Risa is very tall for a girl. Atsushi is very short for a boy. They are both in love with different people who actually end up dating each other. With both their loves taken, the two form an unlikely friendship that soon turns into something more.
Intriguing as it is the female that first realizes her feelings for a less sure male character, if you are looking for more anime recommendations like Lovely Complex, then saunter down below.
Anime Like Lovely Complex
For Fans of Unsure Feelings
My Little Monster
Shizuku Mizutani cares little of others and only about scoring top marks. However, when she is tasked with taking something to her desk neighbor Haru Yoshida, her world begins to change. Haru, too, knows little of human nature and hasn’t been to school for awhile due to fighting. Yet, it is the lack of friends that they both have that soon forms a friendship between them.
In both series, feeling are developed and revealed early on in the series, only for you to find the other party a little less than receptive towards them. The rest of the series is dealing with them coming to terms with their own feelings.
Toradora
Ryuuji Takasu is a gentle student with a passion for housework, but his thuggish face causes his fellow students to think him a delinquent. Taiga Aisaka is small and cute, but with an attitude as fierce as a tiger. Both of these misunderstood students also harbor feelings for their crushes, and after a series of misunderstandings of their own, they find themselves in an unlikely alliance to get their crushes to notice them.
In both series, the main characters are or become friendly with one another, but don’t immediately realize their love for each other. What is obvious to us in the audience takes time to become obvious to the characters.
Say I Love You
After a traumatic incident in her past, Mei Tachibana swore off making friends, deeming all people as untrustworthy. While her quiet life seems to be going quite normally, her core as an introvert is shaken by a few chance encounters with the popular Yamato Kurosawa.
In both shows, you have one party of the main couple reveal their interest and the other be a little unsure about it. In Lovely Complex it is because of physical issues while in Say I Love You, the issue is a mental one.
For Fans of Inferiority Complexes
Special A
Introduced as children, Hikari Hanazono has always been second to Kei Takishima in everything from academics to pro-wrestling. Ever since the first time he beat her, Hikari has been on a vendetta to finally be number one, even going so far as to attend his prestigious school where both are placed in the Special A class for the most elite. However, for all Hikari’s mental and physical prowess, she doesn’t realize one thing – that Kei is in love with her.
While the big joke in Special A is that the girl does not realize the boys romantic affection towards her, both shows are about characters that have an inferiority complex towards each other. It is height in Lovely Complex, but it is talent in Special A.
Hana Yori Dango
Coming from a poor family, Makino Tsukushi is wildly out of place at the glamorous Eitoku Academy. She wishes to finish her education quietly, but crossed the F4, the four most powerful and popular boys in school. However, while they have declared war on her, she will not be beaten and it is this spirit that caught their leader’s eye.
While a short guy with a tall girl is a chasm more easily crossed than a rich boy with a poor girl, they are the major themes of each show. They are people different from each other, but falling in love.
His and Her Circumstances
Yukino Miyazawa is the perfect student to her peers, but it is all just a front to get the praise and admiration she thrives on. So naturally when Soichiro Arima takes her spot as number one in the class rankings, she goes a little batty. Yet after Arima finds out her true personality, he begins to blackmail her with it.
The inferiority complex in His and Her Circumstances is not immediately apparent, but there is a whole arc in the series dedicated to an inferiority that was there. It could have remained not shown, but I’m glad it was included. They went there and it adds a welcomed depth to the show.
For Fans of Strong Female Leads
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun
Chiyo Sakura has fallen head over heels for the handsome and oblivious Umetarou Nozaki. However, when she confesses her love, he gives her an autograph. It turns out this stoic boy is actually a respected shoujo manga artist. After a series of misunderstandings, Chiyo winds up not as his girlfriend, but as his manga assistant.
Both shows detail a female lead that has romantic trouble due to various reasons with the man she has fallen for. However, they are both characters in their own right (not just female love blobs only looking to snag them a man) and this helps the series rise above just another doki-doki comedy into something everyone can enjoy as a great comedy.
Arakawa Under the Bridge
Kou Ichinomiya, as the son of a wealthy businessman, has vowed never to become indebted to anyone. However,when he falls in the river under Arakawa Bridge, someone dives in to save him, thus he owes his life to this person. She is a homeless girl named Nino who wants only one thing – to fall in love. In order to pay her back, he accepts her offer to be her boyfriend, thus moving out of his home and starting a new life under the bridge.
Both series are notable for being visually bright and excelling in comedy. However, while Lovely Complex is well known for its good romantic development, Arakawa is not. Arakawa does have a good romance in it, but that is not what the show is remembered for. It is remembered for the weird ass side characters.
Nodame Cantabile
Shinichi Chiaki is a first-rate musician that has dreams of playing among Europe’s elite. However, due to his fear of flying, he has remained firmly grounded in Japan. In his fourth year at Japan’s top music university, he meets Megumi Noda, or Nodame, as she prefers to be called. At first she seems unkempt and without direction, but when he hears her play, everything he thought he knew about her was wrong.
In both shows, the female main character is defined by more than just her attraction. She is very much her own person and the meeting of these two personalities serves to elevate both characters in the romance story.
Do you have any more anime recommendations similar to Lovely Complex? Let fans know in the comments section below.
