Lovely Complex 5: Seiko Time II

Summary: Episode 5 “Send Forbidden Love Flying” [1] starts with a recap of Seiko pecking Otani on the cheek. Risa was left stunned.

Risa tries out the powers that she acquired from the Great Old Ones.

The next morning, we find Risa glumly accusing Otani of being ‘shameless’. They exchange taunts. Otani’s jibes land on the mark, and Risa is reduced to screeching nonsense at him. Seiko’s affection has also gone to Otani’s head. He declares that small men have joined small cameras, computers, and phones in the limelight. Well, he can always dream.

"Small is in!" he proclaims from a tall place.

Risa is irritated by Otani as she and Nobu head to the physical exams. Nobu points out that Seiko is the only girl that considers him cool rather than cutesy. Risa is surprised by Seiko’s boldness; that’s the first public kiss she’s seen.

Risa and Nobu meet Seiko in the hallway. Seiko continues to gush about Otani. The girl’s intensity weirds out Risa and Nobu. Seiko asks Risa to support her pursuit of Otani. Risa agrees, but has second thoughts afterwards.

The Seiko Horror Picture Show

During the physical, Nobu comments that Seiko is sex kitten, which is the opposite of Risa. Nobu also tells Risa to do her best. Risa colors and demands what she needs to do her best at. She snarls at Chiharu, when Chiharu calls her up for a measurement. [2] Risa quickly apologizes and steps on the scale to be measured. She disparages her height, especially when compared to the petite Seiko. Thus it is the absolute wrong time for her timid friend to report that the giantess has grown 2 cm.

Risa wants a redo, on her whole skeletal structure.

Otani has grown 2 mm and gets pissed. He bolsters his ego by referring to Seiko’s declaration to him. N2 calls him a little pervert as Seiko shows up to meet her man. He happily meets Seiko at the door. Nobu warns Risa that Seiko will end up with Otani if Risa doesn’t act. The Kyojin stubbornly refuses to admit her feelings for the Hanshin.

The meeting leaves Otani insufferably smug. Koizumi trips him, which triggers another All Hanshin-Kyojin dispute. During the argument, Risa notices that Otani is wearing her gift. Her mood brightens when she finds that he likes the wristband. He wears it during practice.

Seiko unexpectedly joins Risa and Nobu in watching the BB practice. Seiko calls out encouragement, which distracts Otani. Risa warns him about the incoming ball. Otani stubs his finger. Seiko freaks and drags Otani to the nurse’s office. Risa is perturbed when Seiko slithers her arms around Otani’s arm. Nobu narrates of seduction in the infirmary. Risa tells her to knock it off as one of the team members approaches Nakao with information about Seiko.

Nobu’s does a good Seiko impression.

In the infirmary, Seiko is acting out Nobu’s perverted fantasies. However, there is an unexpected twist. Nakao’s teammate reveals that Seiko is actually named Seishiro. The damsel in distress was actually a tranny in trouble; Seiko is a guy. Risa busts into the infirmary to find Seishiro half-naked and Otani aghast. Otani fails his constitution check and faints.

Otani is a self-proclaimed sinful man.

The next day, Otani tries to put the incident out of his mind, while his friends try to contain their laughter. When Otani demands to know what’s so funny, and they can't hold it anymore. Risa indulges in schadenfreude in response to Otani’s earlier arrogance, but the prevailing feeling is relief. The feeling surprises her.

Nobu and Risa meet Seiko on their way to watch BB practice. Seiko declares that she must have been simply born into the wrong body. Seiko apologizes to Risa for insensitively asking the second year to support her relationship. The freshman astutely reasons that Risa must like Otani as well, since she gave Otani the nice wristband.

Otani just might be avoiding Seiko.

Risa once again denies it. She argues that it would be strange for a giantess and a midget to go out. Seiko counters that her feelings for Otani would even be stranger.

Seiko fears that Otani might find her disgusting and might be avoiding her. Risa assures the freshman that Otani is a little confused. Seiko is relieved and declares that they are rivals for Otani. Seiko hasn’t given up, not by a long shot. Risa protests the rival label, but to no avail.

Magical Pretty Soldier Seiko-chan declares war on her nemesis: the Kyojin.

Later on, Risa is down and slouching. Nobu points out that she might be hung up on the 2 cm, because she like a shorter guy. Risa’s traitorous eyes immediately turn toward Otani. Seiko bursts into to the room to glomp onto Otani. She is dressed as a cheer leader. Otani is in disbelief over the girl part. Seiko doesn’t catch onto his sarcastic tone.

Risa observes the exchange. Before she found out that Seiko was guy, she admired Seiko’s petite attractiveness and boldness. Even after finding out that Seiko is a guy, Risa still admires Seiko’s unrelenting spirit. Risa quietly berates herself for hiding her own feeling for Otani, because of her height. In the face of the divide that Seiko is trying to cross, Risa’s 16 centimeters is a small distance to cross.

Inspired by Seiko’s outfit, Nobu convinces Risa to join the cheer squad for the Sports Festival. The pair approach Seiko about the squad. In the course of the conversation, Nobu asks Seiko “Say, why do you like Otani? Wouldn’t you prefer someone stronger and more manly?” Seiko replies that Otani is plenty manly and adds that the difficulties he’s faced over his height might make him more sympathetic toward her own struggle with gender identity.

Though the leading question was ostensibly aimed at Seiko, Nobu’s eyes look straight at Risa. Risa admits that Otani is kind. Seiko agrees and glomps onto Otani. His three basketball fan girls are present.

In the next scene, Risa finds that the three basketball followers have cornered Seiko and are grilling her. They state that Otani and Seiko could not possibly being going out. While this is true, the tone and proximity make the words cruel. The words echo the comment they made about Risa. Risa confronts the three on Seiko’s behalf and the three girls retreat.

Hunter & quarry.

Seiko tries to ignore the painful words, but is cut to the quick. Just as she is sinking into despair, Otani comes to rescue her with kind words. He does state that, though, that he won’t become Seiko’s boyfriend anytime soon.

The Sports festival arrives and Otani finds out that the guys are wearing the mini-skirts, while the girls are dressed in gakurens. He runs to avoid dressing in drags. Risa hunts him down and carries him back to gym to fulfill his duty in the cheer squad. More importantly, she decides that she going to let herself be embarrassed about being next to a shorter guy. After many denials, Risa admits that she likes Otani.

Let Lovely Komplex Begin!

Commentary: Lovely Complex continues to solid characters and laughs. Nobu looked like another pretty sidekick in the manga, but her voice actress plays her like a hardened veteran of many campaigns of the heart. Her kindness and offbeat sense of humor, that makes her compatible with Risa, are well developed. Her ability to sink an octave with Risa, then switch it back up around the guys also plays off of Risa well.

The seiyuu and the character designer have made me into a Nobu fan.

The emotive Nobu.

Episodes 4 & 5 introduced Seiko in a dramatic fashion. Like Haruka and Kanzaki, Seiko looks like a rival at first blush. However, the story introduces Seiko to further stoke the fire under Risa's tush. Risa may be half of Hanshin-Kyojin, but the internal thought are Risa's and the perspective is also Risa's.

Kanzaki made Risa think of life without Otani and how much he meant to hear. Koizumi also rejects the tall and handsome Haruka, because height is a hangup, but isn't the main motivator for her affections. Finally Seiko's struggles inspire Risa and remind her of how kind Otani is.

The author used the three almost rivals well to the run up to the first main event; Koizumi's romance with Otani.

[1] KissSub

[2] This is Chiharu’s fate, to quail at Risa’s fierce and bizarre turns of mood. It must have been some strange stroke of fate that this shy girl fell into the clutches of these weirdos.