime is clearly “Zopp Osaka,” they must have renamed it just so that they didn’t have to deal with permission issues (Fig. 2). There are in fact a total of six Zepp music halls throughout Japan and serves as a place for international and local performers to give a show. The Zepp company itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan and is sponsored by Asahi breweries [5]. Otani and Koizumi attend the Zepp Osaka twice: once in episode 2 when they go for their Christmas date and then in episode 13 the day after their accidental kiss (in Otani’s room!) to watch Umibozu, a Japanese rapper. Famous bands have performed in Osaka before, including the Foo Fighters [6] and the Mars Volta [7].

Figure 5. Nagai Stadium and ticket from anime. Notice the similarities between the stadium shown in the anime and the actual one.

Another event they attend together is the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships in Athletics which is held in the Nagai Stadium in Osaka. Interestingly, the actual event occurred in 2007 from August 24 to September 2, which happened just a few weeks after episode 19 aired on television. It’s interesting that the animation studio decided to replace the last digit in the year with an “X” on the ticket as if to make it ambiguous and shifted the start and end dates by a day of the actual dates (Fig. 3). Otani and Koizumi are keen on seeing a particular athlete named Murouchi who is shown participating in the hammer throw. Later during the episode, it is implied that he wins a medal, but from the actual events Japan only wins a bronze medal, achieved by Reiko Tosa, a marathon specialist [8].

Figure 6. Kansai airport entrance and interior. Otani and Koizumi must endure an awkward moment.

A school trip occurs in episode 8, where Otani, Koizumi & Co. all travel to Hokkaido, which is located in northern Japan. As clumsy as they can be, Otani and Koizumi are late for the bus that heads over to the Kansai International Airport. What’s interesting about this airport is it’s set on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay. Sinking rates were a problem and so most of the cost in constructing the airport was spent on its foundation that sat upon soft soil. More information can be found on the wikipedia page [9]. The flight must have taken just a few hours at most. Imagine how awkward it was for Otani and Koizumi to be flying together alone with their sensei. I am unsure of where they landed, although the anime shows a brief frame where you can see what the airport looks like. I looked at several airport designs that are in Hokkaido, but all of them don’t match up very well. Once they land, they reunite with their classmates, but find themselves alone again when they oversleep on the bus. Being the weirdos they are, the prospect of riding a rickshaw becomes astoundingly attractive to them and have a great time together. After the ride, Otani explains how amused he is that the runner called them “Suke-san” and “Kaku-san,” both of whom are characters from the very long-running show Mito Komon. Suke-san and Kaku-san are Tokugawa Mitsukuni’s bodyguards in the show and supposedly have contrasting personalities. The rickshaw runner at some point also said the “bring Komon-san along next time,” in which Koizumi replies “it was a cold joke, but it was great”. For a person who was not familiar with the show at all, I didn’t get the reference. I might try watching one episode at some point to see what it’s like. There are apparently 1130 episodes aired as of June 2008 [10,11]. Also, it was only after watching episode 8 did I learn that bear curry exists. Otani buys it from a store at one point, as a souvenir for a friend. It does exist, as the internet shows and it does contain bear meat. As for how it is legal over there, I am not sure of. Bear hunting in the United States is only permitted for those who have licenses and meet certain qualifications. It varies fro state to state, but at this point, I will assume that Japan works something similar.

Figure 7. Places in Hakodate.

At some point, the class goes over to Hakodate. This is significant for the couple since they find in a local magazine that Umibozu is on vacation at the very same place, stirring up their hopes of meeting him in person. There’s a sequence during episode 9 where it shows all of the places that Otani and Koizumi visit, including the Goryokaku. It’s a star-shaped island that served as a fortress for the Republic of Ezo during the year 1869 [12]. Today it is a park and the bridge that is shown on the bottom of the picture is probably where Otani had his picture taken, imitating Umibozu’s pose shown in the magazine seen earlier.

I think it was wonderful they had a chance to explore a new place on their own with some privacy. The bond between them grew stronger and a moment when Otani was given more time to think about his feelings for Koizumi. An important point during the trip is when Koizumi realizes that her wallet is missing and Otani is insistent upon finding it for her. Then they run into Umibozu and his family. The little story of how they were friends back in high school and ended up marrying together was pretty cute. Pickled radishes do become crabs sometimes, Koizumi.

Other random references:

Many people participate in the summer festivals in Japan, celebrating (what?). Otani and Koizumi both attend a festival together in the first episode. Koizumi’s yukata is a type of kimino worn by women for special events and some men will wear their yukata as well, although Otani is shown not wearing one. A wide variety of booths are set up, including yoyo fishing, goldfish fishing, and lots of fried seafood. Some of these are actually shown in the anime and for romantic anime series in general, the summer festival is a time when a couple can spend time together. Of course, this is very early in the game when neither Otani nor Koizumi have feelings for each other, but it does signal the beginning of Koizumi’s realization that Otani is very compatible with her personality despite their tendency to quarrel often. She wears her yukata again when she meets Otani on top of a roof on her birthday in episode 6. There are some festivals where fireworks are the main attraction.

Figure 9. Otani and Koizumi being chased by the police.

In episode 16, Otani and Koizumi are chased by the police because of them riding a bicycle tandem. It is apparently illegal to do this in certain regions in Japan [14] Some prefectures are in the motion of trying to change this. It’s strange to me since I have never ridden on a bike tandem and it’s very uncommon to see people do this (at least from where I am).

Figure 10. Lemons. Otani doesn’t seem to be particularly fond of them. Give Koizumi some love!

In episode 17, Koizumi gives lemon slices with rice wine to Otani after his final high school basketball match. Earlier, he had asked for lemon slices dipped in honey, which is a thing in Japan. I’ve never had it, but numerous recipes are available and it actually sounds delicious! One blog claims that this happens in other mangas, but never specified which, where it is done to show affection for the other person [15]. I do not know if this is common in Japan myself (although I’d like to think so!). Let me know if you do!

[1] http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/search/detail/sightseeing_992.html

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect

[3] http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/142#references

[4] http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ed20110808a2.html

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zepp

[6] http://www.gigographya.com/concerts/foofighters-osaka-03-11-2012/

[7] http://golly-in-inaka.blogspot.com/2006/11/mars-volta-concert-zepp-osaka.html

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiko_Tosa

[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_International_Airport

[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mito_K%C5%8Dmon

[11] http://ilovejapancul.blogspot.com/2008/05/mito-komon-jidaigeki.html

[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gory%C5%8Dkaku