Within the first five minutes of reading Love Hina, volume 1, I found myself engrossingly entertained by just about every single joke read. Love Hina is a highly entertaining romance comedy about a loser boy named Keitaro Urashima and the problems he face when he becomes landlord of the Hinata House.


First off, Love Hina is definitely not a Manga to be taken too seriously. Although there are a few parts here and there where there is supposed to be a serious romance theme being put into play, the use of comedy 95% of the time drowns out the romance theme in the series almost entirely. With that being said, Love Hina is certainly one of the funniest Mangas to come out in recent times.

There are a variety of female characters to deal with in Love Hina. Every girl has her own key personality trait, which is what gives the series a lot to work with. You can basically slap one adjective to describe each of the female characters in Love Hina. Examples include shy, energetic, smart, and strong. Blending all these character traits together, along with a loser boy main character who always gets "caught" in the wrong place at the wrong time, makes for a lot of comedy!

As a warning to parents who are very strict about what their children are exposed to, many of the jokes in Love Hina involve sexual innuendo. The rating of 16 and up for this particular Manga is very appropriate.

Even with all the fun filled comedy that Love Hina provides, there is one thing about the plot that is irritating; almost every single time Keitaro accidentally does something wrong, Naru is always there to yell, "pervert" following up with a series of blows to Keitaro's face. It's almost expected that after Keitaro does something wrong, Naru is right there to punch the living daylights out of him. Although funny at first, it gets so repetitive that it becomes annoying.

TOKYOPOP's translation is very precise and generally well written. No one should have any problems understanding what is going on. However, there are minor grammatical errors every once in a while. These will hopefully be corrected with future printings.

The art in Love Hina is gorgeous! Keitaro's design really fits him well; he looks like a dork and everything. The female character designs, on the other hand, are sexy and cute, which is perfect for this series. Credit should be given to Akamatsu for drawing such beautiful women!

One final thing to note is that Love Hina is a “Shōnen Harem” Manga. Some people have gotten tired of this genre (five girls surrounding one guy theme), and would avoid it at all cost. I personally feel that Love Hina is still a great Manga nonetheless and should at least be checked out once before brushing it off.

Love Hina is nothing but a laugh out loud joyride. I am eagerly looking forward to the releasing of future volumes. If you are looking for a deeply involved plot, look somewhere else. But if you are all about wanting a good laugh, Love Hina is highly recommended.