But chances are you're not in a packed Japanese theatre, but sat at home, alone; hoping for one final adventure with the Battle Lovers. Does LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! provide this? Yes, but YMMV (oh & it's definitely not the place to start for newcomers).
Because to reach the feature length needed to get theatrical screenings, it's fair to say they cheated a bit. Opening with the Battle Lovers playing hack sack & then chatting in the Kurotama bathhouse, it looks as though their final episode will be spent mostly soaking in the tub while shooting the breeze.
Which would be fine, if what they talked about weren't the events of the previous two seasons. As the cast slowly gather at the bath, they reminisce about how they first met, then proceed to sing all (& I mean all) of their character songs one after the other. It is, as En glibly remarks, “that kind of episode,” consisting almost entirely of recycled footage & generally feeling like a glorified recap episode. Some of the new banter is fun, but unless you really like looped animations or were hoping for a karaoke session, it's bit of a tough watch.
But just as frustration might be about to boil over, the real episode begins. It's Springtime for Hit...I mean Binan High School, & that means it's graduation day for everyone in the Earth Defence Club but Yumoto. Naturally, things don't go smoothly, as Zundar & Dadacha create one last monster, which the VEPPers, Conquest Club & Earth Defence Club must team up to defeat – though not in the usual way. Then it's on to the goodbyes, as the graduation ceremony finishes & Wombat returns to his home planet – not dying on the way.
It's not the best episode of the series, but as a final goodbye to our favourite magical boys it's about as good as one could have expected, the only disappointments coming from PonyCam (who want you to know it's their 50th anniversary) not stumping up for a lavish production & the aforementioned slow, sing-along start.
But maybe you do know the songs. Or maybe you have a group of LOVErs who can gather with optional but recommended alcohol to see the boys off with a sing song. If that's the case, you will have a very good time with LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! If you're just looking for one final episode, you'll find it; but you might have to skip the first 30 minutes to get there.
Love Making!
