Love Hina Again 7/10

Love Hina finally comes to an end with more closure than your average anime romance series. Now does the final OAV stack up to previous efforts?

Love Hina Again consists of 3 OAV episodes released in 2002 to satisfy all those rabid Love Hina fans. This show obviously had a bigger budget than the TV series, the Christmas Special, and the Spring Special but more money doesn't necessarily equal higher quality. Almost everything technical about this show kinda bugged me. While the art is better and more consistent, and the character designs are closer to the manga, I didn't care for the somewhat pointier hair used in the updated character designs. Everyone looks like they haven't washed their hair in a week or two. I also didn't like the new OP or ED. What's up with the creators' fascination with out of tune music? The score isn't as good as that of the TV series latter half either. All the old VA's are back and the new girl, Kanako, has a pretty good one so I suppose I wasn't entirely disappointed. This series also has MUCH more fan-service than anything preceding it so that's a good thing.

It's everyone's first day at Tokyo U and things are looking up. No wait, Keitaro breaks his leg and can't attend. Oops. Once he gets better he goes off with Seta on an archaeological dig leaving Naru alone and lonelier than she'd like to admit. After a couple of months the Hinata apartments get a new, strict landlord, Kanako, Keitaro's younger step sister and she's in love with Keitaro as well (no surprise in this show) and a master of disguise. After having Kanako make everyone's lives miserable for awhile, Keitaro finally returns and the real fun starts in episode two.

Of course Keitaro doesn't remember Kanako and Naru is in a tizzy because Kanako says she's the girl Keitaro promised to go to Tokyo U with. We now also meet a changed Keitaro. He's confident, less clumsy, can cook, and holds his own against Motoko in a swordfight. You can feel the girls liking him more and more. The second episode is spent with Kanako trying to get Keitaro into compromising situations and Naru doing her best to prevent it. At the end of the episode we find out Keitaro has bought a ring for Naru but he ends up accidentally confessing to Kanako in an abandoned hotel that magically makes couples fall in love. What's a violent girl who's too shy to tell the object of her affections how she feels to do? On to episode three.

Now, at last, Naru gets her comeuppance. The spell on Keitaro keeps Naru from him and she ends up flying through the air and crashing into the ground much as Keitaro used to courtesy of Naru. After much running away from the inevitable confession it finally comes out and Love Hina ends with Keitaro and Naru together at long last.

I didn't like the weird magic hotel thing and the technical problems mentioned above. Other than that, Love Hina ends better then expected and I'm glad it ended the way it did. As a whole, Love Hina is a pretty good romance story if you can tolerate the slapstick side of it.

NOTE: According to the manga, Keitaro and Naru were married on April 3rd, 2005 and all the girls but Kitsune (who didn't apply) ended up getting into Tokyo U.