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Love Hina
As a result of a childhood promise, Keitaro has to get into Tokyo U so that he can once again be with his childhood sweetheart (only problem is that he doesn't remember her name). Fifteen years later, though, and at the age of 20, Keitaro has failed the entrance exam twice and things get even worse when his parents kick him out. Keitaro is looking for somewhere to stay and decides to go to Hinata Sou, which is a hotel owned by his grandma.
This is where things get even worse; it turns out that Keitaro's grandma has decided to travel around the world and that Hinata Sou is now an all girls dormitory. Keitaro finds this out when he gets in the hot spring with another girl who is naked and then is chased around the building and is seen naked by a few of the girls who live there.
Somehow the girls believe that Keitaro goes to Tokyo U. and they end up letting him stay with them as his tutor. No matter what Keitaro does, he always ends up in a situation where the girls think he is a pervert. After a little bit, the girls find out that Keitaro was lying and he is kicked out of the dorm. This is where finally something good happens, it turns out that Keitaro's Grandma has sent back a letter and Keitaro now owns all the land of Hinata Sou and that makes him the owner and manager of Hinata Sou.
The girls don't like this, though, so they put together a plan that will cause Keitaro to quit. They plan to work him so hard as manager that he will get sick of it and quit. After one day of work it is evident to Keitaro that this will not be easy.
However, all is not lost. Narusegawa Naru is a 17 year old girl who lives in the dorm and she has also ranked number one on the National Practice Exam. Naru helps out Keitaro with some of his schoolwork. One other thing is that even though they always argue they seem that they care for each other.
Many questions are to be asked. How will Keitaro's new job work out? Will Keitaro even get into Tokyo U. so that he can meet with his childhood sweetheart? Also, could Naru actually be the childhood sweetheart of Keitaro? They only way you can find out it by reading.
My Opinion
Well, this manga is still being produced, but I have read a good amount of it so far. This has to be one of my favorite manga's, I rank it right up there with I's.
It is great to watch Keitaro and Naru's relationship progress and regress as that manga goes on, but it can be painful at times. Yes, this manga can be painful to read and you will see what I mean
when you read it. The characters in the manga are all very well developed and the characteristics for each character all very well illustrated and help to add to the story. The actual artwork of the story I found to be very enjoyable to look at, all the characters were designed very well.
This manga is characterized as a lover comedy and that is exactly what it is. So far this manga has been very funny and that adds a lot to the story. I also must say that Keitaro is one of the strongest and most durable people I have ever seen, it seems as though he should be dead by the end of each manga.
That about sums up my opinions on Love Hina. I highly recommend this manga, like I said that is one of the best manga's I have every read.
Where Can I Get It?
As with most Japanese Manga, you can find this series at Sasuga Books.
For those of you who don't want to spend the money or don't see the point of buying a book in Japanese, you can find it on the Internet in English.
You can find the first 4 volumes at Manga Scans. You can find the first 8 volumes at Love Hina Scans.
There is also a site that is working on all of the newer Love Hina coming out. As of now they are working on volumes 9-12 and have already finished volume 9(as of 5/24/010). They will also work on all of the manga that comes out after volume 12. Dual Translations is the group handling this.