Love Lab

Love Lab

Cover of the first manga volume
恋愛ラボ
(Rabu Rabo)
Genre Romantic comedy, Slice of life[1]
Manga
Written by Ruri Miyahara
Published by Houbunsha
Imprint Manga Time Comics
Magazine Manga Home → Manga Time Special
Original run 2006 – present
Volumes 12
Anime television series
Directed by Masahiko Ohta
Produced by Yosuke Toba
Tsuguharu Sakurai
Hiromasa Minami
Tetsuya Endo
Kozue Kaneniwa
Hajime Kamata
Hiroo Maruyama
Written by Takashi Aoshima
Music by Yasuhiro Misawa
Studio Dogakobo
Licensed by
Network MBS, TBS, CBC, AT-X, BS-TBS, Niconico
Original run July 5, 2013 – September 27, 2013
Episodes 13

Love Lab (恋愛ラボ（ラブラボ） Rabu Rabo) is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Ruri Miyahara. An anime adaptation by Dogakobo aired in Japan between July and September 2013.

Plot

Love Lab is set in Fujisaki Girls Academy, which is known for their school body being composed of very proper students. The most prominent one of them is Natsuo Maki, the student president who is admired by her classmates for her calm and polite demeanor. On the other hand, Riko Kurahashi is also admired but for having a very forward and boyish personality. Riko accidentally walks into Maki when she is kissing a body pillow with a picture of a guy for practice, and learns that she is not as collected as everyone thinks she is. Riko is forced into keeping Maki's secret and joins her in practicing romance activities such as holding hands and more.

Characters

Main characters

Riko Kurahashi (倉橋 莉子 Kurahashi Riko)
Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (drama CD)[2] / Manami Numakura (anime)[3]
The main character of the series, Riko (リコ) is a popular girl who has a very forward and boyish personality. She joins the student council as an aide to president Maki after she is recruited for her perceived romance experience, even though she possesses little practical experience in love. She is known in her school as the "Wild Kid" (ワイルドの君 Wairudo no Kimi), a title which dismays her. However, even though she has a boyish personality, she secretly wishes that she could have a cuter nickname instead of "Wild Kid" and wants to have a cuter approach but has a trouble doing so due to how embarrassed she gets every time she tries to do something girlish.
Natsuo Maki (真木 夏緒 Maki Natsuo)
Voiced by: Yui Horie (drama CD)[2] / Chinatsu Akasaki (anime)[3]
The student council president, Maki (マキ) has a polite and calm demeanor. She is admired by the majority of students in their academy. Despite her reputation as a model student, in truth, Maki aims to learn about romance. Her devotion to this can lead to extremities to the point where she owns a hug pillow named "Huggy" (ダッキー Dakkī),[4] which she sometimes uses as practice for kissing. Another fact is that, despite her vast intelligence and rumored "perfection," whenever she is alone with Riko, she appears to have almost no common sense or perception of tact, almost to the point where one might think she's actually an airhead. Her lack of logic is especially prominent when it comes to the topic of romance that she loves so much; not only that, her perception of an ideal romance appears to mainly consist of common anime tropes, even down to having extremely melodramatic dialogue and bumping into someone while carrying bread in her mouth. Her father owns a famous undergarments manufacturer.
Suzune Tanahashi (棚橋 鈴音 Tanahashi Suzune)
Voiced by: Ryōko Shintani (drama CD)[2] / Inori Minase (anime)[3]
Suzu (スズ) is a petite and shy girl who serves as the student council's secretary. Inside their council office, she is usually in charge in making slapsticks that other members uses to punish fellow members as well. She has an older brother and sister who dote on her.
Yuiko Enomoto (榎本 結子 Enomoto Yuiko)
Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi (drama CD)[2] / Ayane Sakura (anime)[3]
Eno (エノ) is a rich girl with thick eyebrows; she serves as the student council vice-president. Formerly the Student Council President, she resigns due to Maki not relying on her but is later reinstated as vice-president. She and Sayori are close friends. Eno also has a brother who is rather unstable and proclaims himself as a masochist, much to Eno's dismay.
Sayori Mizushima (水嶋 沙依理 Mizushima Sayori)
Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (drama CD)[2] / Yō Taichi (anime)[3]
Sayo (サヨ) wears glasses[3] and is the student council treasurer. Infamously known to be somewhat wicked and a miser, Sayo actually has a boyfriend who lives in the neighboring district. Due to her greed over the Student Council's budget, Sayo is fired from the council by Maki, but is later reinstated along with Eno.

Supporting characters

Mika Kiriyama (桐山 美花 Kiriyama Mika)
Voiced by: Ayaka Suwa
Mika (ミカ) is Riko's friend and classmate.
Satoshi Nagino (凪野 智史 Nagino Satoshi)
Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima
Nagi (ナギ) is Riko's childhood friend and former football teammate. He had a very feminine appearance when he was younger, which caused Riko to not initially recognize him. During grade school he asked out Riko, but he was rejected, although Riko does not remember this event and Nagi hopes she never does. Nagi hates being called cute and whacks Riko on the head every time she calls him cute, likewise Riko does the same to him when he refers to her as a boy.
Masaomi Ikezawa (池澤 雅臣 Ikezawa Masaomi)
Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Yan (ヤン) is a friend of Nagi. Yan was the vice-president of Minami Middle School's Student Council. He is constantly getting into conflict and misunderstandings with Maki.
Momoka Minami (南 桃香 Minami Momoka)
Voiced by: Chuna
Momo (モモ) is a member of the Newspaper Club. While Nana is in charge for the photos, Momo handles in article writing.
Nana Ichikawa (市川 奈々 Ichikawa Nana)
Voiced by: Rina Hidaka
Nana (ナナ) is another member of the Newspaper Club. She is clumsy and has a fear of heights, however, she is skilled with handling a camera; Suzu notes she takes good pictures.
Yumiko Kurahashi (倉橋 由美子 Kurahashi Yumiko)
Voiced by: Yoshiko Kamei
Riko's mother.
Rentarō Kurahashi (倉橋 蓮太郎 Kurahashi Rentarō)
Voiced by: Yuka Terasaki
Ren (レン) is Riko's younger brother. He is popular among girls. He also seems to have a crush on Maki.
Yū Yamazaki (山崎 佑 Yamazaki Yū)
Voiced by: Ayumu Murase
Yū (ユウ) is Sayori's boyfriend. In their elementary days, he first viewed Sayori as somewhat weird yet resolvable. After an accident while cleaning the floors, Yū started to hold feelings for Sayori.
Ms. Katsuragi (葛城 先生 Katsuragi-sensei)
Voiced by: Ikuko Tatsu
An elder looking school teacher at Fujisaki Academy. She often wears a long black dress with a white turtleneck blouse underneath.


Media

Manga

The series has been released in twelve tankōbon volumes.[5]

No.Release date ISBN
1 March 7, 2008ISBN 978-4-8322-6619-3
2 January 7, 2009ISBN 978-4-8322-6706-0
3 July 7, 2009ISBN 978-4-8322-6757-2
4 December 26, 2009ISBN 978-4-8322-6807-4
5 November 6, 2010ISBN 978-4-8322-6904-0
6 October 7, 2011ISBN 978-4-8322-5008-6
7 November 22, 2012ISBN 978-4-8322-5134-2
8 July 5, 2013ISBN 978-4-8322-5202-8
9 September 6, 2013ISBN 978-4-8322-5221-9
10 September 6, 2014ISBN 978-4-8322-5318-6
11 August 7, 2015ISBN 978-4-8322-5407-7
12 November 7, 2016ISBN 978-4-8322-5531-9

Anime

A TV anime adaptation aired in Japan on MBS between July 5 and September 27, 2013. The series is produced by Dogakobo and Aniplex and directed by Masahiko Ohta, with series composition by Takashi Aoshima, original character designs by Chiaki Nakajima and music by Yasuhiro Misawa.[6][7] The series was streamed on Niconico, after premiering on July 14, 2013, and on Crunchyroll, starting with the 9th episode on August 30, 2013.[8] Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for release in North America.[1]

The opening and ending themes are "Love Shitai—!" (恋愛(ラブ)したいっ!) and "Best Friends", both by the lead cast: Manami Numakura, Chinatsu Akasaki, Inori Minase, Ayane Sakura and Yō Taichi.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Love Lab - Sentai Filmworks". Sentai Filmworks. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "ドラマCD 恋愛ラボ" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Schoolgirl Comedy Anime Love Lab's 1st TV Ad Aired - News". Anime News Network. May 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Love Lab Episodes 1-13 Streaming - Review". Anime News Network. October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  5. ↑ 恋愛ラボ (12) (まんがタイムコミックス) (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  6. ↑ "スタッフ・キャスト ｜ TVアニメ「恋愛ラボ」公式サイト". love-lab.tv (in Japanese). Aniplex. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Schoolgirl Anime Love Lab's Promo Previews Cast's Opening Song". Anime News Network. June 23, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Crunchyroll to Stream "Love Lab", "Rozen Maiden", and "Jubei Chan"". Crunchyroll. August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
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