Lovely Complex

Lovely Complex: C

So I don't watch a lot of shojo anime (if you don't know the terminology for Japanese demographics, that's the for "little girls"), but due to the constraints of the aforementioned deal to watch everything my friend watches, I wound up watching this series.

It's about a very tall girl and a very short boy and the relationship that eventually blossoms between them.  And really, given that it's shojo, the rest follows type: there are hurdles to them getting together, difficulties admitting they even like each other and the sort of issues I left behind in high school, all spelled out pretty plainly in a group of people who I all recognized (some of whom I remembered being, in all their high school idiocy).  And, while I will acknowledge that I enjoyed high school more than a lot of people claim to have done so, I enjoyed being taken back there.

My criticisms of it revolve around its formulaic nature.  Girl.  Boy.  Friends.  Romance.  Manzai comedy.  There's not a lot more too it than that, but it does manage to stay amusing.  For me, as a student of Japanese as a language, I found the series occurring primarily in the Kansai regional accent to be interesting to listen to, though less dedicated students of the language probably won't even notice.

It's worth watching if you're interested in light-hearted (if frustratingly drawn-out) high school romance with a bent toward honest humor and the awkwardness of high school (especially with a protagonist couple who don't fit the traditional gender ideals), but I can't recommend it on much beyond that.