Keitaro is a guy trying desperately to hold on to his dreams and promises at a time in his life when he is first coming face to face with the real world. Although he has never done very well in school, he has always had his heart set on going to the prestigous Tokyo University(which seems to have a reputation like that of Yale or Harvard would have with americans). The reason that Keitaro has this seemingly unreachable goal is that he once promised a little girl(back when he was about 5) that the two of them would go to Tokyo U. and be together forever. Although Keitaro has long since forgotten her name and face, he still believes he will somehow find her if only he can pass the University's tough entrance exams.

When Love Hina begins, Keitaro has spent almost three years in a prep school and has so far failed the entrance exams twice. After Keitaro has the job of apartment manager of the Hinata Inn thrust upon him by his absent grandmother Hina, his life takes a real change for the better. Now, instead of being lonely and feeling like a failure, Keitaro finds himself in the midst of girls who treat him like crap, beat him up, make fun of him, but in the end generally support him and give him the determination to keep trying for his dreams.

After becoming the apartment manager, Keitaro meets girls aplenty. Each girl's reaction to him is quite different and this is one of the ways that Love Hina is distinctive from the everyone loves Tenchi type of show. The oldest of the apartment's renters, Mitsune(Kitsune), never develops any romantic feelings for Keitaro and maintans an older sister like presence. Naru, while at first taking a hard approach to Keitaro, eventually accepts him and even grows to love him as the series progresses. She remains his main love interest throughout. Motoko hates Keitaro from the begining, and only after much time and many attempts of friendship from him does she develop a secret crush for him. Shinobu, on the other hand, has a bad crush on Keitaro almost from day one and remains forever infatuated with him. Su, the youngest of the renters, seems to like Keitaro as a fun friend and associates him often with her big brother.

As if the five renters weren't enough, several other girls enter the mix. Haruka, Keitaro's aunt, keeps him in line and makes sure things such as bills get taken care of. Mutsumi, a girl from Keitaro's past, shows up and soon falls in love with him. Sara, a young bratty girl, is often entrusted to his care and then proceeds to bully him. In Love Hina Again one more girl, Kanako, Keitaro's stepsister, arrives on the scene and attempts to seduce Keitaro and steal him from Naru.

Keitaro struggles with the conflict between his childhood promise, his inability to get into Tokyo U., and his budding love for Naru throughout the series. Even though Naru treats Keitaro badly often, he stays deeply in love with her and spends a good amount of his time trying to stay on her good side. After both he and Naru fail the entrance exams, he makes a new promise to get into Tokyo U. with her. Keitaro tries hard to keep this promise and it eventually wins out over his childhood promise. Although the studying is hard, Keitaro keeps up his efforts and on his fourth try he finally gets into Tokyo U. The girl he ends up with is obviously Naru, although he ends the series with several admirers. He ends up deciding to focus on archaeology at Tokyo University, just like Seta.

Naru is the second oldest at Hinata and seems to be the unoffical spokesperson for the other girls. Her best friend is Mitsune and has been for several years. Three years before Keitaro arrived, Naru was tutored by a Tokyo U. student named Seta, for whom she promised to get into the University. When Seta left the country, Naru was crushed but kept studying hard so that she could fulfill her promise to him. By the time that Keitaro arrived Naru was pretty muchly a book worm. Naru is a strong girl who reacts violently whenever she thinks that Keitaro is being perverted or mean.

When Naru was around two years old, she was anemic and had to stay at Hinata for some time. There she met 5 year old Keitaro and heard him talking about his promise to get into Tokyo U. Naru also met the five year old Mutsumi and recieved a Mr. Chupi doll from Mutsumi. Naru, being only two, forgot all of this and didn't realize that she had already met Keitaro and Mutsumi until late in the series.

Naru is an extremely good student, but it does not come easily to her. She has to study hard to keep up her good exam scores. She actually fails the entrance exams on her first try, but makes it into Tokyo University the next year. Naru has ruined her eyesight and dampened her social life with all her studying, but she still has alot of fun. She is an excellant bowler, a highly competant fighter, and was for a short time a professional pop singer.

Naru worries alot about what others think about her and for this reason holds off professing her love for Keitaro until the end of the series. She is afraid of hurting or alienating her few friends. She has a fear of being left all alone and hates being left out of things. While Naru is usually hostile towards Keitaro, she seems to have feelings for him fairly early in the series. She grows very angry and hurt when she shes him getting too close to other women and doesn't even consider dropping Keitaro for the wealthy and dashing Kentaro.

Mitsune aka Kitsune is Naru's best friend and is the same age as Keitaro. Mitsune does not seem inclined to attend college, being content to drink sake, party, and have fun with her friends. Mitsune is somewhat jaded by her past experiences with men. She has had a reputation for being easy because she often changed boyfriends in highschool, but she simply never got close to any of them from fear of being hurt. She has harbored a crush on Seta for years but has never acted on it because knew that Naru liked him.

Mitsune is a clever person and can sometimes be mischevious. She desires those around her to be happy, but she also wants things to be exciting. She is happiest when she can stir up trouble, but she doesn't like for anyone to get hurt. Mitsune often prods Keitaro and Naru's relationship along from behind the scenes, then enjoys watching the results.

Mitsune never confesses her love for Seta, and most likely never will. Seta seems to be acknowledging the relationship he once had with Haruka and he never knows that Mitsune also likes him. In the meantime Mitsune plays a sly hand and tries to butter up Sara, Seta's adopted daughter.

Overall, Mitsune is the most mysterious of the renters. Nothing is known about her family or history before she came to Hinata apartments. She rarely discusses herself, which fits in with her hesitation to become close to others. Mitsune is hesitant to confide her true feelings even to Naru.

Motoko is a high school student who trains daily outside of the Hinata Apartments. She is a member of the dynasty school of swordfighting and is designated to someday head that clan. Motoko is usually quiet and reserved, but when she is angered or embarrassed she tends to violently flare up.

When Keitaro first arrived Motoko was off training and became enraged at the presence of a man at the apartments when she returned. Motoko barely accepted Keitaro at the urging of the other girls, but eventually grew used to him and truly accepted him as the manager. She seems to look up to Naru and often attacks Keitaro for doing something that upsets Naru.

The reason that Motoko is so hostile to men is that when she was little her older sister Tsuruko got married and gave up the leadership of the school. For a long time Motoko was afraid that if she fell in love she would lose her skills and become weak and useless. Eventually Motoko realizes that it is love for others that truly lets her fight at her strongest. She really knows very little about men and is very naive about love and romance due to her lifelong avoidance.

Motoko eventually develops a crush on Keitaro due to his constant kindness to her, even when she has just tried to kill him. Keitaro is the one responsible for helping her feel comfortable being feminine and teaching her that love makes her stronger. Perhaps she begins to respect him for being so durable if nothing else. In later episodes her crush becomes more apparant.

While Motoko originally only planned on returning to Kyoto to be the head of the dynasty, she ends up wanting to go to Tokyo University, overtly to better her mind. Secretely she is trying to be more like Keitaro and be closer to him.

Shinobu met Keitaro just a few days before she was to move away from Hinata Hot Springs. She has a crush on him from day one, and does not hide it well. She moves into Hinata Apartments instead of moving away when her parents divorce, thanks to Keitaro's help. She is very shy and self conscious but eventually becomes more sure of herself.

Shinobu is still a junior high school student, so she is often treated like a child by the older girls and Keitaro. Shinobu wants to be more grown up and often displays a lot of maturity. She is very shy but friendly and outgoing to people that she knows well. As she stays at the Hinata Apartments she eventually becomes more self confident and outgoing from the compliments and friendliness of the other residents.

Shinobu likes Keitaro a lot, even though she realizes she is too young for him to consider as a romantic interest. She still wants him to be happy, so she tries to help things along with him and Naru, even though it hurts her to see Keitaro with Naru. Shinobu is always on Keitaro's side, even when he does something stupid. She is always the first to become worried about him and the first to rush out looking for him when he is missing.

Shinobu is the most responsible of the girls, and she does much of the chores like laundry and cooking. She is a great cook due to the fact that her mother ran a restaurant before they moved. Shinobu has dreams of someday going to Tokyo University like Keitaro does.

Su is from an unknown country that seems to be very warlike. Her native country, which seems likely to be in the Pakistan area, has a three eyed elephant as a national symbol, and this three eyed pattern appears on much of Su's inventions and contraptions. Su is a very wild girl who is a technological genius but fairly naive about many things.

Although Su is still in junior high school, she has the ability to turn into older and more mature version of herself. She is only able to conjure up turtle summoning powers when in this form, but her advanced technological abilities make her a dangerous foe no matter what form she is in. She seems to have turtles on the brain, and has invented four generations of Mecha Tama's that usually turn rather evil. Su seems to crave turtle stew, and repeatedly tries to boil Tama.

Su does not have much family, just her biological older sister Amulla Su and her adopted older brother Crown Prince Ramba Ru. She has been expected to marry Ramba for a long time, and it is one of the reasons that she fled to Japan. The constant pressure for her to grow up was what caused her transformations. She thinks of Ramba as her big brother and knew that her sister Amulla was in love with Ramba, so she refuses to marry him until Ramba decides to marry Amulla.

Su is always in the middle of whatever adventures that occur, and usually she is partially at fault for them. Her creations cause many mishaps and battles, and her explorative nature gets her and Sara in trouble more than once. Su never really cares if things get out of hand and has fun in any situation.

Mutsumi is a girl from Okinawa who also dreams of going to Tokyo University. She, like Keitaro, has failed the entrance exams three times, but, unlike Keitaro, it is not because she is dumb. Mutsumi has anemia and often faints and forgets things, so she has failed the exams by passing out and forgetting to write her name on them. Keitaro meets Mutsumi when he knocks her over at Tokyo University on their third attempt at the exams.

Although they had all forgotten it by the time the series starts, Mutsumi, Keitaro, and Naru all used to play together at the Hinata Inn fifteen years prior. It is Mutsumi who gave the younger Naru the Mr. Chupi doll that she still has. For awhile Keitaro thought that Mutsumi was the girl that he had made the promise about Tokyo U. with, but it turned out she had just heard him talking about it and thought it was a wonderful promise.

Mutsumi later gives Naru and Keitaro Tamago(Tama), a hot springs turtle, as a gift for them helping her home after the exams. She is the one who gave both Naru and Keitaro their first kiss, but out of friendship for both. Mutsumi likes Keitaro alot, going as far as going out on a date with him and professing that she wants a guy like him. Around the end of the TV series it seems as though Mutsumi is going to win Keitaro's heart, but she sees that Keitaro is in love with Naru and gives him up so that he will be happy. Mutsumi stays good friends with them both and hangs out at the Hinata Apartments enough afterwards that she seems like one of the renters.

Watermelons are Mutsumi's favorite food, and she also loves soaking in the hot springs and drinking sake. She seems to enjoy studying and sleeping when she is with friends. Mutsumi has a constantly upbeat attitude at all times, and while she seems ditzy she is very intelligent. When she finally writes her name on the exam and stays conscious on her fourth try, Mutsumi passes her entrance exams and is admitted to Tokyo University.

Haruka runs the Hinata Tea House that is next to the Hinata Apartments. She is Keitaro's aunt and is often seen at the apartments. She is older than most of the characters, in her late twenties, and is more mature than any of the others. She hates to be called aunt and calmly knocks Keitaro out when he makes the mistake of calling her that. Haruka is always calm and evenminded even in the worst of situations. She is also a constant smoker and seems to hit the sake at times.

Haruka is often a rich source of information about Hinata, as well as the one who keeps track of their finances. Haruka was always close to grandmother Hina and has inherited the Inn's registers and diaries. She also has lived at Hinata likely all her life, so she remembers Keitaro, Naru, and Mutsumi's childhood stays there vaugely. When bills are overdue, it is Haruka who reminds the others, and it is she who opens their beachside Tea House in the summer to pay for mantainance of the Apartments.

Although it is never explained in detail, Haruka has a romantic history with Seta and seems to still have feelings for him. Most likely their romance was interrupted by Seta's constant quest to find new ruins. This could be what has caused Haruka's distant manner and pragmatic views. When Seta figues out that Haruka still likes him, he starts a few tentative approaches to win her back, but their relationship is not repaired past the point of good friends by the ending of the series.

Kentaro is the son of a millionare in the tech business. He drives a flashy red Miata, has a giant drill/airship/tank machine, and was very popular with the girls in high school. Kentaro appeared halfway through the TV series on the day that Naru and himself was graduating. Naru was upset over failing her entrance exams to Tokyo University and Kentaro decided to try and win her while she was vulnerable.

Despite his wealth of knowledge on girls and his dashing charm, excellant timing, and expensive toys, Naru never showed any interest in him as anything other than a friend. He gave up after a few tries because he could see how violent she could be and that she seemed to secretely like Keitaro. This is the point where Kentaro becomes one of the most unique characters in Anime. Instead of dissappearing from the show, becoming Keitaro's bitter rival, or secretely trying to break the pair up, Kentaro becomes Keitaro and Naru's confident and friend.

On the day that Kentaro first showed up to take Naru to their graduation ceremonies, he drove right through the side of the apartments with his drill/airship/tank contraption in an attempt to impress Naru. No one really made a huge deal about the damage at the time, but Kentaro soon found himself owing Haruka a massive amount of debt, most likely to repay her for the repairs. His father must have cut his allowance or something, because Kentaro spends the rest of the series working under Haruka at the tea house to repay her. Since she pays him only $1.50 an hour, he is destined to spend a long time as her slave.

Kentaro seems to want Keitaro and Naru's relationship to work out, showing that he really is an extraordinarily nice guy. His car and his ship are repeatedly used by the girls on their quests, and he gives advice to all on several occasions. Kentaro really seems to be the whipping boy on the show, taking massive amounts of abuse for little or no reason. He is a very unique character and adds alot to this show.

Kanako has some issues to deal with. She is Keitaro's step sister, but she wants to be a whole lot more. She felt abandoned alot as a child, so she really attached to the friendly Keitaro, who thought of her only as a little sister. After Keitaro left with Seta in Love Hina Again, Kanako showed up at the apartments to be the manager in his absence. She turned out to be both a master of disguise and an unreasonably strict manager.

When Kanako was a young child, Keitaro promised they would stay together in Hinata's abandoned annex and be together forever, but he meant it only in a fraternal way. Kanako took this to mean that he loved her and developed a lust for him up till the time she came back to Hinata. She was crushed when Keitaro revealed that he had forgotten his promise to her and that he hadn't meant it the way that she thought. At the end of the series she accepts that they will always be together because they are brother and sister and ends her attempts to romance him.

Kanako was, for a while, Naru's fierciest rival for Keitaro. She showed open hostility to Naru for not admitting that she loved Keitaro but still keeping Kanako from seducing him. Naru remained friendly to Kanako because she is Keitaro's sister, but kept Kanako from being alone with Keitaro at every turn. It is this rivalry that really forces Naru to admit her feelings to herself and helps their relationship develop further.

Kanako has an uncanny nack for pretending to be other people. She successfully pretends to be Naru, Haruka, Naru again, Kentaro, and Naru for a third time. She also makes Mutsumi up in a Keitaro disguise to fool Naru, but Mutsumi messes up and laughs, revealing her disguise.

A professor and former student of Tokyo University, Seta has a nice and adventurous life in the field of archaeology. He spends most of his time traveling around the world searching for lost ruins, particularly those of the ancient turtle worshipping civilization. Seta is a horrible driver and bashes his head in regularly during his frequent van wrecks.

Seta has an adopted daughter, Sara, whom he somehow aquired while in America on a dig. He seems to care alot for her, but worries that his excavations are sometimes too dangerous for her. He therefore often leaves her in the care of the Hinata residents as the series progresses.

Back when Seta was just a Tokyo U. Student, he tutored Naru, whom he probably met through Haruka. Seta remained unaware the whole while that both Naru and Mitsune had developed crushes on him. He somehow grew estranged from Haruka, and then at some point left Japan to begin his excavations. Naru was devastated by his sudden departure, and retained a crush on him for a long time, possibly up till meeting Keitaro.

After Seta temporarily employed Keitaro as a lab assistant at Tokyo University, he began relying on Keitaro's help more and more. He asks Keitaro to look after Sara when he is gone and also gets Keitaro's help on several of his digs. In Love Hina Again, Keitaro spent a good amount of time with Seta in America before returning to Hinata.

Seta is a deadly fighter and knowledgeble about ancient techniques from his work. He spars against Motoko and Keitaro on several occasions, easily defeating each of them. He trained Keitaro during their long trip to America, which became obvious during a sparring match Keitaro had with Motoko afterwards.

Easily the most evil of any of the Love Hina characters, the young Sara is Seta's adopted daughter. She is an American by birth, having grown up with abusive rich parents there. The reason that she is with Seta now is unknown, but as far as she is concerned he is her daddy. She is very protective of Seta and doesn't like anyone getting close to him.

Sara is a very violent child on occasion, usually when she becomes jealous of Seta's attention to someone. She thinks of Keitaro as a weakling and doesn't like his friendship with her father, so she is especially hard on him. Sara seems somewhat afraid of Naru's unpredictable violence, but Mitsune gets a good smack because of her crush on Seta. Haruka, the most likely threat to Sara's solo relationship with Seta, remains unscathed, most likely because Sara realizes Haruka is likely to knock her silly.

Sara's best friend seems to be the youngest resident of Hinata, Su. The two spend much of their time exploring the abandoned tunnels and passages that twist throughout the Hinata. Shinobu often joins the two in their less adventurous outings, but doesn't have the explorative heart that the younger girls share.

Sara seems to lighten up as the series gets near its end. She accepts that Keitaro hangs out with Seta alot and that Haruka is becoming a major interest of Seta. Her violent ways and sarcastic attitude never completely fade away, but she seems to mostly just have fun playing with Su.

Tamago Onsen, the hot springs turtle, was a present from Mutsumi to Keitaro and Naru in appreciation of the pair helping her home to Okinawa. Tama, as he is usually called, has the unusual ability to fly and seems able to communicate with Mutsumi and Keitaro. Tama is always upbeat and cheerful, but he sometimes seems to be a bit mischevious as well.

Tama's favorite place to be is atop someone's head, but he is somewhat picky about whose head he is on. Keitaro's head seems to be his favorite spot, but he migrates around, sometimes resting on Naru or Shinobu. When Mutsumi, his former owner, comes around, Tama enjoys hanging out with her. Motoko and Su's hair is safe from Tama because Motoko won't let him get near her, and Su always wants to eat Tama.

Not much is known about Tama, not even his gender, for certain. Tama has more intelligence than would be expected from a turtle, and his flying abilities are top notch. He enjoys the hot springs and being around friends, but he often dissappears often without warning. He is also known to like sake. Questions, Comments? Email me at [email protected]!