Anime: Love Hina
Type: TV Series
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Episodes: 25
Source: DVD, Madman Release (Region 4). English/Japanese Dubbed.
Year: 2000
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"Keitaro Urashima is trying for the 3rd time to get into Tokyo University, the most prestigious university in Japan. Why? Because of a promise he made to a girl when they were both children. But that was long ago, and he has forgotten who the girl was. His parents only see him as a loafer, so when his grandmother invites him to visit her at her home, the Hinata apartments, he figures he can crash there. But when he arrives he finds himself under attack by all the female residents of the inn. Before they destroy him however, they discover that he has been named the new manager!" -story overview from DVD blurb.
Shinobu
Storyline: (9/10) There's great depth from such a simple story in this series, as a main driving force for it involves fragments of Keitaro's past. The plot twists will keep the viewer guessing, as this anime is unpredictable in so many ways. Seeing that this series exhibits the modern Japanese lifestyle, one cant help but acknowledge the developer's skill in crafting this series when people of Western culture can adapt and relate to the story. Of course, that means that there will be some untranslated dialogue written on screen such as signs and so on, but most dubbed and subbed version offer translations for them if they are important. Keep in mind that this anime is also set to make the viewer laugh, which is something that it achieves very well, but it may lead to the events being a little random.
Characters: (9/10) The characters are very interesting on their own, and when they are put together in the story, the viewing pleasure becomes so dynamic. Kinda like chaos, but in a good and funny way. There is a great blend of character development, as with any more development would lead to the characters becoming too different from the ones that capture the viewer's heart from the beginning.
Animation: (9.5/10) The animation and artwork in Love Hina has always upheld its own unique flavour that sets it as different from other titles. I heard that the animation was all computerised, which would explain why there isnt a single moment of dodgy animation. And even though it was computerised, it still has the look of a hand done job, which is what most anime fans tend to prefer.
Plot: (8/10) In the mix of all the random events, its always pleasing to see how these things make the story fall into place. Such an unpredictable and interesting construction of plot definately keeps the viewer keen on this series. However, i found the random events to be a little too sidetracking from the story, but its all in good fun.
Audio: (8.5/10) I made the choice to stay away from the english dub since i liked the Japanese voice acting better. So under that basis, i found nothing wrong with the audio side, except the tune from "Kimi Saeireba" (the ending song) was present a little too much during the series, but thats just me being picky. Oh, and if you dont like Hayashibara Megumi then im afraid the cool opening and ending songs will only irritate you since she did both of them :P
Overall: (9/10) If you call yourself an anime fan, then you should have watched this already, if you havent, then you may have to meet the business end of my flamethrower which i will whip out from nowhere :P Its hard to notice anyone that could object to the humour of this classic. It also has good replay value. So do yourself a favour and watch it if you like comedy with romance on the side... or maybe the other way around.
Keitaro and Naru
Note: Personally, i almost never 10/10. ^^;
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