Review for The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors & Hostel Behavior

Introduction

Now that is one, pun-tastic title. Of course it’s a creation of the English language localisation, as the original title’s pun just won’t translate. The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior (henceforth Kawai Complex) is one show that I fell in love with when I first watched it streamed. But it appears that was an opinion shared by very few, which is surprising given that it’s written by the same mangaka behind the fantastic Love Lab. In this HD age, Kawai Complex is rare in that it’s a DVD only release from Sentai Filmworks, and it’s subtitle only. At the time of release, Sentai made some noise about an eventual Blu-ray dub upgrade, but that hasn’t materialised as yet, two years later (and typically, just as a write this review, Sentai go and announce the Blu-ray for the end of the year). So I bit the bullet and imported the DVD. After all, while there may be many romantic comedies in anime, and lots of slice-of- life dormitory living, Kawai Complex does things a little differently.


Usa Kazunari’s been looking forward to this moment. He’s starting high school, which means that he can put the nightmare of middle school behind him, and start fresh. That also means that he might just get the perfect girlfriend. Yes, just like that quiet, bookish type, seated in an air of elegant mystery in the school library. This also means that with his parents being reassigned for work, he can finally get a place of his own. He’s got a room all to himself at the Kawai Complex. His new life is about to begin.


Except that it’s not just his room, he’s actually sharing with Shirosaki, the masochist pervert, the guy who just got arrested for loitering around an elementary school (although he probably just did that so he could get handcuffed). The quirky landlady Sumiko hasn’t been too forthcoming about the other residents either. Mayumi Nishikino’s a hard-working girl who has no luck in love, and has a tendency to drown her sorrows, taking out her frustrations on virginal high school boys, while Sayaka Watanabe is a college girl who likes to torment people with a wicked tongue. This is not the kind of healthy, independent lifestyle Usa was looking for, and he was on the way out of the Kawai Complex, when the final resident walked in, great-niece of the landlady Ritsu Kawai, who just happens to be that bookish girl of elegant mystery from the school library. Maybe Usa will try this dormitory living on for size after all.


12 episodes plus the OVA are presented across three discs from Sentai Filmworks.

Disc 1
1. Just Imagine
2. Is It?
3. Why?
4. For Now

Disc 2
5. Thought So
6. Could it Be?
7. Recommended
8. Happy

Disc 3
9. Forbidden
10. You Could Just Ignore It
11. Don’t Have Any Friends
12. I Want to Get Closer
OVA. Special Edition: First Time

Picture

Kawai Complex gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic NTSC transfer that is progressively encoded on these discs. The image is clear and sharp throughout, and the show’s gorgeous colour palette comes across to pleasing effect. Studio Brains Base do the heavy lifting with the animation, and they’ve created an anime that revels in the play of light, reflecting the time of day, and the angle of the sun. Clouds can be wondrously pink-tinged, it seems every scene has rays of light filtering across the image, and it all evokes a sense of nostalgia. The quality also comes across in the world design and the setting, as well as the character designs, which are appealing and individual, apt at displaying emotion in the subtler scenes, and then easily dropping into deformed appearance for some heavy comedy. The show looks fantastic, and no doubt it will be even more so in HD.

Sound

The sole audio track on this release is the DD 2.0 Stereo Japanese track, with translated English subtitles, locked, even on this DVD. As usual that’s a bit of a pain if you prefer your anime unsullied, but the audio is fine otherwise, the dialogue clear throughout, the stereo giving the show a nice bit of space for the action sequences, the ambience and the music, while the show gets a nice set of theme songs to complement it. One thing of note is that Kana Hanazawa plays the role of Ritsu pretty much against type. She more usually voices the bubbly, outgoing characters, but Ritsu is by nature soft-spoken and introverted. It’s an engaging performance though. The subtitles are timed accurately and are free of typos.

Extras

You get three discs in an Amaray style case, two on a central hinged panel, and one held at the back of the case. The discs present their content with static menus, and each episode is followed by a translated English credit scroll.

The extras are on disc 1.

The Commercial Bumpers are those images which lead in and out of advertisement breaks, and here you get to see them in a 2:12 slideshow.

You get 3 clean opening animations, and 2 textless closings.

There are trailers for The Familiar of Zero F, Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky, Hayate the Combat Butler: Cuties, and No Game, No Life.

Conclusion

The Kawai Complex is a comedy that I fell in love with when I watched it as it was streamed, and contrary to my usual experience with anime comedies, it’s just as much fun the second time around. A big part of it is that I am drawn to bookish characters; one reason why Read or Die is one of my all-time favourites. I’m prone to lose myself in the pages of a book at the best of times, and seeing a protagonist in a show indulging the same passion is something I can relate to. Ritsu Kawai can usually be found behind a book, whether at home, or at school, or walking between the two locations. It’s the first semblance of closeness Usa Kazunari has with his dream girl, steering for her on the way to and from school, keeping her out of traffic and making sure she avoids lampposts.


It is a romantic comedy then, but not quite the usual anime romantic comedy. Usa may have dreams for a simple life when he starts living alone, but he certainly picks the wrong girl to fall for when it comes to those aims. Ritsu loves reading to be sure, and she’s very pleasant to gaze upon, but she’s shy, introverted, and antisocial, not the kind of girl that you can easily talk to. Usa might have a better shot at getting to know her when he learns that they’ll be living under the same roof, but he hasn’t counted on the rest of his housemates. He shares a room with Shiro, a masochist that makes Usa look perverted merely by association. Mayumi’s a woman who certainly has the looks, but she’s constantly unlucky in love, prone to drowning her sorrows, and doesn’t censor her language to appear ladylike. Usa’s a prime virginal target for her tactile sense of humour.


While she can dish it out, she can’t take it, which is fun for college girl Sayaka, whose major hobby is messing with people’s heads, and she minors in groping Mayumi. She’s a total sadist, which suits Shiro down to the ground. The landlady Sumiko may seem respectable enough, but she can be slyly sadistic and playful as well. And it’s with this audience watching, that Usa wants to get to know Ritsu better. This audience likes to get interactive too. Ritsu’s love of books gets Usa reading as well, and this might be something that they can share, except a comment from Mayumi might get Ritsu flustered and racing for the safety of her room, or a comment from Shiro might get her seeing Usa in the wrong light, resetting their relationship back to square one. It’s an uphill struggle all the way.


The series unfolds in a series of vignettes and mini-stories really, half an episode long for each, almost a gag format, with a set-up and punchline. While Ritsu is adorable, and Usa’s growing affection for her charming in its innocence, the real joy in the show comes from the interaction of all of the characters, as they by turns help and hinder Usa and Ritsu’s friendship grow, for if they all recognise one thing, it’s that Ritsu’s introversion borders on the isolation, and Usa is the first person that she’s really connected with on any level, and that relationships become stronger through adversity. There are other stories as well, Mayumi’s faltering love life rears its head on several occasions, while they finally learn of evil Sayaka’s sole weakness when a friend from her past pays her a visit. Shiro gets an unlikely admirer too, an elementary school girl named Chinatsu, which has alarm bells ringing for all, although Shiro has faith that she can be an adept sadist when she grows up.


Kawai Complex is a great comedy anime, offering the usual slapstick and wordplay antics, but also doing a rich line in character and relationship comedy, and with the double act of Sayaka and Mayumi, it can be deliciously ribald as well. Mayumi in particular doesn’t spare anyone’s blushes. It’s good that Kawai Complex is finally getting a Blu-ray release in the US, as visually this is a show that deserves the best presentation. Of course this being Sentai, it will no doubt be a Region A and geolocked disc. Hopefully someone in the UK can pick this up for distribution.