Nakahara Aya - Love Com, vol. 01 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

Koizumi Risa is the tallest girl in the class, and Otani Atsushi is the shortest guy. Everyone pairs them up because the contrast is so funny, and the two have now decided to do something about it. They'll quash all "All Hanshin Kyojin" taunts by helping each other find dates. The problem is, the more they try to date other people, the more well suited they seem for each other!

Like so much of shoujo, you know exactly where this is going the second the characters are introduced. But Nakahara does it well, and she had me smiling through much of the volume because of how much I liked Koizumi and Otani. Not only do I like them, but I even think they work together as a couple, which sadly isn't always the case in shoujo. Even their squabbling comes off as good natured. I love the way they always answer questions at the same time with the same words and the way they geek out over a musician they both like. Mostly I just like how the two of them are endlessly enthusiastic and seem to have absolutely no ill will in their bodies.

Koizumi doesn't completely break the mold for shoujo heroines (she reminds me a lot of Haruna from High School Debut), but I like that she's not small and cute and girly, and that she stays up too late at night gaming and stressing about whatever big boss she couldn't kill. Granted, the manga version of "not girly" is still very girly by my standards, but she's still refreshing and fun to read about. I also love that Otani is not at all grumpy or angst or silent; he's cheerful and peppy and happy and smiles a ton. They are just so cute together! They grin all the time when they're not squabbling!

I also lilked what happened with the "find each other dates" plot, which could have dragged on for far too long. Instead, it's fairly neatly resolved, and in a way that may not be fully realistic (I wish I had been that mature in high school!) but makes me love all the characters more. And even the secondary couple in the volume is briefly but nicely characterized in a way that makes them feel like people, not tropes.

Fun and fluffy and happy-making, and I am sad my library only has volume 1.

Comments

[octopedingenue]

I LOVE THEM SO. They are so good together! I don't want to take out restraining orders against either! They like the same things and like making each other laugh and be happy! Their friends are charming and have their best interests at heart! I am very fond of Risa's best friend, who would like to mother-hen-organize Risa into romantic happiness and always wearing warm socks.

And Risa is so My Girl: for one thing, while her dislike for her body is not as sharp as Michiko's in Walkin' Butterfly, I still wince in recognition at bits like the boy Risa is crushing on not thinking of her as a girl because of her height, and her mother not being able to find her a yukata that isn't several inches too short. (I am six feet tall and built like a football player, so I am not going to even let myself become interested in trying traditional Japanese fashion.)

Did the disc of the anime survive the trip to you? I don't love it as much as the manga, but the Osaka accents with Risa yelling "AHO!" at Otani are great fun.

[swanjun.livejournal.com]

I watched the first episode, and while it was pretty good, it left so much out (of how Chiharu and Suzuki got together) that I thought it would ultimately annoy me. I didn't watch any further.

[oyceter]

They are so cute! And yes, I have the disc and am looking forward to watching it, yay. I need happy shoujo to relax me, so this will be perfect. I am just so grumpy that my library only has v. 1! And there are so many volumes out already!