Love Hina

Love Hina is really great! From the first moment, I was gripped by this story's violence, drama and slight funniness, s well as the romance, which develops as the story goes on.

So, a young man called Urashima Keitaro suddenly finds himself working as the manager for an all-girls dormitory. Yes, you can probably see where that story is going. Lots of slapstick humor, romance and funniness is the recipe for this show. I think it's pretty cool, and if you like romance/harem anime, this is a definite must-see.

Love Hina Review by realanimefan.


"Love Hina" basically, is a romantic comedy. For an idea on what I mean, watch a show such as "Ranma 1/2" or "Tenchi Muyo." If you have seen these shows before, then you should feel very comfortable with the show. "Love Hina" though, takes this genre to a new level, introducing a wide variety of characters, strange situations, a good plot with a lot of twists that will keep you guessing \'til the end, and a countless amount of strange things that seem to happen for absolutely no reason.

"Love Hina" is, simply stating, hilarious. Every episode, you ask yourself, "What will ... happen today in the Hinata House?" Well, something new happens every episode. And poor Keitaro gets the crap beat out of him every episode by at least Naru. Though this eventually becomes repetitive, it never subtracts from the humor of the show.

Of course though, there is a healthy dose of romance mixed in with the craziness. If you are a sappy romance freak with no sense of humor, this may not be the show for you. If you are one that doesn\'t mind just a touch of romance, this show will be overly enjoyable. If you despise romance, still check this one out. You may still enjoy it.

The only downfall of this anime is it does eventually get a bit repetitive, and most episodes are basically only fillers that don\'t add to the main plot one bit. Besides this though, "Love Hina" is presented with a charm and humor that is hard to find in any anime these days.
The main story is simple: a man is trying to get into Tokyo U to and meet his childhood sweetheart. It is never the main plot that counts though. The sub plots and character interaction are the heart of the anime. I must say that "Love Hina" executes this quite well. All the characters have their own distinct personalities and no two are at all similar.
The romance part of the story will keep you guessing until the end. At several times, just when you put two and two together, a plot twist happens and you are back to the beginning. Too bad the series doesn\'t answer any questions.
1: There is not a lot of continually. Basically, each episode has its own story, with maybe a few things in a few episodes that actually add to the main story. This series is so fun though, this barely even matters (Hey, Cowboy Bebop does the same thing).
2: Don\'t expect everything to be wrapped with a pretty bow at the end. I\'m afraid you\'ll have to wait for "Love Hina Again" (my next review).
Overall, the story is presented nicely, and filled with memorable characters you will not soon forget. Su Kaolla is my favorite!!!
The heart of mostly anything (besides a good story) is good/fitting music. This is where "Love Hina" delivers its best. All the music of the show is great, and every song suits every scene perfectly. Never is a song out of place. Also, the music is great on its own too. The crazy intro theme, the slow ending theme, the action-packed guitar song from episode sixteen..."Love Hina" has it all. No matter what your music taste is, there will be at least one song that you will enjoy in this anime.
As for voice acting, all the voices (in Japanese, of course) are great and diverse for each character. Never do two characters sound the same, and each voice suits its character perfectly. I could say different for the dub though.
The dub voices are horribly selected and executed. I could not help from cringe every time either Su or Kitsune spoke. Absolutely horrible! Keitaro sounds like a wimp, Su sounds like a mouse, and for no reason, Kitsune has a strong (obviously forced) southern accent. I could only ask, "why?" The other voices I can tolerate, but they still pale in comparison to the original seiyuu.
One word can describe how "Love Hina" looks: beautiful. Most likely, you have never seen a better-looking anime TV series. We\'re talking OVA quality here. Not much more I can say.
The characters are drawn beautifully, and all have distinct features. Naturally, the females are drawn to look beautiful, most with large...
Expect lots of fan service too, which should please you hentais out there.
The characters are all animated smoothly, and this show also sports some cool effects seen in newer animes, such as motion blurs. Everything\'s great. Can\'t get better than this, I\'m afraid.

The story of this anime is a little disappointing if you compare to the manga, but if you haven't read the manga, then the story is pretty good.
The contents in some of the episodes is a bit off the main storyline. It's like each episode have it's own story, and then ends up with the main story.

The art in this anime is excellent, you never get tired of watching it, the animation is well made too. The animation also shows the characters face expressions great, whether it's, fun, sorrow, sad, love etc.

The music fits the scenes good, it catching the emotions, and it's even catchy ... too.
Also the voice actors plays their roles perfectly, their voices matches the characters and their behavior, and you can really tell how they are feeling.

Love Hina gives you a combination of comedy and romance. Mostly comedy.
If you're looking for comedy, then you might enjoy this. Some of the episodes can seem quite confusing, if you only focus on the storyline, but I think this anime is mostly focused on the comedy and romance than the story. If you expect a good story you'll get disappointed. But if you're looking for some fun, then you will enjoy this very much.

To start things off on a blunt note, Love Hina is the quintessential harem anime. However, unlike works like Shuffle!, it plays with the associated tropes very well, and has enough charm and wit to endear them to the audience.

Love Hina's story won't win any awards for originality or pushing the envelope; it plays very safe and has a very saccharine backdrop; it's not like a character fulfilling a promise to his childhood sweetheart hasn't been done before. Where Love Hina succeeds is pulling it off with such heart, and only touching on it lightly right up until the last few episodes.
Most of ... the time, the show focuses on the characters and their relationships within Hinata Apartments, and the zany antics they do to keep from getting bored.

The characters, as you'd expect from any harem series, form the spine and take the central role in the story. Each has something to contribute in their own psychopathic, borderline sadistic way to keep the show lively and fresh (Mostly in the form of abuse towards the lead, Keitaro).
Keitaro himself is an increasingly likable lead character for all the torment he's put through at the hands of the tenants of Hinata Apartments. His devotion to the girl he made a promise to almost 20 years before the main plot and his determination to get into Tokyo U, even after repeated rejections, is almost enough to completely excuse his bland personality and appearance.

In the animation department, the show doesn't fare so well. It's workable throughout, and usually does a good enough job at keeping up with the often frenetic pace. However,the occasional slight hiccup or static background doesn't impress. And the characters, while distinctive, aren't the best looking. After all, I can't be the only one who thinks there's something wrong with Kitsune's hips. The art itself is good for the most part (Again, Kitsune's hips detract somewhat), but the occasional glitchy animation is too noticeable not to mention.

Where the animation stumbles, the sound props it up and carries it to the finish line. Everything, from the exceptional voice-work to the quick paced and cheery OST, is imbued with enough life to wake the dead within a ten mile radius.

Despite all this, Love Hina has its share of faults. The characters have a good possibility of annoying the viewer, some of the plot points feel needlessly contrived (Though the most humorous ones are generally acknowledged as such), the abuse of Keitaro can feel downright sinister at times, and it can overstay its welcome if marathoned. However, looking past these, it's easy to see why Love Hina is considered a borderline classic. It has enough quirks and outright bizarreness to entertain, supported by a charged pacing that gets the blood flowing.

Love Hina isn't perfect, but very little of it, aside from the robot turtles that crop up from time to time due to the machinations of Su, feels manufactured. It's of an authentic high quality, and well worth the time to watch.

What attracted me most to Love Hina was the main character, Keitaro, and his perseverance on achieving his goals. His determination to do his best no matter how many times he had failed getting into Tokyo U, he still tried so that he could fulfill the promise he had made to a girl years ago.

Sure, the story has its funny moments and the love interest aspect, but aside from that, Keitaro's character is one I personally admire. Perhaps this is because I face a lot of my own life's journey's the way he does, and especially refusing to give up on things no matter how ... many times I had failed before. Love Hina certainly brings out an amazing protagonist.

And he's immortal! Can't count how many times he's gotten the Naru-punch!

Realy great anime.. has a romantic story that started when naru and keitaro (the main couple) were little kids. They made a promice to each other that when they'l be older they go to the same school... but unfortunetly the were seperated. after a long time they axidently started living in the same dorn and after a few days they recognized each other, but naru i a very shy girl and keeps avoiding keitaro...
anime is filled with jokes and all kins of adventures. and ofcourse the romantic story how naru and keitaro starts to get along and confeses their love at the wery end...

i strongly ... recomend you to wach it

Since my review is probably last on the list or close to it.. Let me fill in the gaps.. because I actually took time to read all the others.. less than an hour after I watched the series lol.

The one thing none most of the reviewers have wrong is the Ecchi.. in NO way can I or anyone consider this a anime based on "fanservice" .. if you think a couple shots of them in the hot springs are perverted.. Then the high ranking Toradora on this site would be put in the same category. Trust me.. look at my list.. I know fan ... service.. and this definitely isnt a anime filled with it.

The other thing that noone really comments on is the music. The music in this.. is by far.. the BEST music in any anime Ive seen so far.. There are many songs that the characters sing.. that are very cute.. There are alot of songs that they sing together.. but at action scenes.. and during other various times.. the music really reminds me of a good american movie.. It is almost symphony like.. and it just gives me the feeling of a really good score from a movie..

Lastly let me comment on the character development.. What I really like about Love Hina.. is the fact that the younger characters arent so "loli-like" .. Which means.. The younger characters are more developed and more easy to relate to ... Su-chan is a fun loving girl thats always seeming to have fun.. Shinobu.. is very cute and reserved.. and even Sara.. has the more aggressive personality.. Thats why I liked the younger characters so much.. they reminded me of actual people.. their traits were more realistic.

Overall I loved the series.. I just wanted to touch up and maybe clarify a couple points.. since I will be way down on the list of reviews read.. but I hope I did my best to maybe sway you into giving this series a try!

I love Love Hina for a lot of reasons.
For one, it was the first Anime I watched in Japanese. But that's irrelevant to you.
So lets give some proper, review style, reasons.
Naru, for me, defines Tsundere. Throughout the whole series, right to the end, refuses to give in to the inevitable, continues beating Keitaro to a pulp, keeps up at least some of her walls. Its both hilarious and somewhat touching.
Keitaro himself is such a memorable character that he's almost worth a series in himself. Watching (or Reading), its fairly obvious that he doesn't really deserve half of the bad stuff happening to him, yet ... you still anticipate it each time. He is, at once, incredibly lucky and constantly chased by misfortune. He's clearly quite smart at points, but so often acts like a fool that its hard to believe he's anything but an idiot.
Spending too long on Keitaro now...Moving on
If Love Hina has a downside, its that most of the laughs revolve around someone (generally Keitaro) being subjected to vicious beatings. There are a couple "Smart" laughs, but most is violence or silly humour. That's not Bad per say, but by the end of the series you'll probably view the beatings as just part of the background.
What's important about the series is the romance, the way everyone falls for Keitaro, but for him its never really anyone but Naru. A lot of Harem Mangas and Animes get too involved in the various different romance, so by the end its almost impossible for the Un/Luckly man to choose which woman he truly loves. Love Hina doesn't have that problem, and is all the better for it.
If I must be honest, I prefer the Manga to the anime. But that's ONLY because the Manga ending was, frankly, a lot better than the "Again" Episodes they gave the Anime. But still, I only read the manga After the anime, and it'll always hold a place in my heart.

It starts out very heart felt. This dude has this promise to go to Tokyo University with a girl he played with as a child. He grows up into sort of a nerdy person, but he's a fairly pure hearted person at the same time. He becomes very lonely and continues to try to get into Tokyo U with all of his might. He's failed 2 or 3 times already (I'll edit it later). Then his grandma is going to go off for vacation and asks him to be manager of an All girl dormitory. Hot, right!? Well that's where it splits off from usual ... Shonen Jump stories, they all end up thinking he's a pervert. He comes in not knowing that it's an all girl dormitory and hops in the spring and UH-OH, here comes a chick. Blah blah blah, all else is a mystery. You watch it, I'm not summing up the whole series.

Love Hina is one of the classic harem animes. A guy dreams of attending Todai university, but can't get in. When he gets the chance to become the manager of an apartment building he takes it in order to support himself while he studies. What his grandmother, who left the position to him, didn't tell him was that it's an all-girls apartment building. Since he is hopelessly clumsy and unlucky he gets into a bunch of compromising situations with the various girls. It's laden with tropes and archetypes, but still quite enjoyable to watch. So how does this title rise above the trappings of mediocracy? ... Well...

- Story & Theme
As you can see above the story is pretty much what one might expect for a harem anime. There is also a sentimental part of it since the reason why Keitaro, the protagonist, wants to attend Todai so badly is because he made a promise to a girl he liked when he was a child. The main story isn't very special, but there are a few gems among the side stories and the anime takes a few turns for the strange every now and then. I'd say the fluff around the main story is one thing that makes this rise a bit higher.

- Characters & Writing
The characters are tropes at the core, but they all have actual personalities as well and while it's easy to see which parts they fill they also go beyond their archetypes. We're also not held hostage for too long about the main characters true feelings and we get several scenes where they almost end up together. The characters develop and grow during the course of the anime, which is also a point in its favor, and while the dialogue isn't groundbreaking in any way it's still good enough. The anime also knows to be serious every now and then and to let everyone show off their good sides.

- Graphics & Style
I can't praise the animation and style too much, it's pretty standard, but it does have fluidity when needed and regularly uses a more simplified style to back up the humour. There is a bit of mild fan service, but nothing obnoxious.

- Music & Sound
The intro song is a banger and was actually the main reason I started watching the anime in the first place. After rewatching this recently the music still holds up and the main theme is used in several parts inside the anime, tying it in closer. In general the sound and music is good for the anime and the outro song is nice too, but not as memorable as the intro.

- Conclusion
Love Hina is well worth a watch if you want some light hearted fun. It seldom gets heavy and when it delves into more serious parts it's still mostly centered around romance and self-determination. I can recommend this to mostly anyone, as long as you don't expect any deeper philosophical thoughts.

Love Hina is a show that relies heavily on an appreciation or familiarity with Japanese comedy and certain tropes in order to fully enjoy as the anime makes heavy use of cultural idioms that might not resonate with western viewers - the biggest of these is probably the comedic nature of the intentionally over the top physical violence.

That being said, if you do "get it" then Love Hina is a real treat of a show. It has some very appealing and compelling characters, great moments of comedy and a super-star voice cast who have all moved on to be huge successes in the industry ... (arguably the role of Naru Narusegawa was the breakout role for Yui Horie).

One thing to keep in mind as you're watching Love Hina and observing all of the tropes and cliches in the various scenes, is that in many ways this show actually defined them. While not the first "big" harem style show (that honor probably goes to Tenchi Muyo) it's inarguable that Love Hina set the mold for good or for bad for harem comedies for years to come and when watching it, you should almost be treating it like examining a treasured piece of anime history.

Also, the theme song, "Sakure Saku" is catchy as all hell - and it's even more amazing when you realize that it's Haruka's seiyu, Megumi Hayashibara performing it!

Please be kind this is my first review so bear with me they will get better.
WARNING: This review may contain SPOILERS.

Story-
This is a harem themed anime so let’s set the scene, 1 boy and 5 girls in all girls dormitory. Add some romance, comedy, and a little ecchi and you have Love Hina. This series as its highs and lows (trying to be objective) throughout. While managing the Inn and studying for his exams he ends up in every having a series of misadventures. The main focus of the story is Keitaro and Naru trying to get into Tokyo ... U, and the developing relationship between the two. As it turns out, wait, I’ll let you find that part out on your own. There are a few other romance sub-plots as well as some filler episodes mixed with in the main plot, but I really felt that they didn’t hurt the series in my opinion.

Low areas arrive in the form of “fanservice”. Ecchi content is way low in this series. There are bath scenes in almost every episode, yet for some reason they bathe in towels. Why you ask? They wanted to make an ecchi series without ecchi. Either put it in, or keep it out.

Viewer alert:
“Love Hina” is not the end, and does not wrap up the series in a tight bow. The reason for this is a bonus 25th episode, as well as a Christmas and Spring special. You have to watch these before watching “Love Hina Again” to get the full story. Before that you need to watch the specials in the following order of airing date which is as follows:

Bonus 25th episode : Motoko's Choice, Love or the Sword - Don't Cry
LH Christmas special
LH Spring special


Any anime streaming site should have these. If you can’t find it pm me for one that does, or try your luck with Netflix. Quality is okay, but is better than not getting the full story.

Sound/Art: I condensed this category because this is my first review I don't really want to scrutinize every little detail in these areas for now. I will say that I thought that the dubbing for this series was great. The music for each scene went well the events occurring and the story flow very well.

Characters- This anime has delightful and colorful characters all around. They all have different stories and backgrounds as well as personalities. The series does take time to give the viewer sort of a background of each character and their past. This is done in the form of filler episodes or flashbacks. Also you notice slow changes in some characters as the story progresses.

Overall - I finished this anime recently I must I was completely amazed. I not really into romance anime and this was my first one. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this series and all the specials that came along with it. As a result I plan on reading the manga in the future.
Overall I give this series a solid 10, it has its flaws but overall it was a good watch.

Love Hina was a great anime up until all of the characters were introduced. After that, you start to see a recursion in the comedy scenes, and other stories. For example, nearly every episode ends up with Keitaro being blamed for something that he accidentally did, and the girls get pissy for about a few minutes then Naru sends Keitaro flying with a super-punch. Then with all the foreign travel scenes, Keitaro and (most of the time) Naru get lost in a place or are stuck together in a foreign land due to some godforsaken scenario, beat their way out of it with the late ... arrival of their friends, then they all celebrate and Keitaro does something stupid and Naru sends him flying with another spinning punch.
The overall plot wasn't that great. The art and enjoyment factor was satisfactory however.

I come from the perspective of not needing to love all of the characters in Love Hina, and that is generally where most criticism comes from on this show. To be fair everyone would probably also agree that the plot is vapid and a thin plastic covering for the harem setup, but I usually hear the character criticism first. So basically my weak defence is that characters such as Naru Narusagawa are supposed to be awful, unreasonable, and mean. Some of the comedy for me is the fact that Keitarou likes in ether a romantic or friendly way the majority of the female cast. So ... in that sense the show sort of saves itself from being a standard harem anime, and deflects the criticism if you take my lopsided view.

I must be reaching for an excuse to find the show sort of funny and entertaining, but the mindset sort of helps coming into a show with such a low reputations with veteran otaku.

Love hina is a romance/slice of life/comedy anime created by studio Xebec in 2000. It ran from April 19th to September 27th with a total of 25 episodes in the original series.

The first time I saw Love Hina I was 16 and it was my first encounter with an anime that wasn’t sent on any mainstream TV channels (Pokemon, Digmon etc.)

I was instantly hooked watching 3-4 episodes a day, and of course all the OVA’s and specials.
Therefor Love Hina has always been special to me, since it got me into the wonderful world of anime.
I watched anime’s regularly for 3 years but suddenly ... I stopped. In 3 years I never watched anything, but recently I have suddenly become hooked again and Love Hina is the first show I have seen in these 3 years, since I felt It was a safe start.

Watching it again after so many years I was afraid that my nostalgic memories would let me down, however I was pleasantly surprised. The jokes are still funny, the characters is likeable and the plot even though it suffers from the cliché of on and of relationship, it still manages to be amusing with added twist’s and characters to prevent it from becoming boring. The animation is really good, and it definitely keeps up with some of the more fast paced action and giant enemy mechaturtles ;P later on in the series

All in all it’s a fun and upbeat anime with plenty of specials, OVA’s, and extra episodes to help ease you through the Inevitable withdrawal that comes with ending a good anime, and it has yet again managed to get me hooked on the wonderfull world of anime.

So i was browsing the web for some series to watch. I wanted to watch some childish series that would remind me about my childhood and this series popped up in front of me.

I was caught from the first episode. The girls, fighting, humor, plot and the waiting to se which girl Keitaro made his promise to is really excited. The characters are really good and i thing that Ken Akamtsu has made a really piece of art with this series!

What is this a Tokyo U ad?

All jokes aside Love Hina isn't meant to be some amazing love story, It's another cringy harem anime with a tsundere love. Despite all the obvious character flaws that are present, this anime does exactly what it's supposed to do.

Love Hina is a moment by moment anime where you don't really have to pay close attention to know exactly what's going on, there's no interesting plot or amazing character development because that's not what it's meant to show. It's supposed to be funny, episodes play out like a sitcom and almost never connect.

If you just ... want to sit back and watch some funny anime without thinking too hard then here you go.

Don't get confused by the title and think this is rather dramatic anime with adequate romance. In the start, you have that main hero with rather creative imagination skills and drawing skills. Failing an exam to one of the Tokyo university already twice, his parents are against him trying more, so the solution is simple = He takes the advantage of a chance and becomes manager of all-girl dorm. Now this is what makes the whole anime quite light and funny. He gets across a lot of troubles, but there are a lot of comedic moments as well. It won't be precise to tell that ... this anime is purely for relax though. I'm definitely sure I'm not the only one who finds that abnormally often "get hurt" part and that the main hero is unrealisticaly clumsy everytime there's a good chance for romantic moment. I enjoyed greatly first episodes, but then those two facts were just becoming annoying and your point of view changes from "Ouu that must hurt" to "Gosh, again". Now to the characteristics

Story 8/10 = As mention above, the idea of a guy being a manager in all-girls dorm is quite the whole base of story. The main next action is him trying to get into the university and find the girl he made a promise with to get into that university.

Art 8/10 = The art there is good enough for a nice watch.

Sound 9/10 = I personaly liked a lot the OP, the music used in the anime is pretty fine too, thus the 9/10 rating.

Character 8/10 = Well you know, it somehow feels there that characters don't show much grow. You can see some feelings appearing , but then everything's crushed by the main hero's clumsiness. So it's kind of all a wonder if he got better or not. After all, this anime is ment for relax and having nice time ( except the two bad facts written above )

Conclusion = If you're looking for an anime with moments to make you laugh and enjoy the time, this definitely won't be a bad choice ( well, only maybe if the often "get hurt" and clumsy part would annoy you enough to stop watching the anime ). If you got the free time to watch, give this anime a try. After all, you never know until you try, do you? =)

love hina was great!!!
it was one of the first anime i watched.
love hina is funny,ecchi and full of girls!
it was funny to see how clumsy keitaro is and his bad luck is really funny.
but the turtles were weird.
i liked how each person in love hina is absurd on his own way.
i have to say this is one of the good animes (not that the others are bad!)
i would say if you like comedy with romance and some weirdness this is your anime!
and i watched love hina in 2011 but they released it in 2000 or something haha.

animefreakNL was here!

Love Hina may be considered by some as a classic. Certainly, it shares many elements that current day animated series in the harem genre. The main character is Keitaro Urashima, a twice-failed entrant into Tokyo University. As he moves in with his grandmother, he finds himself the manager at an all-girls dormitory.

The premise of Love Hina is completely unrealistic, though, it's not meant to be. It is purposely designed to maximize comedic situations between a clueless high school boy and the world of girls he never knew. I suppose a more accurate description of the plot is a youth's journey to discover love in ... the face of infatuation.

The characters, while not caricatures, possess definitive traits. For instance, Shinobu is quiet, reserved and almost typical of an introvert, though she does act outside of her typical personality at times. The show eventually focuses around the relationship between Keitaro and Naru, who are relatively the most ordinary out of the entire cast. Despite the comical nature of the show, the elements of romance does become more apparent as the series progresses. This makes the show much more true to its definition as a romantic comedy than other shows in the harem genre.

Overall, I felt that Love Hina is a light-hearted show that can be enjoyed casually. It strikes a good balance between comedy and romance that few harem shows are able to reach. Regardless, due to the saturation of the genre, I believe that Love Hina is unable to make a lasting impression on today's audience.