is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by

Ken Akamatsu is a Japanese manga artist and politician who has served since 2022 as a member of the House of Councillors. He made his professional manga debut in 1993, and is best known as the author of ''Love Hina'' (1998–2001) and ''Negima! Magister Neg ...

. It was adapted into a 24 episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series by

Xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth ...

, which aired in Japan on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...

from April 19, 2000 to September 27, 2000. The opening theme was and the closing theme was . Both songs were written by

Ritsuko Okazaki was a Japanese singer-songwriter born on Hashima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture. She first made her professional debut with the single, ''Kanashii Jiyū / Koi ga, Kiete Yuku''. She is also known as the Shelby Flint of Japan. Biography Early life ...

and performed by

Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress, singer, lyricist and radio personality from Kita ward in Tokyo and is affiliated with self-founded Woodpark Office. One of the most prominent Japanese voice actresses since the 1990s, Hayashibara is best known for ...

. The two themes were released as a CD single, which debuted on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...

charts at Number 7. A 25th episode was later created and released as a DVD bonus. The series and bonus episode were directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki, written by Shō Aikawa and featured character designs by Makoto Uno. After the series finished, Christmas and Spring specials followed, and finally a three-part

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

(OVA) series called ''Love Hina Again''. The series follows the daily life of Keitaro Urashima, the manager of an all-girls dorm, as he attempts to pass the

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

entrance exams and to find the girl he promised to enter Tokyo U with when he was a child. In Japan, the series was released on nine DVDs by

Starchild Records , commonly known as King Records, is a Japanese record company founded in January 1931 as a division of the Japanese publisher Kodansha. It initially began operating as an independent entity in the 1950s. It later became part of the Otowa Group ...

between August 3, 2000 and April 2, 2001. Several volumes were also released with a bundled character figure for an additional price. The Christmas special was released on July 4, 2001, and the spring special was released on August 1, 2001. ''Love Hina Again'' was released as 3 separate DVDs between January 26, 2002 and March 27, 2002. A complete box set containing the entire TV series, the two specials, and the OVA series was released on July 6, 2005. The series was originally licensed in North America by

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...

and released across six DVDs from February 19, 2002 to November 19, 2002. The Christmas special was released on December 3, 2002 and followed by the Spring special on March 18, 2003. ''Love Hina Again'' was released on September 2, 2003. A box set containing the Christmas and Spring specials and ''Love Hina Again'' was released as "Love Hina Movie Set" on September 4, 2002. A complete box set of the television series, Christmas Special, Spring Special and Love Hina Again was released on September 28, 2004 as "Love Hina - Perfect Collection". A complete box set of the television series was released on June 27, 2006 as "Love Hina Anime Legends Complete Collection". In July 2007,

Funimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

announced they had acquired the license to ''Love Hina'' after Bandai's license had expired, and a box set of the series over 4 discs was released on February 24, 2009. In the United Kingdom, ''Love Hina'' is licensed by

MVM Films MVM Entertainment, also known as MVM and MVM Films, is a British licensor and distributor of Japanese animation. The company also sub-licenses anime titles from US anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban Visio ...

, who released the series on six DVDs between September 6, 2004 and March 7, 2004. A box set was released on May 14, 2007. The Christmas and Spring specials were released out of order, with the Spring special released on May 16, 2005, and the Christmas special on November 7, 2005. ''Love Hina Again'' was released on January 8, 2008. A box set containing the Christmas and Spring specials and ''Love Hina Again'' was released as "Love Hina - Specials Collection" on September 4, 2002. ''Love Hina'' is also licensed in Australia and New Zealand by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

, who released the series across six DVDs between September 18, 2002, and February 11, 2003. A box set was released on December 3, 2003. A box set containing the specials and ''Love Hina Again'' was released on March 14, 2007.

Episodes

TV specials

OVAs

Love Hina Again

References

{{Love Hina Episodes

Love Hina is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from October 1998 to October 2001, with the chapters collected into 14 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Kodansha. The ...

Episodes

TV specials

OVAs

See also

References