Lovely Complex Vol. 3

ラブ★コン [Love Com] #3

by Aya Nakahara

Risa Koizumi is the tallest girl in class, and the last thing she wants is the humiliation of standing next to Atsushi Otani, 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.

A new student starts out as Risa's rival for love, but ends up proving how important it is to be honest with yourself!

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

174 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2002

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

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's taken three volumes or so for me to get into the groove of this manga, which seems to be pretty normal by now. This volume introduces Seiko, a cute kohai who develops a crush on Ohtani on the first day of the new school year. I remembered this part of the story distinctly because I recognized that Seiko was "a boy" (more on this in a sec) pretty much in the first panel that she was introduced. There were a lot of characters along similar lines in shoujo manga of the '90s and early '00s, so it was more a recognition of a common trope than a miracle of perception.

I wouldn't expect Japanese media of 20 years ago to have the same cultural attitudes toward gender fluidity or being transgender as exists in the current internet 2.0 age. The translation takes an awkward middle ground with the characters saying Seiko is really a boy, but consistently referring to her with feminine pronouns. Ohtani himself seems more bemused than anything about her crush on him, and she's treated more or less like another girl by Risa and Nobu, so things could certainly be worse.

As for the rest of the story, Risa is getting closer to acknowledging that she is falling in love with Ohtani. Nobu has been badgering her constantly about it, which is par for the course in romance manga. Heaven forbid that a single character should have anything to think about aside from the central relationship!

This volume of Love★Com marks completion of my manga goal for 2022: 150 volumes, and 7 series completed (not this series, but seven others). There's still a lot of manga on the ol' home bookshelf that I haven't yet read, so I'll set a similar goal for next year.

[Leila ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

[20/05/2024] ~ Entiendo por qué en el pasado este volumen me podría haber parecido más aburrido que los anteriores, pero honestamente sigue siendo peak. Me descostillé en el medio del Sarmiento cuando leí cuando Otani se entera de que Seiko es un hombre jsjssj por dios comedia pura. El arco "Otani celoso" sí es medio un embole por el simple hecho de que no es consciente de sus sentimientos entonces es medio mmm pero bueno perdono todo porque después de este volumen viene mi volumen favorito de toda la serie 🛐

Además, me percaté de que me gusta mucho más el dibujo del manga que el del anime. Otani del manga just hits different.

3.5 de 5 estrellas.

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

No fue un mal volumen, pero no hubieron muchos momentos cute, y además se centró mucho en Seiko (personaje que me gusta, pero al mismo tiempo quiero ver cómo se desarrolla la relación entre Otani y Risa, no a Seiko xd). Pero Risa por fin se admitió a si misma sus sentimientos por Otani, y la escena es igual que la del anime 😭😭😭 #amo

No recuerdo que haya habido nada diferente que sea worth mentioning entre este volumen y el anime 🤷🏻‍♀️

3 de 5 estrellas.

[Noel نوال · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, I really freaking love this series. Reading it at 13 was at a way different point in my life, but it is still ever so heartwarming. I was pleasantly surprised when re-reading this volume at how Nakahara didn't use the introduced trans character as a plot device/entirely comedic element. Her pronouns were respected throughout the book, and it made me love this story all the more. I'm so thankful to my tiny childhood library that had this series tucked away on a shelf one rainy summer afternoon in the early 2000s.

[Jesus Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely Complex 3
Se resuelve el lio del amigo de la infancia, aunque al parecer el intentara en un futuro nuevamente.
Risa sigue negando que empieza a sentir algo por Otani.
Al pasar a segundo, aparece un nuevo personaje, Seiko una chica linda de 1ero, que siente atracción por Otani, y será rival para Risa

SPOILER

Después se descubre el secreto de Seiko, pero me gusto como llevan el personaje, no lo toman por lo cómico, y Otani es super-cool con ella

4 star(+1 for Seiko)

[Bookarune · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tome qui est moins bon à mon goût. De nouveaux personnages certes mais notre duo est moins rayonnant que précédemment. Et puis Haruka m'a vraiment tapé sur le système...


This volume was a little bit disappointing... Haruka really pissed me off.

[Pam Odair · Rating 5 out of 5]

el mejor slowburn de la vida

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

seiko my beloved... obviously this manga was published in 2002 in japan so the whole "boy" situation isn't great but could've been much worse tbh. definitely kind of odd and outdated reading it now but at least Seiko's referred to as a 'she' for the rest of the volumes and none of the main characters are disgusted by her or anything (which could've easily happened in a different shoujo) plus i love how supportive risa is of her. it was weird trope for shoujo at the time and all in all i think the author clearly wasn't malicious nad in fact for the time and place handled it pretty well.

[Emi.acg · Rating 5 out of 5]

No recuerdo muchas cosas del anime, Seiko (un personaje que apareció en este volumen) se me había olvidado por completo pero es tan genial que este ahí, un chico que en realidad no se siente identificado con su género y se viste y actúa como chica, incluso es ella quien le da la fuerza a Risa para aceptar sus sentimientos a Otani (me da con decirle kotani hshajs). Me encanta esta historia, amo como se van desarrollando los sentimientos, con calmita, siguen peleando pero de apoco empieza ya a no ser tan indiferentes el uno para el otro y lo que más amo es como van dejando un poquito de lado sus complejos por la altura.
Me gusta Otani, y aparte de todo, me encanta que el autor haga tantos cambios de look y peinado jajaj

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread - Even the annoying shoujo tropes where the author introduces a new character that serves as a love interest are hilarious, Risa's insecurities over her height makes me :'( she deserves the best

[Ady Weasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Risa Sta tratando de aclarar sus sentimientos, pero Haruka insiste en que quiere ser su novio, pero Otani le hace ver que la manera en que quiere a Risa no es la adcuada.

Aparece una rival para Risa, Seiko, sin embargo ella no es lo que aparenta y creará confusión en Otani

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75 ⭐

[estrawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

WE LOVE LOVELY COMPLEX!!!!!! ⭐️

[Natalia Hincapié · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanta que sea una historia inclusiva. Además de que amo la Risa, es hermosa. Y el chico es un idiota jajaja
Siento que cada vez se pone más bueno, aquí ya nuestra chica descubre que tiene sentimientos por el enano y planea revelarselos

[Jessica-Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The (one-sided) love story of Koizumi and Otani continues!
PheroMOANS are in the air as their (one-sided) love is strained by yet another third party and their own insecurities! ... I'm starting to see a trend here.

Still cute as ever, in this volume Koizumi finds she's grown taller and Otani gets a new admirer, and a not-so-handsome doggy pal!

How zany! How cute! Can love really conquer everything, even height?!


From here on out I am going to start keeping a tally of all of the third-party-people involved in this budding love story. I think it may help me keep track as I have a feeling this list will be very long when it's all said and done.

Third Party LOVE*FEST
1 - Ex-girlfriend (misunderstanding!)
2 - Childhood friend: Haruka (kind of douche!)
3 - New girl: Seiko (kind-of, sort-of horny!)

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of conflicted emotions going on with Risa isn't there? Poor girl is just confused. And now it seems she's got a rival as well for Otani. Hmmm, this one was kind of cute. Especially near the end. How can you not smile at that. Really liking the series and its only the third volume. Like some of Risa's hairstyle, drawn really well I might add.

[B. Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always interesting to see how early 2000s shoujo treats trans characters. Trans rights weren't as widely talked about as they are now.
A lot of the time trans characters are slapstick, and I think that was the initial intention in this. However, I do think they saved it by continuing to refer to her as "her" and taking her feelings seriously.

[Usagi Tsukino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the Italian edition.

[Jeronim Sellés · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, the volume was good and entertaining? Yes. However, I did not like how some characters treated Seiko. I loved how when they were misgendering her Seiko said that she was not and had never seen herself as a boy and that she was a girl. What happened? Even after that she was being misgendered. Moreover, everyone made fun of at Ōtani, who likes girls, for liking Seiko (who fyi IS a girl) just because she is trans. Ōtani was attracted to Seiko before she knew she was trans and then he discovered and became grossed out, that is not a good message . Yes, he later told her she looked cute but it was just out of pity. However, I think her character was not just there to be the mock of all and I like that, she is just one more character so yeah, nice. Most characters respected her pronouns and everything. I love seiko but the bit of the 2002 transphobia was just bad so that will lower the score a bit. I want to think that after learning more about it they learned

[Aida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Descripción del este tomo de manga es definitivamente; enredos, problemas, confusiones y sorpresas.
Amo el manga, el anime, la historia y la trama en si, los únicos problemas que tengo es la reacción ante una "situación" pero me gusta como durante este tomo y lo demás de la historia van mejornado en ese tema. En cualquier caso se entiende la época del manga y que pues en Asía ciertas "cosas" aun sea manejadas de esa forma.
Mi otro problema es que aquí cada uno se la paso riendo y bromeando con las situaciones por las que pasaba el otro, y por eso casi no hubo momentos románticos.
Pero soy super fan de como los demás se van dando cuenta de los sentimientos de Risa, menos ella. Y como la alientan a expresar sus sentimientos por Otani.

[Alejandra RL · Rating 3 out of 5]

¡Como es posible que no me acordara de Seiko! En fin, me gustó mucho como Risa, Otani y compañía manejaron la situación con ella.

A partir de este tomo me doy cuenta que Aya Nakahara ha capturado muy bien los complejos y prejuicios que sienten y reproducen los adolescentes, he de decir que muy pocas lecturas logran que yo recuerde como eran las cosas durante mi adolescencia, porque no es lo mismo la visión de la juventud que de los adultos.

Y solo me resta decir que ya está el tomo 4 en México, por lo cual espero destinar una parte de mi paupérrimo salario a su compra muy pronto.

[Pixie 🍜 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was okay?
I liked that it deflected the love rival thing but making the character a cross dresser was kind of cheap.
The problem is that the character basically says they’re trans without saying it. I don’t know about the official translations since I read a scanilation so maybe they do use she/her pronouns though even after. Regardless, they did redeem it a bit by openly saying that it shouldn’t matter etc: but it’s a shame this didn’t age well. It could have been better, but it was like 2008 Japan so I’m not shocked?

[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.

[Deji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fue muy divertido de leer, junto con las páginas extras de la autora. El personaje de Otani es muy puro, no culpo ni a Risa ni a Seiko por fijarse en él. Aunque esto apenas va empezando...

Algo que debo remarcar es que me gusta mucho el lenguaje coloquial con el que Panini decidió traducir estos tomos, no es común que las editoriales lo hagan, o al menos no lo veo seguido en los mangas que leo. Que lo hagan aquí me agrada bastante y siento que va bien para chicos de secundaria.

[Michela · Rating 5 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.

[Chaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars instead of 5 stars because I dont really like how Seiko is treated as a character. Stop misgendering her and referring to her as a guy 😤 (I do recognize that this was published 20 years ago, so they wouldn't treat genderfluid/trans characters with the same level of care that they would today. Which is garbage, but I can't change the past)

[Joselin Orrillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diria que la historia de amor de Koizumi y Otani continua pero aun ni empiezo... al menos no para Otani (?
Pero fuera de ellos me parece que la inclusion del personaje trans esta muy bien hecha y muy bien tratada, y sorprendentemente es un shojo de comienzo de los 2000 (?

[Elsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

¡Nunca podré superar a Seiko!
No entiendo en qué estaba pensando al quitarse la camisa... ¿tal vez quería que Otani supiera que era un chico? En fin, me gusta mucho cómo poco a poco Risa va aceptando sus verdaderos sentimientos por él y esas cosas uwu

[Mariana Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Había olvidado lo divertidos que son este par de personajes 😂
Justo lo que necesitaba, y las situaciones extrañas e inesperadas por las que tienen que pasar 🤦🏻‍♀️ Me muero de risa. Son lecturas como para salir de un bloqueo lector, un descanso entre lecturas pesadas o para pasar el rato.

[Samantha Flores Mendoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusto mucho pero en algunas partes senti que le pusieron mucho relleno pero fue buena, me gusta como es que el romance se da de poco a poco y como es que ellos mismos se empiezan a dar cuenta de sus sentimientos

[Efsane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dayanamayıp 3. Cildi de okudum! Yepyeni karakter de çok komik bir giriş yaptı, yine oldukça eğlenceli bir ciltti, arada beni sesli güldüren biner seri oluyor kendisi. Çok güzel ilerliyor, bakalım ne kadar sürede bitireceğim.