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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy |
 Xenoknight
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[series:761#2967] | ||||||
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review coming after I rewatch the anime... Check out my award list to see some of the best anime titles in the world! Never forget Xenosaga. Last updated Friday, December 05 2008. Created Friday, December 05 2008. | ||||||||
| Watch | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:761#1552] | |
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This episode helps provide more depth to Motoko's character by introducing her older sister, Tsuruko. Her introduction allows us to better see Motoko's sense of inferiority in comparison to her sister's skills as a swordswoman. This was the highlight of the episode for me, along with getting humor off of Motoko's lousy attempts at trying to act more feminine. The low points came with two things: the fan service and the usual Keitaro thrashings. Keitaro getting thrashed is nothing new since its the continued running gag throughout the series and at this point, the gag has gotten way too overused. My second complaint, which I was really disappointed with for this episode, was the return of the rampant fan service from the manga. I had liked how the TV show toned down on the fan service of the manga so it could focus more on other comedic gags that the series was known for involving the personalities of the characters. The return of the fan service had several of the comedic gags being used as an excuse to show off panty shots or skin from the female characters. And for those curious, this OAV was supposed to be an episode for a second season of Love Hina. But, the animation budget for the series had run out and those plans were canned. Last updated Wednesday, January 09 2008. Created Monday, January 07 2008. | ||||||||
| Buy | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
 Big Fire
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[series:761#2441] |
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WHOA!!! I never knew Matoko could look good...Not in the maid outfit, i thought she looked weird, but hey, Matoko and her own episode/ova...I am sold...I really enjoyed the story, i am a sucker for stories that include demon swords...Keitaro was believable in how he cared for Matoko, it was nice to have a story off the beaten path of Naru/Keitaro...
Last updated Sunday, April 08 2007. Created Sunday, April 08 2007. | ||||||||
| Buy | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
 Jan-Chan
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[series:761#967] | |
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Ok I will admit that I really reallyreally...like the Love Hina series.. I have all the R1 release DVDs, (and I also have all the English language release manga books.they are very good, but also delightfully different from the anime series interested? Check Amazon, the $ is not too bad) If you like the Love Hina anime series, then this is just more of the same over-hyped and adrenaline driven romantic madness that allows this series stand out from the rest of the anime pack. The story of romance between Keitaro and Naru is dragged along a bit more. With Mokoto standing front and center, her unresolved feeling for the looser-prince Keitaro are the theme for yet another installment in the anime story based on the Love Hina manga. (but why is this series a bit more echii than the others?) Last updated Saturday, April 10 2004. Created Friday, April 09 2004. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 |
 Devil Doll
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[series:761#752] | |
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[Score: 76% = Rent. Recommended Romantic Comedy animes: Love Hina, Ai Yori Aoshi, Aa! Megami-sama! TV, REC]
While this episode is significantly weaker than the highlights of Love Hina, there is one main reason why I liked to watch this special episode (being episode 25 in the series time line), and that is that it was necessary to fully understand Motoko's character. This is the episode about her past, answering a number of questions (such as why Motoko is afraid of turtles), and about her most important choice in life. And Motoko has to face a number of unusual challenges this time. In the end she makes a big step forward and is ready to do things she wouldn't have been able to do earlier, and you'll see this progress in both Love Hina Christmas Special (episode 26) and Love Hina Again (episodes 28-30). Being an OVA, this one contains more fan-service than the TV series, especially a number of panty shots. And some of the scenes are as silly as Love Hina used to be all along. But then, the swordplay scenes are nice, and Keitarou is growing more spine in a situation that turns out to be increasingly difficult for him. Narusegawa is playing only a minor role in this episode. The content of this anime is rather close to the manga, but with some important differences; I moved my comments about this to the episode review as they contain major spoilers of the whole series. But as for AstroNerdBoy's complaint about Naru being possessed again, this isn't the fault of episode 25 (where it is part of the story and cannot reasonably be replaced) but the fault of episode 17 (where this idea has been used in a story that isn't part of the manga, at a time when the makers didn't know they'd have to tell the episode 25 story as well). In the anime we are done with Motoko's development after this special; in the manga we are not - for more details see the episode review. Last updated Friday, June 06 2008. Created Friday, April 09 2004. | ||||||||
| Rent | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
 AstroNerdBoy
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[series:761#436] | |
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This "extra" episode done after the TV series concluded is from a story in the manga. While in an of itself the story is fine, when brought to life as an anime episode, it isn't executed well. For starters, we'd already seen Naru possessed in the anime, so when it happened again, it was a "here we go again" moment. (This is because Naru's possession earlier in the anime was an anime invention and not a manga story.) Mokoto had grown a bit through the Love Hina series, but now she seemed to lose all of that to be weaker in front of her sister. LH indicated she'd come to a resolution for dealing with her sister, but this OAV says otherwise, providing for a continuity flaw of sorts. (This is why I believe anime adaptations shouldn't try to do their own thing, but should stick to the source material and have done.) Being an OAV, this was the perfect excuse to launch into the additional levels of fanservice. After all, fanservice is more important that worrying about little details like a good story that links nicely with the original TV series. But hey, what do I know? I just watch the stuff and write reviews. (It should be noted that the levels of fanservice here are at the level they are in the manga.) Bottom line: these complaints aside, I am glad it was included with the Love Hina Christmas Special DVD (in the extras). With a little effort, this could have been a nice episode in the franchise.Last updated Sunday, November 25 2018. Created Sunday, April 04 2004. | ||||||||
