Ranked #1619

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.
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STORY (hadta to it for the haters
Here is an anime that is completely devoid of a storyline, opting instead to engage in countless irrelevant side quests that are not only dull, but irritating and stupid as well. Here is an anime that reuses "jokes" over and over and over and over, until the jokes are not only tedious, but borderline tortuous as well. Here is an anime that has a lead character so obnoxiously unfunny and dislikable that he is not only annoying, but absolutely loathsome as well. And yet... here is an anime that is not only insanely popular, but has an almost rabid fan base violently defending its "#1 anime of all time."

It's one of the most overrated things out there. This show has one of the stupidest senses of humor of any anime. It's not funny at all, yet they continually use the same jokes over and over. The main joke is either Keitaro gets into a situation where he looks like a pervert through some ridiculously contrived stupid misunderstanding and then gets up beat up by the girls or gets beat up by the girls for no reason; which is more frustrating, you decide... Exaggerated violence isn’t funny if there’s no justification to it. None of the jokes were genuine, by that they were cheap, unrefined, low, substandard, poor, juvenile- 0MG L00K 1'M $0 FUNN!3!!! so if anything, unfunny. On top of that, everything felt very forced and emphasized which made the jokes even lamer. In short, the comedy is "sooo not funny" or "SO not funny" or "so NOT funny".
Unfortunately, I know exactly what draws fans to Love Hina. This anime appeals to the lowest common denominator, to the losers inside us. Every episode is filled with horrible, blatant fan-service that talks to the average otaku's low self esteem. Though this anime is remarkably stupid, people love this anime for one reason: it provides a perfectly distilled fantasy. This fantasy is designed solely to appease the insecure adolescent in all of us. The anime was made knowing that the best way to sell discs is to fan-service, to give a hentai dream that they think will please the average viewer. I hate, hate, HATE this anime. I hate the fact that it expects fan-service to replace any shred of a story whatsoever. I hate its ridiculously shallow, forced morals and all that other BS.

Of course no anime can be 100% original but this anime is CHOCK-full of clichés, stereotypes, etc, - Everything about it has been done to death before, but Love Hina manages to make turn most of it into something more awful and annoying. [Nearly] everything about this series has been done before, one way or another, and its attraction seems to lie in the fact that most of those who like it have seen very little of what it is ripping off. Example: I wouldn't say it's ripped from the anime I'm going to mention but it reminded me of that anime which made me think even less of Love Hina which is so little anyway at that point. There is an episode which is actually the same episode with the glasses thing I mention later. But basically they had some "slapstick comedy" with ping-pong but it wasn't funny. It reminded me of Dash Kappei because that show had an arc on table tennis/ping pong and Dash Kappei anime is just hilarious and the table tennis arc is no exception. I just felt so saddened that something that is so brilliantly done in Dash Kappei is like whittled to a pathetic piece of god knows what that I could not imagine my 6-year old self laughing at. Love hina just did the obvious slapstick thing you can do with table tennis and it's just soo lame that I roll my eyes as I type this.

Expanding on the "remarkably stupid":
This anime has some dumb plots or episodic plots, better described as fillers in this case. They're insultingly, frustratingly, absurdly dumb, like extremely unnecessary in the most annoying way, dragged out, over-the-top for no reason, straight out stupid, etc.
The Romance comedy (that is, laboured, annoying romance comedy) works on the basis of “hilarious misunderstandings” and “bizarre coincidence”. Love Hina throws some of the stupidest hilarious misunderstandings in the world at the characters. For example, in one episode the "love interests" [who hate each other] end up sitting next to each other. Both didn't have their glasses on and so they actually did not recognize each other. Obviously lots of plot-holes here. Like Why they don’t recognise each other’s voices is beyond me, and the fact that Naru wears glasses for studying and not for normal world activity suggests that she is actually near-sighted … It makes no sense whatsoever. It's so contrived and just lame, so stupid, not funny, and the whole get-up is aggravating on many levels, in addition to what happens next is just as frustrating and cringing like in those cruel make-over reveals in those reality TV shows or talks shows.

Perhaps the characters are just that stupid, shallow, dim-witted that the "dumb" plots can be possibly excused, but even so that's still frustrating and insulting and just contradicting. Then if it is true that they're just THAT dumb then the plot is ludicrous not that that plot was so interesting in the first place. Well maybe it was just a little dull for a little bit but it just got annoying and even more uninteresting because the anime would just keep mentioning that "set up"/ "story" (since that is the only thing it has...) yet there was little or no progression or there would be progression but then for absolutely no reason except that they can, they throw you back to square 1 to be... [shocking? annoying? stupid?] (I think they're deluded that it's amusing or something). They pussy-foot around everything for no reason and it's to an extent that you just don't care anymore.Theyconstantly pull stunts like this every chance they get to get through filler after filler I suppose. These kinds of plots in his anime are insulting the viewer's intelligence or the viewer... In any plot and whatever events in any given episode they come across choices and they always go full throttle with the most stupid, predictable, ridiculous, silly, unfunny, aggravating, tedious, low route. It seems like a rather conscious decision.

There is an awful lot of unnecessary fan service, seemingly put there for the sake of grabbing your attention while assuming that you're a slobbering teenager who gets "off" on seeing cartoon flesh; very tasteless to say the least. Not only that it has to put in more useless things that come from this anime's self-obsession of getting attention so it tries to make the biggest deal about everything like any silly stupid plot point of the filler or whatever contrived thing that's going on or the retarded fan-service or over some characters or some characters do this themselves. It gives off this pathetic feel that they're trying to be crazy to draw attention in the hopes or in complete belief that it will somehow make the anime be received better or make it completely redeemed of itself of the mess or possibly they really think that lowly of the viewers that the viewers needs things pointed out with a huge sign repeatedly or it just goes with the stupidity or they think it'll make the anime less boring (which actually results in some irritation taking the place of boredom which is worse... or to no avail since that "strategy" is so lame anyways). The word to describe the atmosphere of this anime is obnoxious therefore. Naturally, a childish aura is fuming. Yeah yeah fan-service- but the childishness is radiating quite brightly ☀

They put in some odd, random, wacky elements into the filler episodes. It's not random in a good way (the refreshing, fun kind)- its "random" is nothing but idiocy, over-the-top and absolutely LAME. It's completely repulsive as in low quality, contrived - do anything to get into whatever perverted situation fantasy thing or whatever other lame get-up- solely there to draw attention without any attempt to not be so obvious and at the same time give off some impudent attitude like they just know/believe it's so edgy and shocking and cool, or maybe the "lame random" elements here themselves are just hopeless. The anime's constant emphasizing can be even further translated to it oozing an irksome arrogance that they have the audacity to constantly do this when there's nothing there in the first place or that everything that's there is extremely stupid, let alone worth considering to emphasize or repeat, etc. Besides all that, they're sometimes gimmicky, and even taboo sometimes. Such elements include the supernatural - getting possessed and whatever other glowing effects. Yes, it's as dumb and pointless as it sounds or maybe dumber... There's no class, no charm, nothing is done with even the tiniest smidge of taste. Everything's just shoved in our faces.

It literally feels like this anime is ordering me/telling me/screaming at me 'to laugh', 'it's funny' in some desperation. It could also described as it trying to shove it down my throat. They're trying to do what they "believe" is the minimum requirement to equal "good anime" or "romance anime" or "comedy anime", etc with such shamlessness and cockyness. COME ON... Emphasizing whatever lame joke does not automatically = funny’, emphasizing whatever situation does not automatically make it interesting or shocking or not boring, and neither does 'a promise always = a wonderful romance’ and neither does '"unique" cast always = good characters’, etc. Adding to that, it just needs to be more annoying and so it pretends to be dumber and shallower than it actually is because it knows it doesn't NEED to be ambitious. They're doing whatever they think is the minimum requirement. This anime is extremely boring on top of the irritating though this anime actually can be annoying AND boring at the same time somehow. Somehow they try way too hard yet try so little at the same time, they get the awfulness of both worlds of any trait related to bad. It's baffling...

Some specific eps/points (probably much worse throughout the series than the ones I'll mention below):
Episode 2 whatever reason it attempts hard hitting drama about the politics of divorce and the place of the child within. It’s quite painful to watch, particularly with the whole “running away” aspect, and the typical portrayal of “cruel girls”.

The four episodes even feature their own sort of thematic gimmick - the first being laced with fantasy, the second with some horrible, horrible symbolism pertaining to “direction” (ironic, that), the third features an initially well scored “silent film” sequence, which has misjudged artificing and starts to drag. The fourth has a “diary” storytelling method. Each episode probably wants to set itself apart, but it comes across as gimmickry. Also, the dialogue placed in each episode when it comes to its realization feels quite forced.

CHARACTERS
The characters are like the epitome of cliché, 1-dimensional, stereotypical, typical, predictable, annoying, stupid, unlikable, useless, redundant, shallow, superficial, unrealistic, and unoriginal. Pretty much every single one of them has most, if not all of these traits. The trait to emphasize would be annoying and unlikable which go hand-in-hand here. Almost all the characters are useless, because they didn't salvage or add to the generic promise plot or the comedy or the lame episodic fillers; maybe they aren't if all you are looking for is fan service. Plus, the characters' gags were lame, unfunny, and they were repeated - many times. The side characters are such stupid and superficial people who just happen to have no other worries than caring about keitaro and naru. It's like who cares!!!! Let them play stupid/pointless/boring childish games and get own with your own damn lives! They are ridiculous since their actions are completely devoid of any logic whatsoever and their brainlessness is agitating. It's a whole lotta BS with a lot of we just happen to _ for absolutely no reason except that we can.

I'm pretty much convinced the sole purpose of the characters was to irritate the viewers. Practically all of them are/act stupid, annoying, over-the-top on many frustrating levels (especially in the ridiculous stupid filler plots they're placed in) like Mutsumi who is so smart but never everevereverever makes it to the exam, Naru who is violent and immature and a main character who beats up Keitaro over'n over'n over'n over for no decent reason most of the time, and much more. And isn't that a contradiction that she can do all that however many times yet she can't confess her feelings to the dweeb - Sara McDougal is probably one of the most annoying characters in this anime though she's got some stiff competition. They tried to do that joke they've been repeating in this anime with her and they did it in their exhibitionistic exhibitionistic way and it only made it fail harder. However the honor or dishonor doing that joke the most goes to Naru. Putting these kinds of characters together it just amplifies what's already there, it gets dumber, more frustrating, more over-the-top, lamer than thought possible.

Though it is usually a good thing that each character is "unique", each girl is too damn TYPICAL. apparently the “unique” trait that caters to whatever individual fetish you may have (I'm not sure cause I don't have one...). It's [almost like] insulting the viewer's intelligence. Every single character behaves just like I predict. When all there is a simple silly misunderstanding which could have been solved through 30 seconds of talking, Love Hina drags it out 20 min or even 40 min! Adding furthur insult to injury, almost all the characters seem blatantly ripped off~ The LH characters are clearly reminiscent of characters/anime that are just better- actually likable and actually good. They include more than what I'll mention here, of course. Even though they may have similar traits, the Love Hina versions of the characters are dull at best and more than annoying as hell at worst and there's nothing likable or special or memorable about them - it's like they have no souls.

++Shinobu - they just pound her gag into the ground and it's just not cute or funny or amusing in the first place and it only gets worse and worse every single time they do it. But also she just seems to be ripped off from Anna (Battle Athletes Victory)
++Su - she is clearly ripped off Ed (Cowboy Bebop), Tanya (Battle Athletes V), who are better characters, since they aren't annoying and are likable which is something none of the Love Hina characters can pull off unfortunately. You can even find pictures of them doing the exact same poses. Su is 1-dimensional with her ''annoying' going on all the time. Not to mention the inventions thing with her added to it because it was just so ridiculous, awful, to the point of utter frustration and feeling insulted. It was executed to be as idiotic as possible and to draw attention apparently. Also there's an episode for her which was unbelievably stupid and supernatural and out-of-place. Oh and it's probably taboo too, and/or awful stereotyping, it makes it that much worse, it just has to go there.
++Motoko - there’s a bunch of anime characters there are just dressed like her and act like her. She's also the dreaded men-hating female stereotype. They made it worse by having Keitaro fly when she swings her kendo stick at him; it's completely idiotic, so NOT funny, and obviously another annoying attempt to emphasize like everything else in this anime. She has at least one completely idiotic-plot-holed in the most utterly painfully dumb way, so NOT funny, and unnecessary plot/episode (completely frustrating and insulting to the viewer) about her also... I despise how they exploit the whole "traditional Japanese- kendo,- etc" among other things to try to be "cool" "gimmicky" because it comes off lame with their intention deafeningly obvious. Like what I said about 1-dimensionalness her entire point in the anime can be summed up as "OMG I have sword secret art of death blah! I hate men!".
++Mutusmi - She is a clone from Excel Saga (Hyatt). You can even find pics of them doing the exact same pose. (Excel saga manga came out before Love Hina's). The way they use her 1-dimensional trait is always in this very frustrating, irritating, unfunny way.
++Keitaro- a loser guy in a harem... Spineless wimp characters are really annoying
I forgot to mention there's also a turtle, and it's really moronic and the episode the turtle was introduced was unbelievably dumb, over-the-top, and what made it so lame was the characters actually took it seriously.

They are the perfect example of a horribly annoying cast of characters in an anime, especially if you've seen Battle Athletes Victory! TV series [To the end I suppose] .

Romance
To start off with, the main characters are loathsome and annoying. The characters themselves are awful and I hate depise both so forget about a romance. Ultimately their relationship is really shallow, contrived, and unconvincing. This goes back to what was mentioned earlier about a fantasy/ romantic+comedy genre crap - this "loser" gets with this "hot" girl. Out of all the ridiculous and idiotic stuff they try to pull off the Naru and Keitaro attraction is one of the worst.

MUSIC
Like ALL of the BGM (instrumental music) was irritating but it does goes with the repulsive atmosphere of this show with its unnecessary over-the-top-just plain annoying elements... But seriously I never encountered BMG that actually bothered me (to that degree anyways), it's odd. It's like this show is meant to repulse me in every single way possible. It doesn't really fit with scenes that well, it's just NOISE to piss off viewers more (I really think that's the goal of the creators or their deluded minds thinking this noise is actually bgm). The music is awful computer generated stuff that pierces the brain. As far as the voice actors (referring to the Japanese cast), most were okay and good, but there were two that were REALLY unpleasant to listen to. That isn't a complete weakness per say because that is fitting for the characters but nonetheless contradicting... The over-acting emphasized the stupidity and ridiculousness of the episode plots like this anime has done with every aspect of this show. However, who can blame them, the plots are just that awful. But on a positive note, the opening and the ending songs were good but the opening song gets old and annoying fast but nonetheless that goes this anime's obnoxious style. The ending song is really nice and the visual with it really make the show seem as if it's profound, good,- just ironic. Also, whenever the “caper” music starts up, you know you’re in a lot of trouble. It was kind of the director to have such obvious audio cues, to get the viewer prepared.

ANIMATION
It's average at most, considering the year it was made and comparing it to other anime made around that time. The animation is cheap and dull-looking mostly and at times it looks bad with "ugly" colors (you know some "new" anime with colors that are sometimes too bright/blinding or just plain ugly, for example that b naru's yellow shirt/red skirt is such an UGLY COMBO). Of course they abuse the animation to emphasize like everything else. They did whatever exaggeration with the animation (click and drag like 99% of the time) completely convinced I, upon seeing it would be impressed and drawn in like I've never seen anime in my life but I was actually unimpressed/could care less. Something about it was trying too hard, it's like... pathetic. On a disturbing note, some of the girls' && aren't consistent. We all know it's on purpose; SO pathetic. You can say this with just about every ecchi or harem show so it's not too significant. Love Hina is a great example of ugly digital animation; this is not, of course, helped by the fact that it is ugly in the first place. Uno Makoto’s character designs are, not to put too fine a point on it, hideous. The characters boast a sort of “fat” look to their faces and there’s something a bit off shape about them all. They look pasted on top of their backgrounds, and the fan service looks unnatural. Shinobu in profile boasts a head rather too large for her body. There’s just something artificial about the whole look that makes one ill at ease. Occasionally the animation is so bad that characters reach for entirely the wrong things.

CLOSING:
There aren't many anime series that I actively despise with every fiber of my being. Love Hina is one of those offending shows. Actually, I never knew I could actually hate an anime show till I saw this. I found the series to be mind-numbingly painful to watch. this anime is deluded that anything that's annoying, frustrating, tedious, stupid is like cool or amusing or interesting or something that's actually pleasant, etc. The only things I do recommend from this anime are the songs if they're in your taste of music. Speaking of which, this anime is tasteless in nearly every aspect. Yeah people call everything they hate "stupid" but I'm not just saying it because I hate it, stupid is Love Hina and Love Hina is stupid.

If you think I left anything out just let me know and I'll try to include it (seriously). But seriously, this was some awesome catharsis (writing the review) and and and I HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING IT (haters and lovers included). read more

When Love Hina was released, it came with a high pedigree. First anime featuring no cel animation whatsoever, and the foundation of a successful and very popular manga by the soon-to-be-well-known Ken Akamatsu. Yes, everyone looked forward to Love Hina, and everyone most likely had all their hopes for it dashed along the rocks in an instant.

For as innovative as they may have wanted us to think the animation is, it's just bad. I know cel animation anime that flow far more smoothly than this. It jerks, the characters are often disproportioned, character movement is erratic and often impossible even by anime standards. Backgrounds are nice looking but that's about it.

The BGM had my ears bleeding. It's an example of why amateurs shouldn't be playing with artificial synthesizers. It's all over the place, never appropriate, and nothing you would ever want to hear stand-alone. The only decent thing the series manages is a very catchy OP sequence, but with repeated listening, even that will beging to grind on your eardrums.

Enough about the technical aspects, Love Hina is based off the manga by Ken Akamatsu. It's a fantastic romantic comedy and the series roots itself in the concepts that made the original very popular. In fact, many of the main story is well scripted and executed, but then manages to make everything likeable about the story horrible. The comedic timing is off, the dialogue is laughably awful, and of course there is no nudity. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not some horndog wanting to see the girls nude, but don't have twenty-thousand bath scenes and all the girls bathe wearing towels. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. Either make an ecchi series or don't!

But that's not the worst part, oh no. What really makes this series near-unbearable is the godless amount of filler. 1/3 of the series doesn't even correspond with the story, introduces meaningless characters who serve absolutely no purpose, and only serves to annoy the viewer who slowly realizes what he or she has been cheated out of.

Speaking of characters, the core cast stays very true to the original idea whether you like them or hate them, but when the series devolves to filler it feels like the characters become stereotypical versions of themselves. Not only that, but the spotlight is put on meaningless filler characters who only add minor and inconsequential conflict for the allotted time of the episode they're in. Development is slow and often unrecognizable for the majority of the cast, sans Keitaro, Naru and arguably Shinobu. It's just very unsatisfying given the length of the series, and what is done with the characters.

You know, the first time I watched it, I wanted to like it but the more I watched, the more I realized I was watching crap. My 12-year-old cousin who watched the series with me lost all interest in anime after finishing this I kid you not. Let that be a warning to anyone who thinks that because this anime is popular, that it's also good.

Overall, Love Hina gets a 4 out of 10. read more

Absurd, ridiculous and just plain idiotic, Love Hina is mindless entertainment for those days when you want to turn your brain off.

Love Hina is about a run-of-the-mill wimp named Keitaro who develops a crush at a very young age to his nameless childhood sweetheart. Unfortunately, she has to move away. While running after the moving van, he promises her that he would get into Tokyo University – one of the most prestigious and hard-to-get-into universities of Japan – and find her at all costs. Years pass, and he fails the entrance exams of Tokyo University. His parents kick him out of the house, so he decides to move in with his grandma who manages a hotel. But unbeknownst to him, it has since turned into an all-female dorm. While the female residents are initially not happy with a man moving in with them, they come to accept him. He decides to retake the exams next year and find his lost love. The only problem is that he doesn't remember who she was, but he's determined to find out at all costs.

And that's it for the story! If you expect anything more, run far, far away from this and never look back.

While this was an entertaining anime at times, it was also unashamedly shallow and stupid. The extremely thin 'plot' would veer off frequently in favor of pointless side-stories. No, no one gives a damn about a hidden turtle civilization or a doll that comes back to life, just get back to the real story! These filler episodes take up a large portion of the show, and derail any advances to the main plot or character development. While one or two filler episodes are generally forgivable, if a series has more than half its episodes dedicated to these, then there's a huge problem. And even the story itself has numerous plot holes if any amount of logic is added to it. If the male lead had been anyone but the lowest common denominator, Love Hina would not exist at all. No breathing, straight male is desperate enough to get together with a girl they had met once over 15 years ago, when said girl at the time was barely old enough to go to the bathroom by herself. But lo and behold, we have Keitaro and it's thanks to him that this ridiculous story is able to stagger along at all. The main ahem, 'story' decided to make an appearance at the very end, but it was too little, and far too late.

The comedy in Love Hina is juvenile to an extreme degree. If you like dull, childish jokes that get dragged on and on, you'll be right at home here. Most of it depends on Keitaro accidentally touching someone's breasts, or looking at someone in a state of undress, while the rest of the female cast goes berserk and try to kill him. Rinse, wash, and repeat for 24 episodes. And if you're not tired of this brainless joke after the second time watching it (if that's the case, you have the patience of a saint), you'll soon become exhausted by the frustrating, supposedly 'funny' scenarios the characters get into. Oh, look, Keitaro got burned to a crisp by Su's bad cooking. Hilarious! Watch out, Keitaro, a flying mecha turtle is shooting lasers at you! Comedy gold! Worse, the comedy saps out any small redeeming qualities this show might have by making it mind-numbingly painful to watch.

Although fans of the show will cry out for my blood for saying this, I will say it nonetheless: Love Hina is a terrible love story. The 'romance' (and take the word with a grain of salt) was so forced and contrived I was seriously considering shoving a fork up my nose instead. That's how painful it was sitting through this travesty of a romantic story. The show tried to convince me that Keitaro was somehow in love with Naru, but given her deplorable treatment of him in every single episode, it was really hard for me to find this believable. In fact, it made me angry. Why would he love someone who made him a human punching bag without the slightest hesitation? For a large part of the series, Keitaro would run away and be scared of her, while she would stalk him in a rage. He was less of a convincing love interest, and more like a beaten housewife. No, the fact that the series treated Naru kicking and punching Keitaro as 'hilarious' did not convince me at all. And likewise for Naru's feelings for Keitaro. Her behavior for most of the series frequently crossed the line of funny boyfriend-girlfriend slapstick comedy to the disturbingly abusive. Why on earth would she love a spineless loser whom she thought was a lecherous pervert is really up to anyone's guess. In other words, the couple of Naru and Keitaro had all the charm and plausibility of a used condom. I would roll my eyes every time the anime stopped its wacky hijinks and try to pretend that it was a love story all along. It's really not. Love Hina is first and foremost a zany, out-of control, ecchi comedy and to assume otherwise is laughable.

And finally, we have the ending. The ending was one of the most disappointing aspects of this tripe. It just...ended. There was no half-baked conclusion, or anything resembling a somewhat satisfying ending. The series didn't bother to resolve the flimsy plot threads it still had going on. Nothing. It simply showed the characters smiling dazedly at the camera...and cue credits. Do not expect to find out who the mystery girl was or if Naru and Keitaro end up together or not. It was an insult to viewers who had to watch hours of this pointless drivel and have no payback for all their time wasted.

The characters are all cardboard cut-outs that have been borrowed from many other harem series before it and somehow made infinitely more annoying. Some were better than others, but that's like saying that being stabbed in the arm is better than being shot in the head. Keitaro is yet another useless twit that is so common in this genre, and despite the plethora of negative qualities he has, half the female cast is in love with him. He is nothing but a wish-fulfillment vessel for desperate male fans; he appeases their insecurity. Although he frequently got himself in awkward situations that were blamed on him through no fault of his own, he never stands up for himself or do anything to make him seem less of a pathetic failure that he is. Although the series tries to portray him as a nice guy that looks out for the well-being of others, it is not enough to redeem him as a whole. These are rare instances in the anime, and do not outweigh the great majority of the time where he is the butt-monkey of the rest of the cast. And while Keitaro is a pitiable human being, his love interest – Naru - is way worse. I will put this bluntly: she is a wholly unlikeable, violent bitch. Undoubtedly, the anime also tries to portray her as an incredibly intelligent young woman that aces every exam, but for all we see of her, she's just as utterly moronic as her friends. She never tries to hear Keitaro out, and opts for physically assaulting him at every instance. She is haughty, aggressive, selfish, immature and a horrible female lead. The secondary characters do not fare any better. They're all unremarkable archetypes that do not even feign to break out of their molds. Shinobu is the painfully shy girl, Mokoto is basically Naru with a sword, Su is the young genius with a perchance for childish mischief, Kitsune is the horny alcoholic, Mutsumi is the well-meaning ditz, Tama-chan is the cute mascot...none of them have any hidden depths beyond this. And if they do, the anime does a damn good job at hiding it. What's worse, they frequently regress backwards by acting like irritating toddlers throwing a tantrum. Character development goes out the window in favor of pointless side-quests that have no bearing on the plot. These characters do not grow, but remain their same brain-dead selves throughout the entire series' run. This is your 'winning' cast of characters.

Animation is decent for its time, and has not aged badly. However, there are times when movement would become very choppy, such as when Naru would punch Keitaro through a wall. Character designs are nothing special, but each one has certain physical traits (like Mutsumi's hair 'antennas') that made them stand out from the others, but they would become disproportionate at times. Backgrounds are standard fare, and not much effort was put into giving them a lot of detail, but they're all decently colored. The anime itself offers no real eye-candy, but it gets the job done.

The OP fit the series perfectly. It is an over-the-top, hyper song that wholeheartedly reflected the series' overall insanity and the bizarre situations the equally crazy characters would get themselves into...but it gets obnoxious fast. The ED was its polar opposite – it was a slow, almost jazzy tune. It seemed out of place in this sort of anime, and I had all but forgotten it until I listened to it again. The rest of the music here is composed of artificial synthesizers, similar to the opening song, that made me want to pour acid into my ears. The Japanese voice actors did a good job bringing their characters to life; they noticeably put a lot of effort in capturing what each of their characters would sound like if they became flesh-and-blood people. Unfortunately, their voices grated on me frequently and were very annoying.

I do not understand the hype of Love Hina. It completely fails as a love story, the comedy is extremely repetitive and sophomoric, the ecchi scenes are yawn-inducing, and the cast of characters seem have a combined IQ of 60. While it has some hidden appeal underneath all those breast shots, it's ruined by the staggering amount of filler and general stupidity of the series as a whole. I do not recommend Love Hina at all, unless you're a hardcore fan of harem shows and have a couple of hours to waste. And even so, just know that you could do much better. Your brain will thank you. read more

For ease I will divide the review into the given sub-sections.

Story:
In a nutshell, the plot of Love Hina revolves around Keitaro Urashima and a set of teenage girls. Each episode focuses on their antics whilst, simultaneously depicting Keitaro's failings as he attempts to get into the acclaimed Tokyo University. The overall plot itself is basic, and the pace slow. Sadly this makes it uninspiring, and laborious to watch.

The attempt to drag out the romance for the sake of humour just did not work. The initial focus - to get into Tokyo University - is eventually lost within a collage of recycled, over-used "jokes", these involving a combination of whacky robotic monsters, misunderstandings, and the age-old sequence of "boy walks into awkward situation, gets called a pervert, then gets hit hard, and speeds through the air until he is lost on the horizon". This gets old well before the count reaches 50.

To summarise: the "story" is really a set of short adventures and revelations, none of them that interesting. (And I really wanted to like it.)


Art:
The art is, for me, Love Hina's strongest point. It's not breath-taking, it's not original, but it is well executed, and character design is good. I could liken it to animes such as Ah My Goddess. It's better than the now dated Fushigi Yugi, and the colour pallete is brighter than that used in Fullmetal Alchemist. The animation and character design is less realistic than Ghost in the Shell, but the backgrounds are enchanting than Clannad or Ouran.

Sound:
The opening to Love Hina is a disaster, but apart from this, the music is suited to each scene and fades nicely into the background. But because of this, it fails to serve any significant purpose (although I would notice an absense of it.) It's not as emotive as that in Clannad, and doesn't create any feeling of suspense.

The English dub is not as grating as some reviews would have you believe, but it's not perfect either, so there were times when I was tempted to switch to Japanese to see how it compared. However, this was not ideal. I prefer being able to concentrate on the action; reading subtitles distracts from this.

Character:
As I'm sure you're aware, Love Hina presents its audience with a series of archetypes. This in itself is not always a bad thing, but very little effort was made to mould these archetypes into a set of individual characters. This sadly meant that there was no reason to feel attached. I could neither love nor hate Naru or Su, nor wish for any pairings to follow supposed romantic sub-plots (Longing for romantic deveopment came in the form of "get on with the story, and stop wasting my time with fillers!") The lack of imagination given means I can not describe the characters as anything more than mediocre.

Enjoyment:
I wanted to enjoy this anime, and have pushed through the entire series, but sadly Love Hina was a foregetful experience and, though I hate to say it, a waste of time. read more

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.
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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! read more

Loving, romantic... perverted, but hey... IT'S ANIME! This is one of the best anime's I've seen in a while. Most of the anime consists of teenage themes. I guarantee you'll love this anime, unless you enjoy Naruto, and other combat animes. Remember, this is a ROMANCE theme. Not some joking hentai, yaoi, etc. I liked it. It kept me entertained. I hope you enjoy.

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! read more

Maybe I'm being a little harsh. Well, the series probably wasn't aimed at my kind of audience. My partner bought the series so I thought I might as well be an anime purist and give it a go. I had the same experience with Fruits basket but I actually enjoyed that a lot. This series started well, I thought. Then it became kind of tedious during the middle, what with Keitaro accidently walking into bath area with bunch of girls, then getting hit every episode for being 'perverted'. Then, every other scene, Keitaro gets punched into the sky by Naru and these two are meant to be in love. I don't know, maybe there's a deeper meaning in there that I'm not getting because I'm about as dumb as Keitaro at this stage. I've gotta say by the end of the series, I absolutely detested Naru. I've seen plenty of anime but that's the first time a character really pissed me off. The mid-to-end episodes started well but then the last bunch of episodes were a letdown. You both love eachother, you dumb emotionally retarded schmucks, you could have ended this happily ever after 15 f'n episodes ago. Those two bastards deserved eachother in the end but I gotta say I was rootin for the 'other' girl. However, on a slightly positive note, I'm sure the girls will love it! read more

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 read more

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. read more

I know I'll probably get flamed for trashing this show, but really it's probably one of my most disliked animes. It was extremely boring and not to mention a huge letdown from what I truly thought would be a laugh out loud farce, instead it turned out to be a poorly written comedy. It's a shame because Ken Akamatsu's other series, Negima is actually much better and much more funny than this one. My personal problem is with the characters in this series who I pretty much hate for picking on Keitaro nonstop. But my most hated character had to be Sara McDougal who helped heap scorn and hurt on him the most.

I'm hoping that funimation might redub this series and make it better but to be quite honest, this series is awful and I really didn't enjoy this. Probably the only anime show I haven't liked. read more

if you like an Anime who's only about Missunderstandings and hurting guys who wears glasses, then you should enjoy Love Hina.
Otherwise is this Anime absolutley BS.
Don't missunderstand me (like in Love hina all 2 seconds) i'm not a hater of that
genre, but thats way to much.
They call it Romantic Comedy i call it but its a Shame for that genre.
The character Design is ok and the only mentioning part of this anime.
Don't watch its boring.

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.
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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. read more

Before we begin with this review, and i hope you guys may enjoy it; this is my first review and first time on Myanimelist.net, so please forgive me for my "newbie" actions.

Love Hina is a great show that has tons of laughs, twists and enjoyable fillers in the series.

Story (9): Why does this story deserve a 9? Well, looking at the synopsis; it's probably your everyday harem anime show. Though for Love Hina, that's a different story. In my opinion, Love Hina was one of the earlier harem shows produced in the anime industry, making some of the things in its story unoriginal. Such as the 'promise with your childhood sweetheart' etc. Don't let this discourage you if it already has. The way the story is presented or executed is great! The twists and and humorous moments will leave you wanting more! Yeah, the story can be a bit cliché, but it is in fact cliché at its finest.

Art (8): The art is your average 2000's anime, leaving it good especially for its time. If you're really picky on how anime shows are drawn (no offence), then this anime may or may not be for you. But the art is exceptionally good!

Sound (9): One thing i like about Love Hina, is its unique sound track. The OP's, ED's & even sound effects are great.

Character (8): The characters in the series have a unique personality and have their own twists as the story progresses. You will come to love them more as the episodes go by. The only thing that i'd say that i don't like about them, is how annoying they can be at times. Otherwise, they're all very likable.

Enjoyment (9): This series was great from beginning to end. Nothing ever left me bored or wanted me to stop watching it. Since i love this series, i hope many of you people reading this will enjoy this one as well. I highly recommend this to people. read more

Story: 5

Let me pose a question to the reader of this review. Does a good storyline need obscene humor to make it good? No, what it needs is good plotlines. To say the least, I felt the overall concept of Love Hina, a guy getting stuck in charage of basically a bording house and not able to pass the entrance exams to be an awsume storyline.

However, I found the execution of the storyline to be overiddled with panty shots, panty humor, and to be a tad bit sexist. Actually... make that a lot sexist. Then again, I am a female who ended up watching this because of a bunch of boys at my school, and I know that while a few panty humor scenes are funny, to many are derogatory and can lose the charm.

If you want it for the panty shots and such, then this storyline is definatly for you, but truth be told, what could have been a really good storyline gets overloaded with this kind of stuff, which is a dissapointed. I think there is ten at least in each episode, if not more. Not to mention I hear the English version was edited.

Art: 8

What I have to give to Love Hina is it's art style. I will openly admit to being a tad jelous of those girls looks. There is not one ugly one amoung them, unless you count the guys relative. Thing too though... is it actually possibly to have all beautiful women in the same house. I mean, at least one of them should at least be average.

Sound: 8

I remember it being humerous and fitting for the anime. Other then that... I really can't recollect much as it really didn't stand out to me. I am more of an artsy person and I tend to be tone death.

Character: 7

I personally think there are to many characters to keep track of for one thing. Also, while the personalities on the characters are awsume, I would for one thing think that they would get an idea of the true personality of the guy after a certain amount of time, but no... they tend to jump to conclusions. They also seem to run heavily on sterotypes, which runs down the true charm behind them.

Enjoyment: 8

I have to say that Love Hina is addictive to watch, it is no wonder guys like it so much. But it really had no storyline whatso ever and it is very humor driven. And I didn't find everything funny... the raiting is more of for the momments I did find funny.

Overall: 7

I could say that Love Hina is overated, but for the kind of Anime it is supposed to be, I have to say it isn't. One shouldn't go into this anime looking for a good storyline. One needs to go in looking for a good, possibly perverted laugh. Yes... I have to wonder still about how perverted the guys I was with were, and how much they were not after watching this. I see them as the type with playboy bunny magazines and such.

That is who I think that this show is aimed for, NOT for girls like me, but guys that need a hormonal fetish fullfilled perhaps.

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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. read more