Love Hina: Christmas Special 9/10

Love Hina comes back for more after the TV series with it's best effort. Any romantic show HAS to have a Christmas episode.

The Love Hina Christmas special aired in 2000 on Christmas Eve as a one hour show. The animation here is a little better than the best the TV series has to offer with no real changes in overall style. The ED for this show is new and I liked it, especially since the gang have a chase around a temple at new years during the credits.

The show starts off a little before Christmas with the Funkies studying for yet another Tokyo U practice/assessment exam. Since Christmas is for couples in Japan, Keitaro is having a difficult time concentrating since he's keen to get Naru a gift and properly confess his feelings to her, hopefully with her reciprocating.

Of course it's never that easy. Naru is acting rather aloof towards Keitaro and he's getting nervous. Su discovers a present in Naru's closet with some letter about being in love or something and Shinobu spills the beans to Keitaro because she's upset that he's upset. The revelation of the gift sends Keitaro into a tizzy and he ends up twisting his ankle. Naru comes to chastise him for fooling around and he blurts out his confession as she leaves. Right after this Naru returns home to her parents without saying a word and everyone is left to wonder what's going through her mind.

After writing the exam Naru takes off and the gang follows her to a hotel in Tokyo. The girls think she's off to meet Keitaro but little to they know that Keitaro and Mutsumi are following Naru as well. It turns out that Naru is meeting Seta, her old crush and tutor, and the gift is for him. The girls are shocked and Keitaro simply drops his gift for Naru and leaves. In the lobby he asks Shinobu to spend Christmas Eve with him and Naru storms off. Misunderstandings abound.

After Motoko delivers Keitaro's gift and Keitaro reads Naru's letter to Seta in which she says her crush is over, the two plan to meet for Christmas Eve. Of course things never turn out smoothly as Naru loses her gift and keeps having to change the meeting place. Of course in the end all is well as the gang meet up and Naru confesses to Keitaro on TV BUT doesn't say she likes or loves him, just that she wants to stay with him and go to Tokyo U with him. More Love Hina to come.

I like this little show better then the other Love Hina efforts. At last all the girls are helping Keitaro and Naru get together and are feeling the frustration we all are in watching these idiots. While the misunderstandings get old after awhile in Love Hina the gift one is the most important in the series so I can tolerate it. Insecurity makes people believe the worst and we have two very insecure protagonists here. I like how Naru's violent side is in remission and we see much more of her kind side. Shinobu also gets some screen time here as she's torn between her crush on Keitaro and her desire to see him happy. She's the only character that hasn't been a jerk in this series and deserves a break. Keep watching the remaining shows though this one ends pretty well. Very recommended.