Love Hina Vol. 1

Before I get to the actual review I must first explain that Love Hina, in its animated form, holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the very first anime I had ever watched all the way through. From the very first episode I was hooked on Urashima's antics which both annoyed and humoured me while Narusegawa mesmerized me with her strength, intelligence, and at times, gentle nature. I fondly remember trying to get the pronunciation of her name just right, and wishing I had had the good fortune to become curator of a girls dorm...

Suffice to say, I fell in Love with the Hinata house, and those sentiments have not changed since. Do I have a bias? Yes, I suppose I do, but, at least you know about it?

With that having been said, the first volume of Love Hina, is quite similar to the anime, which is usually how things go when a manga gets converted to an anime. The introduction of all the characters is handled quite hilariously with Keitaro unknowingly stepping in to situations that always seem to set him up to be a pervert, or pedophile, or some other such thing, the constant battering of Keitaro abuse can be both overwhelming and annoying at times, and consider the fact that there are 13 other volumes, if this style of storytelling is not your to your taste, then you should probably forget about this series all together.

Fortunately though things never get too out of hand, and Keitaro usually comes out on top *ahem* one way or another.

Taking in to consideration the age of this series and its art style I think it has grown gracefully. I find it as 'readable' as it was watching it many years ago. And surprisingly enough the story seems to be holding up really well so far. Just after the first few pages I felt myself sinking back in to the same childhood mindset I had when watching the anime for the first time, it was a very nice feeling to be sure.

The first volume of the manga sets up the rest of the series quite nicely with subtle romance and hinted at mystery. Who are these girls? Was it just coincidence that they all happened upon each other? Only time will tell!

I am, embarrassingly enough, giddy with excitement to continue reading the rest of the series and rekindle my love for the Hinata house and its inhabitants. The only question is can I find all the volumes?!

Here's to number 2 which is on its way to my greedy open palms. :)

Rating: 10/10

From the back of the book:

When Keitaro Urashima fails his entrance exams to get into Tokyo University for the second time, he's officially an unemployed and uneducated slacker. To make things worse, his parents have kicked him out of his house. Fortunately, his grandmother owns the fabulous Hinata House and Keitaro is going to be the new caretaker. What he doesn't know is the lodge is actually a girls dorm and he's the only guy around! Most guys would kill to live with five cute girls, but if Keitaro's not careful, this job will kill him.