Comics / Manga

Love Hina Vol. 1

By Leroy Douresseau
September 28, 2003 - 11:39

One of the most popular manga imports in America is Tokyopop's Love Hina, which has already seen thirteen volumes published and a fifth printing of volume one since May 2002.

It's the story of Keitaro Urashima, unemployed and homeless after his parents kick him out. He fortunately inherits The Hinata House, a girls' dormitory run by his Aunt Haruka and makes it his home. The girls, however, simply don't want him around them because they think he's a pervert. His natural clumsiness gets him into some comprising positions with the young ladies, and he continuously earns their ire, especially that of the sexy, katana wielding Motoko.

On the surface, Ken Akamatsu's tales are repetitious and gag-filled. On a deeper level, it's a clever comedy of manners and a fish-out-of-water tale. Akamatsu deftly mixes romance and miscommunication into a nice tale of social mores, sexual innuendo, and girls who tease hormonal boys.

Akamatsu (and his staff) have created some of the most vibrant comic art currently published in the U.S. He cleverly captures the manic energy of physical comedy, and the page layouts are pure dynamism, as if the cartoonist incorporated the theories of Burne Hogarth in his page design.

I don't see the rank and file fan boy grabbing this book, but there's no doubt that Love Hina's visual punch will attract the eyes of new comic readers. It's good to know that in Japan, at least, comic artists still draw the kind of manic art that'll blow the roof off the mutha.

Last Updated: November 29, 2025 - 16:51