The seriousness is pervasive from the first moment thanks to the character designs - high schoolers DO look like actual high schoolers: there's no oversexualization and no pink hair. I have to give big props to making characters truly look different without relying just on hairstyles and eye color. The backgrounds have just enough detail, generally using colors with mid to low saturation--what you'd call "soft" or “toned-down” colors. There are very few lighting effects and the shading is very sublte making it so that there’s nothing to distract from the characters' feelings and thoughts. Characters are slightly stylized and this makes for a great looking anime when it comes to the few fluid movements that get animated. It’s a sad fact that the animation is rather clunky. The design however is refreshing compared to what I consider the overly-colorful (saturated), overly-detailed design used nowadays, Your Lie in April being an example of this. Detailed backgrounds with bright color palettes such as in shows like 5cm/sec or Garden of Words would be other examples so this trend is no news, it’s just more frequent now.
Its main problems come as a consequence of misusing characters. They’re good in the sense that you can’t just box them inside an archetype, they’re all realistic and complex, but aside from the two main characters none get actually explored. Although it’s somewhat at the cost of the side characters, it’s good that much of the exploration of the protagonists, Risa and Otani, is done through friends and teachers helping them fix their issues. It’s a common romance anime mistake to shoehorn in explanations through exaggerated reactions, obtrusive self-talk or over-the-top visuals or story. Another issue is that for part of the duration Otani is so dense that he manages to keep the plot looping and breaks any suspension of disbelief.
A nice plus that probably doesn't get noticed that much is the soundtrack. It's never in the foreground with its rather low volume and the more ambiental style, but one can tell many of the 35 tracks were specially created for dramatic timing of specific scenes. Very fitting, but not particularly memorable.
Most of the issues I have with LoveCom are related to the plot. The anime is slow to start, as we find Risa being rejected time and time again. Couple that with the fact that it will skip from Valentines to Christmas, New Year and Birthdays and you’ll end up thinking each day is a holiday in which Risa is living the same nightmare. There are cases when repetition can be used as a trope, but in this case it will only make you care less and less, or simply get frustrated. If you look at it from a troll’s perspective it’s almost funny, but the anime presents it from the victim’s perspective. If you bear through that you’ll get to the best part. That’s simlpy because it reaches great variety and a good pacing. In fact it goes through almost anything that can happen in a normal relationship.
However, when the focus suddenly switches to the side characters everything feels off. They were forgotten for too long . Adding to that comes the fact that their arcs are poorly dealt with: rushed and with awkward transitions. All this is on the background of college exams and choosing their path in life which manage to keep tension up so the anime ending gets to save face with a cathartic ending about the main characters and their life choices.
There’s also some storytelling issues such as the overuse of flashbacks in order to explain some of Risa’s emotions. Most of the times the respective feelings are obvious anyway so the flashabacks duration becomes even more of a problem. Luckily they aren’t used that often.
It’s worth it to mention what type of comedy LoveCom has. The jokes come as a byproduct of the characters’ silly but believeabale personalities or in the form of a funny plot twist having a well timed comedic setup. This secondary role comedy gets makes it that if it doesn’t hit the spot for you it won’t take anything away from the value of the show.
In the end you’re left with a fine anime that repeats the same note before remembering the rest of the song. It’s not a beautifully complex song but it’s catchy and simple and it might just be that one song that makes you understand romance a bit better or at least reminds you of your funny teenage love experiences.
