Recap: Riko finds herself with one more student when a shy girl is caught hiding in the student council room.

Lifesong’s Thoughts:I find that this cast manages to entertain me more than they have any right to be entertaining. Natsuo is just so dumb and normally that might get old fast, but the animation keeps up with her jokes. The expressions are just perfect. I loved the bit where Suzune just completely ruins Natsou’s fainting fantasy. There is nothing romantic about being carried by a team of baseball players chanting heave ho as they carry you to the infirmary.

The whole villain thing is kind of neat. I suspect they will all become friends pretty quickly, but I am hoping the former student council president and treasurer remain somewhat antagonistic toward the rest of the cast. It’s adds a nice flair to what is otherwise slice of life comedy.

The animation did take a bit of a hit this week, but Love Lab still comes through where it matters. Most of the gags rely on the animation so it will be a shame if they let up too much. I like the little attention to details such as the way Riko stuffs Huggy back into his closet and he pops back out. Little things like that add a lot to a work like this.

Jel’s Thoughts: I’m not sure what this says about me, but I find myself relating way more to Riko than most anime protagonists, particularly the UNABLE TO DISAPPOINT OTHERS moment. Even if it’s just grading on a curve against other anime comedies, I guess I am just impressed overall with the characters in Love Lab. They are not completely unfamiliar, but still manage to not fit in any particular mold. Riko comes off as strangely believable and Maki is so delightfully dumb you can’t help but be amused.

The crazy good animation quality took an expected dip this week, but it did not hinder more great sight gags like Sayori’s slot machine glasses. And what’s this, do we even have an antagonist determined to stalk expose the student council’s love research? Ladies and Gentelmen, I think we may have found our sleeper hit of the season.

Iro’s Thoughts: This week wasn’t quite as good as the first episode, but I honestly expected that. If dropping in quality in episode 2 is what it takes to make a strong start, I’m fine with that, and honestly this one still got a few laughs out of me. I’m still kind of marveling at some of the little touches in the animation, like Riko having a slightly different hair style every scene. I really appreciate dumb little details like that. Seems like Love Lab might be this season’s sleeper hit.

Marlin’s Thoughts: Sure, the jokes may not have been as great this week, but they kept the energy up and with such a fast-paced humor as is this show’s style that’s what was really important for me. I imagine the show couldn’t subsist on the Prez acting wacky forever, so the introduction of new characters was something I looked forward to. I’d compare this a lot to the way Yuru Yuri introduced the tsundere president, but even better. Idno why, but oujo-san laughs get me every time. I also love that Suzune has gone in with the Prez in putting pressure on Riko to keep making up fantastical nonsense. Against all odds, this is probably my favorite show of the season so far.