~~ Love Hina ~~

Love Hina is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine by Kodansha from October 21, 1998 to October 31, 2001 and was published in 14 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The series tells the story of Keitaro Urashima and his attempts to find the girl with whom he made a childhood promise to enter the Tokyo University. The manga was licensed for an English language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop, in Australia by Madman Entertainment, in Poland by Waneko and in Singapore by Chuang Yi. Two novelizations of Love Hina, written by two anime series screenwriters, were also released in Japan by Kodansha. Both novels were later released in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop.

A twenty-four episode anime adaptation of the manga series, produced by Xebec, aired in Japan from April 19, 2000 to September 27, 2000. It was followed by a bonus DVD episode, Christmas and Spring television specials, and a three episode original video animation (OVA) entitled Love Hina Again. The anime series, special, and OVA were licensed for release in North America by Bandai Entertainment. In July 2007, the license was acquired by Funimation Entertainment, who released a boxset of the television series in February 2009. The series is also licensed in Australia by Madman Entertainment and in the United Kingdom by MVM Films.

The series has proved extremely popular around the world, both commercially and critically. In Japan, the manga sold over 6 million copies; over 1 million anime DVDs were also sold. The English release of the manga has been reprinted many times. Both anime and manga have received numerous industry awards in Japan and North America, as well as praise from critics.

Plot

The story is a shōnen comedy that takes place in the Kanagawa Prefecture, and centers on Keitaro Urashima and his attempts to fulfill a childhood promise that he made with a girl to enter Tokyo University together. However, he has forgotten the name of the girl he made the promise to and hopes to be accepted into Tokyo University in order to find her. Despite failing the entrance exam twice, he becomes manager of the family-owned girls' dorm Hinata House , also known as Hinata Apartments) and must balance his new responsibilities with his attempts to pass the university entrance exam.

At Hinata House, Keitaro meets Naru Narusegawa, who is also studying to enter Tokyo University. Naru ranked first in the whole of Japan on the practice exams, and Keitaro convinces her to help him study. Keitaro accidentally reads a small section of Naru's diary and as the two grow closer through their studies, Keitaro becomes increasingly convinced that Naru may be the girl he made the promise with. On the second day of the Tokyo University exam, Keitaro asks Naru about the promise and is stunned when she tells him he is mistaken. Despite their studying, and Naru's mock exam results, they both fail the exams. The pair then have an argument and independently run off to Kyoto to clear their heads. While on their trip they settle their differences and meet Mutsumi Otohime, who lives in Okinawa and is also studying for the Tokyo University exams.

After returning from Kyoto, Keitaro and Naru eventually decide to retake the exams. After a while, Mutsumi moves to Tokyo, and the three begin to study together. During this period, Naru becomes convinced that Mutsumi is Keitaro's promised girl, but Mutsumi states that she made a childhood promise with Naru, not Keitaro. During the Tokyo University exams, Keitaro believes he has failed them once again and runs away before finding out his results. After learning of this, Naru chases after him without checking her exam results, and is eventually followed by the rest of the residents of Hinata House who announce that Keitaro and Naru both passed the exams along with Mutsumi. However, at the Tokyo University opening ceremony, Keitaro has an accident and is unable to attend the University for three months. After recovering from his injuries, Keitaro decides to study overseas with Noriyasu Seta. As Keitaro leaves, Naru finally confesses her true feelings to him at the airport and decides to wait for him to return.

When Keitaro returns, he and Naru finally begin to express their feelings for each other. After they deal with new obstacles, Grandma Hina returns to Hinata House and reveals Naru is the girl of Keitaro's promise. Three years later, a wedding ceremony is held at Hinata House for Naru and Keitaro as they finally fulfill their childhood promise to each other.

Manga

The 123 chapters of Love Hina were originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine, beginning in the issue dated October 21, 1998, running weekly until its conclusion in the October 31, 2001 issue. These chapters were collected and published in 14 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha, in a slightly changed format of 118 numbered chapters, together with a 2 chapter epilogue. The first 11 volumes sold over 6 million copies in Japan. The series was later released in a partially colored format known as the "Iro Hina version" (literally "Color Hina version") at an increased price.

The series was licensed for an English language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop, which released the 14 volumes between May 7, 2002 and September 16, 2003. The English release was one of Tokyopop's first releases in the "Authentic Manga" lineup of titles using the Japanese right to left reading style. In doing so the artwork remained unchanged from the original. The series has appeared consistently in Tokyopop's top five selling manga and has been reprinted several times. In August 2009, it was revealed that Tokyopop's license had been left to expire by Kodansha and would not be renewed. Kodansha Comics USA, Kodansha's American division will re-release the manga in omnibus format, with a new translation in September 2011.

The series is also licensed for an English language release in Singapore by Chuang Yi and for regional language releases in France and Québec by Pika Édition, in Spain by Glénat, in Singapore by Chuang Yi, in Brazil by Editora JBC, in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in Poland by Waneko, in Greece by Compupress, in Germany in German, in Norway by Schibsted Forlag and in Sweden and Denmark by Egmont Manga & Anime.

Kodansha had also published a bilingual (English and Japanese) edition under the Kodansha Bilingual Comics label, with English texts translated by Giles Murray. Eight volumes were produced under the bilingual format but were removed from sale after the series was licensed by Tokyopop.

Anime

Love Hina was adapted into a 24 episode television anime by Xebec, a division of Production I.G. The series aired on TV Tokyo April 19 through September 27, 2000. The opening theme was Sakura Saku and the closing theme was Kimi Sae Ireba . Both songs were written by Ritsuko Okazaki and performed by Megumi Hayashibara. The two themes were released as a CD single, which debuted on the Oricon charts at Number 7. A bonus 25th episode was later created and released as a DVD bonus. The series and bonus episode were directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki, written by Shō Aikawa and featured character designs by Makoto Uno.

In Japan, the television series was released on nine DVDs between August 3, 2000 and April 2, 2001 and sold over 1 million copies. Love Hina is credited with being one of the first anime series to be available unofficially as a digitally produced fansub, with multiple groups working on the series. The popularity, and widespread availability of the series in this form meant that several potential licensors of the series such as ADV Films had concerns over licensing the series. The series was later licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment, who released six DVDs between February 19 and November 19, 2002.

In July 2007, Funimation Entertainment announced they had acquired the license to the series after Bandai's license had expired. A new boxset of the television series across 4 discs was released by Funimation on February 24, 2009. It was then rereleased as part of Funimation's Viridian Collection on July 27, 2010. In the United Kingdom, the series is licensed by MVM Films, who released the series on six DVDs between September 6, 2004 and March 7, 2005, and as a boxset on May 14, 2007.

In Australia and New Zealand the series is licensed by Madman Entertainment, who also released the series across six DVDs between September 18, 2002 and February 11, 2003. A box set was later released on December 3, 2003. After the television series was completed, a Christmas special "Love Hina Xmas Eve: Silent Night was produced and shown on December 25, 2000 on TV Tokyo. A dvd was released in Japan on July 4, 2001. It was then released in North America on December 3, 2002 and in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2005. The Spring Special Love Hina Spring Special: I Wish Your Dream was also shown on TV Tokyo on April 1, 2001. The DVD was released in Japan on August 1, 2001, in North American on March 18, 2003 and in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2005. Finally, an OVA series called Love Hina Again was released on DVD in Japan in 3 parts between January 26, 2002 and March 27, 2002 and was the final part of the Love Hina anime. A CD single featuring the opening theme "Kirari Takaramono" and the ending theme was "Be for Me, Be for You" was released on February 28, 2002. A solo version was used for the first episode, and a duet with Yuji Ueda was used for the third episode. The North American and United Kingdom releases of Love Hina Again grouped the 3 parts together on one disc and were released on September 2, 2003 and January 7, 2008 respectively.

After the end of the television series, Love Hina Final Selection was released, containing a summary of the series and "Love Live Hina", a live concert featuring all of the main cast members.

The anime was later used as the source for a films comic, Love Hina Anime Comics, which told the anime story in comic form using stills from the show as the comic panels. The anime Comics series follows the story of the television series, unaired 25th episode, and the Xmas and Spring specials and each volume contains 3 exclusive trading cards.

The film comics also contain anime production info.

Light novels

Two novels have been written by the anime screenwriters and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu as side stories of the main series. Love Hina: Mystery Guests at Hinata Hotel was written by Shō Aikawa under the pen name "Kurō Hazuki", was published in Japan by Kodansha on May 17, 2001. It was later rereleased in a bilingual edition (English and Japanese) in December 2001.

The second novel, Love Hina: Secrets at Hinata Hotel was written by Hiroyuki Kawasaki and released in Japan on February 15, 2002, with a bilingual edition released the same month.

Tokyopop licensed both novels for an English-language distribution in North America, releasing the first novel under the title Love Hina: The Novel, Volume 1 on April 11, 2006, and the second novel under the title Love Hina: The Novel, Volume 2 on August 8, 2006.

Video games

The series has seen several video games released across several platforms. The Game Boy Color received Love Hina Pocket on August 4, 2000, and Love Hina Party on January 26, 2001. The Game Boy Advance received Love Hina Advance on September 7, 2001. The Dreamcast received Love Hina: Totsuzen no Engeji Happening on September 28, 2000 and Love Hina: Smile Again on March 29, 2001. The PlayStation received Love Hina 1: Ai wa Kotoba no Naka ni on September 28, 2000 and Love Hina 2: Kotoba wa Konayuki no Yō ni on November 30, 2000. The PlayStation 2 received Love Hina: Gojasu Chiratto Happening on May 22, 2003.

Soundtracks

Prior to the start of the anime, several image songs were recorded by the Anime cast members. Several maxi singles were released featuring some of these image songs as well as drama tracks, also performed by the anime cast. "I Love Hina" was released on April 26, 2000 and followed by Love Hina 1 on June 26, 2000, Love Hina 2 on July 26, 2000 and Love Hina 3 on August 23, 2000. Love Hina 1 came with a box to hold the other singles.

There have been several Love Hina soundtracks released. Love Hina Original Sound File was released on September 21, 2000 and contains all of the background music for the series as well as many vocal songs. "Love Hina — Winter Special Soundtrack" was released on January 24, 2001 and was followed by Love Hina — Spring Special Soundtrack on June 6, 2001. Love Hina Again Soundtrack was released on April 3, 2002. Two collections of vocal songs featuring the female cast members were released, Love Hina - Hinata Girls Song Best was released on March 16, 2001 and Love Hina - Hinata Girls Song Best 2 was released on October 3, 2001. Many of the songs featured on these two albums were written by Ritsuko Okazaki, who released the self cover album Love Hina Okazaki Collection on December 16, 2001. Two live concerts called Love Live Hina were performed by the Japanese cast members. The Tokyo Bay performance was bundled on DVD with Love Hina Final Selection, and the Osaka Performance was available separately.