Love Hina

What can I say, I'm a writer. Don't get me wrong, I love Love Hina; it's quickly become one of favorites - but in comic form. Like I said, the show is respectable, but taking a 14-volume comic and turning into a 26 to 36 episode TV show really doesn't work for me. Ken Akamatsu's writing is incredible - each chapter is religiously 18 pages long, save for about 5 here and there, and his style is such that each of those chapters could easily be turned into a 23 minute TV episode. Admitadly, you could probably cut out a good portion of volumes 10 through 14, considering that the comic started to lose it around there, but that still leaves over 100 chapters available, meaning there could have easily been over 100 episodes. I love anime, but my one complaint with most is that they are too short. Most animes are about 26 episodes; this, most of the time, leaves very little room for character and story development as it should be (this isn't the case with a select few, like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun); this especially applies for shows based on comics, where the characters develop slowly over time, and you enjoy every minute of it.

I still recommend seeing the show, but I also, even more strongly, recommend reading the comics; the show's for laughs, the comics are for everything else.

I saw this anime right after the big series like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy bebop and movies like Akira, Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell and End of Evangelion.

Those aren't the most happy series and movies out there so when I saw Love Hina, this was like a relief. It made me laugh, cheered me up, brought up so much different emotions. Its serious and cheerful at once. It kept me hooked for the entire series, the specials and the sequel Love Hina Again. And another very important thing: the soundtracks and music are amazing. they make the images so much greater when its needed, they never irritated me once.

If you like cheerful love stories, this sure is a recommendation. It goes right up there with the Ah! My Goddess OVAs, even tough Ah! My Goddess is a little better in my opinion.

At first Love Hina may look like some crazy kids show (unlike the manga) but there's so much more to it. I watched it several times now, and it gets better and better. You live along with the characters, you see their life, their evolution in the story and the series finish this just so perfectly in the end. Even tough it's completely unreal, it all looks so possible and constantly goes up towards that one big climax: what about Keitaro and Narusegawa? Still, it's a pity they didn't completely end it. The manga goes on for a few more chapters and clears even more things up. But that doesn't change a thing about how good the series is.

This went straight into my top 5 of best anime ever. 10/10

You cannot say anything bad about Love Hina without first proving yourself a liar. It's part of one of the greatest modern artforms and is definitely worth buying. The series is, without a word of a lie, one of the most moving, sweet and beautiful series I have ever seen. It has definitely brought many people (myself included) much closer together, which is a testament to its emotional power. It's also one of the most accessible of the new series, being available for the princely sum of £20 (animation) on eBay, or available from many good book shops (in manga form). It's won awards for reasons. I implore anyone reading this to go forth and become a Love Hina fan! Go NOW!! NOW!!!!

I've read several Japanese manga's but none has managed to capture my heart like 'Love Hina' did. The series was made into an anime series, which is good, but nothing compared to the manga. The story is as follows: Keitaro is about to become a third year Ronin and wants to get into a high class university called Tokyo U, but he has failed so many times before he doesn't think he has a chance... until he moves into his grandmother's former hotel, which unfortunately for Keitaro has now been turned into a girls' dormitory. After several mishaps with the girls they finally allow Keitaro to stay with them. Upon learning the truth that he is not really a Tokyo U student, they begin to contemplate kicking him out. However, when Keitaro announces to them that he wishes to take the exams again in order to get into Tokyo U and escape becoming a third year Ronin, they let his little lie slide and allow him to stay. However, he neglects to tell them the real reason for why he wants to go to Tokyo U: years ago Keitaro made a promise to an anonymous girl that both of them would get into the university together. He wants to discover the girl's identity, but how can he after all these years?

Keitaro becomes close with each and every one of the girl characters. There's Naru, the heroine of the story, who becomes Keitaro's best friend and begins to harbour a crush for him, which is mutual; Kitsune, the sly fox who often gets into trouble by getting wasted or gambling far too much; Motoko, the verging-on-psycho kendo girl who is forever trying to kill Keitaro (she, however, also has a crush on him); Shinobu, the sweet, shy and caring young girl who unlike Naru and Motoko falls in love with Keitaro almost at once, and Su the eccentric yet lovable Indian girl. Each one has an effect on Keitaro and he becomes very good friends with all of them. Along the way Keitaro meets other new friends, such as Mutsumi Otohime, the clumsy yet carefree girl who could be a link with Keitaro's past.

Together both Keitaro and Naru vow to study hard in order to get into Tokyo U together, but they both know it won't be an easy ride.

So, why should you read the manga first? Because simply put it's one of the best manga series' ever created. In short it's a sweet, fun, hysterical masterpiece. The main problem with the anime is that it's only twenty six episodes long, while the manga lasts for a whopping fourteen volumes. Therefore not everything could be packed into each twenty minute episode of the show. Not to mention that the manga is a hundred times better and funnier then the anime. Still, the anime is great too, and you can hardly beat that catchy ass theme tune. So please read the manga first, I beg of you! You really will not regret it. Also if you are considering watching the anime please watch the Japanese dub as the English dub is beyond awful.

I've seen a lot of anime at various university clubs and rented a lot from local video stores and I rank Love Hina among the best shows. The artwork is good and the stories are varied and clever. It can be argued that the situation of a geeky guy who somehow ends up living with a household of girls has been used before but what matters is whether you care about the characters. With a show like Vandread that is supposed to be good I didn't feel much for people in it. With a show like Cowboy Bebop it wasn't long before I grew to enjoy the oddball characters living in that world. That is also true for Love Hina. We are introduced to the supporting characters and learn their backgrounds gradually. The way they interact with the lead actor Keitaro reveals his personality. It didn't take too many episodes before I realized how good the show was. For example the episode about the forgotten automaton Mo-e was a big surprise. It told a touching story on the importance of keeping promises which is one of the main themes of the series.

I've just seen the TV series and Christmas special released in English and the actors do a very good job on the voices. Matoko sounds serious, Shinobu sounds shy and Kaolla sounds playful just like the Japanese version. This show is well worth watching because the plot advances unlike shows like Ranma where it will take forever for the two leads to confess their love. Warning: Keitaro always blunders into fan-service situations where girls are undressed but Naru is always there to punish him for his transgressions.