To Love-Ru

To Love-Ru

Cover of the first manga volume.
To LOVEる -とらぶる-
(To LOVEru -Toraburu-)
Genre Harem comedy, Sci-fi
Manga
Written by Saki Hasemi
Illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki
Published by Shueisha
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
Original run April 24, 2006August 31, 2009
Volumes 18 (List of volumes)
TV anime
Directed by Takao Kato
Studio Xebec
Licensed by Sentai Filmworks
Network TBS, MBS, CBC, BS-i, AT-X
Original run April 3, 2008September 25, 2008
Episodes 26 (List of episodes)
Game
To Love-Ru -Trouble- Waku Waku! Rinkangakkō-hen
Developer Marvelous Interactive
Publisher Marvelous Interactive
Genre 2D and 3D visual novel & mini games
Rating CERO: Ages 12 and over (B)
Platform Nintendo DS
Released August 28, 2008
Game
To Love-Ru -Trouble- Doki Doki! Rinkaigakkō-hen
Developer Marvelous Interactive
Publisher Marvelous Interactive
Genre 2D visual novel
Rating CERO: Ages 12 and over (B)
Platform PlayStation Portable
Released October 2, 2008
Original video animation
Directed by Takao Kato
Studio Xebec
Released April 3, 2009April 2, 2010
Runtime 25 minutes each
Episodes 6
TV anime
Motto To Love-Ru
Directed by Atsushi Ootsuki
Studio Xebec
Network Tokyo MX TV, Chiba TV, Sun TV, TV Aichi
Original run October 6, 2010December 21, 2010
Episodes 12 (List of episodes)
Manga
To Love-Ru Darkness
Written by Saki Hasemi
Illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki
Published by Shueisha
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Jump Square
Original run October 4, 2010 – ongoing
Volumes 3 (List of volumes)
Anime and Manga Portal

To Love-Ru (とらぶる Toraburu?) is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hasemi, and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, creator of Black Cat. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between April 24, 2006 and August 31, 2009; 18 tankōbon volumes have been published in Japan. A continuation of the manga called To Love-Ru Darkness began serialization in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine on October 4, 2010. A drama CD was released in February 2008 with an original story. A twenty-six episode anime series adaptation by Xebec aired in Japan between April and September 2008. A video game was released on the Nintendo DS in August 2008, and another game for the PlayStation Portable was released in October 2008. The title, とらぶる (Toraburu?), is the English gairaigo (loan word) "trouble" and "rabu" (ラブ?) is the English loan word "love". The title is a pun on the words "love trouble", which describes the harem aspect of the series.

Contents

Plot

The story of To Love-Ru revolves around Rito Yūki, a high-school student who cannot confess to the girl of his dreams, Haruna Sairenji. One day when coming home and sulking in the bathtub, a mysterious, nude girl appears out of nowhere. Her name is Lala and she comes from the planet Deviluke, where she is the heir to the throne. Her father wants her to return to her home planet so she can marry one of the husband candidates. But she decides that she wants to marry Rito in order to stay on Earth. Commander Zastin has been ordered to bring Lala back and has already battled Rito. He reports to the emperor that Rito would be suited to marry Lala, after hearing Rito, who was actually defending himself instead of Lala, says that marriage is impossible unless it is with the person you love. Lala truly falls in love with Rito and decides that she wants to marry Rito after hearing what he said. Her father decides that, if Rito is able to protect Lala from her fiancés, then he can marry her, but if Rito cannot protect Lala from her other fiancés and meet the king's expectations, Lala's father will kill Rito and destroy the Earth.

Media

Manga

To Love-Ru began as a manga series written by Saki Hasemi with illustrations by Kentaro Yabuki. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between April 24, 2006 and August 31, 2009. Eighteen bound volumes were released by Shueisha in Japan between November 11, 2006 and April 2, 2010.[1] A sequel named To Love-Ru Darkness (ToLOVEる-ダークネス- ToLOVEru -Dākunesu-?) began serialization on October 4, 2010 in Jump Square.[2]

Drama CD

A drama CD for To Love-Ru was released on February 29, 2008 with an original story, featuring the voice cast used in the anime, along with character songs.

Anime

An anime series adaptation produced by Xebec and directed by Takao Kato aired in Japan between April 3 and September 25, 2008, and contains twenty-six episodes. The anime uses characters and general themes from the original manga, it captures various chapters and events from the manga in no specific order. The anime's opening theme is "Forever We Can Make It!" by Thyme, the first ending theme for episodes one through thirteen is "Lucky Tune" (ラッキーチューン Rakkī Chūn?) by Anna, and the second ending theme is "Kiss no Yukue" (kiss の行方?), also by Anna. Three original video animation episodes were shipped starting on April 3, 2009 with pre-ordered copies of the manga's thirteenth volume and continue through the fourteenth and fifteenth volumes.[3] An additional three OVA episodes were released with the bundled version of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth volumes.[4] The anime is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and distributed by Section23 Films. The complete collection part one containing the first half-season was released on December 15, 2009. Following the release of part two in February 2010, the series began playing on the Anime Network in March 2010.[5] Part two containing the latter half-season was released on February 16, 2010. A second season titled Motto To Love-Ru began airing October 2010.[6]

Video games

Two To Love-Ru video games have been released.[7] The first is a 2D and 3D visual novel on the Nintendo DS entitled To Love-Ru: Exciting Outdoor School Version (To LOVEる-とらぶる- ワクワク! 林間学校編 To Love-Ru -Trouble- Waku Waku! Rinkangakkō-hen?) which was released on August 28, 2008.[7] The second is a 2D adventure visual novel on the PlayStation Portable entitled To Love-Ru: Exciting Beach School Version (To LOVEる-とらぶる- ドキドキ! 臨海学校編 To Love-Ru -Trouble- Doki Doki! Rinkaigakkō-hen?) which was released on October 2, 2008.[8]

Reception

The seventh manga volume was the best selling manga volume in its first week of release in Japan.[9]

References

  1. ^ "To LOVEる―とらぶる― 18 [To Love-Ru 18]" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=978-4-08-870022-9&mode=1. Retrieved April 5, 2010. 
  2. ^ "To Love-Ru Spinoff Manga Series to Launch in October". Anime News Network. July 29, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-29/to-love-ru-spinoff-manga-series-to-launch-in-october. Retrieved August 17, 2010. 
  3. ^ "To Love-Ru -Trouble- To Love-Ru -Trouble- OVA Project to Be 3 Volumes Long". Anime News Network. 2008-12-08. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-08/to-love-ru-trouble-ova-project-to-be-3-volumes-long. Retrieved 2008-03-26. 
  4. ^ "3 New To Love-Ru OVA Volumes Green-Lit". Anime News Network. 2009-07-01. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-07-01/3-new-to-love-ru-ova-volumes-green-lit. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
  5. ^ "Sentai Filmworks, Section23 Adds To Love-Ru Anime". Anime News Network. 2009-10-06. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-10-06/sentai-filmworks-section23-add-to-love-ru-anime. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
  6. ^ "Motto To Love-Ru -Trouble- Anime to Air this Fall". Anime News Network. July 12, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-12/motto-to-love-ru-trouble-anime-to-air-this-fall. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
  7. ^ a b "To Love-Ru DS and PSP Editions Official Website Open Today" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 2008-05-30. http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/083/83506/index.html. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 
  8. ^ "To Love-Ru Doki Doki! Rinkaigakkō-hen" (in Japanese). Marvelous Interactive. http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/game/to-love-ru/psp/psp.html. Retrieved 2008-09-16. 
  9. ^ "Japanese Comic Ranking, January 1–7". Anime News Network. 2008-01-14. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-14/japanese-comic-ranking-january-1-7. Retrieved 2008-08-10. 

External links