Sequel

TV Special, 2000, 1 ep,6.25(5718),7.58(5754)

Same setting

TV Series, 2005, 26 eps,5.26(4143),7.24(4194)

OVA, 2002, 3 eps,5.78(6195),7.43(6244)

TV Special, 2001, 1 ep,5.80(5394),7.42(5431)

Movie, 2011, 1 ep,3.83(438),6.03(442)

OVA, 2009-2010, 4 eps,6.62(645),7.29(648)

OVA, 2008-2009, 3 eps,6.01(921),7.17(930)

TV Series, 2006-2007, 26 eps,4.97(1776),7.00(1809)

OVA, 2006, 1 ep,5.22(1169),7.03(1176)

OVA, 2006, 1 ep,5.20(1001),6.97(1006)

TV Series, 2017, 12 eps,4.22(715),6.26(719)

OVA, 2017-2018, 3 eps,5.01(219),6.39(221)

A young man finds himself living in a house full of beautiful but quirky young women. Every waking moment of his life becomes a new opportunity for ecchi misunderstandings, and hilarity ensues.

A young man finds himself living in a house full of beautiful but quirky young women. Every waking moment of his life becomes a new opportunity for ecchi misunderstandings, and hilarity ensues.

Both are based off a manga by the same author.

Both series centers around a boy living in a house with mostly/only girls.
Both comedy with strange/funny situations.

Consider its similar setting (hotel, coffee), with girls under the same roof.

Childhood promise with a girl whose identity was forgotten. Two possible candidates: violent girl and meek girl.

Harem type story with childhood promise. The major storyline is to find who is that childhood girl. Both have a violent female lead and a lot of misunderstanding.

Love, fighting, drunk neighbours, ecchiness, full of comedy, same housing. Similar in many ways.

Living in a house with a girl is the common thread, though the plot and story is quite different.

A young man finds himself living in a house full of beautiful but quirky young women. Every waking moment of his life becomes a new opportunity for ecchi misunderstandings, and hilarity ensues.

Setting is a little different however the very same feelings denial motive and getting aware of very own feelings for the other person. Similar mixture of love/comedy. Same warm aura of both series!

byEsjee on2016-12-16 09:15

I find it interesting how this show is regarded as one of the first ecchi/harem anime when its 'ecchi' and 'harem' is no more bold than Ranma that began airing over a decade earlier. Still, it's a classic of the 'playful romcom' genre and it was undoubtedly a stepstone in the ecchi/harem evolution. Back from a more civilized time when a little extra playfulness helped to carry a story but wasn't _the carrier_ of the story. In the end, this is a love story and the 'harem' (or ecchi) isn't anywhere near as extreme as other stories. Great for its time, an absolute must see for someone who wishes to be 'well-versed' the the anime genre as a whole.

byzero111 on2015-10-15 13:07

the evolution of harem nowadays can t surpass the original/classic anime like this. love the romantic comedy with a twist of ecchi this is no end

byteebee918 on2013-04-22 13:33

It's a classic! I hold this one dear mainly for 2 reasons:
- it's one of the very first anime series I've seen.
- it has made me fall in love with Horie Yui's voice acting.
Yep, mother of all harem animes and good luck finding one that surpasses it. Also has some nice ecchi, good romance and great comedy. Can't recommend this enough.

byMortsyn on2012-09-10 13:37

The mother of all harems and still the best one. For those that say that this uses repetitive jokes and such, rewatch the harem and ecchi anime you've seen so far and you will see that they do the exact same thing.

Love Hina started it all, and that is the reason why it is the best harem of them all since unlike most new ones this one isn't "just another generic harem." Overall, this is a must see for harem and ecchi lovers, along for those that want a classic.

byZaku88 on2011-05-22 03:14

Love Hina is a romantic comedy with the emphasis on COMEDY. The idea was to introduce a male into a house of unwilling females and to see how they eventually might grow on each other. This is not a very serious romance/drama and such it is appropriate for all audiences that are willing to put up with a weakling main male character essentially being controlled by the females all the time.

Animation:
This has been out for a while so the quality of animation isn't as vivid as animes that are just out. It took a while to get used to the character drawings but wasn't too distracting. Expect a lot of "accidental" occurrences such as Keitaro falling and pulling down someone's skirt x 100+. No partial nudity, unlike some other more recent harems.

Sound:
The OP is very energetic and lively, which goes well considering all the action at Hinata, though it is a bit childish sounding if you ask me. I found the OP and ED to be fairly average overall and don't recall much of the BGM so it must not have been that outstanding. VA was superb as expected considering some of the well known cast members. Koalla is super-hyper and the voice actor captured that very well.

Story:
The main story is truly about a ronin named Keitaro and his developing relationship with Naru Narusegawa and their dream to get into Tokyo University. The determination behind this is a promise Keitaro made with a girl when he was little to meet when they both made it to Todai, however he has no recollection of what the girl looks like.
This is a very stereotypical harem and so the anime show Keitaro interacting with all of the girls in various side plots, all the while attempting to get into college. All of the girls eventually find some liking to Keitaro despite immense distaste at first.

Note that Love Hina was originally supposed to be two seasons long but they ran out of funds for whatever reason which is why there are two specials and 3 OVA episodes to try to cover the rest of the plot. This is also why Love Hina doesn't really have a conclusion until the last OVA episode. And even with this, it doesn't do the series justice compared to the manga.

Character:
Character development was very thorough and the viewer learns of the girls' different personalities and tastes. There is quite a bit of tension early on as everyone disapproves of the new boy manager in a girl's dormitory. Expect a love (hexagon?) between the girls and Keitaro.

Naru is a very dynamic character with an unprecedented amount of strength. Her relationship with Keitaro is a very interesting one as the moment it seems they get close something happens and they aren't anymore. This dynamic tension is probably the highlight of the show.

My only complaint here would be Koalla Su and her robotic turtles. It just made the entire series seem unrealistic and thus unattractive.

Value:
The light mood of the anime made it a break from more serious romances and thus I enjoyed the series. It might get a bit repetitive with the stereotypical occurrences though.
Note that I highly recommend the specials and OVA after the series if one wants any sort of a conclusion. And check out the manga for a more complete storyline (with even more humor).

byThatAnimeSnob on2011-04-29 01:26

For awhile, Love Hina was considered to be the best harem, a not respectable genre, since it comes down to a power fantasy for teenage virgins. It’s about a worthless piece of shit male idiot who can’t do anything right and constantly bumps onto naked women who then kick the living crap out of him five times per episode. But it’s always nice when a show tries to be more than what it needs to be without messing it up.

Love Hina had a main objective, as well as a side story for each girl, and as simplistic as they were when you seen them from afar, they offered a lot of characterization and a basic sense of urgency. It made the girls far more than one dimensional fap material because despite following an archetype at first, they do a lot and stand out. By the end of the story each one of them can have their own show. Essentially, if you take out all the fan service bullshit, which to be honest are nothing special as you have seen them being done identically in a thousand different anime by now, you still have a functional coming of age story that has a basic closure. But not if you only watch the series, because it’s open ended. You need to watch the various specials and OVAs that followed so you’ll get the whole deal. Not having all that in the main series was a mistake in my opinion, since not that many bothered to look for the extra material and were left with yet another incomplete anime that didn’t stand the test of time as much as it could.

The protagonist didn’t help at that either, since despite being the viewer’s gateway to the show and for many a self insert, he was the usual indecisive idiot who does stupid shit and gets blasted to space by offended women. He was already too much by the late 90s, and nowadays most progressives would bark nonstop every time he’s on screen.

At least he’s not the only source of comedy, since there is a lot of slapstick humor and many episodes have the craziest things happening. The comedy is based on absurd situations and their quality varies from episode to episode. Although there is not much consistency when it comes to the writing, you are at least getting something different each time.

The production values have obviously aged rather badly, and there is a lot of choppy animation during the slapstick moments, but at least the music score is pretty good and the songs are indirectly part of the plot, since the lead girl plans to become a pop idol and she gets to sing them in story at some points. Overall, it’s not a bad production, and it’s actually the magnum opus of the people who made it. By that, I mean the animators and the director and the mangaka. And yes, nobody cares to even remember their names nowadays since they never produced something actually amazing. But again, it’s nice to see the best of what they could make in the sea of passable softporn that is the harem genre, at a time when there weren’t that many good romcoms. I remember how much people still loved it in the early 2000s, because the saturation of repetition hadn’t kicked in yet.

And yes, that also means if it was made today chances are it wouldn’t feel that special as the character archetypes have been recycled over and over to the point you’ll get bored of them in a few episodes. The cream of the crop nowadays is considered to be the Monogatari franchise, and even in retro times most would easily pick Ah My Goddess as the better harem or Excel Saga as the better absurdist comedy.

Despite never being the best of what it was going for, it’s still pretty high on the chart for having a story that heads somewhere, even if it is simple and silly. It develops its characters, gives different objectives for each one of them, and does not succumb to making the girls being unable to exist without an incompetent male self insert. It would definitely be a better show if it didn’t have fan service and the aforementioned waste of space main lead wasn’t a glutton for punishment, but at least the show has a support harem, not a balanced one, because the chosen couple is secured early on and the rest are there mostly for teasing. There are no shipping wars and internet drama like so many other shows do, and at least there is some sort of closure. Not enough for calling Love Hina a must watch, but not also something to avoid for being a waste of your time.

byreuther on2009-01-16 01:37

I suppose anotherLove Hina review isn't necessary, but my aggravation drives me on. I had doubts about this show before I started, but I watched it because of its apparent iconic status. I wish I hadn’t bothered.

Love Hina is a slapstick, romantic, comedy, carnival of clichés. The setting is a girl’s dorm/hot spring. There’s a useless male lead (Keitaro), an animal mascot (flying turtle), and of course the harem which includes the violent-temporarily pop idol-female lead (Narusegawa), a samurai girl, a drunk girl, a shy girl, a clumsy but smart girl, a foreign/mecha inventor/latent magical girl, several underage brats and a mechanical doll.

The basic theme is decent: we all need dreams but you shouldn’t let an idealized dream get in the way of a chance for happiness that’s right in front of you. The execution, however, is insipid. The ideal in this case is Keitaro’s plan to get into Tokyo University to meet a girl he made a promise with when he was five, the only girl who ever liked him. The chance for happiness is, of course, Narusegawa, one of several girls now inexplicably falling in love with him. She has her own idealized promise though, and in the one bit of novelty, she is more annoyingly indecisive than he is.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around the identity of the promised girl and whether Keitaro and Narusegawa really care to know or will admit to liking each other regardless of this ancient promise. They manage to dither around with this question for a full season, two specials and an OVA. By that time, I had certainly long since ceased to care. The individual episode plots are little more than excuses to show the girls in various states of undress, have Keitaro ogle and accidentally fondle them and get punched through the wall by Naru or perhaps by Makoto (the samurai girl) for a change of pace.

The animation and voice acting are professionally done, although the material brings forth little inspiration, except perhaps in finding yet another way to depict jiggling breasts and an exploding Keitaro. The music, though, is notably bad. The opening theme song is grating. The background music is poorly selected and arranged and it sounds like it was performed on a 1980s era synthesizer. The cast is given several chances to sing, which is also unfortunate as only one or two of them has the ability. I’m rather stunned that there were live “Love Hina” concerts. I tried to watch one, but they only sounded worse outside the studio.

Love Hina was a wildly successful marketing ploy in its day, but there is no reason for anyone to get sucked in at this far remove. For similar pseudo-harem indecisive romantic comedy but with far better characters and episode plots tryAh! My Goddess. For more realistic college romantic comedy/drama tryHachimitsu to Clover orNodame Cantabile. For slapstick violence tryFull Metal Panic? Fumoffu. Even current made-for-marketing, cliché ridden shows likeToradora! andKannagi are preferable.

bycheerios4m on2007-05-03 18:38

Overall this anime almost made me lose faith in "new" anime (all other animes I've seen before this were from 80's 90's pretty much so this was the "newest" I'd seen at that time),

I will never watch it again let alone finish it.

BUT fortunately I have checked out other new animes and they are great it's just this particular anime that just rubs me in the wrong way with everything due to my experience of watching lots of anime before.

It was just the most painful experience I've had with an anime and I've seen some really weird80's 90's animes and they're much better/funnier than this.Seriosuly, it's not worth your time unless you wanna kill some brain cells, it's seriously so dumb only watch to lower your IQ.

I thinkit's so weird people watch an anime that is aimed towards kids and says it's chlidish yet hilarious and they don't wanna admit they like it; and this anime is just as childish probably more and definitely more idiotic yet so many people are standing by this as one of the best and their favorites.

Childish is one thing people always complain about anime and this has got to be one of the most childish but so popular. I 've seen childish anime but some are pulled off so well.

This is one of dumbest/most childish anime i've seen, stupidity in this beats out the fan-service. like others said it is such a mystery why anyone likes this.

I got nothing against harems before or after watching this show this anime was barely a harem (only 2 girls are the choices and they were so flat) or a romance or anything because there is simple no plot and the characters are so damn flat and stupid and pointless.

Well I read the summary before I watched it and it sounded interesting. Then I watch the show and they repeat what I read and that's as much as it got. From what i've seen it's just goes from okay to complete stupidity.

Seriously there's pretty much no plot progression, just that joke repeating a million times, plenty of fan-srevice (lame fan-service at that), and those characters who I hate every single one each for their big myriad of flaws.

All the jokes are pretty much keitaro does something perverted accidentally then all the girls beat him up especially naru or keitaro doesn't even do anything but they beat him up anyways. they do that over and over in every single episode so if you think that's funny and you wanna see that done over and over and over and over and over go ahead and waste your life. I mean this is some pointless stuff.

Basically if you take away the fanservice and the fanservice related jokes this anime is nothing. Probably another reason why people love it so much, I mean if that's all you wanna see i'm sure there are animes that are a lot more ecchi. I don't find laughing at the same joke over and over funny, it really wasn't even that funny in the first place. I just find this "joke" to be really cheap.

So really,how this is hilarious? funniest? -big slap in the face to alll the animes that are so much funnier/better yet not as well-known sadly. there are some brillant comedies out there that ARE worth your time this anime's as smart as a rock.

However there are other jokes but of course those don't involve fanservice therefore so forgettable and still unfunny and particulary stupid. Practically all the comedy is like wacky and mis-timed (as much as possible somehow) but even if it was timed well it's still a lame joke. I thought the joke with Seta not being able to drive was so stupid, it's just not funny. so many repetition of the lame gags.

ROMANCE-uh what romance? I didn't see any...eps were mostly consisted of bad filler/fanser-vice/lame violence and some random people falling on top of each other, typical pointless ecchi moments.

and the romance is supposedly in the last few eps which I didn't see, all I noticed was they made people's boobs bigger trying to help my boredom... but It didn't cause I'm not a guy.

the story/plot/everything about this anime was stupid, unfunny, predictable, boring, cliche, ripped-off, typical, reminds me of so many animes that are a million times better that need to be fansubbed asap.

So all in all no romance, no comedy, no originiality, no progression so you shouldn't watch it.

Character
I absolutely hated all the characters they are the epitome of cliche, 1-dimensional, stereotypical, unoriginality. how can anyone not despise all the characters, it seemed like they exist just to piss me off.

some of the most annoying characters.

half the characters wereuseless, pointlessmaybe they had a purpose if you were looking for some fan service since they didn't add to the plot or the comedy (the lame comedy they tried to pull off with those dead/flat characters was just plain pathetic).

Almost half the characters are like ripped off that I'm surprised Ken Akamatsu didn't get sued.

Here are the ones that are ripped off Shinobu, Kaolla Su, Motoko, Keitaro.

Shinobu - well she's the only character that wasn't annoying directly but she's annoying cause she's so damn shy and that pisses me off. but I don't like her because she's obviously ripped off from battle athletes (Anna) which by the way is funnier than love hina. Anna is really likable shinobu is just extermely shy in a way that pises me off.

Kaolla Su - she is clearly ripped off cowboy bebop (Ed), Tanya (Battle Athletes). Not to mention the inventions thing was just ridiculous and it was just executed in the most idiotic way. You can even find pics of them doing the exact same pose. she's so annoying and like I said 1-dimensional.

Motoko - well there's lots of anime characters there are just dressed like her and act like her. The men-hating female stereotype. They made it worse by having keitaro fly when she swings her kendo stick at him, just completely idiotic.

Mutusmi - She is a clone from Excel Saga (Hyatt). You can even find pics of them doing the exact same pose.

Keitaro- just another loser in a harem.

But the point is, because they are so clearly ripped off it just reminds me of anime that I liked better (including WAY more than those), just plain better. I'm not so strict on an anime being original but it was unoriginal in such a way I just hated it; they just made it a million times worse.

all the characters that are just useless are Motoko, Kaolla Su, Seta, Kitsune, Sarah McDougal, Shinobu(hopefully I didn't forget any... ). After all the whole point of this is about keitaro finding his promise girl, do we really need 26 eps about that? do I give a s*** about that plot, not really... once I realize all the characters suck.

I am just personally offended from the rip-offs which are so obvious.

They are just the perfect exmaple of theworst cast of characters in an anime, especially if you've seenbattle athletes victory!

But besides the rip-offs they are just plain annoying and I just each and every one of them and some of the characters are so stupid. Like Mutsumi who is so smart but never made it to be the exam, Naru who is just a bitch - beating up keitaro for no reason most of the time, keitaro - he's just pathetic and just takes the crap. su is annoying, period and her inventions are so stupid and execution of that concept is just as stupid.

so it comes to the point where I can barely care what happens to them (unless they get killed in a violent, gruesome death).

So the romance factor is a 0 because the main characters are pathetic. The enjoyment factor is non-existant because of these characters who are all so damn annoying. worst cast ever, I hate every single one of them.

basically the side characters were more likable to me because I hated them less they had a lot less screen time so a lot less time to piss me off.

Animation was okay, I wasn't impressed, wasn't too fond it really, it just looked dull, backgrounds were cheaply drawn. I didn't like it, something about it just bothered me.

but gawd why do they have to go draw naru's boobs so much bigger in the certain eps like towrads the end, no it doesn't make the anime any less boring or pointless or unoriginal it just looks disgusting and it looks verycheap and desperate

The Opening and ending songs are fine to me although the opening gets annoying very quickly.

I absolutely hated all the background music/sound effects (from the BMG at the episode title showing part to BMG when they're talking etc)... I never thought I would complain about BMG but it was so irritating to me. Honestly BMG is not a big deal with me but this anime's BMG pisses me off

the seiyuus did an okay job but I despised the characters anyways.

bysaya77 on2007-01-23 22:10

Overall, I think the best word to describe this anime is "cute." This is probably the most well-known of the harem genre of anime, and is also one of the best. However, the complete lack of realism, the repetition of jokes, and the outrageous actions of some of the characters are a bit over-the-top and ruined the anime a bit for me.

The animation wasn't too good; typical 2-Dimensional animation. While it was colorful, had good character designs, and fit the outrageous mood of the series, I just wasn't impressed with the animation.

The soundtrack was pretty catchy, especially the opening song. It also fit the "cute" nature of the series very well.

The story really wasn't all that complex, and was truly pretty predictable in all respects. There were a few filler episodes, but for the most part each episode allowed for some character backgrounds or development to occur. Then again, a story isn't usually the first priority in the harem anime genre, and the simplicity of the story does allow for the series to maintain its focus on the heart of the series: the characters.

As to the characters, I found them all interesting and unique in their own respects; my favorites were Otohime, Haruka, and Keitaro. However, one thing I did find annoying throughout the series was the actions of Narusegawa and Motoko, who beat up Keitaro all the time for no reason, and Mitsune, who seemed to enjoy Keitaro's suffering at the hands of Narusegawa and Motoko. Also, I cringed every time Narusegawa, Motoko, and Mitsune would tell Keitaro to his face that he was useless, stupid, and clumsy. Heck, by the end of the series I was expecting Keitaro to just start crying due to lack of self-esteem.

This anime doesn't have much re-watch value to me; but if you find the series hilarious, I'm sure it would be rewatchable. Also, Love Hina is one of the best harem animes I have come across, so it is worth the watch if you enjoy the genre or want a taste of the genre.

Overall, I enjoyed this anime, and didn't struggle through the episodes as I have with some harem animes.

bybrd529 on2006-05-07 23:15

I kinda missedLove Hina when it went off. A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to watch it, lured in by high ratings and its undeniable popularity, filled with high expectations. Fact is this: LH received a rating of 8.2 and only one bad review out of fifteen here. Well, now there are two.

I leave the summary out, please refer to the other reviewers.

Animation and sound are high grade, great voices, fluent animation and a remarkable, well-arranged musical score.

Character: made easy enough to grasp for the simplest of minds out there. A growing bunch of stereotypes in order to produce a broad-as-possible variety for the viewer's identification needs. Even towards the end of the series new characters are being introduced, just to give the lame plot a transfusion.

A good character should show some profile, have distinguishing properties and a background, but most importantly, should interact with other characters in a way that influences them and advances the story. Top notch characters should even have an impact on the viewer himself. Based on this criteria, even LH's main characters only suit the basic demands. This is where character development should begin, not where it should end.

I found Motoko and Keitaro's grandmother to be the characters with inner values and direction. Too bad that they were not given the opportunity to really contribute. Sara and Mei are just designed to be annoying, childish, impulsive and to have bad manners, which basically goes for Kaolla, too; Shinobu is just shy and has a low self-esteem. It is not refuted that Keitaro has a certain impact on the other characters, Shinobu for example. But still, the overall rating resides clearly on the bottom end of the scale.

Story: nada, zilch. Rather episodical excuses for lame comedy and made up romance. Nothing really develops, no substantial change takes place whatsoever. Keitaro gets beaten up after 24 episodes just like in the first. But wait: the hinata apartment house is being renovated in episode 23... not that it would matter in any way... or any of the main characters would have initiated this (it was the idea of Keitaro's oba-san)... so much for the drama aspect. Not even a defined ending takes place: the end is actually like the beginning and everything could start again from here, meaning there is no relief for Keitaro.

So what do we have: some well-animated bozos, nice songs and no story. How does this explain LH's enormous popularity? It does not.

I am happy to say that I do not know, nor can I imagine any person, who might identify or even sympathize with the protagonist, Keitaro. I honestly believe what makes viewers stick with it is instead this: they want to witness Narusegawa being defeated/punished/put down for her arrogance/agressiveness/dumbness in the end. But as I said earlier, such an end does not exist. Sounds low?It is. I believe Love Hina is playing with the lower instincts of its male audience. And that is exactly why this piece does notneed any story: it just does not work this way. The intention from the very beginning is to emotionally manipulate the viewer.

Consider all the merchandise around LH and get the whole picture: the viewer's emotions are first being built up over 24 episodes, and then given no other way to be released than into financial profit. It gets very scary when you look at the technical and financial effort that was was made.

You might ask why I kept watching in pain. Well I was really curious and wanted to know what LH is all about. In the end, I found some explanation that at least worked for me. Whether my judgement is true or not, the phenomenon still remains. And that is reason enough for me to put an effort into this.

If you are looking for serious drama, romance or even comedy, look elsewhere. Buyers, save your money.

(added 8.5.06: Thanks for the feedback. I find your criticism justified, and so I reworked some passages.)