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AKA: N/A
Genre: Harem / romantic comedy
Length: OAV, 25 minutes
Distributor: Currently licensed by FUNimation.
Content Rating: PG-13 (adult situations, brief nudity, some violence)
Related Series: Love Hina, Love Hina Christmas Movie, Love Hina Spring Movie, Love Hina Again
Also Recommended: Love Hina, Tenchi Muyo, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2
Notes: This is the unaired 25th episode of the Love Hina TV series. Originally released straight-to-video, this one-shot OAV is included as part of the Love Hina Christmas Movie release in North America.
Rating:

Love Hina Episode 25

Synopsis

Things have settled down a bit at Hinata Inn, and Naru is away. You may think that all will be calm now, but a mysterious visitor appears. She is Motoko's sister and has come to take Motoko home to inherit the dojo. In a desperate attempt to stay, Motoko lies that she is engaged to Keitarou, who is about as shocked as everyone else. Will Motoko be forced to inherit the dojo? Will the "marriage" work out? Will Naru find out and mutilate Keitarou so much that DNA identification is impossible?


Review

This episode is just like any "event-of-the-day" episode in the LH TV series. It's based on an earlier part of the manga, which introduces the character of Tsuruko, Motoko's sister.

As you can tell from the synopsis, the focus of the story is on Motoko and how she solves this predicament, namely by announcing her "engagement" to Keitarou. This results in the rest of the cast having to play along with the charade in a desperate attempt to fool the sister. Keitarou once again has to face the full force of this turn of events by doing stuff that any obliging fiancee would do with Motoko: kiss intimately, bathe together and so on. In true Love Hina style, the events that follow get really wacky and basically bop you on the head with a rubber mallet (read: plot twists).

The focus on Motoko gives us a better look into her character that the TV series failed to develop, and gives us some (minor) relief from Naru's hot-headedness (though she still does appear). While Motoko's hidden affection for Keitarou is not handled as well as in the manga, it's a welcome break from the usual love triangle. Being a standalone episode, the plot also does not have an effect on the main storyline, which is continued in the Christmas Movie instead.

Art, music and almost everything else are the same as an episode from the rest of the TV series - no surprises there.

It's a rather interesting episode, and since it's bundled with the Christmas Movie most fans of Love Hina would enjoy both.

Less Naru, more sanity (just a bit). If you enjoyed the TV series, then you'd like this too. If you didn't like Love Hina or haven't watched it, then skip this one. Subtract a star if you don't like Motoko.Enoch Lau

Recommended Audience: There's lots of flesh when the girls take baths in the hot springs, and some things like kissing and bathing together (if you count being blindfolded and tied up as a bath). If you have no objections to the Love Hina series, then this will be no different.



Version(s) Viewed: R1 DVD
Review Status: Full (1/1)
Love Hina Episode 25 © 2000 Ken Akamatsu / Kodansha / Love Hina Onsen Association / TV Tokyo
 
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