Love★Com, Vol. 5

ラブ★コン [Love Com] #5

by Aya Nakahara, Pookie Rolf (Translator)

Heartbroken by Ôtani's rejection, Risa had decided to give up on ever getting together with him. But a chance encounter with her musical hero Umibôzu helps Risa get back in the fighting spirit. With a new surge of self-confidence, Risa is ready to go after Ôtani. He'll never know what hit him.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Shojo, Comedy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult

170 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2003

About the author

Aya Nakahara is an award-winning Japanese comic book author who made her debut in 1995. She is most famous for her Kansai-dialect romantic comedy series Lovely Complex (also known as ラブ★コン or Love★Com) which as well as spawning a feature film and a 24-episode animated television series has been translated into many different languages and has been published across the world.

She primarily writes in the romance and romantic comedy genres. Her most recent work is Dame no Watashi Koishite kudasai R (ダメな私に恋してくださいR).

See also 中原アヤ.

Reviews

[Emi.acg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A veces me molesta un poco Nobu con su insistencia porque Risa se esfuerce pero en el fondo solo quiere que su amiga sea feliz así que se le perdona xd
Fighting Risa!! Jajaja y Otani deja de ser tan menso xd

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea of Risa and Ōtani trying to restabilitze themselves as friends after one has rejected the other as a love match, and their banter's always fun to watch. That said, I highly doubt that their friends' good intentions and badgering can convince Ōtani to fall in love with Risa who he only sees as a friend, and that skepticism is a cloud looming over the whole thing. The romance arc's a little different than the usual shoujo fare, but not in a way that particularly works for me.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just how much rejection is Risa going to take? Oh, my heart is breaking for her constantly! Why do I read this when I want so much to whack a certain boy over the head (only that might make him shorter...)

[Leila ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

[22/05/2024] ~ Amigoooooooo lo que me gustó este volumen no tiene ningún tipo de sentido. El icónico "tal vez alguien como vos vaya mejor conmigo" pega en absolutamente todos los idiomas 🛐 ahora toca conseguir el volumen 6 así puedo continuar esta hermosa relectura.

4 de 5 estrellas.

-----------------------------

Físicamente imposible que a partir de ahora los volúmenes no me gusten, porque todo el desarrollo en la relación de Otani y Risa es bellísimo. Me podrán gustar más o menos, pero gustar me van a gustar.

4 de 5 estrellas.

[Museo De Mierda · Rating 4 out of 5]

siempre que pienso en ponerle tres estrellas el enano dice algo que me pone colorada y le doy cuatro. en realidad este tomo podría no ocurrir y la historia sería la misma, pero que viva el amor

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

LoveCom 5

Otro volumen, con varias cosas que me hicieron reír, y con algo ahí de avance en la historia del duo protagonista.

3.75 star

SPOILERS
Tras el fracaso de la declaración y que intentan volver a ser el duo cómico, pues las cosas a veces van bien a veces no, luego otras situaciones hacen que Risa decida no darse por vencida y pues eso complica aun más las cosas, y con los amigos “ayudando” que causan más problemas, pues pobre Risa y de paso Otani

[Ady Weasley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Para evitar incomodidades durante la excursión Risa le pid a Otani que olvide lo que le dijo y que continúen como hasta ahora aunque eso la haga sentir triste.

No u le insiste a Risa que no sé de por vencida y que resalte si femeninas.

La fiesta de Navidad ocurre y Risa se entera cosas sobre la ex de Otani, pero parece que él está comenzando a cambiar un poco su pensamiento.

Los chocolates de amor verdadero no fueron aceptados, pero Risa no se rendirá

[Meli Agüero · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Hay pobre Risa! Sin embargo debemos resaltar su perseverancia ¿no? Realmente ama a Otani. Y él que es taaan vueltero.
Amo a Nobu, ella es una muy buena amiga ❤️ Siempre apoya a Risa e incluso se sintió responsable de la tristeza de Risa por el rechazo de Otani.

[Pixie 🍜 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of don’t love that the idea of just lurking until someone likes you is reasonable

[estrawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Koizumi.. YOU CAN DO IT! 🫵🏻✊🏻

[Vanessa Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rabu★Kon or which is popularly known as Lovely Complex (Love*Com) is a fun shojo manga that I’m sure every shojo and YA lovers would love and enjoy. This is by far the most entertaining and cutest shojo manga I’ve read this year. Definitely a must read!

*This review is for the series as a whole with 4 out of 5 stars*

I’ve been meaning to read Rabu★Kon or most commonly known as Lovely Complex after watching the anime one or was that two years ago? Oh well, I don’t remember the exact date but I can still clearly remember why I loved it. It was one of the funniest anime I’ve watched that time and I love the concept of the story. Imagine falling in love with a guy who is shorter than you. Kind of weird right? Well, it’s possible ofcourse (I have a neighbor in our province who’s husband is shorter than her) but it seldom happens. I haven’t read anything like this one before and most shojo manga/anime doesn’t have this kind of idea too so it was really something new for me.

Lovely Complex revolved around a tall girl named Risa and a short guy named Ootani. Risa is taller than her age and Ootani shorter than his age. They doesn’t get along well and keeps on bantering like little kids whenever they see each other, and with both having height problems, they were then dubbed as Hanjin Kyojin comedic duo at school.

Unlike book reviews, I always do my hardest not to drop some spoilers, but with manga, I wouldn’t mind. So read on your own risk *wink.

I always enjoys love and hate romance and Lovely Complex is definitely perfect for me. Risa and Ootani started their friendship (I’m not even sure if you can call that friendship as they keep fighting each other, lol) as enemies. I think that wouldn’t be a surprise as they both have height problems – Risa being tall than normal in her age and Ootani the shortest, thus making them like a clown at school. They keep on getting on each other’s nerves until Summer break came in. Risa and Ootani along with some of their close friends attends Summer class and that’s how the miracle happened. And when I said miracle, it’s the two of them getting along well. They become closer since they are in agreement, and guess on what? It’s about their love interest. Ofcourse they don’t have the same crushes, although that would have been fun, but they are on agreement to work together since both of them are friends of each other’s crushes. But something unexpected happen, haha, both of their crushes likes each other instead. And guess what? Their crushes ended up together thus leaving Ootani and Risa heartbroken. I would have expected both of them consoling each other eh? Sure they did but in an unromantic way which includes a lot of hitting and punching, haha. Really, it’s true. Risa, since she’s taller always treated like one of the guys and Ootani as a girl because of his height too. So it should be normal that the two of them understands each other aight? But I guess even with that knowledge, they still end up fighting and irritating each other as they are somewhat the same; both have the same favorite singer and both of them acts like a kid.

Lovely Complex is composed of 17 volumes with 68 chapters thus making it longer compared to your usual 400-600 words book, so to refrain from making a very long review (I know how troublesome to read it), I decided to categorize my review on what I like and didn’t like in this story as well as introducing some of my characters.



What I Liked:

1. I love the idea, a tall girl falling in love with a short guy. Not impossible to happen in real life but the idea is fresh as it’s uncommon to romance stories.
2. It’s setting is in High School and you know how I love YA.
3. The love and hate romance. It could get a little too much sometimes especially when they finally became a couple but it’s still very entertaining to read and the illustrations were so on point!
4. The facial expressions. Haha, I love how the creator drew the facial expressions especially one from Risa. It’s no different in anime too, the expressions was way too funny.

5. The kissing scenes. My! It was just wonderfully drawn and soooo romantic.

6. The “stair” kissing scene. My! That would have been funny, but dang!

7. I hate to admit it (know why in my What I Liked The Least section) but Ootani is just so cute especially if he ties his hair. Sometimes he could look hot too, haha. My! I think I have a little crush on Ootani now.

8. Ootani is not into mushy stuffs let alone say something romantic to Risa, but whenever he did, it’s just way too sweet I can hardly bear it without combusting.
9. I love that even if Lovely Complex is originally about Risa and Ootani’s height differences, it also includes conflicts between other characters in this story which gave other character to shine.
10. When I think about it again, most problems the main characters encountered we’re what we normally read in YA and any other shojo manga but I have to say that some of them makes sense that even younger sweethearts can gain some lessons out of it.
11. Even if it includes some “slightly” annoying conflicts, I was happy that on the next day, Risa and Ootani both gave each other a chance to explain whenever there’s some misunderstanding.
12. And lots of good looking and supportive characters. Special mention, Nakao and Nobu-chan. My! This couple is the cutest, funniest, and supportive character ever. And obviously, they’re added to my favorite list so is Ootani and Risa *wink.


What I Liked The Least

1. I really really hate the part of Ootani where he’s so stubborn and so unexpressive and refused to say some romantic lines to Risa. I understand that they started as a comedic duo so it would be a little weird but dang! Can’t he be a little considerate sometimes?
2. Ootani’s very very very dense. I really pitied the part where Risa did her best to tell Ootani what she feels about him but ended up being laugh at.
3. Ootani not being an ideal boyfriend to Risa. Ofcourse he can’t be a complete boyfriend material but sometimes this guy can be so irritating, like forgetting her birthday (who’s boyfriend would even forget his girlfriend’s birthday?!), not believing in Risa and a lot more I dare not to mention or I’ll deduct another star again.
4. Both of them having third party problem. That setup is common in every romance stories but I have to say that I was still entertained because of the illustrations lol.


Main Characters

Koizumi, Risa – I always adore her character. Aside from making me laugh my heart out every single moment, she’s really nice too. One example was when Ootani’s tall beautiful neighbor trying to steal him away from Risa. If that was me, I will really cut her head off, but wow, the way Risa handled her was amazing. Another amazing thing about her is being caring, even if Ootani can be a bit irritating, she’s still trying her best to support him and take care of him.
Ootani, Atsushi – I love and hate his character at the same time. He could be cute yet dumb at the same time and it was irritating to read how he treats Risa. But when once in a while drop some sweet lines to Risa, my heart goes gaga. I guess you could say I love him more than I hate him, haha sucker.


Favorite Characters

Ishihara, Nobuko and Nakao, Heikichi – These two is absolutely one of the cutest and funniest couple ever. I love how responsible Nobuko is and is very supportive to Risa especially when those times that Risa almost wants to give up Ootani. Nakao on the other hand is a very funny guy but I really adore his love for Nobuko. They’re just perfect for each other.
Tanaka, Chiharu and Suzuki, Ryouji – they used to be Risa and Ootani’s crushes and right now they’re one of their very good friends. They’re a very cute couple too. I don’t have anything bad to say about them as they’re always there to support Risa and Ootani with their relationship.
Fukagawa, Haruka – Risa’s childhood friend and Ootani’s rival for Risa. He’s one good looking guy and sometimes I want to give Risa to him. He can be sweet and charming yet very stupid at the same time haha. He’s very funny too and sometimes I pitied him because he’s really doing his best to get Risa’s attention but with no use. But atleast in the end, he respects Risa’s relationship with Ootani and that’s really good.
Kuniumi, Maitake – the hottest and coolest teacher assistant you could ever have. I thought at first that he’s going to be in a love triangle for Risa and Ootani’s relationship but it turned out that his participation made it possible for the Risa and Ootani to make it official.
Yoshi – He wasn’t mentioned until on the extra part where we’ve got to see how Risa and Ootani really first met each other. But he’s one of the main reason why the two of them got to meet each other and has the huge impact to both Risa and Ootani so I guess it’s just right to add him to this short list.


My plan was to make this a short review but still ended up making it a long one, haha. Oh well, it can’t be helped *wink.

Overall, I really enjoyed Lovely Complex. It was romantic and was very very very entertaining. If you like shojo anime and YA, then Lovely Complex is highly recommended. While at it, you may want to consider watching the anime too. Enjoy!

*browse some of my favorite parts of this manga here.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Read my full review post

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[Jessica-Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The (still very one-sided) love story of Koizumi and Otani continues!

In this volume, Risa and Otani (and everyone else) are dealing with the aftermath of Risa's heartbreak. A back and forth between optimism and defeat, for every one step forward, they take two Risa-size steps back.

When Love*Com wants to wallow, it wallows hard.

I didn't like this volume one as much as the previous because it is just so wallow-y. However, I do like that the story is taking on a natural progression and that things are evolving. But you know, laying the groundwork for a relationship is exhausting. At this point I just really want to see Otani be on the other side of things for once. I mean common! Someone needs to light a fire under that boy's butt.

[Usagi Tsukino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the Italian edition.

[Nayli · Rating 4 out of 5]

i could never. Te amo, Rosa bebé. Eres muy fuerte

[Natalia Hincapié · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah! Me encanta Risa y su perseverancia, además, aquí vemos como poco a poco los sentimientos de Otani van surgiendo, pero es tan idiota que ni se da cuenta.
Los amigos de ambos son una risa completa, es más, siempre las cagan más, me encanta.
He reido, sufrido y me fascina este manga, de verdad es de lo mejor.
Es un romance diferente, amigos que se tratan mal pero que se quieren, me fascina que nunca cambien sus personalidades aunque tengan sentimientos, estoy ansiosa por ver desarrollarse su relación

[So3li · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avis global :
Un manga marrant qui se lit bien.

J'ai bien aimé suivre l'évolution des sentiments des personnages et des réflexions autour.

Par contre pas top l'amitié / amour avec des piques, des critiques, des engueulades et des coups à longueur de journée.
En fait, ça crie un peu trop tout au long du manga.

C'est aussi pas assez féministe à mon goût et ça banalise du sexisme ou des agressions sexuelles... Notamment avec le grand-père insupportable.

Et à la fin ça traîne trop en longueur. Je pense que ça aurait pu s'arrêter avant.

[Michela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divertente, ironico e leggero. Mi è stata regalata l’intera serie per Natale.
Ho visto l’anime ispirato a questo manga non so quante volte durante il periodo delle superiori. Poterlo finalmente leggere è una vera emozione per me.
Pur trattando tematiche adolescenziali, l’autrice affronta anche argomenti più complessi: emerge, per esempio, il tema transgender, il che lo rende un manga assolutamente adatto alla nostra contemporaneità pur essendo stato realizzato a partire dal 2001.

[Elinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

bon ça fait bizarre, en terme d'ambiance, de lire ça le même soir que In these words xD mais j'adore cette série. Chaque tome me sort mon petit coeur de la poitrine, le découpe en mille morceaux, puis les recolle et le met, entouré d'une couverture, devant un bon feu de cheminée, avant de recommencer à le détruire. (oui, moi aussi j'ai l'impression que je ferai mieux de retourner dormir)

[Rahmah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebenarnya aku kurang ngerti gimana perasaan cewek saat falling in love *aslinya cewek**tapi falling in lovenya ke oppa-oppa**nggak tau deh rasanya sama atau nggak wkwk*. Apa benar ada cewek kayak Risa yang walau udah ditolak tapi tetap suka?

[Mariana Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

La verdad es que este tomo me desesperó por Risa, en cada capítulo lloraba o se rendía o se super motivaba. No deja de tener situaciones graciosas, pero la situación de Risa como que no.... Qué bueno que tiene a Nobu para que le dé sus zapes 😎😂

[Aida · Rating 4 out of 5]

RISA, TE AMO TANTO.
Risa, la clases de situaciones que te ponen, me trae con nervios de punta.
En este tomo de manga podemos ver los problemas que pasa Risa después de que Otani, al fin captara, o más bien lo hiciersn captar, de la seriedad de la declaración, y como esto causa algunas incomodidades entre el dúo. Pero además, me encanta las parte en donde conviven estos dos, es todo tan bonito.
image:

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pobre de la Risa, de verdad que me identifico con ella tanto física como mentalmente, MUY BUENO lo recomiendo de nuevo. Siento que Otani se está abriendo un poquito más (no se si es optimismo o la verdad.)

Pd. Faltan 4 horas para año nuevooo, feliz casi Año Nuevo 💗

[givememycheetos · Rating 4 out of 5]

He visto el anime mil veces, y quise pasarme al manga. 4⭐️ para el estrella del manga: RISA EL AMOR DE MI VIDA. Lloro y sufro con ella porque en realidad duele horrible ver como el inservible de Otani la rechaza. NECESITO QUE ENTRE EL PROFESOR YA.

[Alex2739 · Rating 4 out of 5]

'It's okay, it's okay! What you call love is actually embarrassment!
Everyone is experiencing love while simultaneously fighting off their
embarrassment, you know!'

'If someone that we love, loves us back that's extraordinary enough like
a miracle...'

[Cristina (Cristina's Journey) · Rating 5 out of 5]

😂😂😂😂💗💗💗💗 I love that Otani is thinking about it and flirting with Koizumi, finally!

[Em Mirra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pending.

[B. Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhh, I love this series. It's so shoujo.

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable, Beautiful Manga, Really great Shoujo! Great art art and amazing story I didn’t want to end 😻👌😁💕💕

[Róka · Rating 4 out of 5]

5/4,5

[Elsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sólo diré que aunque es un manga... pocas personas se esfuerzan tanto como ella para enamorar a la persona que les gusta.