Love Hina
Director
Yoshiaki Iwazaki
Production
TV Tokyo, XEBEC, Yomiuri Advertising
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
24 episodes
Year
2000
Love Hina Volume 6: And The Winner Is...
By otaku_kei
17th Mar 05  So many months ago now the UK anime scene was blessed with the release of possibly the most famous of harem comedies - Love Hina! But like all great stories it must come to an end, and here we have it - the final volume. With so much still to be answered will we find out who it was Keitaro made that promise to 15 years back? And which one of the girls will he end up with? Having faced penury, death, desert islands, ghosts, constant meddling and the inexhaustible danger of Su's inventions can Keitaro now make it down the home straight and finally achieve just a little bit of happiness? Love Hina has been a bit of a mixed bag, and in many ways seems to be one of the more divisive titles that you can pick up on shelves today. For many this series has been nothing more than an interminable long series with a succession of annoying slapstick moments and ridiculous dream sequence episodes. For many this same brand of irreverent comedy and the laid back pacing of the show have made it such winner. This difference means that by this stage in the series you are either waiting with bated breath to see the conclusion or you really couldn't give a damn. So what happens here? Well with the return Grandma Hina it looks like Keitaro may well be out of a job. Hina closes up the apartments for renovations for the extensive damage done to here building whilst she has been away (I'm guessing all the wall screens Keitaro has ended up being punched through). With this these close friends find themselves cast out to there own homes and families but they just cannot tear themselves away from the apartments and everything that they have come to represent, as well as meddling now to try to make sure that Keitaro and the girl he made his promise to can finally get together. And no I'm not going to tell you how it ends you'll just have to go and watch it yourselves. As I'm sure you are wondering is whether this release brings a sense of closure to Love Hina, and no not really. Perhaps because I know that there are still the Spring and Winter specials to come as well as Love Hina Again I know there is still some story to tell. But this release will have you laughing and crying in equal measure as it all comes together for Keitaro, Naru, Motoko, Kitsune and the others. The ending does leave us with Keitaro making a big choice in his life, but the serious situations are never played out for too long if the creators could lever some slapstick into them. Quite simply I was mightily impressed with this final volume in a series that has had its ups and downs in terms of quality. Once again it appears as if the writers were just getting it all right on every aspect of the show. A fitting end to the series, and honestly I cannot wait until I get the chance to revisit the Hina Apartments in the upcoming Spring Special. 8/10
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English 2.0; Japanese 2.0; English Subtitles; Character Profiles & Photo Gallery; Love Hina Trailer; MVM Trailers
Release information: 18th March - OUT NOW
Notes: Final disc in the series and the quality is just as good as all the previous releases. No problesm with the audio and visual side of things. And a standard batch extras from the guys at MVM.
-- otaku_kei 17th Mar 05
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