Keitaro and his childhood sweetheart make a promise: to both be accepted and meet each other at the prestigous Toudai University; however, she moves away and he forgets about her. 10 years later, Keitaro has become an artist and a daydreamer, having ranked 27th from the last in the national practice exam. He comes to Tokyo to live with his grandmother, who owns a hotel that turns out to be an all-girls dormitory named Hinata House.
When his grandmother leaves, Keitaro becomes the residential manager and soon meets up with two Toudai applicants...and one of them just might be his sweetheart. They are joined by other tenants: the young Shinobu, who was in a desperate situation until Keitaro helped her; Motoko the swordsmaster who sees men as evil distractions; Kaolla, the genius child inventor; and the sneaky Mitsune.
This story follows the daily life of the Hinata House as well as Keitaro's attempt to once again enter University.
Description: niomea
Story & Characters
Love Hina is a great shonen romance comedy with some elements of ecchi. I was so immersed into the story that I wished
my life would be like it. The story starts with Keitaro Urashima who wanted to fulfill his romantic childhood dream by
getting into Todai AKA Tokyo University. But his results were atrocious and failed the entrance exams twice. As he
prepares for his third attempt, he goes to his grandmother's Hinata Lodge, hoping to get some free boarding.
However, things did not go as expected and Keitaro met a girl named Naru in an undesirable place....the women's
bath... Soon he was chased by the residents of the lodge for peeking at Naru. And unfortunately, he was cornered by a
group of girls. They were about to report it to the police when Haruka came to see what was all the noise about. Keitaro
was so relieved to see his aunt, Haruka and explained to her the situation. After that, a meeting was held. Keitaro soon
found out that the lodge was converted into a women's dormitory and his grandma was on a holiday trip around the
world. Haruka told him that the boarding rent in other places isn't cheap and thought that Keitaro was an undergrad
in Todai. The girls were shocked when they heard that and immediately welcomed him; except for one girl whose name is
Naru Narusegawa. The Hinata girls have decided to let him stay in the dorm. Things start to get wacky from here as
Keitaro gets to know the other girls of Hinata Lodge. I would give the story a 9 as it is quite a great storyline;
however, there is some disappointment with the ending in the anime version.
Rating: 9
Art
Love Hina's characters are quite well drawn. The girls in Hinata Lodge are quite pretty and Keitaro's
personality matches his nerdy looks, although his looks progresses in the story. Hinata Lodge is also drawn to
perfection as Ken Akamatsu explains the details about the lodge in the manga. The artwork in the manga and the anime
version have their differences but are still quite well drawn. For me, I would say that the manga is much batter drawn
then the anime. I would give it a 9 too as the artwork is quite acceptable.
Rating: 9
Sound
Love Hina's seiyuus brought out the outstanding personalities in each of the Hinata Girls and Keitaro. And most of
Love Hina's Music are kind of 'weird' but tolerable to listen. (As long as you don't repeat the song
too many times such as 'Sakura Saku'. It can get quite irritating) but some songs are worth repeating, such as
'Winter Wish' in the Love Hina Winter Special. A really pleasant J-pop which gets along with the romantic
scenes in the Christmas Special. Hence, overall, I would give a 7 for sound as some songs can get a little out of hand
but it is still acceptable.
Rating: 7
Presentation
Love Hina is a really great story which reflects on every guy's fantasy and life. Lots of love and romance are
included in the story with some elements of ecchi in it. And there are also lots of teen humour in it, especially when
Keitaro accidentally touches one of the Hinata Girls' breasts of accidentally did any indecent stuff.
One great thing about Love Hina is that each and every girl in Hinata Lodge has a unique personality even though their
characteristics are not really original:
Naru Narusegawa; 'The Violent Beauty'
The main girl of the story and an extremely beautiful but with one drawback; she's also extremely violent, quick to
blast Keitaro into the oblivion when he does something 'indecent'. But overall, she quite a nice girl and
cares for others. She even cared for Keitaro when he fell sick. Has a liking for Keitaro as the story progresses.
Mitsune Konno; 'The Seducing Kitsune'(Fox)
As being nicked as Kitsune(fox), her appearences are no different. Her eyes are usually seen as a line and are rarely
opened. She usually stays in the lodge all day drinking her sake and betting on horse races. Also likes to have partys
most of the time even though there's no reason for it. She likes thrills and gets quite happy whenever something
bad is going to happen as she cant wait to see the outcome.
Koalla Suu; 'The Wacky Foreigner'
A really hyperactive girl and a great inventor. Su usually hangs around with Motoko and likes to test her inventions on
the rest of the girls(not forgetting to mention Keitaro) She also delights in playing with Keitaro, usually beating him
up instead of playing. And she also likes to eat. At times, she even tried to cook Tama-chan(a cute turtle) to make
turtle stew.
Shinobu Maehara; 'The Gentle Crybaby'
A great potential housewife and a kind personality, she is usually the peacemaker in the group. She is quite a cook,
usually cooking up delicacies for the guy and the girls to eat. But one bad point about her is that she is quite
emotionally unstable. Whenever Keitaro did something 'indecent' to her, she would run off crying, but she will
usually be avenged by the rest of the girls by whacking Keitaro to pulp.
Motoko Aoyama; 'The Kendo Girl'
A kendo specialist and a tomboy, she is alittle similar to Naru but just much more violent. Has a phobia of turtles and
a disliking of spineless wimps(referring to keitaro). She has a more serious mentality then the rest of the girls.
Overall, her intentions are good.
The Anime versions and the Manga versions of Love Hina have differences in the story. So i recommend you to watch the
anime and read the manga at the same time to understand the story. An anime extremely worth the time and money.
Rating: 9
Final Verdict
8.6667 (very good)
Reviewed by theultimatemiracle, Jan 20, 2005