Love Lab

Well ... that was a freaking surprise. If someone told me, based on that synopsis, that Love Lab is a hilarious and heartwarming journey all through, I'd have him jump off a cliff into my love lab of death. Glad no one did. Regrets would be far too many. So, where do I even begin? It's quite hard seeing as I'm still kind of thinking about the anime. I'll just begin by saying this: do not let title or the synopsis drive you off. If you think that this anime is filled with cute girls (it kind of is) doing cutesy things (it kind of is)and that's all it is, then you're wrong. Not blaming you though, I only decided to watch this after seeing a short, hilarious clip on YouTube. So yeah ... The story is surprisingly good. Where majority of anime comedies fail, Love Lab managed to go up a notch. Almost nothing in the anime happens just so "you can have a couple of laughs". Somewhere, somehow, it all kind of ties up to the end of the story and the conclusion. It starts in a light tone which continues all throughout. Yeah, there's some drama, but it's not over the top. It doesn't try to shove tears into viewers eyes or anything. It's simply there to give more depth to already great characters. The story follows Riko and Mika, two seemingly total opposites when it comes to ... well, everything. Mika is a perfect girl, nicknamed even "Princess", while Riko is a tomboy, nicknamed "The Wild One". They're both admired by other girls in the school but for all the different reason. Fate (and by fate I mean teacher) has its hands in them meeting one another and then the adventure begins. Along the way they're joined with some other (equally hilarious) characters and you're bound to like at least one of them, if not all. To be quite frank, the story is not deep, but it's extremely well executed. It's a story about friendships and how lies sometimes make it hard. Nonetheless, everything that happens is a part of the story. It's not just a sidetrack business trying to make you laugh. Another impressive part of Love Lab are the characters. There are five main characters (seven if you include guys), and they're all enough unique to have their own charms and likeness to them. Mika is a delusional perfectionist who does everything on her own and wants desperately to have a boyfriend. Riko is her straight counter-part, who's "Master of love", and never fails to make you laugh with her comments. She's not as smart as Mika, but you admire her for what she is. Then you have Suzune, shy and timid but equally enthusiastic about their quest to learn how to seduce boys. There's also another duo of hilarity, Sayori and Yuiko; Sayori being composed, seemingly cold and detached person with quirky remarks and affinity for money, and Yuiko being not-so-annoying tsundere. All of them have distinct personalities and they all bring something to the table when it comes to comedy. You see them grow closer and closer as friends, and you actually believe in their friendship and you feel worried when it feels as if it's going to collapse. There are some over the top moments, but most of the time it's down to earth funny. When it comes to the production department, it's nothing amazing but it's good enough looking to the eyes. Anime-only-comedy was done extremely well, and I really loved most of the expressions of the characters. They were cute when they were meant to be cute, and they were extremely ugly when they were meant to be ugly. Backgrounds were lacking but that's to be expected from character-focused anime so no complains there. Soundtrack was lacking as well but, from what was there, it fit solidly. Overall, Love Lab was extremely well done, definitely above average and on sub-par with some other hilarious comedies. Its drama wasn't there to suddenly shift the tone to dark and try to appear more mature, but to give more depth to already established characters. I really do recommend Love Lab if for nothing else but its hilarity.

I almost didn't watch this show. My friend was giving me the rundown on this season's lineup, and mentioned that he was disappointed that the Yuru Yuri crew were working on a show that was being described as being, "Yuru Yuri, but lewder." I was a bit sad, Yuru Yuri is one of my all time favorite shows, and seeing the talent behind it make, what I assumed to be, a show with the fan service dial cranked up to 11 was just a let-down. Fan service won't put me off a show altogether, but if its the central focus of the show, I tend tohave a diminished interest. Whoever came up with that description of Love Lab is a monster, and should feel bad. This show is nothing at all like it was described to me. Content wise, it's not dirty at all, the subject matter of practicing for love is presented in a charmingly innocent way. With characters who are all oblivious but earnest in wanting to know just what it takes to find love. Little to no fan service through the entirety, just smart and well paced humor with fairly low stakes character drama. The art and animation are incredible, with a very good flow and perfect snap when they want to punctuate a gag. Everything flows just right, and it just FEELS good to watch. Character design fits its tone perfectly, and the voice talent is spot on. Sure, it's another slice of life anime about high school girls in an incredibly specific and idiosyncratic club, but it does it well enough to be worth watching by fans of fun comedies. So, ignore what you heard and check this one out. If you remember the awkward days of trying to understand what it meant to find love, or just like funny slice of life shows, then check this one out. Love Lab ended up being my surprise favorite of the season, and it demands your attention.

Of all the things that exist in the world, perhaps one of the most debated for centuries is the concept of 'love'. Like seriously, what exactly is love? Is it a feeling towards someone you hold dearly for? Or is it perhaps something we humans are born to be part of? Or whatever the case, I'm not a scientist here to discuss the concept of love. However, what I am here to discuss is this cute little series known as Love Lab that debuted during the summer of 2013. Love Lab (also known as Renai Lab) is an anime series based off of the 4-koma ofthe same name. The series is written by the author Ruri Miyahara whom has little presence in the manga industry. Her other work known as Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou also has similar themes involving love in a slice of life story with awkward comedy, drama, and romance. However, Love Lab is a little different because it takes the idea of love and focuses it on exclusively as a sort of experiment. Our main characters at Fujisaki Girls Academy plays the role of the scientists and tries to find out exactly what love is through these so called "love experimentation". For starters, Love Lab's concept consists of the idea of discovery. This primarily focuses on discovering how to attract the opposite gender and what love is. It's quite a difficult task because there are all sort of mishaps dealing with love. I mean, think of this way....when you first fell in love, how did that feel like? At any rate, the experiments dealing with the discovery of love and its concepts are explored at Fujisaki Girls Academy. The school itself is famous and pretentious because its school body is composed of well mannered students with elegance. A primarily example is Natsuo Maki, the Student Council President. With her elegance and beauty, she almost seems to be the perfect example of a Yamato Nadeshiko. Hmm, or is she?.... Among its other cast members is Riko Kurahashi, an admired girl but with a rather tomboyish personality. She is one of those girls where is very straightforward with their brutal honesty. In fact, she is even known by others as 'The Wild One'. This is clearly evidenced in the first episode with her actions. Coupled by the fact that she grew up with a little brother younger than herself, expect Riko to be the contrasting side of Maki. If Maki represents the princess, then Riko would be the beast. Then, there are also other characters of the series also become member of the school's life as they are on the journey of perfecting their discovery of....love. Because the series takes place at all-girl school, expect some undertone yuri. However, this is rather a facade because the tone is actually not as explicit as people may think. This is more evident later on when other characters enters the story that degrade this genre. (if it can be considered one at all for this series). To put it simply, it's NOT yuri. What makes Love Lab entertaining though are a variety of its ideas. The surprising concept is immediately presented when Riko discovers Maki with her obsession. It doesn't help Maki disprove her case as she is caught red handed with a toy that she practices on. While this is essentially seen as a joke, it's clear that Maki is actually serious about romance. She hopes to make the hearts of boys go 'doki doki'. In reality though, she is already considered elegant with a beautiful face and figure. This is prove especially later on when she actually has several chance encounters with the opposite gender. As for the experiments go, the theme focuses on love and its various little gags. The fun part typically involves with Maki and she tries to practice with situations that she believe will trigger 'flags'. In a way, her ideas can be relatable to otome games. Unfortunately for her though, these concepts don't always apply to reality and she learns it the hard way. Furthermore, her denseness on the concept of love makes her go to extreme measures with delusional ideas on several occasions. These experiments varies in many degrees as the girls tries at all sort of weird ideas. It's not very simple to explain so it's better to watch the series yourself to see what's going on. However, it can be relatable to high school experiences. Remember the first time you asked out someone? However, the process of actually verbally ask the question is a lot harder than it seems. It takes trials and error to get the right response usually. Here, the girls are in a similar situation. Being tagged as comedy also, expect Love Lab to have many humorous dialogues and absurd character interactions. There are moments where we can't help but laugh with Maki's behavior regarding to the experiments. In fact, her initial encounter with Riko becomes an abrupt bubble burst with humor. Riko on the other hand is fun to watch as she becomes a sort mentor to Maki. It's like teacher and apprentice without the light sabers. At some point though, Love Lab might become a chore to watch if decide to follow it all the way through. For one thing, we should want Maki to succeed and unlock the doors behind romance. However, the key to opening it often has her grasping on the wrong set of the key chain. This is proven by her naive ideas and because she lacks experience involving actual interactions with the opposite gender. Also, Maki often interprets almost everything as serious and often fails to recognize words behind the meaning. This is proven later on when she gets into a situation where she gets trapped in a zone of confusion. Additionally, Love Lab often tries a bit too hard and the ideas are cliched. These ideas are usually seen in most romantic comedies but here is taken as a joke. Unlike capturing targets similar to TWGOK (The World God Only Knows), the girls often finds themselves to be the targets. Artistic wise, the series is pretty generic in its designs. The only two characters that seems to stand out among the others are our two lead female protagonists – Maki and Riko. Maki is designed to look, dress, and act elegant. Riko on the other hand has that tomboyish look for her hairstyle. She even changes her hairstyle too but no one seems to notice it. Two of the supporting characters also goes along with glasses to their design that makes them seem more mature and geeky. Yuiko Enomoto's eyebrows are also designed to look noticeable and commented on many times throughout the show. Finally, there's also the school design that gives off that girlish feeling. It's a girly show after with girls trying to learn romance. As far as soundtrack goes, Love Lab once again adapts that girlish tone through its OP song, “Love Shitai”. Hearts are clearly seen in the song along with blushing moments of the girls. The OST itself is lighthearted but maintains a poor position because the majority of the series focuses on romance rather than a music band. However, Riko's VA Manami Numakuma does a terrific job in her role because of her tomboyish personality. Her tone of voice clearly presents the vocals of a tomboy. The way she speaks truly makes her the “Wild One”. I won't say I love Love Lab but it's definitely something fun to watch to pass time by. It has its moments with the girls and what they do at school. In many ways, we see a familiar side to what girls think of the opposite gender as a rather entertaining outlook on the anime industry. Usually, it's the guys that goes after the girls like no tomorrow. But here, the girls wants to learn about love, educate themselves with romance, and maybe even earn themselves a boyfriend. Ultimately, this series might seem to be a bit different but it's certainly can be worth the time to watch through. Love Lab isn't just about experiments of love but also about discovery through experiences.

Before I start officially start this review, let me make one thing clear. Love Lab is a full-time comedy anime. Those who don't like comedy, please stay away from this anime. Don't go around giving Love Lab a low score. It will stop those comedy lovers out there from watching Love Lab. On with the review. Up till now thousands of animes have been released and among these animes we have Love Lab. A small 13 episode comedy anime. Now, what is the plot in Love Lab? Well, it is about the members of the student council in an all girls middle school. The funny partof the plot is that these young girls are secretly doing some 'research' on how to make boys fall for them despite the fact that none of these girls has had any sort of love experience with any boy. Let's talk about the story in Love Lab. As you might know that many comedy animes don't have a proper story and they rely mostly on unlinked episodes with loads of funny scenes. This is not the case in Love Lab. There is actually a well built story here. You know those animes with good stories where you can tell how it will end halfway through? Well the best thing about this particular anime is that it won't turn out as you think it would. Apart from being well planned, the way the story progresses is totally unpredictable. You will find instances in this anime where you would think of an obvious ending, but it won't end that way. Some characters starting off as antagonists will quickly change to the protagonist and give a whole different view of how things will end. To start off Love Lab, a great introduction to the characters was given so that you know what kind of people you will face. The story progresses quite beautifully. They bring about unexpected events and don't go according to what you think. The story doesn't go the expected way. It felt nice to just go where the story took you and not being able to see the ending beforehand. The ending this anime gave was by far the best ending to an anime I have seen till now. The ending really brought me to tears. They gave it an obvious ending which most won't expect. Coming to the artwork and sound. It's what you would expect from an anime released in 2013, pretty decent. The artwork is not boring as to make you want to drop this anime. It is pretty neat. Every anime along with a good storyline should also have well developed characters in order to stay interesting. The way they portray the characters is worth praise here. Unlike some animes, the number of characters was kept low. Some extra characters were added only for the purpose of adding some more comedy to the already funny anime and they had no role in the progress of the story. We are introduced to 5 main characters who are members of the student council. First off we have Maki Natsuo, the vice-president (later president) of the student council. She is a pretty and talented girl who is top in her class. The problem (and main source of comedy) is that she has had no interaction with boys and wants to. She started 'love research' after caught kissing huggy (a large pillow) as practice. She was caught by our next character, Riko Kurahashi. Assistant of the president, Riko is sort of a tomboy and told a lie that started to haunt her every time love research was brought up. Then there is Suzune, a first year middle schooler. She is a clumsy little girl and her clumsiness is one of the main sources of comedy. Then there is Yukio Enomoto, the president (later vice-president) of the council. We also have Sayo, the treasurer. She has a sort of sadistic personality and is the only one who doubts Riko but still plays along. The weird personalities of these characters and their somewhat stupid actions is what makes Love Lab enjoyable. Love Lab is a brilliant anime. It's hard to tell how good an anime is in words or without spoilers. If you want a good laugh, you might as well give Love Lab a shot. You are sure to enjoy it. I hope this review was good. Please do comment and give any suggestions on how I could make my review better. :-)

Merchandise

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