Genre: Romantic comedy, slice of life story
Director: Kitaji Ishikawa
Studio: Tohokushinsha Film Corporation
Released: 13 July 2006
Runtime: 100 Minutes
PlotLove★Com is a love story between a boy and a girl. The girl, Risa Koizumi, is 172 centimetres (5 ft 8 in) tall—much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Ōtani, is 156 cm (5 ft 1 in)—way below the height of the average Japanese boy. Because of this, they are called the "All Hanshin Kyojin" after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference.
During summer school, a very tall student named Ryouji Suzuki (from another class) shows up and Risa immediately falls for him, as she has had bad luck with boys in the past because she is tall. There is a girl that Atsushi likes as well, so Risa and Atsushi decide to put aside their differences and help each other get their love interests. But as they get to know each other better, Risa's feelings for Atsushi begin to blossom, and her love life gets complicated from there.
One notable fact about Love★Com is that instead of speaking standard Japanese, almost all characters speak in Kansai-ben (the story takes place in Osaka).While having one or two characters speaking Kansai-ben is common in many anime shows, having all characters doing so is unusual in media produced for a nationwide audience.
CharactersRisa Koizumi (小泉リサ, Koizumi Risa)Drama role by: Ema Fujisawa
The protagonist, Risa Koizumi is not your average Japanese high school student. Standing 172 centimetres (5 ft 8 in), Risa's height is well above that of most Japanese girls her age (the average height for a female is 160 cm (5 ft 3 in)) Ironically, her surname means 'little spring'. She and other characters compare her to a giraffe. Risa can be impulsive and strong-willed at times, and is rarely willing to display her softer side. She had a crush on Suzuki before he started dating Chiharu. In the beginning of the series, Risa is 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) but she gains 2 cm (0.79 in) in height to become 172 cm (5 ft 8 in).
Risa starts developing feelings for Ōtani and soon admits to herself that she likes him. She then starts trying to confess. Failing the first time, Nobuko and Nakao try to help, Nobuko often giving Risa advice on what to do. Finally she very directly tells him. She immediately regrets it, and tells Ōtani to pretend it never happenened, but in spite of herself she tells Ōtani once again that she likes him. Ōtani responds that he couldn't see her as a girlfriend yet, so her new goal is to make Ōtani regret that and make him like her as well. Eventually they start going out.
Atsushi Ōtani (大谷敦士, Ōtani Atsushi)Drama role by: Teppei Koike
Atsushi Ōtani is one of the main characters. He is very short for a boy, standing 156 centimetres (5 ft 1 in). The average height for a male in Japan is 171 cm (5 ft 7 in). Like Koizumi, Ōtani's surname (roughly, "big valley") is a pun on his diminutive stature, and he can be thoughtless and rude; at heart, however, he is kind and a little silly. Ōtani is also the star player of the school basketball team.
His ex-girlfriend is Mayu Kanzaki, the manager of his middle-school basketball team. She broke up with him for a much taller boyfriend, and this is one of the reasons Ōtani is sensitive about his height, but he later finds out that wasn't the reason she broke up with him, it was because she was in love with someone else already who just happened to be tall. He doesn't know quite yet how he feels about Risa, and only responds that he can't see her as a girlfriend (at the moment) when Risa confesses her feelings. But later, he realizes that he does care for her, and he kisses her. Later on in the series, Ōtani gets the wrong idea when Risa keep doing suspicious things with her co-worker Kohori, and then breaks up with her. However, after seeing how devoted she is to him, Ōtani reconsiders and they make up on Christmas Eve.
Nobuko Ishihara (石原信子, Ishihara Nobuko)Drama role by: Nami Tamaki
Fashionable and charming, Nobu is Risa's best friend. She is generally wiser than Risa or Chiharu in the ways of love, and is always ready to offer her advice. She's mostly the one who sets up all the 'alone time' moments with Risa and Ōtani, but it usually ends up failing and Risa goes back to her for comfort. She's utterly in love with her boyfriend, Nakao, and is always calling him her 'honey', 'darling', and 'baby'.
Heikichi Nakao (中尾平吉, Nakao Heikichi)Drama role by: Yusuke Yamazaki
Nobu's boyfriend and Ōtani's best friend. Considerate, sensitive, mild-mannered and easygoing. Nakao is absolutely dedicated to Nobu, and when he is not playing basketball with Ōtani, he can usually be found helping with her match-making schemes.
Chiharu Tanaka (田中千春, Tanaka Chiharu)Drama role by: Risa Kudo
One of Risa's closest friends, Chiharu has such a shy, demure personality that she fears most boys her own age. Ōtani once harbored a crush on her (she resembles Kanzaki, his ex-girlfriend, or vice-versa), but Chiharu instead fell for the gentle Suzuki. The two are now a couple. When everybody starts making college plans, Suzuki and Chiharu applied for the same college, but Suzuki got rejected. He sadly tells Chiharu somebody else would be able to protect her. For the first time, Chiharu breaks out of her shy character and violently lifts up a desk and throws at him (narrowly missing), frustrated that Suzuki thinks he can be replaced. They later make up and Suzuki promises to join Chiharu in her new school the next year.
Ryoji Suzuki (鈴木涼二, Suzuki Ryoji)Drama role by: Hiro Mizushima
Chiharu's boyfriend. Suzuki's cool demeanor is often mistaken for standoffishness, and so he has few friends. Oblivious to Risa's crush on him, he develops feelings for Chiharu, and eventually asks her out. Like Chiharu, Suzuki is shy and easily embarrassed. When failed to get into the same university as Chiharu, he promises to try again the year after.
UmibozuDrama role by: Susumu Terajima
A popular rapper that both Risa and Ōtani are avid fans of, leading to Nobu's suggestion that the two are compatible. Risa and Ōtani accidentally cross paths with Umibōzu while on a class trip, and learn that he is actually a devoted family man, with a wife and son with a similar story of how they became a couple. He is named after the mythological creature Umibōzu due to his bald head.
Kuniumi Maitake (舞竹国海, Maitake Kuniumi)Drama role by: Shosuke Tanihara
Student teacher at Risa and Ōtani's school. Maitake, who prefers the nickname "Maity" or "Mighty", is taller than Risa and extraordinarily good-looking. He bears a resemblance to "Cain-sama", a character in one of Risa's favorite visual novels, and soon acquires a legion of female fans. Gaining affection from Risa, Ōtani soon becomes jealous and quickly starts to realize his feelings for her. It is later revealed he has a fiance - much to the disappointment of his fan club - and that he is Haruka's cousin.
Risa's senpaiDrama role by: Shugo Oshinari
Dancing YoshikoDrama role by: Eiji Wentz
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