Love Hina manga, volume 1 (North America English version) Love Hina (ラブひな Rabu Hina) is a popular manga (and anime) series by author Ken Akamatsu. The manga won the "Best Manga, USA Release" in 2002 Anime Expo. The manga consists of 14 books. The anime is 25 episodes long, along with Christmas and Spring movies and the Love Hina Again OAV. The manga is published in Japan by Kodansha in Shonen Magazine, in English in North America by TOKYOPOP, in French in France and in Spanish in Spain by Glénat, in Singapore in English by Chuang Yi, and in several other countries. The anime is produced in North America by Bandai, in Spain by Jonu Media, and in Singapore by Odex. Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. Contents 1 Story 2 Sub-articles 3 Related series 4 External links Story The series centers around 19-year old Keitaro Urashima, a young man desperately trying to be accepted into the prestigious University of Tokyo in order to keep a childhood promise. His obsessive bent of doing so is one of the few shining spots of optimism in his otherwise unlucky life. He becomes manager of the Hinata House (Hinata Sō, also translated as the Hinata Lodge), property of his family and now an all-girls' dormitory. The story takes place in the Kanagawa Prefecture. The story is a romantic comedy of the shōnen genre about a clumsy but well-meaning young man with an unparalleled amount of personal drive despite having horrible luck. Love Hina falls under the harem anime genre as well due to the familiar set up of one boy living with a group of pretty but unusual women. One distinguishing feature that sets this series apart from the average harem anime is that, for a very large portion of the manga series, Keitaro is unliked by the girls. Whereas many harem animes initially or very quickly place the main male character at the center of the girls affections, Keitaro is not only initially disliked by the girls, he suffers for a rather prolonged and extended period of time. Keitaro often experiences falls or is simply beaten to a point that would probably kill a normal person, so it is a running joke throughout the series that Keitaro is immortal (thus, everyone is surprised at one point when he manages to break his leg or get a bruise from a 'Naru Punch'). After much tribulation he wins their respect and eventual affection. From the beginning of the series, he suffers physical damage and abuse, which continues and increases as the series go on. Due to the anime covering a smaller portion of the manga story arcs in a short period of time, in that medium, he appears to suffer less. Keitaro's primary (and usually exclusive) interest is in Naru Narusegawa, though all the other girls have different sorts of affections for him (including close friend, a playmate, and non-threatening crush object). Keitaro and Naru's relationship is complicated by several girls falling for him, including several "promised" girls in the anime, or girls Keitaro promised a future relationship with while he was younger. The series is most well known for putting humorously absurd elements into an ostensibly mundane universe, such as Kaolla Suu's destructive mecha, ghosts, and flying hot springs turtles. Sub-articles Love Hina main characters Love Hina minor characters Love Hina incidental characters Love Hina plot summaries Love Hina media information Related series Love Hina Again External links Bandai Love Hina website hinalove.com(English) Love Hina Forums (English) Her Kawaiiness Secret Service - bodyguards of Shinobu Maehara (English) Kanako's Notebook (English, French version also available) Miniscule Annoyances: A Tribute to Sarah McDougal and Kaolla Su(English) Love Hina Image Section @ Anime Galleries Love-Hina.ch (in German) Love-Hina-Fanpage.com (in German) Hinatalove.net (in French) Love Hina France (in French) Ken Akamatsu's homepage (in Japanese) Animenfo listing Ken Akamatsu Forum, place to talk about all of Mr. Akamatsu's works. Love Hina review at MangaReviewer.com Search Term: "Love_Hina" Categories: Anime | Love Hina | Manga