Love Lab

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I just finished one of my favorite manga, which I had to put on hold at some point years ago due to a lack of translations, so I reread it. This manga is simply magnificent.

It's hard to compare Love Lab's genre to other manga. It has romance as a central theme, but it's not a shoujo like Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun or Ore Monogatari!! since it doesn't jump straight into the relationship. Instead, it focuses on the girls' daily lives. However, it's not a "yuri" slice of life like Yuru Yuri or K-On! either, because there are guys involved. In a way, you could compare it ... to Kaguya-sama since it has a bit of slice of life and romance, but the romance aspect isn't as aggressive.

Story: 9.5
As I mentioned, it's not a shoujo, so the relationship progression is much slower, which blends well with the slice of life elements. The story follows the student council and how they experience love at their age. A very important detail: they are in middle school, so the cast is around 12 to 14 years old, which isn't the usual age for manga/anime characters. From that simple premise, they try to understand love and convey their feelings to the boys they are interested in. It's a remarkably sweet and pure story.

Characters: 9.5
The entire cast of girls is very likable. There isn't a single one who feels like a headache or that you'd dislike; similarly, the guys are also very nice. Just like in Ore Monogatari!!, there are no "villains" in this story, so everything goes pretty smoothly. Problems mostly arise from misunderstandings—keep in mind the cast's age, they are just kids. Their personalities and the way they interact are very charming.

Art: 8
I have both positive and negative comments here. First, the positive: the mangaka's art is beautiful. It perfectly reflects the youthful scenes of the cast, and the expressions and color impact panels look spectacular.
Now, I have two issues:

There are some weird moments in the manga. Even though the cast is 12 to 14 years old, there are times when I'm reading and out of nowhere they look like they're 8 or 9, without it being a flashback. That distracts me a bit; it seems like the drawing faltered there, though it's not a catastrophic error.

My main issue is how the story is illustrated, because it's a 4-koma manga (for those who don't know, it's a story told in 4 vertical panels). This creates what I consider sub-problems. For example, having 8 panels on one page divided into 2 columns means that while reading one column, I sometimes end up spoiling myself with the adjacent panel, losing some of the story's impact. Furthermore, the story could have easily been a regular manga since it has a good plot, and the mangaka's art is somewhat wasted by being restricted to square panels—except on rare occasions where she uses 4 panels (within a page) for a bit more impact. Because of this, you don't get those incredible double-page spreads found in standard manga.

Overall: 9
The story is simply magnificent. It's always nice to read about the pure happiness of a group of friends and their simple problems, without having to worry about the real-world issues we deal with in reality. It's a shame that the manga is told in a 4-koma format; otherwise, it would have been amazing to read in a standard format. Another issue is that where I read it, they skipped two volumes because it seems that since it had a good anime adaptation, the scanlators preferred to skip them, so you lose a bit of the story there...

Story: [10/10]
The story revolves around five girls and their struggles with insecurity, friendship and of course love! I've been following the manga since the anime came out and I definitely appreciate how far its come along. This is definitely a slice-of-life kind of manga, as it follows the girls and their daily life as they panic about boys, die from embarrassment left and right, and always finding a way to support each other in an interesting fashion. This manga always leaves a tinge of warmth in your heart after every chapter you read.

Art: [8/10]
Initially the art was fairly basic, but as the story progress ... there was definitely an improvement in art. Their expression were definitely more drawn out and expressive, I was fairly impressed at how far the style changed! Personally for me, I adore the art very much.

Character: [10/10]
As someone who's been through the awkward teen girl adolescence, I couldn't help but love all these girls! They reminded me of my friends and the conversation we would have about boys or when we would make an outrageous game plan to solve a problem (only ending up in second hand embarrassment by the way!). Even the fights the girls would have echoed similar to my own friendship, and it definitely enhanced the story for me. I can't help but laugh along or cover my face in embarrassment when I read this manga. I feel for the characters tremendously and I want to be apart of their journey every step of the way.

Enjoyment: [10/10]
If you enjoy shoujo-esque slice of life manga, this is for you. There's a bit of romance sprinkle across the story but it really is about the girls growing up and figuring themselves out. This manga shows how powerful friendship really is and that romance is fun and all, but when you have your friends to share it too, it just makes it that much more fun!

Overall: [10/10]
I would definitely recommend this manga to anyone who wants to read something light-hearted and sweet. The problems that happen in the manga are almost always resolved in a few chapters and it is never prolonged for the sake of drama. The fights that the characters go through and the god awful thing called growing up makes it all that much more sweeter. The five girls have distinct personalities, that you may have seen before, but their interactions together make it unique and hilarious. I can just imagine having the same girl talk with some of my friends and I can't help but cringe and laugh at the same time.

I will definitely look back in fondness when I read this again and make sure to call up my friends for some dumb chit chat.

The premise was very interesting. A romcom involving middle school students might not be everyone's cup of tea but its quite wholesome. The comedy and friendship is also great. It's from the romance that the issues start cropping up. This series focuses heavily on comedy at the start while the romance is slow to start. Usually, the appeal of a slowburn romance is that there is a big emotional payoff at the end for the readers. But here, it is quite underwhelming and isn't worth it. As to why, let's look at each couple one by one.

Maki/Yan:
They are the main couple of the series. Maki ... is the best drawn character in the manga with some beautifully portrayed expressions of various emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, joyful laughter, anxiety, guilt and shock that other characters don't really show to such extent. So it was totally unexpected when the author screwed up Maki's Valentine situation royally. The process of Yan agonizing over the situation only to admit he was wrong after splitting the chocolate felt very contrived. Even without opening the chocolate head, Maki makes it crystal clear that she loves Yan by mentioning his name. Despite Maki piling on the mistakes, it was a heartfelt confession to Yan both in words as well as in action. She even specifically mentions him by name with no logical room for misunderstanding. There is no realistic way to misinterpret this even if the glasses made of candy were missing and even if the chocolate resembles the body pillow drawing. The most natural thing for him to do in that situation is to confirm with her directly or at least delay the answer while he makes sure of Maki's feelings. Instead, he immediately rejects her based on assumptions with no proof. This is nothing like the calm and collected Yan we were shown for the whole series that Maki fell in love with. Worst part is that by the time they finally fight, apologize, reconcile and admit their feelings for each other, the manga is already over. Just one scene where Maki accepts Yan's apology and that's it. There are no scenes of them as lovers to reward the readers. No beautifully drawn big panels with both of them smiling and having fun in each others company. Readers are left wondering why Maki loves a jerk like Yan in the first place since he isn't redeemed properly. It felt like the author just rushed the manga's ending to get it over with. There is an extra chapter that shows them dating in high school and Yan meeting Maki's father for his approval but that was too little and too late given how poorly the confession arc was handled

Riko/Nagi:
Probably the most satisfactory romance in the series. Riko was a terrible match for Nagi at the start. Constantly infuriating him deliberately, beating him up, and worst of all forgetting him and their their childhood history altogether. But, she makes up for it by being completely honest with her feelings and her intentions to the point that other characters are also inspired to do the same. Nagi wastes time by delaying things for no reason but at least he liked Riko from the beginning. Riko's straightforwardness and sincerity even when nervous and embarassed was refreshing to watch

Eno/Toda:
The most undercooked romance of the series. Eno likes prince types. Toda is a prince type. He helps her when she is carsick on the bus. And that's why she likes him. For his part, Toda starts liking Eno when she scolds him during the council exchange meeting. There isn't much depth to this couple as to why they like each other. There are also no detailed scenes showing their interactions as lovers

Suzu/Ren:
The couple with good potential but got cut off because both were minor characters. Despite Ren chasing Maki, he has a more realistic connection to Suzu. He starts off haughty and problematic but mellows down as he interacts more with Suzu, making her like him more and more. Probably the most natural "shojo manga" type romance in the series. Unfortunately, it was never explored in depth despite Suzu having the best character development of all

Sayo/Yamazaki:
The worst and unnecessary couple of the series. This is basically a one-sided crush on Yamazaki's part. Sayo is a sadist who insults him, ignores him, does less than the bare minimum of being a girlfriend while Yamazaki is a masochist who is just happy with the label of being Sayo's boyfriend. There is nothing cute or romantic about this couple. While Sayo's character as a miser and general dislike of romance does result in some good jokes, the romance life of Sayo might as well be non-existent as her masochist boyfriend only exists to induce cringe. The tsundere argument doesn't work for Sayo as she isn't embarrassed to properly treat Yamazaki as a boyfriend. She just doesn't care and it shows. This is an example of a situation where not every character needs to have a romantic partner. Sayo would have been better off single and she would add to the comedy and friendship just fine

There were also pretty good characters who could have been explored in depth. The lazy teacher could have gotten more screen time. She would definitely make the readers laugh. There could have been a touching backstory as to why Eno's brother became a NEET and how he struggles through his guilt and shame to overcome his weakness and land a job to regain the respect of his sister. Maki's relationship with her elder sister could also have been explored as they are on good terms with each other. It is also never really explained why Maki is obsessed with romance in the first place to the point of creating her body pillow and imagining that to be her boyfriend for the romance practice.

All in all, this manga is a good read only if you are in it for the comedy and friendship aspect. Just don't expect anything good from the romance part. With only one out of the five couples having a satisfactory romance, and the main couple's valentine messed up, it's hard to say this is a good recommendation for romance.