Love Hina plot summaries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is part of the Love Hina group of articles.
Contents |
[edit] Manga Summaries
[edit] Manga Series Summaries
The Manga series follows the plot of a hopelessly romantic Keitarou Urashima who is intending to fulfill a promise with his childhood sweetheart to enter the Tokyo University (Todai) and reunite with her there; as a traditional myth passes down generations that if proposals between two lovers at the university, then the pair will be granted true love. Unfortunately, as he grew up, he forgot to whom he made the promise.
Driven by the plot of the story, he was offered to work at his grandmother's hot spring Inn; "Hinata So" in which he was not informed that the Inn had became a girls dormitory. Initially disliked by the girls, Keitaro often was punished by being simply beaten by the girls around him because of accidents of seeing the girls undressing or dressing at any point of the show with unreal methods that would probably had killed any average human in reality such as punches that launches Keitarou to outer space, special Japanese kendo sword techniques and destructive weapons like rocket launchers or some kind of explosive blasters. While this forms the basis of the humour it isn't anything more than harmless fun, a continually running joke throughout the series that Keitaro is immortal.
The main storyline is about the time of Keitarou preparing for his university entry exam and the interaction with one specific girl, Naru Narusegawa whom he believes is the girl to whom he made his childhood promise. The series also includes hilarious occurring side stories like old black and white style samurai films, episode basedg on a Japanese fairy tale: Urashima Tarou, characters working towards to becoming Japanese idols as comic relief from the constant increasing tension of the story in each episode. The manga develops starting from Keitarou preparing his exam and ends happily with him discovering his truly decided career and marrying his childhood betrothed girl.
[edit] Manga Book Summaries
Names are in Western order.
[edit] Book 1
The story opens with an introduction to Keitaro Urashima, a 19-year-old boy who has failed the entrance exams for Tokyo University, or "Todai," twice. A promise to an unknown childhood sweetheart at the age of 5 is the reason for his determination to get into Tokyo University. Kicked out by his parents he decides to see if he can stay at his grandmother's hot springs hotel while studying for his third attempt at the entrance exams.
Unbeknownst to him his grandmother has not only left the country, but turned the hotel into a girls only boarding house, the Hinata House. He attempts to take a bath in the hot-spring and encounters one of the residents, 17-year-old Naru Narusegawa, bathing naked.
Some confusion ensues in which Keitaro clumsily meets all the residents in turn, 19-year-old Mitsune Konno, 13-year-old Kaolla Suu, 12-year-old Shinobu Maehara, and 15-year-old Motoko Aoyama, while attempting to escape the incensed Naru. They are not at all happy with his presence. They call him a pervert, and a thief, and he is only saved from permanent damage by 27-year-old Haruka Urashima, identifying Keitaro as the grandson of the Hinata House's owner and her Nephew/Cousin.
He finds himself trapped in a lie, all the residents believe he is actually a student at Todai, and they allow him to stay.
Eventually the residents discover his deception, which totally devastates Shinobu who has developed a crush on him, and they force him to leave. However, Haruka receives a fax transferring all the deeds of ownership of Hinata House to Keitaro, making him the landlord and so he returns.
After having some more run ins with residents in which he accidentally sees them in various states of undress, the residents decide to force him to leave by making his tenure as landlord unbearable. This plan fails as he takes all the punishment that they can give.
Keitaro is surprised to find out that Naru is attending the same cram school as him and that she has top scores for the whole of Japan. He persuades her to be a study partner/teacher to help him through his practice exams. He is, however, hopeless and gets only a 2% chance of entering Todai in his practice exam.
He then makes up for letting down Shinobu and making her cry by organizing an impromptu birthday party for her when everyone else forgets.
The book ends with Motoko believing she is falling in love with Keitaro and is so upset about it she challenges him to a duel. He "accidentally" beats her (In a double knockout, where his sword flew out of his hands and hit Motoko on the head while she struck him on the head) because it is not love that has made her weak, but just a cold.
[edit] Book 2
The entrance exams for Todai are just around the corner. Keitaro studies with Naru non-stop, which slowly makes her a friend rather than a hostile housemate. He also becomes more friendly with the other girls of Hinata House, who actually trust him enough to give him chocolate on Valentine's Day.
Things are looking up when Keitaro passes a mock entrance exam, but unfortunately, he comes down with a nasty cold that knocks him off his feet just a few weeks before the real exam. He recovers in time, but lost out on a valuable week of studying, forcing him to cram during the last week before the test. Keitaro also comes to believe that Naru is the promised girl, since she mentions that she wants enroll in Tokyo University to fulfill a promise to a person that she liked from a long time ago. Keitaro and Naru both take the entrance exams.
[edit] Book 3
To Keitaro's dismay, he ends up failing the entrance exam for a third time. An even bigger shock is that Naru, who has been preparing her whole life for the exams, has also failed. Keitaro is dealt another blow when Naru tells him that she is not his promised girl (her logic is that she is three years younger than Keitaro, so she would be only 2-years old at the time of the promise. It would be unlikely that a 2-year old would make such an advanced type of oath). The two then get into an argument, putting more strain on their rocky friendship.
Defeated, heartbroken, and ashamed, Keitaro decides to take a vacation by himself. Naru does the same, and by either fate or coincidence, the two end up staying at the same hotel, even forced to share the same room. Naru and Keitaro end up apologizing to each other and decide to spend the rest of their vacation together.
During their trip across Japan together, Keitaro and Naru meet Mutsumi Otohime, a ditzy yet kind girl who has also failed the Tokyo University entrance exams for a third time. Weak and prone to fainting, Mutsumi ended up lost on her trip back home to Okinawa. Keitaro and Naru decide to help bring Mutsumi home. Mutsumi finds out that Keitaro likes Naru and ends up telling her. Naru is not sure how to react, but her blushing hints that she is very flattered.
Meanwhile, the girls of Hinata House believe that Keitaro and Naru are off on a lovers' retreat. Shinobu and Suu go off on their own to bring them back (Shinobu still has a crush on Keitaro), forcing Kitsune and Motoko to go off and bring back Shinobu and Suu.
Keitaro, Naru, and Mutsumi nearly end up dying after an inflatable raft they were riding on to Okinawa sinks. They wind up on a deserted island, where Mutsumi kisses Keitaro (Naru witnesses this and is upset). Before Keitaro can explain, Mutsumi's relative appears - it turns out that the three were pretty much in Mutsumi's backyard the whole time. Before everyone departs, Mutsumi kisses Naru (showing that kissing is just her way of saying "thank you") and gives her a farewell gift - a flying hot springs turtle named Tama (short for Tamago). Naru later flirts with Keitaro and they nearly kiss, but they are interrupted. Everyone from Hinata House finally find the two, so Keitaro apologizes for running away after failing. The girls seem to not care - they are just glad he and Naru are safe, and they want them to come back home.
[edit] Book 4
Naru graduates high school and must come to terms with being a "ronin" (high school graduate not going to college). She is not even sure if she wants to pursue Tokyo University again after failing. However, she concludes that she must do it to fulfill her promise. Naru reveals that her promise was with her tutor crush from a few years back, who was a Tokyo University graduate himself.
Keitaro needs to find a job, and after several failures at numerous places, is hired as the assistant to Seta Noriyasu, a professor of Archaeology at Tokyo University. The only downside is Seta's "daughter," a bratty 10-year old American girl named Sarah MacDougall who makes Keitaro's job a living hell. Keitaro is also tasked with watching after Sarah, so he brings her to Hinata House.
When Seta comes to pick Sarah up, Kitsune recognizes him - it turns out that Seta was Naru's tutor whom she liked. Wanting to see Keitaro and Naru together, Kitsune makes it her duty to keep Naru and Seta apart. Despite her best efforts, the two are reunited, sending Naru into a blushing panic. It is apparent, however, that Seta is blissfully unaware of Naru's feelings towards him. Keitaro is eventually told about their relationship, and although a little freaked out, he wants to help bring them together. Naru attempts to reassure Keitaro that all she feels for Seta is a silly schoolgirl crush, but is still too wary of saying that she has developed feelings for Keitaro.
[edit] Book 5
It's summer. Haruka runs a beach tea house during the season, so she brings along Keitaro and the girls to work there for her. Seta is also at the beach with Sarah, excavating a local site. Haruka also assigns everyone to perform a play about Goku, the monkey warrior. Things turn strange when Seta joins the play as the villain, Keitaro is assigned as Goku (the hero), and Naru is given the role of the damsel in distress. Seta acts out of character, almost as if he wants Keitaro to truly fight for Naru.
Alone together later on, a tipsy and flirty Naru falls asleep on Keitaro's shoulder. This moment is ruined when Keitaro's two friends, Haitani and Shirai, knock Keitaro into Naru's chest. Thinking he was taking advantage of her, Naru storms off and refuses to speak to him. The two later reconcile when temporarily stranded on a sand dune, but not before trying to make each other jealous by taking someone else to a traditional Japanese summer festival (Keitaro with Shinobu and Naru with Seta).
When everyone gets back, Shinobu attempts to get her first kiss by kissing Keitaro (she ends up kissing su), Keitaro helps Motoko practice a new Shinmeiryuu technique, and Kitsune tries to push Keitaro and Naru closer together with her meddling.
[edit] Book 8
Certain that he has failed the test yet again, Keitaro intends to travel to the cold and rough north to get over Naru and the Toudai - but his notorious bad luck is coming into play again. First, the ship goes to the south seas, and when he tries to get rid of his Toudai test Id and his sticker album, he accidentally jumps overboard and ends up on a deserted island, where he struggles for survival until Seta happens upon him and invites him to his current archeological expedition.
Meanwhile, the girls at Hinata become increasingly worried about Keitaro when he finally sends a fax, in which he tells about his current whereabouts on the Pacific island of Pararakelse. In a fit of rage, Naru leaves just on the day the entry test results are revealed, which leaves the others to look them up. And to their delightful surprise, Naru, Mutsumi - and even Keitaro - have passed!
But then another worry marrs the joy: the students who have passed have to apply formally within the next few days or the success is passé - and since Keitaro has taken his exam pass with him, this means trouble. Impulsively, the girls set out in two groups for Pararakelse: Shinobu, Su and Sara in one group, Mutsumi, Motoko and Kitsune in the other. In the desert of Pararakelse they meet up and are almost stampeded by a big herd of giant turtles, just managing to get away.
In the meantime, Naru corners Keitaro while he helps Seta during an excavation, but they suffer both a sunstroke and a fall into a pit and meet a new friend: Nyamo, the granddaughter of Seta's teacher and his local aide. Together with Seta they travel into the desert to look for the ruins of a temple in which turtles were worshipped, but on the way Keitaro, Naru and Nyamo fall out of the van, which subsequently crashes into the next river. After a hazardous walk through the burning sands the three stumble upon an oasis, where by chance Keitaro also discovers the sought-for ruins. Soon they are joined by the Hinata girls as well, who deliver the good news of their passing to them.
The goods delivered, the only problem remaining is now to get out of the desert. With Seta's unexpected arrival and Nyamo's help - who leads them to a stash of gasoline lost within the temple - they make it back to the airport. Naru begins to suffer from diarrhoea, and unwilling to have Keitaro know about a personal weakness, she collapses, and a worried Keitaro remains long enough by her side to miss his last flight before the date limit for immatriculation. However, Mutsumi brings relief by having Keitaro's exam Id sent back by mail - Pararakelse is located beyond the international date line, and with the date on the post stamp the application does arrive on time.
Relieved, the Hinata residents mount the plane next morning, but just as Naru begins to confess her feelings to Keitaro, a slipstream from another plane creates another embarrassing situation, and with a final knock-out punch for Keitaro and a hearty farewell from Seta and Nyamo they return to Japan.
[edit] Book 9
Keitaro breaks his leg after being crushed by a giant onion-shaped dome (only his leg was broken, and he had no other injuries) at the Tokyo University opening ceremony, is forced to take three months off University and tells Naru he loves her (who responds by running off). Motoko's elder sister turns up and is eventually defeated by Motoko, proving her worthy to continue living at Hinata House. Shinobu decides to try to get into Tokyo University, and despite a couple of problems remains determined to go. Seta proposes to Haruka, a while he is turned down by her she does agree to go out on one date with him. Naru sort of confesses that she loves Keitaro too.
[edit] Book 11
Keitaro departs for America for half a year, and the girls - particularly Naru - begin to miss him. But just before he returns, trouble again comes to the pension.
A strange girl begins to infiltrate the house, disguised as Naru. When she is cornered, she introduces herself as Keitaro's younger sister, Kanako Urashima, and as the new caretaker and owner of the Hinata pension. Several struggles break out between Kanako and the other girls when Kanako both intends to reconvert Hinata into a hotel and terrorizes the girls into staff service, and when she expresses a longing for Keitaro which goes way beyond sisterly love.
All the same, Naru desperately tries to become friends with Kanako - an intend which is doomed to fail when Kanako learns that Naru is Keitaro's childhood love, of whom she is extremely jealous. But just as she is about to blow up Hinata, an unexpected - and spectacular - arrival steers attention to another focuus...
[edit] Book 12
Keitaro returns in the middle of the war between the girls, and the hostilities are put aside as everyone is happy he is back. Kanako then sets about trying to become Keitaro's girlfriend, eventually tricking Keitaro into making a promise in Hinata Sou's abandoned cursed annex, making the promise binding. After being on the wrong end of the curse a couple of times, Naru runs away and starts travelling north, followed by all the Hinata girls. This (through a set of unusual circumstances) results in Kanako travelling with Naru, and deciding to 'lend Keitaro to her for now'.
Eventually Keitaro catches up with Naru at the northern-most point of Japan. In their struggle they end up falling off a cliff (but not being injured) and Naru admits that she loves him and gives him a very long French Kiss, which the other girls see. Most of them - Shinobu, Motoko and Kanako - get upset at this, and the book ends with them chasing Naru and Keitaro.
[edit] Book 13
After Naru's confession to Keitaro, it seems that all is in order - except for Motoko. She is beginning to discover her feelings for Keitaro but still in denial about them. On top of that, she has failed her application test to the Todai and hasn't had the courage to tell her family. So, when Motoko's sister discovers the truth and punishes her in a tremendous swordfight, Motoko cuts off her hair in shame and decides to go to a convent. Keitaro, however, runs after her and encourages her to attempt the test again. Motoko defeats her sister when she came to take her away, then reveals her feelings for Keitaro and comes to terms with herself.
But as soon as this crisis is resolved, a new one is brewing. Keitaro and Naru, on their way to Todai to fulfill their promise, are intercepted by the other girls who are each seizing the last chance of snatching Keitaro for themselves. Also, Seta turns up in his Cessna, pursued by a number of heavily armed zeppelins, and snatches up Keitaro. Right after that, a telegram from Keitaro's grandmother arrives, in which she announces that Keitaro may inherit the resort if he can present a fianceé within a week. A wild chase ensues, with the girls divided into two parties: Naru, Mutsumi, Haruka and Sarah look for Seta and Keitaro to bring them back, while the other girls make a mad dash for either Keitaro's hand or Hinata.
Keitaro and Seta arrive on the Pacific island of Molmol (which is quite close to Pararakelse, the setting for Book 8), where Seta has been making some research and uncovered some ancient artifacts. He takes his pursuers as criminals who are trying to rob the items. Seta is currently searching for a ruin which has the magical power of uniting lovers for eternity. Incidentally, the ruins bear the name Todai!
Soon, Keitaro and Seta are cornered by the others, and Keitaro gets buffeted by a hail of proposals and a vicious tug-of-war. But, surprisingly for the others, Su gets the upper hand - as the princess of Molmol, she uses the land's resources and her bodyguards to have the others interred, and in the king's flag zeppelin she takes Keitaro to the Todai ruins. But the others manage to get free, Naru gets aboard, and again a wild chase ensues. The dust, however, settles down when the party reach the Todai ruins. The other girls finally decide that Naru and Keitaro deserve each other and renounce their claims, and after a fight with Seta (which Keitaro loses) for the right to enter the ruins first, Seta returns an ancient Molmol artifact to its rightful place and proposes to Haruka. The two are married the same night, and Naru expresses her hope of a relationship with Keitaro.
Note: the design for Mecha-Tamago 5 used in this episode originates from a fan postcard. Akamatsu liked the design and adopted it for his story.
[edit] Book 14
Naru runs away from Keitaro after a series of mishaps, believing that she is not Keitaro's promised girl, and this fact is causing all the problems they have been having together. They eventually return to Hinata House, but they run from Grandma Hina because she threatens to reveal the true identity of the promise girl and that it might not be Naru. However, Grandma ends up letting it be known that Naru is the promise girl which is reinforced by a paper found in a time capsule. Naru writes that she loves Keitaro, throws that paper as a paper airplane (she writes 'I Love you Keitaro, Forever and a Day' with a little heart), and then kisses him, ending the main part of Love Hina.
In the epilogue, the story continues briefly. Four years pass, and everybody is different. Everyone attends Tokyo U, except Kitsune, who is still content being a total slacker and hasn't changed at all (although Keitaro and Naru might have graduated already; it seems like they are finished). Shinobu has filled out and become attractive, Su is older but still crazy, Motoko is a 3rd year law student and writes trashy pulp romance novels. In the end, Ema Maeda, a 15-year-old girl seeking to get into Tokyo U comes to the dorm. She has an "introduction" to Hinata House that's very similar to Keitaro's. After a mishap where Ema steals Naru's dress's veil, everything goes back to normal, and then Naru and Keitaro finally get married, ending the story of Love Hina. Forever and a day.
Note: Ema Maeda will be written in hiragana as "まえだえま" (Maeda Ema; in Japan one's family name is written first, see Japanese name for more information). So in hiragana her name is a palindrome. That's why when she introduced herself, she said her name will sound the same way if read forward or backward (and everyone in Hinata Inn laughs).
[edit] Anime Summaries
[edit] TV Series
The principal Anime series of Love Hina follows roughly the same pattern as the manga. However, the process through which the important events of the manga are presented differs. Also, many sub-plots have appeared during the Anime, as its production began after the conception of the Manga book series.
[edit] Episode 01 | All-Girls Dorm[itory] With Outdoor Bath : HOT SPRING
The first episode of the Love Hina Anime begins with scenes that belong both to the domain of reminescence and of fantasm ; in fact, the episode begins with the representation of Keitaro's memory about the young girl he had encountered during his early childhood. As he was in love with this young, and now mysterious girl, they had promised each other to meet at Toudai (Tokyo University) once they were grown-up students, and to live happily ever after (a promise made in accordance with a saying that tells that when two students in love meet at Toudai, they will know happiness). This memory ends soon with the departure of the girl of the promise from the Hinata Lodge (a pension owned by Keitaro's grandmother, where he lived when he was a young boy). Now, the fantasm really begins more than a decade after, where Keitaro supposedly becomes a student at Tokyo U, supposedly is now popular, and handsome, and intelligent ; he then supposedly meets with the supposed promise girl, and the saying is finally, and supposedly realised. They then end up supposedly marrying each other, before a traumatizing kiss from Keitaro's Grandma finally wakes him up. Back to reality, end of the dream. We are, in fact, one decade or so after the Tokyo U promise. Keitaro is twenty years old, and he is still trying to get into Tokyo U, after having failed TWICE the entrance exams. A difficult situation indeed. Keitaro has then awakened. One of the main themes of the Anime (and of the Manga) is Keitaro's wondering about the promise girl. Keitaro, obviously a complete failure, is kicked from home by his parents as they cannot afford maintaining him anymore. Keitaro gets a proposal from his Grandma to come and live at Hinata Lodge, and to replace her as manager for some time. Keitaro accepts. Parallelly, we have our first contact with the Hinata girls. We learn the facility has now shifted from its role of hotel, to a role of GIRLS' DORMITORY. Yikes, indeed, for unknowing Keitaro. We see Keitaro's Grandma conversing with the residents of Hinata Sō. We learn the existence of Naru, Narusegawa, very perturbed by the departure of Grandma Hina as manager, Motoko Aoyama, who is going on stage for some days (and will reappear properly only in Episode 03), Mitsune "Kistune" Konno, a highly coloured character with a penchant for alcohol, and Kaolla Su, called "Su", a young girl from the fictional kingdom of Molmol. With the departure of Grandma Hina, we introduce also two characters, or two character entities : Haruka Urashima, Keitaro's stoic aunt, and the Town Council Elders, recurrent apparitions of typical Japanese "old wise men" or "omniscient provocative elders". Keitaro makes a halt to its school before actually going to Hinata Sō, where he encounters Naru Narusegawa, also taking the exams. Thus begin the violent altercations between Naru and Keitaro, caused by Keitaro's overwhelming tendency to clumsiness and touching inadvertently the intimate parts of all feminine characters he encounters. The matter was solved by a punch of Naru's, literally sending Keitaro to oblivion.
[edit] TV Specials
[edit] Episode 25
The episode 25 is about Motoko fighting her sister as seen in the books except Naru doesn't go to Kyoto for her family but semi-friends.
[edit] Christmas Special
It's Christmas time, and the three ronins are studying hard. Keitaro is distracted because he can't seem to focus. In a twist of fate, Su and Sara find something they're not supposed to, and the secret makes its way to Keitaro. In a sudden blurt, Keitaro confesses to Naru, only to seemingly separate the two even more. A miscommunication gone wrong, leading to a night long chase to find each other in Tokyo during a busy night. In the end, Naru confesses on a broadcast.
[edit] Spring Special
Keitaro and Naru are taking the Todai entrance exams again. However Keitaro falls asleep and dreams of what the future holds, only to have slept through the exam. In bitter depression he chooses to run away, but is stranded on a remote Pacific Island. Naru chases after him, and in turn is lost as well. In the end all of the residents of Hinata-sou track them down, to give them the good news about the Todai entrance exam.
[edit] Love Hina Again OVA Series
The Love Hina Again OVA Series follows on from the events of the Spring Special.
[edit] Kanako
Keitaro injures himself at the freshman orientation, forcing him to miss the first semester of class. He chooses to follow Seta excavating throughout the world in his forced absence. Unfortunately, his sister Kanako comes to start trouble.
[edit] Keitaro
Keitaro has returned to set things straight at Hinata-inn. In their time apart, Keitaro and Naru's feelings for each other seemed to have grown. They plan a midnight rendezvous. But will Kanako give up so easily?
[edit] Naru
With the curse of the Abandoned Inn trying to force Keitaro and Naru apart, finally Naru is willing to act, for fear of losing Keitaro forever. The ring that was supposed to be a gift from Keitaro seems to be the goal.
