ラブひな Omnibus Volume 05 REVIEW
Love Hina Omnibus 5

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Highlights from this fifth and final omnibus volume of Love Hina from Kodansha Comics, which covers volumes 13 and volume 14, has Motoko flustered and frustrated because of her growing feelings for Keitaro. Motoko’s sister, Tsuruko, arrives, defeats Motoko, but after accepting her feelings for Keitaro, she’s able to not only defeat her sister, but confess to Keitaro as well.

Sarah learns that Naru and Keitaro are planning to go to Todai together, so the girls organize to prevent this. Seta snags Keitaro and takes him to the kingdom of Molmol to go to the ruins there, which are also called Todai. The girls follow, where Su reveals she is the princess of Molmol and has Keitaro captured. Naru goes to rescue Keitaro, but when the other girls arrive, Keitaro and Naru are forced to escape. Seta, Haruka, and Sarah rescue them, where the group ends up heading to the Todai ruins. The girls make a last ditch effort to stop Naru and Keitaro from going to Todai, but end up conceding their loss to Naru.

Seta and Haruka get married at Todai, where they remain with Sarah. The girls and Keitaro return to Japan, where Keitaro and Naru go to see his grandma, only she’s not around. Keitaro and Naru attempt to get intimate at a hotel, only to be thwarted by Nyamo. She brings a letter which Naru believes will take Keitaro away from her. Further, the various girls leave Hinata Inn for different reasons. Naru, worried she’s not the promised girl, tries to flee, so Keitaro pursues and catches her.

The pair finally catch up with Grandma, who reveals Naru is the promised girl. The other girls return to the Inn and everything is as it was. Grandma leaves with Kanako and Keitaro finds a time capsule showing proof that Naru is the promised girl. Naru and Keitaro go to Todai together to fulfill their promise.

Four years later, a girl named Ema arrives to move into Hinata Inn. After some initial misunderstandings, she’s properly introduced to the girls at Hinata Inn, who are busy preparing for a wedding. Ema tries on the veil of the wedding dress, triggering an alarm which causes her to panic and crash into Keitaro. The next day, Keitaro and Ema try to sneak back with the veil, but are caught. Naru thanks Ema for returning her veil and bridegroom. Naru and Keitaro get married, afterward, Keitaro has an accident that causes Naru’s panties to be revealed, whereupon she gives chase to her new husband.

Thoughts/Review:

I loved the progression of Motoko as a character throughout the entire Love Hina manga, but especially  as the manga wrapped up. Her finally accepting her feelings for Keitaro, defeating Tsuruko, and confessing to Keitaro was a nice moment, even if Motoko had no chance to be with Keitaro. Motoko was my favorite character in the manga, so I’m glad Akamatsu-sensei worked with her so well.

With Motoko officially on the Keitaro love wagon, it did add to the humor of the girls in their final pursuit of Keitaro to prevent him from hooking up with Naru. The final pursuit was fun for what it was, especially since it did see a resolution to Seta’s and Haruka’s romantic storyline.

I wasn’t that thrilled with Naru’s continued negative attitude and propensity to run away. At the hotel when she’s with Keitaro, even though it was done as a joke, I didn’t like her reflexive “attack Keitaro” moments.  I mean, if you love someone, you aren’t going to attack them.

Still, in the end, Naru and Keitaro get together, have their moment, and go to Todai together. So all’s well that ends well.

In what is now a tradition by Akamatsu-sensei, we get a nice aftermath story, this time in two chapters. I loved seeing how the girls have grown over the four years. Motoko comes off cool and collect. It is a shame that Motoko couldn’t have played a role in Akamatsu-sensei’s Negima! like her sister did (Motoko gets a tiny cameo, if I recall correctly).

Of course, the main element of the aftermath is seeing that Keitaro and Naru got married, which was very nice to see.

How’d Kodansha Do?

On the Kodansha Comics side, there are a lot of nice extras that weren’t part of TokyoPop’s initial release, including a note from Akamatsu-sensei, the character design work for the girls in the aftermath story, and more. There are nice translator notes here, and thankfully, the Japanese honorifics are here, apparently unmolested.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the manga part of the story is fun, but reading it now, I can see how Akamatsu-sensei was simply delaying the inevitable. Still, it is a good manga and a good conclusion to a mostly good manga series.