Love Hina

[cheese4u]

I'm planning on watching all the episodes of Love Hina, but recently I've been dissappointed over the overwhelmingly depressing nature of some seemingly light natured Romances such as Kanon and Maburaho. So before I get into Love Hina I'd like to first make sure that this isn't anything that's gonna make me hang myself. So if someone could tell me, without spoiling anything of course, whether or not this is depressing please let me know.

Also, I would like some suggestions for light natured or perhaps comedic romances, preferably of the harem variety.

To help you out, heres a few that I liked:

Da Capo-first two seasons (had a few tear jerking moments, but nothing too depressing)
Ichigo 100% (My favorite so far)
Zero no Tsukaima (Good)
Ouran High School Host Club (Didn't finish, but I'm pretty sure nothing bad happened)



And here's a few that I didn't like. (not for the plot but just because they was so sad I couldn't watch them after a certain point):

Maburaho (Stopped watching about half way through)
Kanon (Stopped after the first few episodes)
Myself; Yourself (I actually finished watching this one...

Spoiler:

...but mostly because it was short and they saved all the depressing stuff for the last few episodes. Which is good, but they really poored it on when they did.)

[james0246]

Well, Love Hina is by no means depressing. It is an ever happy and playful anime/manga with very little in the way of depressing or otherwise overly dramatic story telling. In that respect it is exactly what you are looking for.

But, Love Hina has several major problem: chief among them it suffers from extreme-tsundere syndrome, of the likes that makes Louise (from Zero no Tsukaima) seem like a kind hearted and carefree girl. Not only are the harem members abusive to an unrealistic degree (even for this overly-abusive genre), but the main male character (Keitaro) is far from likeable and the various story arcs are a little bland and boring.

Instead of the anime, read the manga . Many of the problems that the anime has are also present in the manga, but unlike the anime, the characters in the manga will actually change over time. So, Keitaro will become more manly and the harem will become less violent in the manga, but not really in the anime. Otherwise, the anime is simply too over-the-top in its excessive use of violence in romantic situation to be truly enjoyable.

[KholdStare]

Love Hina is an amazing series. I'm probably the only one who will say this because I haven't read the manga. But why? What people who read the manga don't know is that the series by itself is already very good. I personally didn't find anything wrong with unrealistic and exaggerated playful violence, and I thought that Naru x Keitaro interactions were perfect. It's one of the romance series that I would re-watch even if I'm sick of them. In fact, I'm about to soon.

In short, from the perspective of someone who only watched the series without reaching the manga, this is a good series. It's a classic of its kind, and the OP is right: It doesn't have any unnecessary depressing or cheesy plot twists that leads to weird drama.

[Vexx]

Ignoring whether it maps the manga or not, the animated series has its ups and downs. Some of the arcs are very entertaining, a few make you want to pull your eyes out - but overall its a fairly entertaining jumble.

Personally I enjoyed the hell out of the Motoko arcs (the "old samurai movie opening" to one episode is great). Be sure and watch the unaired bonus episode that focused on her. The characters acting out a traditional summertime ancient story at the beach is good as well.

Biggest complaint is the overly abusive slapstick which almost devolves into "is something wrong? Then smack Keitaro into the heavens" many times. Seriously over-used. ...

The ending... well, if you like to watch harem series - the ending is what it is. Compared with many harem series endings -- its about average.

Be sure and watch the "movie specials" at the end. "Love Hina" is somewhat of an icon simply because it appeared when it did and helped mark a transition for anime from the '90s to the '00s.

[Phlaw]

Love Hina Brought me into anime. If I hadn't accidently stumbled upon so many years ago, i would not have seen 1/10th of the animes i have seen. Love Hina is THE romance/comedy amime.

Being a school/romance/slice of life/harem that it is, there is no real "tearjerker" moments. there are a couple parts that could be considered as sad, but nothing that will move you to tears, until the end maybe where your elation hits.

I would defiantly recommend you watch this series, the ova's and love hina again. I have read the manga, the light novels and seen both subbed and translated versions. i have bought 2 animes in my entire life, one is "Excel saga" (which was a spur of the moment purchase) and "Love Hina, perfect collection" AFTER i had already read/seen everything. I know i may be babbling, but my love for this anime has no bounds. i compare every romance anime to it and (with the exception of Ai Yori Aoshi) nothing even comes close. If u love happy endings, then this is the anime for you.

<--Keitaro is my Avatar!!! lawl

[qtipbrit]

While it's not an... uh, amazing series, it's definitely a classic.
I enjoyed it thoroughly myself, though I agree with Vexx's point on its overuse of slapstick "Keitaro's blasting off again" humour, it's still fun and more bearable than other (newer) series of similar genre.

And going by your list, I would make sure to watch it, as it's similar to some of your favourites, light-hearted, straightforward, and funny.
And no, there's nothing tearjerky.

It also has Yui Horie (who voiced your favourite Da Capo girl), so that's another plus.

[KholdStare]

So apparently the slapstick overuse is the main reason why the series is not that great. Well, okay, but I don't recall being annoyed by it. I only said that it's amazing because it didn't take the KgNE/School Days/M;Y/ef route, and I can't remember another good series except REC that is just pure romance/comedy. (School Rumble does not count, since it is a comedy/romance).

And Vexx is right. It is amazing for its time because it was the transition between the two decades. However, that's not what I'm arguing for. When someone makes a thread asking for an anime series, you don't say, "oh, read the manga instead."

[james0246]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

And Vexx is right. It is amazing for its time because it was the transition between the two decades. However, that's not what I'm arguing for. When someone makes a thread asking for an anime series, you don't say, "oh, read the manga instead."

Since you seem a little upset () that I mentioned reading the manga instead of seeing the anime, let me rephrase my point. While the Anime is certainly good and definetly above-average, the overall lack of depth amongst all the characters and the lack of a true conclusion of any sort is a bit disconcerting (which is actually a problem I have with a great many romance shows, especially Harem shows). So, the anime does not fully live up to the potential of the manga, but the anime is still an enjoyable watching expereince, especially if you can watch it with a friend (preferably a girlfriend or a boyfriend). Comedies are always better when seen with groups.

And, to agree with Vexx, Love Hina, Naruto and a few other titles were the launching point for much of the current downloading/bittorent sites/forums we see today (hell, Love Hina was undoubtedly a launching point for a great deal of the so-called Hentai sites found in America, the only other title that comes close was Evangelion ). No matter their quality as a show, these anime helped to facilitate early mass-discussion amongst new anime fans and helped to create such sites as the one we are currently discussing anime on. So, if nothing else, Love Hina certainly deserves respect for enlarging the population of anime fans in the world.

[Phlaw]

this thread infuriates me a little bit. now, yes i am completely biased on my belief because it is my favorite anime of all time, it was also then anime to bring me into the world of animes, so it a way, its like your mother. Ya know how when a baby bird first sees another animal, it assumes it is its mom, and clings to it....

While that mayyyyyy be the case...

the anime is truly amazing. the one con you obviously hear is the overuse of the harem-ish violence that surrounds Keitaro. but i do not feel it is as abundant as everyone makes it out to be. there are plenty of moments of eye lock exchange, and times when the anime slows down quite a bit to show a more sincere side of Motoko Aoyama,

Spoiler for Plot:

or when Naru begins to slowly fall for Keitrao

however we are straying from the original question...

So before I get into Love Hina I'd like to first make sure that this isn't anything that's gonna make me hang myself. So if someone could tell me, without spoiling anything of course, whether or not this is depressing please let me know.

No, the anime is not depressing. It is a lighthearted romance comedy that in the end you feel good about. Love Hina is an Original Classic, and those who appreciate the genre should appreciate this series as well.

....and then if u enjoy the series as much as I did, feel free to slowly buy the manga as well, it does offer a different story and view point. then if you become a fanatic like me, the light novel is very good as well

........and when you get obsessive like me, writing letters to Ken Akamatsu daily, framing his picture and putting it on your wall, hacking into japan's phone directory and finding his number, then leaving voicemails with heavy breathing... call for help

j/k none of that last happened.....

[yezhanquan]

I knew of the light novel, but never tried to get it.

As for the cast, well we have Horie Yui as Naru, Ueda Yuji as Keitaro (He seemed to have vanished in recent years...), Asakawa Yu as Motoko, Noda Junko as Mitsune, Yukino Satsuki as Mutsumi, Takagi Reiko as Su (She recently resurfaced as that kid vizard in Bleach.).

Oh, and do remember to watch the OVA as well. Kuwatani Natsuko as Kanako there.

[james0246]

^ You forgot the great Megumi Hayashibara as Keitaro's aunt, Haruka (I think Hayashibara does the OP and ED as well, but it has been awhile since I heard or saw them, so I am unsure).

[bbduece]

Love Hina is great. It belongs in the cheerful anime group. Of course there will be some light hearted sadness but nothing too depressing.

[HurricaneHige]

Love Hina is not a depressing anime, end of story

Altho the manga is about 1000x better, the anime does a pretty good job as well. In other words, watch it, if u like it, u'll love the manga.

[KholdStare]

Even though I was "into" anime quite late, I can tell you that I share a similar experience to veterans who first saw Love Hina. Love Hina was basically one of the first anime I watched that was romance/ecchi, and it was really a breath of fresh air. Believe it or not, I thought that it had just the right amount of drama, comedy, and romance (well okay, maybe lacking romance just a little), and to this date very few romance/comedy series could give me the same excitement and pleasure as Love Hina. With time, new series are created and old series are forgotten. Love Hina is one of those old series that I don't forget. It may not be perfect, but it was memorable, with the perfect mix of romance, comedy, and ecchi without going over the top. It's one of the only romance/comedy series that I would re-watch, period.

Oh and just to add to what everyone is saying, there's no depressing stuff.

[Phlaw]

yay! <3 KholdStare!!

[devildog23]

He was only asking if it was depressing or not -.- lol

And no, in no way was I ever depressed during the entire series, as I was during parts of kanon (I don't really know how maburaho was depressing lol it was basically a harem comedy, with barely any drama until the end) I actually found Ichigo 100% to be more depressing...

Love Hina has a little drama though, but drama doesn't exactly make it depressing

Also for your other request, the light hearted harem comedy, the first thing that came to mind was Mahoraba (don't get this confused with Maburaho...)

[mdauben]

Originally Posted by cheese4u

So if someone could tell me, without spoiling anything of course, whether or not this is depressing please let me know.

As others have already said, it is certainly no at all depressing. It was one of the first anime I ever saw and is one of the shows that started my ongoing love with the genre.

Also, I would like some suggestions for light natured or perhaps comedic romances, preferably of the harem variety.

There are certainly lots of those! Hace you checked out any of the following:

Ah! My Goddess - Some people don't consider this TV series a true "harem" but its got one guy, a group of girls mixed in with lots of comedy and romance. A classic.

Ai Yori Aoshi - One of my favorite harem TV series, this once combines the typical harem situations, with a very heartwarming romance, too. Light hearted, funny and no heartbreaks.

Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki - One of the original harem comedies, this OVA is a little old but still well worth watching. Plenty of comedy and harem goodness.

Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho - This TV series one pushes the fanservice of the harem comedy to new heights. Rather light on the romance, but very funny.

Hope that helps!

[yezhanquan]

Originally Posted by james3wk

^ You forgot the great Megumi Hayashibara as Keitaro's aunt, Haruka (I think Hayashibara does the OP and ED as well, but it has been awhile since I heard or saw them, so I am unsure).

I think she did. Anyway, I don't consider LH to be a feather in the cap for her, so I didn't mention. She's literally everywhere. (Time to start searching for Pokemon. She's Jessica.)

[cheese4u]

Originally Posted by mdauben

As others have already said, it is certainly no at all depressing. It was one of the first anime I ever saw and is one of the shows that started my ongoing love with the genre.


There are certainly lots of those! Hace you checked out any of the following:

Ah! My Goddess - Some people don't consider this TV series a true "harem" but its got one guy, a group of girls mixed in with lots of comedy and romance. A classic.

Ai Yori Aoshi - One of my favorite harem TV series, this once combines the typical harem situations, with a very heartwarming romance, too. Light hearted, funny and no heartbreaks.

Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki - One of the original harem comedies, this OVA is a little old but still well worth watching. Plenty of comedy and harem goodness.

Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho - This TV series one pushes the fanservice of the harem comedy to new heights. Rather light on the romance, but very funny.

Hope that helps!

Finally someone answered the second part of my question. Thx for the suggestions.

[yezhanquan]

If you try Ai Yori Aoshi, you might want to get the manga. Be warned: It's rated due to nudity.