spotlight: Seiko-chin to Seishiro-kun

Due to my obviously likely nature at slacking off, the spotlight for November has been randomly chosen by way of "Hey this sounds pretty neat to share with the public!" Yea, I'm lazy, but I haven't even really had time to sit and make sure my feet are intact before getting up again.

Anyway, in all honesty, this particular post is really more about the latest chapter of Lovely Complex that I have been able to view as a fan.


Volume 15, chapter 56 is a special chapter of Lovely Complex dedicated to a short side story about Kotobuki Seishirou, otherwise known as Seiko-chan, and his cute little love story. Now, no Lovely Complex plot device is without some shocking, lulz-inducing twist by the ending. For those who haven't gotten that far yet, I will not give out the twist, but I assure you, by the end of the chapter, you will either be guffawing with laughter, or you will simply drop your jaws, too amused to even make a sound-- much like me.

As a brief cap, chapter 56 of Lovely Complex begins with cute little Seiko-chan looking extra sparkly and who "seems to be in love at the moment." We all remember that when Seiko expressed interest in poor A-chan long ago, it was quite difficult for the little midget not to succumb to Seiko-chan's "pheremones." After all, even though Seiko is really a boy named Seishiro, dressed as a girl and acting like a girl, he is definitely cuter than a lot of other girls.

This time around, Seiko has set his sights on another boy who stepped up and helped him out at the train station when he was being harrassed. Completely prepared to confess this new love, Seiko had even bought all new clothes and a thank you gift. Unfortunately, as biology dictates, it seems that Seishiro has finally become more male when his voice changes to a deeper tone. Because of this, Seiko believes he is disgusting and so has lost all confidence in confessing his love.


The plot of the story, of course has an interesting twist in the end in which we learn that the voice change had nothing to do with puberty, but in fact was really just because Seiko had had a cold. The surprising twist in the end is much more fun when found.

I really had a good laugh for this particular chapter, and it made me think of just how much I really admire and enjoy the presence of Seiko-chan in the storyline of Lovely Complex. Since the beginning, while my own ideals aren't quite that open yet, Seiko has proven to be a very courageous and beautiful person. After all, in today's society, there are still so many taboos and social restrictions and whatnot that make it hard for people to openly express their own likes and dislikes when they stray from what is believed to be the set "norm."

Kotobuki Seishiro is a boy, but he has always felt like he should have been born a girl. He loves to dress in cute clothes, wear his hair in pretty styles, and when placed within a group of girls, there is no telling that he is a boy at all. Seiko falls for those of the same gender, and his initial appearance in Lovely Complex was the means for Risa to realize that she was in love with Otani as well and that she shouldn't let trivial issues misguide her own feelings.

Seiko is very open and honest about himself. Even when made fun of, he can still smile and act cute like the best of them.

But when the "voice change" incident occurs in chapter 56, Seiko feels disgusted. He decides that he has no choice but to be a man now and forces himself to become Kotobuki Seishiro. Unfortunately, this plight is still overcome by the fact that Seiko loves cute things no matter what and cannot stand to be uncute at all.

So who is Kotobuki Seishiro, really anyway? Within this particular chapter, we get to see the male version of Seiko-chan-- which I bet fans have always wondered about. He is loud, obnoxious, and he's extremely depressing. Because as Seishiro, he just isn't the same Seiko-chan we've all come to know. He's unhappy with this transition and it isn't until Risa convinces him that Seiko-chan should never change.

***

As of the posting of this monthly spotlight, I am a little shamed to admit that next month will be extremely slow or even non-existent in the anicabyss blogging unit. My attention has not only been drawn away by other things, but my work hours seem to be never-ending and with the holidays coming up, there are way too many things to focus on.

In December, I will try what I can to post about certain anime and manga, but I make absolutely no promises. It will be a skimpy month, but my focus will be on at least one spotlight, and hopefully a featurette or editorial to finish off the year.

Due to all the above reasons, this was probably one of the worse spotlights I will ever create-- but don't hold your breath on that claim. For those who care, thanks for enduring my skimpy blog up to this date.

I will continue to improve, but I also plan on cutting down my blogging for a while.