Love Hina Again Genre: Romance/Comedy Shouryu's Overall Score: 5.0

Reviewer: Shouryu
Type of Review: General

Ken Akamatsu’s Love Hina can be considered a success, both in its manga and anime forms. While it has received criticism in the accusation of it being unoriginal, one tends to beg the question, what really is original? And for those of you who continually align it with Tenchi Muyo, I should point out that the brothel theme was around long before Tenchi Muyo. Still, the brothel theme is a favored plot device for manga writers, and such works tend to transform into animes. The only drawback from this process is that an anime season is typically too short to contain the length of a typical brothel manga. Love Hina as an anime had a questionable conclusion that needed a bit more strength, and as a result, the OAV Love Hina Again was put together, lengthening the series a further three episodes beyond the two televised specials that concluded the television series’ run.

With Keitaro finally admitted to Todai, the dream he had been chasing his entire life has been achieved. With this accomplishment under his belt, Keitaro seeks a new source of passion. Unfortunately, his relationship with Naru has been brimming with anything but passion, and he realizes that he enjoyed excavating with Seta more than studying. As a result, he decides to take a leave of absence and study abroad for a short period. This causes a sever in his relationship with Naru, and more importantly, leaves an opening at the managerial position at Hinata-sou. Enter Kanako Urashima, Keitaro’s younger step sister, who immediately takes control of Hinata-sou and begins to make life difficult for the girls. The burning question, then, is why is Keitaro’s sister so protective of her brother to the point that she feels it necessary to compete with Naru?

Sadly, LHA fails to live up to its predecessor, for several reasons. The first may fall upon the fault of the original series: LHA is far too rushed. Far too much happens too quickly, and this might have been avoided had the television series not wasted three worthless filler episodes that were not in the manga and did nothing to advance the plot (the stolen rent, the visit of Su’s brother, the doll in the basement). Had that production effort had been used to make episodes out of the Christmas and Spring Specials, perhaps the Kanako storyline could have been better paced and explored over five OAVs. Secondly, Kanako is a completely unlikeable character, making for an overly predictable plotline. Of course everyone will cheer for Naru if her rival is utterly despicable; you do not even need to waste time on back story because you hate Kanako too much to care. (Kanako suffered this fate as she was introduced in the manga, but Akamatsu managed to turn her into a Mutsumi-like rival/ally, unlike the rushed LHA) Thirdly, most of the OAV surrounds an elaborated plot line that is completely blown out of proportion from its intentions (the cursed building). Compared to Akamatsu’s treatment in the manga, the OAV turns the device into a heavy handed barrier that simply frustrates the viewer more (as if they weren’t frustrated enough by having to deal with a character like Kanako). And the final reason is the overabundance of fan service. The two specials had already turned the fan service factor up to 11, and somehow, the creators of LHA managed to crank it up further. Enough is enough, already.

Still, the animation is beautiful – the style is slightly different from the television series, but not detracting in any real way. The acting is perfectly fine, so long as you watch the series in Japanese (although LHA has yet to be released domestically and to dubbed in English, it is more than likely that the same English cast will be tapped to utterly decimate Akamatsu’s characters again). The theme songs, while not necessarily bad, are not suited to the anime, in my opinion. While LHA still carries the frenetic, frenzied pace its predecessor had, the music fails to convey this pace, and instead, gives the anime an uncomfortable feel aurally. Perhaps if the background music and the opening theme had been better thought out, LHA might not have felt too big for its own britches (and then I wouldn’t have to blame LH for burning up valuable time…although, either way, it still did).

Is Love Hina worth your time? Certainly, if you need to have a little more resolution than the Spring Special gave, or if you’re curious to see how much further the OAV goes. But unless you are a hardcore fan, it is not worth spending real money on. Rent it or borrow it, because you won’t feel the need to watch it multiple times. If you want a better telling and an even more solid resolution, my personal suggestion: buy volumes 11-14 of the manga. Where the manga succeeds, LHA fails in every possible way.