It’s basically about a high school boy (Rito Yuuki) who is forced into becoming a marriage candidate for an alien girl (Lala). It begins with him protecting her from the various marriage candidates’ confrontations but soon after that finishes, the story moves onto the typical high school Rom/Com, full of idiotic sci-fi elements and every shounen Rom/Com cliché imaginable (e.g. misunderstandings). Sure if you enjoy these type of dragged out Rom/Com storylines or haven’t really read any, then there’s a high chance you’ll enjoy this one but many experienced manga readers will get bored quick. Yet there are always a few laughs to be found in every chapter.
In the beginning, the artwork is probably the weakest aspect of the manga, as it looks just “plain”. No effort is put towards the character designs and also the background art was dull and geometric. Things do improve as you go along; especially in the detailed environments and the girls, who are the source of some real good fanservice.
The characters are pretty typical for a shounen Rom/Com like the male protagonist Rito Yuuki, the pathetic teenage boy who’s the butt of many jokes and physical beatings (where have I seen this before?). Haruna Sairenji the love interest and Lala the gorgeous alien girl, with her many wacky gadget. What’s more is that there’s a whole cast of other characters that just spawn out of nowhere to fill in numerous criteria like Yami-chan (cute silent type). Sure they all have cliché personalities but there should at least be one character for each reader to enjoy.
Overall To-LOVE-Ru is just basically the same old typical Rom/Com any experienced anime/manga lover is familiar, but with a sci-fi theme. The story is fairly predictable and easy to follow but the sci-fi theme helps add an element of unpredictability, seeing how anything can randomly happen. There are a few interesting developments and laughs to be had but I can honestly say that I have read better ones than this.
^_^
