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ラブひな (Love Hina) Endless DVD BoxTitle: ラブひな (Love Hina) Endless DVD Box
Original Creator: 赤松健 (Ken Akamatsu)
Catalog No.: KIBA-91221~7
Release Date: 7/6/05
Rating: BEST!

More than 5 years after the broadcast and DVD release, they finally finish up the entire story with a reunion performance by the original cast on a drama CD. Love Hina is still by far my favorite series of any and everything. It may not be a superlative in anything, but overall, it's a show that has changed me in so many ways. I could go on explaining why it's so profound in my personal history, but I would be revealing too much.

So the box contains all the shows, the 25 episodes, 2 specials, and 3 ovas. I already have all those DVDs, so buying this box wasn't for the video. I haven't seen it, but it's probably the same quality as the original release. Those are all packed on 7 dual-layered DVDs, stuffed in 4 thin-cases, and then put in a plastic box. I wish they had used original artwork though, rather than use the identical covers as the original release.

The reason I bought this box is for the exclusive drama CD where the original cast voice-act out the last few chapters in the manga. The story is slightly different from the manga, and in my opinion, for the better. The original comic was a little wild and off-the-wall with Ema coming to Hinata. The drama, however, makes slightly more believable and puts more emphasis on how the characters have changed in the 5 years since we left them.

Everyone sounds the same, especially my fav, Ho-chan. The only exception is Yuu Asakawa, the voice of Motoko. It seems like her voice is slightly lower now and has less power than when she first performed as Motoko. I doubt she can do those oh-so-famous Motoko screams.

I think this wraps up the series. To me, it's a little sad because of the sentimental value that this series brings. However, I understand that all good things must come to an end.

I don't need to remind you of the episode titles. Here's the drama CD tracks.

1. そこへと続く道は遠く[ひなた温泉前駅] (The Road There is Far [At the Stop in Front of the Hot Springs]): A young 15-year-old girl, Ema Maeda, with ambitions to attend Tokyo University gets off at Hinata train station. She's heard about a famous girl's dorm where the residents all end up attending Todai. She looks in her bag for a printout map of the city and finds that all she has is a blank piece of paper. She decides to ask around and fortunately for a her, a young woman (with a big bust) walks by her softly singing "Liddo-kun's Big Adventure" walks by (it's Mutsumi, but listeners only know because of her voice). When asked, she starts reminiscing about the place... passing the exams to Tokyo U., being dumped by Keitaro and that he's going to get married. Ema reminds her about the dorms. Fortunately, Mutsumi has a map and hands it to Ema. Before she leaves though, Mutsumi tells Ema that Hinata-sou is near, but also far.

2. オープニング (Opening): SAKURA SAKU! (TV Sized)

3. 本当のはじまりはこれから[ひなた温泉前駅] (The Real Beginning Starts Here [At the Stop in Front of the Hot Springs]): Despite having the map and walking around some, she ends up back at the train station. Another woman comes and notices Ema (it's Naru, but again, listeners only know because it's Ho-chan's beautiful voice). She tells Ema that she reminds him of someone she knows. Ema explains that she's looking for a girl's dorm and the woman knows she's talking about Hinata-sou. She then gives her verbal instructions. The train arrives and the woman boards. Ema thinks this woman is really pretty.

4. どんな未来が待っている?[ひなた荘へと続く道] (What Kind of Future Awaits? [The Path to Hinata-sou]): As she's walking to the dorm, a mecha comes and stops in front of Ema, scaring her. Motoko then comes telling Suu not to scare this girl. Motoko helps Ema up. Ema asks about the dorms again and Motoko tells her it's just up the stairway. Motoko then notices that Ema's skirt is a bit dirty and uses her swordsmanship to whip up a storm and clean up her. However, Ema faints soon after. Suu tells Motoko to leave the scene of the crime.

5. 翔けていこう![ひなた荘へと続く階段] (Let's Soar! [The Stairway to Hinata-sou]): As Ema ascends the stairs, she meets Kitsune. Kitsune introduces herself as the manager of the tea shop and tells her to go up the stairway. When she reaches the top, another woman greets her (Shinomu) and apparently knows her name.

6. CM: ラブひなDVD-BOX エンドレス♥ (Commercial: Love Hina DVD Box Endless): A brief commercial to sell the DVD box.

7. ようこそ! ひなた荘へ[ひなた荘ロビー] (Welcome to Hinata-sou! [Hinata-sou Lobby]): Shinomu introduces herself, saying that she's a sophomore at Tokyo U. She tells Ema that Kitsune told her about the new girl coming to Hinata. She continues introducing Motoko, a 3rd year law student at Tokyo U. as well as Suu, a junior at the same university. After the introduction, she says there's a wedding later today with Naru and Keitaro and explains that the two met at this dorm, so their wedding is here too. Kitsune then comes and describes Keitaro in her own way and the more she explains, the more Ema realizes how similar she is to this Keitaro. The other Hinata girls come.

8. 翻弄されて本望です?[ひなた荘玄関前] (Wish to Be Teased? [In Front of Hinata-sou]): Kitsune formally introduces Ema to Suu and Motoko (there's a discontinuity here with the voice acting). They're now practicing for the play they're going to do at the wedding re-enacting a scene where the girls chase after Keitaro. The script is written by the prolific romance fiction writer, Motoko. The part they're rehearsing is when the girls were chasing Keitaro out of the building after being caught in the hot springs. Because Mutsumi isn't here, Ema takes on the role of Keitaro and suffers Suu and Motoko's abuse. In the background, a car horn sounds and a man comes rescuing Ema. It's Keitaro. It's now time for the wedding.

9. 次はなにが起こるやら[ひなた荘大庭園] (I Wonder What Will Happen Next? [Hinata-sou Garden]): Sara, Seta, and Haruka (whom Sara calls mama) arrive. Sara, who is the same age as Ema, tells Ema that she'll be fine if she lives at Hinata-sou. When in doubt, blame Keitaro. Haruka interjects saying that Shinomu shouldn't turn out to be like Motoko, living at Hinata-sou as a content single woman. Shinomu reminds Haruka that she was the same.

10. 人生は時に厳しく[ひなた荘大庭園] (Life Is Sometimes Cruel [Hinata-sou Garden]): The wedding bells ring announcing that the bride is ready. Ema looks at the bride and recognizes the big bust size. She tells the other girls that she's met her before and shows them the map. The map is written in Turtle-ese and they realize that it's Mutsumi dressed up in the wedding dress. Mutsumi apologizes for the joke. The real bride then shows up and is quite angry at Keitaro for almost marrying someone else. She gives him a Naru-Punch which also carries Ema to the sky too.

11. それにも増してすばらしい[ひなた荘大庭園] (But Even With That It's Wonderful [Hinata-sou Garden]): The ceremony starts and Naru tells Seta, who's marrying the two, to hurry it up because Keitaro might end up somebody else's husband. Keitaro tries to rebut, but gets another few punches. They exchange vows. As they're about to kiss, the other girls, especially Shinomu, get fidgity. And just as their lips are about to lock, the girls all scream out. "Wait!" This causes Naru and Keitaro to topple over and fall down.

12. エンディング(祝福) (Ending): Shukufuku! (TV Sized). As the music is playing, Seta says that everyone's the same. Haruka adds that the reason no one changes is because Hinata-sou is a magical, endless place.

Endless
Endless Indeed! (Click to Zoom)

ラブひな (Love Hina) Novel Vol. 2Title: ラブひな (Love Hina) Novel Vol. 2
Author: 川崎ヒロユキ (Hiroyuki Kawasaki)
Illustrator: 赤松健 (Ken Akamatsu)
Original Creator: 赤松健 (Ken Akamatsu)
Book Size/Pages: B-6, 200pp.
First Printing: 2/15/02
Rating: 3/4

This is one of my oldest novels that I have which I haven't read until now. If it hadn't been for the DVD release, it probably would have stayed unread for another few years. But since the box finishes the story, I decided that it I should finish everything Love Hina, this being the last unread book.

The story takes place between when Keitaro leaves to go abroad and before Kanako comes to Hinata. Again, given that I know the characters and the overall story pretty well, this was a very fast reading. The story is unique to the novel. I don't think that the stories in itself were too interesting, but I won't deny that nostalgia played a part in my enjoyment.

Bonus comes with a two page story at the end detailing Naru's wishes on Christmas Eve hoping that Keitaro would come back soon. After this, there's a little note that says "To Be Continued..." but after more than 3 years and the drama CD detailing the end of the manga, I don't have my hopes up. The bottom corner of the book has a flip-book cartoon. Interesting touch.

Preface. ひなた荘の朝 (Morning at Hinata Apartments): After Keitaro leaves for America following his very brief study at Tokyo University, Naru decides to pack up and sneak out to fly out to where he is. The other girls at Hinata are already prepared as it seems routine and manage to subdue her before she tries to run away.

1. 機械じかけのエロガッパ (Mechanical Pervert): Early December, 2000. Everyone at Hinata seems to be missing Keitaro, especially Naru. Out of reflex, Suu and Sara barge into Keitaro's room to play with him but realize that he's abroad. They come up with an idea.

A few days later, Kitsune, Naru, and Mutsumi talk about how Suu and Sara have been asking them about their memories of Keitaro. That night, as Naru is about to sleep, she sees a Keitaro's silhouette. But as he approaches, Naru realizes that it's a machine. Suu and Sara have created a Mecha-Keitaro. The top half is human-like, the bottom half is turtle-like. Despite the odd physical appearance, its voice is strikingly similar. The next morning as everyone else is asleep, Naru goes and tries to program Mecha-Keitaro to say "I Love You, Naru" because she wants to hear those words. However, before it can finish the utterance, Mitsumi steps in and Naru in her panic, shuts down the machine.

A few days later as Naru is in the hot springs, Mecha-Keitaro appears with Suu following. The robot seems to be trying to repeat the words Naru programmed it with. As soon as she realized what he was going to say, she tries to stop him. In self-defense, Mecha-Keitaro unleases his laser beams on Naru and Suu. It then runs away. Later, they try to lure the machine into a trap with the Hinata girls in bathing suits, but Mecha-Keitaro sees through it and runs away. They then hear that there's a robot on the rampage in the city. Suu warns that they have to deactivate it else it'll explode from all the damage it's taking on from the authorities. Suddenly Naru knows where he's going. It's 12/10 today, but because of the power shutdown, it probably thought today was 10/21, the day that Naru and Keitaro went on a date to the movies. Naru manages to shut it down, although she's a little sad in doing so.

2. 受験剣士のホリディ・ナイト (Holiday Night of the Student Swordswoman): Mid December, 2000. Motoko secretly wants to attend Tokyo University, and it's because she also has a crush on Keitaro. In fact, she even dreams about him. However, she doesn't tell anyone where she wants to attend college because she finds it embarrassing. On top of that, she lacks self confidence and every so often, wants to commit seppu/harikiri.

One night, as she's moping in the streets, her sister Tsuruko shows up. She comes back to Hinata Apartments with Motoko and explains that she was out on a task in the area. She spends a night with Motoko in her room. Being afraid of her sister, Motoko barely gets any sleep. The next morning, after some questioning and to return the favor of letting her stay the night, Tsuruko demonstrates a secret art of the Shinmeiryuu, the exchanging of souls. She performs this Suu and Shinobu, causing them to switch into each other's bodies. She then restores them. Kitsune asks if Motoko can do the same and wants to switch spirits with her. Tsuruko thinks it's a great idea, but Motoko is scared because she doesn't know if she can and knows that if she fails, she'll be punished by Tsuruko.

As the ritual starts, Kitsune suddenly has a pain in her stomach. She has Naru take her place. Motoko does the ritual, but nothing seems to happy. However, to not make Motoko look bad, Naru pretends to be Motoko. After Tsuruko leaves for a few moments to say hi to Haruka, Naru finds out that Motoko and Kitsune really did switch, but they have to be on the pretense that it was Naru to prevent Motoko from being punished. Later, Tsuruko enjoys one last bath in the springs before she leaves. She explains to Kitsune (who is Motoko) that she thinks Mokoto is too serious and should act more her age.

After Tsuruko leaves, the three of them try to find out how to reverse the spell. They find a book that mentions that the two of them have to sleep together in the same bed the night of their switching to reverse it. In the meantime though, in order not to let Shinobu, Suu and the others know, they have to act their persons. Motoko (who is Kitsune) has to try studing with Naru and Shinobu. Kitsune (who is Motoko) lounges around in Kitsune's room and ends up reading a love-themed magazine. Kitsune can't stand the studies and decides to take a night on the town in Motoko's body. Naru and Motoko go looking after her and after finding her, Motoko remembers what her sister said about her and decides to loosen up for the night. They help a cafe run by an acquaintance of Kitsune's and dress up in bunny suits to bring in customers. That night, the two sleep together and wake up in their regular bodies in the morning.

Lunar Scribbles