So, MAL review reader, if you're reading this line, you probably started your trek of this review by checking out the number I dropped in the "Overall Rating" section. Intrigued, perhaps you even clicked those words to bring up the breakdown of numbers I awarded the show for various aspects of its creation. You would then have noticed the number "10" in the story section and probably asked yourself, "What? A perfect 10 in story for a comedy? How does that make sense?"
Normally I would not so directly reference the scores I gave in my actual review; the review is for explaining them, not reiterating them. They're just numbers, anyway. But I feel this worth the mention as it is, in fact, the most crucial part of the review and why the show is so great. I do not consider Love Lab's story worth a 10 because it's deep, or unique, or emotional, or ingeniously crafted. I give it a 10 because it is a comedy executed perfectly.
Love Lab, first and foremost, knows it is a comedy. What does that mean? It means that through everything it does, it stays comical. It will always keep you laughing (if its style of comedy does that for you, of course). Does it have dramatic subplots? Oh yes. Three, in fact. Yet even at the climax of these subplots, it stays funny. In fact, sometimes that's the funniest part.
And yet, at the same time, it never sacrifices suspense for the comedy. It's paradoxical in a way, but the show remains both serious and funny at the same time. Within the suspension of disbelief the show works under, the ways these problems manage to work themselves out are both believable and funny.
Now, one of the worst crimes a comedy can commit is to throw in a dramatic subplot out of nowhere to arbitrarily heighten tension, then forget it when it's done and go back to normal. Well, once again, Love Lab dodges this bullet. Every dramatic subplot has something to do with the point of the show (which, if you weren't aware, is a group of girls researching how to be popular with boys), is led up to, and continues to effect the story of the show and its characters throughout. The final climax of the series is actually the culmination of the event that began the daily lives of the Fuji Girl's student council in the first place and had been building up all along.
If that's not comedy done right, I don't know what is. But now, where would we be without our cast?
With all the praise I gave the story, the characters, too, must be good, right? Of course they are. Maybe not as perfectly crafted as the story, but still plenty good. First up is Riko, the tomboyish "wild" one. She has zero relationship experience, but her personality makes her pretty popular with the girls. However, when she walks in on student council prez Natsuo, known around school for being beautiful, kind, and just all around perfect making out with a hug pillow (Yes, really. Not exaggerating)...one thing leads to another and Natsuo, desperate to know how to be popular with boys, ends up believing Riko has tons of relationship experience. She has been around boys a lot...but always AS one of them, not WITH any of them.
Thus begins the relationship with Natsuo as the crazy and Riko as her straight man, even if the reason for it is a bit of a lie. Most of the show's time is spent with these two, and as they grow closer, Riko's secret becomes tougher to keep and even tougher to admit.
But that isn't all. Coming in to help with the love research will be Suzune, the klutz and shy girl, Yuiko, the slightly-childish and somewhat tsundere, and Sayori, the money-loving and merciless smart girl. Suzune and Yuiko, unfortunately, do not really get a chance to shine. One can only do so much in 13 episodes. That doesn't mean, however, that their characters are not well realized and put to use. Suzune's shy nature, while the center of multiple jokes, is also put to use as a way to distract faculty members when the student council needs to get a hold of the broadcasting room. Yuiko and Sayori make a comedy duo not unlike Riko and Natsuo, though in this case it is Sayori treating Yuiko as her butt monkey (don't worry, it's funny in context). Both of them also believe Riko's lie about being popular and further escalate the challenges of keeping or admitting it.
But Sayori doesn't believe Riko's lie. Naw, she's sharp and sees through Riko. But she's not just going to let it loose; she wants to use it to her advantage and have some fun, so she does. But for as clever as she is, she manages to get into some trouble of her own, and when it comes time to face the consequences, which she is completely prepared to do, what becomes even harder for her is allowing her friends to share in the blame with her.
Oh, there are boys in this show, too. Crazy, right? A cute-girls-doing-cute-things show with sausage? I already said it's not yuri, so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. One might expect the appearance of boys to be a strange turn that doesn't work well in the show, but the opposite is the truth. If anything, the scenes with the male characters only serve to make the show and its characters even better, allowing them to grow in a way one normally wouldn't expect from this kind of show. It's also simply a nice diversion from the paths these shows usually take.
And honestly, I love yuri, but I'm happy for the inclusion of boys here (I know I said I didn't want to spend much time on this, but you've already gotten past the most important part of the review). These shows have a tendency to be kind of sort of maybe pretending to be yuri but not officially yuri so they can say it's not yuri and not polarize any given subset of fans but it's kind of sort of maybe pretending to be yuri so it gets the yuri fans, too. That's cute for a while, but, quite frankly, I'm sick of that shit. Be yuri or don't be yuri. Love Lab replies, "We are not yuri." Thank you, Love Lab. Thank you for being straight with me.
Hm, okay, technicalities now. Art and music are both in the decent/good area. They're not nearly bad enough to take the show down at all, but they also don't do a whole lot to enhance one's experience. To sum it up in one word, they are "fine." Standard. The character designs aren't wholly unique but distinctive enough to set them apart and animation is largely smooth, mistakes mostly being minor and unnoticeable if you aren't looking for them. The OP and ED are both pretty generic (actually, I found the OP annoying), though the insert music does tend to fit quite well and give the show a good mood when applicable.
If you're tired of the standard cute-girls-doing-cute-things formula but still want to see a good one, check out Love Lab. That was my situation. Heck, if you never even liked the standard cute-girls-doing-cute-things formula, you may still like this. It really isn't easily judged by its cover or title because it's just so much better than what it appears to be.
