Episode 14: Naru's Crush Is Now a Tokyo U. Professor: Turning Into Love?

Synopsis

Hinata Inn is out of money because of all the parties in the house so each resident has to contribute Y10,000 (about $100). Keitaro thinks he knows of a place to make fast cash, Akamatsu studios, but he can't stand the job. After he leaves the job, he gets swindled by Kitsune who dresses up as a gypsy and tells him to a pond, for a nominal fee of Y10,000. At the pond, he meets Seta, who Keitaro remembers from the Tokyo U. exam. Kitsune is also at the pond and sees Seta, who she remembers. As Keitaro is getting warmed up in Seta's car, he meets Sarah, a pesky brat who calls Seta "papa" who beats on Keitaro, but only when no one else is looking. Keitaro introduces himself as an Urashima, which rings some bells for Seta. After hearing Keitaro's story, Seta offers him a job as an assistant. Kitsune is there spying again and remembers that Naru used to have a crush on Seta. She has to stop Naru from seeing Seta, otherwise, Naru might get confused as to who she loves. So she does several very clever and brutal ways to distract Naru.

As an assistant, Keitaro is supposed help restore old artifacts, but Sarah keeps on breaking them. Kitsune tries to keep everyone out of the Tokyo U. area, but every seems to get jobs around there. Eventually she gets a job as a delivery person, and what do you know? She has to make a deliver to Seta's office. Outside the office, Naru has a vague recollection of Seta's cigarette smell, but before she has time to see him, Kitsune grabs her and scurries away. At the end, Keitaro is the only one that doesn't have the Y10,000. Seta saw Kitsune running away and remembers her.

Screenshots

Notes and Background Info

• In all the Japanese literature and shows, Sarah is spelled "Sarah." In the fansubs as well as the US release, it's spelled "Sara." I'll go with the official Japanese spelling of it.
• You'll see someone doing some manga work at a studio in the first half. The studio is named Akamatsu Studio, with Akamatsu obviously refering to Ken Akamatsu, the creator of Love Hina. The manga being worked on is one of Ken Akamatsu's previous works, namely "AI ga Tomaranai" (trans: Love Won't Stop with a pun on the ai meaning "Love" and A.I. meaning "Artificial Intelligence"). "AI" is about a geeky freshman guy in high school who creates a female computer program and she becomes a real person (you can imagine all the awkward situations that Akamatsu-san can cook up). In brief, that manga wasn't great. I read half of the first book and put it down cuz it was rather boring, cliched, and the artwork can't compare to LH. And if you watch the Japanese/Subtitled version, you hear/see mention of a "Thirty." Thirty is the name of the main character in "AI" (she was computer program #30, hence her name).

Comparison to Manga Version

• The "Avoid Seta" event happened in chapter 31 of book 4. Unlike the anime, their close encounters all occured at Hinata Inn.
• The close encounter scenes happened after Sarah was taken to Hinata Inn (next anime episode).
• Keitaro went looking for a job not because the house was going to be disconnected, but rather, everyone had spent his money on the trip to Okinawa.