lovely complex
..Is not your average shojo, to start with. It's a series by mastermind Aya Nakahara that spans out a total of 16 volumes - all centered around the lives of two main characters: Risa Koizumi and Atsushi Otani. It was first debuted in September 2001 and recently ended around December of 2006, originally serialized in Margaret. As of recently, it has been licensed by Viz for American distribution. Then, on July 15 of 2006, the series was debuted into a Live-action movie starring Teppei Koike (Otani) and Ema Fujisawa (Risa)!
Now that the basics are over with, i'll brief everyone on what the story is all about. I mentioned in the first line of the first paragraph that this wasn't your "average" shojo. Many might disagree with this - since it is about the love life between a boy and a girl, but typically, the boy is taller than the girl, when you think of a regular, well-to-do shojo series. The girl that this series is focused on, Risa Koizumi, is 170cm (five feet, seven inches), while the boy, Atsushi Otani, is, well, five feet on the spot. Both have equally firey personalities, outspoken and judged greatly by the opposite sex because of their height. Since both have this kind of personality - they clash. They clash big time. Their entire class refers to them as the "All Hanjin-Kyojin", a popular Japanese comedy duo, who happen to have the same complex as Risa and Otani! Though they may argue, fight, and bite eachothers' heads off (and this is why they call them the comedy duo), something eventually sparks between the two. Through a twist of strange fate, what they thought would be called "most impossible" became possible. Their romance will be one big struggle, and both characters will be put to the ultimate test - can they really get over their height complex? Will Otani ever see Risa as a girl instead of a good friend? Will Risa fall for someone else, since there are many boys that like her? Will they ever get along nicely as a romantic couple? I'll put it this way.. the romance between them gives a whole new meaning to the quote: "You hurt the ones you love.", and I mean this in a more.. physical sense.
Below are a couple things if you want to get yourself acquainted better with the series itself. Includes the character listing, ED/OP and Live-action information.
| THE CHARACTERS | All the "main" characters of the series, and sub-characters. |
| OP/ED MUSIC | Information on the opening and ending music of the series. |
| VOLUME COVERS | Small thumbnails of each volume cover. |
| LIVE ACTION | Lovely complex, brought to life! |