Love Hina (Rabu Hina)

For many, Love Hina is an anime that probably brings up quite a bit of nostalgia. Given that it is fourteen years old at this point, I'd say I would be well within the range of someone who would have appreciated this anime when it came out and be able to look back fondly on it.

However, I never watched Love Hina until very recently. This anime wasn't a nostalgic trip to me like it would undoubtedly have been to quite a few others. If anything, the only bit of nostalgia I felt was for the time period during which this anime was being made. In 2000 I was just discovering anime, albeit in an edited and Americanized way and it was a great way to start. 

My first harem anime was Tenchi Universe and rightly or wrongly that's the standard by which I judge all other harem anime. Love Hina is no Tenchi Universe. Of course, that's not to say the anime is bad, but it really isn't one of the great ones even as far as harems are concerned. 

It's quite popular enough and I can't say I didn't like it, but I think I've just about had my fill of the fanservice-filled harems that don't really play up the story enough. In fact, the story was nonexistent through much of the series and the romantic element was never really committed to until the final few episodes. 

Basically, this anime is all fluff. If you are nostalgic for it then the chances are that you still love it as much as you used to because this anime really is a product of its time. But there's only so many times I can watch overly violent female characters, dense male characters getting abused by said female characters, and forgotten childhood friends

However, the one redeeming factor this anime has is the fanservice. I think too much fanservice can make good anime weaker (or better, really... depending on what type of anime we're talking about), but too much can also make middling anime better, too. The episodes sometimes feel a bit too drawn out (pardon the pun) and the story kinda sucks, but there's plenty of hot spring scenes and women in very little clothing. 

So, hey, it all works out. It gets tedious after a while, but you've got boobies and pantyshots to keep you company. 

I wouldn't have minded a better story, though. Not even boobies can hold my attention for 25 episodes. A little bit of brain stimulation never hurt anybody. However, I love the way the anime ended. You never do find out who the childhood friend Keitaro made his promise to and that is the closest this story actually came to being good. 

I imagine the manga is probably better than the anime, but I don't really think I care enough to go down that route.