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ラブ ひな [Love Hina] #9
Love Hina, Vol. 09
At the age of 5, Keitaro and his childhood sweetheart promised to meet again as students at Japan's most prestigious university. Now 20, he can't pass his entrance exams...or even remember the girl's name Stumbing into a fluke job at an all-girls dormitory may be his last chance. In the series that inspired the new hit anime, Love Hina proves that love conquers all. Even stupidity.
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 17, 2000
7 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
Ken Akamatsu
639 books232 followersKen Akamatsu (赤松 健, Akamatsu Ken, July 5, 1968 -) is a Japanese mangaka from Tokyo.
In his teenage years, Akamatsu failed the entrance exam to Tokyo University, and applied for Film Study instead (it is speculated that this is where he got the idea for Love Hina). Eventually, he became famous as an illustrator featured in Comiket (short for Comic Market, a comic convention bi-annually held in Japan). He used the pen name Awa Mizuno (水野 亜和, MIZUNO Awa). Akamatsu, still in college, then proceeded to win the Weekly Shonen Magazine award twice. His "A Kid's Game for One Summer" was awarded the coveted 50th Shonen Magazine Newcomer's Award soon after he graduated.
After a big hit with A.I. Love You, he finally made a grand success with his new manga, Love Hina. The series appeared in Weekly Shonen Magazine and has been collected in eleven volumes (with fourteen volumes in total), which have sold over 6 million copies in Japan, and received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen in 2001.
Akamatsu had added elements of his own life experiences to the story, and this was said to have induced a unique feeling to the manga especially for Western readers, whose lack of familiarity with Japanese culture for the most part added to the effect. The series, published in America in 2002, was especially well received in many overseas countries - Akamatsu was surprised that even foreign readers found Love Hina to be "cute" and to their liking.
He is now married to his wife 'Kanon' Akamatsu, who was previously a singer/idol. He is currently working on his latest manga series, Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, which is his longest running manga so far. Like Love Hina, has also been made into an anime series. A second independent retelling of Negima was made called Negima!?. Both series were produced by XEBEC (Negima!? was produced by SHAFT).
In his teenage years, Akamatsu failed the entrance exam to Tokyo University, and applied for Film Study instead (it is speculated that this is where he got the idea for Love Hina). Eventually, he became famous as an illustrator featured in Comiket (short for Comic Market, a comic convention bi-annually held in Japan). He used the pen name Awa Mizuno (水野 亜和, MIZUNO Awa). Akamatsu, still in college, then proceeded to win the Weekly Shonen Magazine award twice. His "A Kid's Game for One Summer" was awarded the coveted 50th Shonen Magazine Newcomer's Award soon after he graduated.
After a big hit with A.I. Love You, he finally made a grand success with his new manga, Love Hina. The series appeared in Weekly Shonen Magazine and has been collected in eleven volumes (with fourteen volumes in total), which have sold over 6 million copies in Japan, and received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen in 2001.
Akamatsu had added elements of his own life experiences to the story, and this was said to have induced a unique feeling to the manga especially for Western readers, whose lack of familiarity with Japanese culture for the most part added to the effect. The series, published in America in 2002, was especially well received in many overseas countries - Akamatsu was surprised that even foreign readers found Love Hina to be "cute" and to their liking.
He is now married to his wife 'Kanon' Akamatsu, who was previously a singer/idol. He is currently working on his latest manga series, Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, which is his longest running manga so far. Like Love Hina, has also been made into an anime series. A second independent retelling of Negima was made called Negima!?. Both series were produced by XEBEC (Negima!? was produced by SHAFT).
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 24, 2024
Četru gadu vecumā Keitaro Urashima un kāda atmiņu dzīlēs pēc vārda aizmirsta meitene reiz smilšu kastē viens otram devuši solījumu, ka abi reiz iekļūs Todai universitātē vien aiz tā iemesle, ka jau tādā vecumā padzirdējuši, ka diviem mīlētājiem kopā esot Todai mīlestība garantēta uz mūžu.
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June 13, 2021
Tornando a Villa Hinata, son tornata a leggere malvolentieri... Non sarebbe neanche male, ma si sta trascinando da troppo e alcune gag cominciano a diventare vecchie. Non ne posso davvero più di veder picchiare Keitaro per niente!
C'è da dire che arriva la sorella di Motoko e la piccola Shinobu decide di voler entrare alla Todai. Ma di che si preoccupa visto che va solo alle medie?
Ah sì, ci sarebbe anche ma non c'è un seguito vero e proprio...
Senza dimenticare il passato di Haruka.
Su, fatti forza, Soobie: son solo cinque volumi!
C'è da dire che arriva la sorella di Motoko e la piccola Shinobu decide di voler entrare alla Todai. Ma di che si preoccupa visto che va solo alle medie?
Ah sì, ci sarebbe anche ma non c'è un seguito vero e proprio...
Senza dimenticare il passato di Haruka.
Su, fatti forza, Soobie: son solo cinque volumi!
October 13, 2025
Review for the complete series
Keitaro just doesn't seem to be successful at anything - he failed his university entrance exam twice, was thrown out by his parents and just generally seems plagued by bad luck. Wanting to give the entrance exam another go, he decides to find accommodation in his grandmother's hotel. Upon arrival, though, it turns out that the hotel has now become a girl's dormitory where he is anything but welcome. But luck might be coming Keitaro's way after all when he learns that his grandmother has transferred the dormitory's ownership to him!
Love Hina seems to be a case of people either loving it and considering it a classic, while others think of it as a sexist work full of fanservice. I find myself in neither of these groups, though I have read other works by the author that really deserve being called out for sexism. In any case, let me start by saying that I love Akamatsu's art - especially in Love Hina. His earlier works weren't as nice to look at while I find that post-Love Hina works lost character and just look very generic.
So apart from loving the art, this was also one of the first manga I read and bought and therefore also has some nostalgia effect on me. As I was still new to reading manga and didn't know much about the different genres, because I had seen a lot of pictures of it and just generally liked the look of it, I decided to give this one a try. I didn't realise until much later that I wasn't even the target audience for this series, and even back then, it was never a huge favourite of mine, though I certainly did always enjoy reading.
I first and foremostly enjoy Love Hina as a comedy, it is one of the most hilarious manga I have read and often has me laughing out loud. A large chunk of the comedy can certainly be called 'dirty jokes', yet it's a far call from what people give it - I don't think that these jokes are sexist, indecent or demeaning towards women in any way. The girls in this manga all have very different personalities, but with the except of shy Shinobu, they're all pretty tough and know how to deal with the male characters of this series (although Keitaro is more often blamed when actually innocent than not).
The characters are another strong point in this series. I find Keitaro a very likeable main character - he draws bad luck like no other but is very kind and caring. He learns and recognises his weaknesses and definitely grows as the story progresses. Still, bad luck seems to stick with him all the way to the last chapter. In any case, I love the original cast of the girl's dormitory, they are such a varied but well-balanced group. They are great friends, a bit crazy together and there's at least one for every kind of reader to enjoy. My personal favourites are Naru, Mutsumi, Shinobu and Motoko - which actually surprises me as Shinobu and Motoko were among my least favourite when I read this series initially.
Another thing I love about this series and that speaks against the harem sexist accusations is the fact that not all the girls are in love him Keitaro. I am very sure that several of them are just interested in a platonic kind of relationship, e.g. I don't believe that Su sees in him anything but a big brother. Only some of them are genuinely interested in him and I think all of them have feelings that are well-developed and according to their personalities. I also think the female bodies are nicely drawn and natural-looking - there are no extremely overshaped breasts or curves as one can find in most other 'fan service' series.
Nonetheless, there are a few things that I also don't enjoy about Love Hina. At around the tenth volume, the story starts to drag. Ten volumes seems a good amount to wrap up this kind of story, instead, we get some additional characters that are utterly annoying and just unnecessary. Sara has to be among the most annoying little girl characters I've ever come across! But at least she still adds to the story while the whole Kanako arc felt like a major filler to just drag everything out. The fact that it was never mentioned that Keitaro has an adopted sister made it feel all the more as though it was an afterthought to keep the show running. I find Kanako a very unpleasant character and wish her part would have been left out. Since her appearance, the series felt more and more estranged from its original genre as there was a lot of over-the-top action going on.
But hey, annoying characters and arcs aside, Love Hina has one of the best endings, or rather epilogues, out there. It brings the whole series to a nice round conclusion and gives you a nice idea of what's become of everyone - it was really the best way this series could have ended!
December 16, 2018
This is a romantic comedy, Japanese style. Be prepared for nude scenes that are played for comedy... locker room humor stuff. A guy falling over and accidentally pulling off a girl's towel. Stuff like that.
This story is all about Keitaro, a young man who has become manager of a girls dorm called Hinata House. He is in love with Naru, a teenager (I think 18 or 19 years old) who has been studying for the entrance exams and tutoring Keitaro for the same exams. Now they have both passed and are ready to begin classes at Tokyo University, but tragedy strikes and Keitaro is hit by a falling onion. (Of course he is. It could happen to anyone.) With his legs broken, he cannot sign up for classes, but he seems to get into trouble anyway as a new character enters the scene, Motoko's sister.
OK, I don't think I gave away more than could be derived from the first couple of pages of the manga except for the thing about Motoko's sister.
Any problems with this volume of the series? The same as all the others. The type is sometimes too small, making it difficult to figure out the side comments, remarks made in a soft voice. The story is also completely unbelievable which describes most romantic comedies. However, it is sweet as Keitaro builds up his courage to finally confess his love to Naru.
Any modesty problems? The same as the previous volumes: suggestive comments, nudity played for laughs. This book is rated for 18 and over. I've seen worse in PG-13 movies. That is not an endorsement. It's only a description. Personally, I don't think 13 year-olds should be watching some of those PG-13 movies but that is just me.
I'm on to the next book in the series. (FYI, I have read quite a ways into the series as of this writing, and I can tell you that I am not happy when the series takes a strange twist in Volume 11.)
This story is all about Keitaro, a young man who has become manager of a girls dorm called Hinata House. He is in love with Naru, a teenager (I think 18 or 19 years old) who has been studying for the entrance exams and tutoring Keitaro for the same exams. Now they have both passed and are ready to begin classes at Tokyo University, but tragedy strikes and Keitaro is hit by a falling onion. (Of course he is. It could happen to anyone.) With his legs broken, he cannot sign up for classes, but he seems to get into trouble anyway as a new character enters the scene, Motoko's sister.
OK, I don't think I gave away more than could be derived from the first couple of pages of the manga except for the thing about Motoko's sister.
Any problems with this volume of the series? The same as all the others. The type is sometimes too small, making it difficult to figure out the side comments, remarks made in a soft voice. The story is also completely unbelievable which describes most romantic comedies. However, it is sweet as Keitaro builds up his courage to finally confess his love to Naru.
Any modesty problems? The same as the previous volumes: suggestive comments, nudity played for laughs. This book is rated for 18 and over. I've seen worse in PG-13 movies. That is not an endorsement. It's only a description. Personally, I don't think 13 year-olds should be watching some of those PG-13 movies but that is just me.
I'm on to the next book in the series. (FYI, I have read quite a ways into the series as of this writing, and I can tell you that I am not happy when the series takes a strange twist in Volume 11.)
August 26, 2017
I'm going back and forth on this manga so much. There are chapters I like and then there are moments I feel like everything is filler, it all lacks focus and I kind of want to give up on the manga. Also because of the sexualization of the younger girls, sigh... But I am committed to Keitarou+Naru at this point, so I'm reading on for now I guess...
January 29, 2023
I should probably drop this series, but I own the rest of it, so I want to finish. Honestly I’ve just grown very weary of the panty shots and nude jokes, etc, which are EVERYWHERE, and it’s just...not funny? And this manga should be funny! Sorry, Naru and Keitaro! Meh. I’d be more patient if I was more invested in the characters, but I’m just not. Oh well.
December 30, 2016
Keitaro trouvera t-il la place qu'il cherche auprès de l'élue de son cœur. 8 ans après ma première lecture de ce manga, j'adore toujours autant cette oeuvre de Ken Akamatsu
January 14, 2018
Now Keitaro is a Tokyo U student, things seem to be on the up-and-up. That is, until he breaks his leg on the first day. More entertainment and frolics from the Hinata House gang.
June 30, 2019
Ages 16+
September 27, 2020
Pretty great Romance manga, really good story and love the art style 😁👌❤️
September 1, 2022
We got character development from a fair few people in this volume which I think is great.
November 29, 2008
The immortal Keitaro breaks his leg, right out front of Tokyo U before he even starts. After this, when Keitaro is in the hospital, he finally tells Naru how he really feels about her. What will her response be? Does she love him back, or doesn't she?
On the other hand, Motoko's Onee-san comes to visit, letting Motoko know that she has to take over the family business. To try to get her out of it, Motoko throws out the idea that she is engaged with Keitaro? Madness is all in this volume!!
Meanwhile, Seta proposes to Haruka, and Keitaro and Naru interfere to try to get them together, only getting Haruka more pissed off. It also reveals that back in college, Seta and Haruka were an 'item.'
On the other hand, Motoko's Onee-san comes to visit, letting Motoko know that she has to take over the family business. To try to get her out of it, Motoko throws out the idea that she is engaged with Keitaro? Madness is all in this volume!!
Meanwhile, Seta proposes to Haruka, and Keitaro and Naru interfere to try to get them together, only getting Haruka more pissed off. It also reveals that back in college, Seta and Haruka were an 'item.'
October 10, 2008
Ken Akamatsu, Love Hina, vol. 9 (Tokyopop, 1999)
Everyone's gotten into Tokyo U, but Keitaro still can't think of anything but Naru. After an accident, he winds up in the hospital, and when she comes to see him, Keitaro blurts out that he loves her. He certainly doesn't get the reaction he expects. Meanwhile, Motoko's sister comes to take her back to run the family business. But there's a loophole-- she doesn't have to do so if she's engaged. Keitaro to the rescue, and more misadventures and wrong conclusions are sure to appear. Great stuff, as always. ****
Everyone's gotten into Tokyo U, but Keitaro still can't think of anything but Naru. After an accident, he winds up in the hospital, and when she comes to see him, Keitaro blurts out that he loves her. He certainly doesn't get the reaction he expects. Meanwhile, Motoko's sister comes to take her back to run the family business. But there's a loophole-- she doesn't have to do so if she's engaged. Keitaro to the rescue, and more misadventures and wrong conclusions are sure to appear. Great stuff, as always. ****
June 15, 2011
To be honest, I think the Love Hina series is going downhill. This volume just wasn't as interesting as previous ones. I'm not sure why -- maybe it's the fact that the conflict (the strict study schedule and the dynamics between the main "couple") has been almost totally removed in this volume. Hopefully the next volume will be more engaging.
February 18, 2018
Si queréis leer una obra realmente magistral de Ken Akamatsu, leed la serie "Negima!: Magister Negi Magi" Una historia bien pensada que te atrapa, con personajes que evolucionan psicológicamente, un dibujo preciosista cargado de detalles y profundidad de planos en cada página, momentos trepidantes y realmente emocionantes, y una aventura interesante que leer. Probadla, de verdad.
July 12, 2023
Lovely artwork. A somewhat goofy romantic comedy. Naru, the female protagonist, punches her potential boyfriend, Keitaro, into orbit far too often to be healthy. The poor guy gets a broken leg in the course of his pursuit of Naru. Spying on females in the outdoor bathing pools followed by prodigious nosebleeds remind the reader that this a typical Japanese manga comic.
October 4, 2007
i watch the anime version :
it is about a boy name Urashima Keitaro who became girls's dorm caretaker, since he fails his ent-exams into Tokyo University for the 2nd time and officially an unemployed plus his parents kicked him out of the house ^_^"
And the story begin ..
it is about a boy name Urashima Keitaro who became girls's dorm caretaker, since he fails his ent-exams into Tokyo University for the 2nd time and officially an unemployed plus his parents kicked him out of the house ^_^"
And the story begin ..
Read
June 5, 2011very funny
June 22, 2017
more laughs at the blunderings of a Japanese flunky.
March 7, 2014
Fun series!
October 23, 2015
Love Hina, are you a Paula Abdul song? Because it appears to me that you take two steps forward, and I take two steps back.
Read
August 20, 2009Love Hina, Vol. 9 by Ken Akamatsu (2003)
January 6, 2012
Fun as always.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews