Love Lab managed to breath new life into too familiar genre. I think I speak for all of the Glorio Blog when I say that I am sad to see it go.
Final Impressions
Love Lab has been a fun ride full of animation gags, cute characters and gasp, an overarching story that encompassed the entire anime.
The secret to Love Lab’s success isn’t hard to find. It’s not the big things that make it what it is, but all the small details masterfully worked in. The way Riko is constantly changing her hair or the position of Maki’s Huggy in the backgrounds. These little touches add so much.
The animation is perhaps the biggest treat Love Lab had to offer. Often this genre is cheap, that’s not to say I don’t like slice of life or that cheap slice of life can’t be fun, but it’s something that Love Lab wasn’t. Gags were animated and lively the entire way though this series. In a genre known for abusing talking heads that was neat to see.
In the end I don’t really have that much to say about Love Lab. On paper it’s not really anything new under the sun, but the execution made this show an incredibly charming thing to watch week after week and for that it will be missed.
The Glorio Blog 
While Love Lab wasn’t my favourite show of the summer anime season (that award would probably have to go to Gin no Saji), it was certainly my most pleasant surprise out of the lot. I think the first half may have been a little stronger than the second, but overall, I very much enjoyed the series. I wholeheartedly agree – it could have been a cheap series, and judging by the synopsis alone I assumed it would be, but I’m oh so glad that I have it a try anyway.
Love Lab wasn’t really my favorite show of the last season either, that would have to be Gatchaman Crowds. I felt like Love Lab was really good for what it was and it may even fair to say that it pushed the limits of what they genre can do.
I agree that the first part of this series was a bit stronger than the second, but I did like the way Riko kept up her lie until nearly the end. I felt like that was as good a way to end this series as we could have hoped for.
I’m glad you mentioned Gin no Saji. I wonder if you could point me at any good reviews for the series? It seems that most of the bloggers I follow have not covered the ending and I am curious to read what people are saying about it.
Yeah, there haven’t been all that many full reviews for Gin no Saji now that the series has been completed – at least, not that I’ve seen. I can’t point you in the direction of a good one that covers the complete series, but I did really appreciate the points made over at Avvesione’s Anime Blog which were made just after episode 6, and which I didn’t see being mentioned anywhere else: http://avvesione.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/summer-2013-week-7-anime-review/
Okay, thanks for the link! I’ll check it out.