The Ultimate Guide to Love Hina (ラブひな) by Brandon "Nym" Butler [nym408@hotmail.com] _______________________ ___/ Table of Contents \________________________________________________________ A. General Information I. Series Description 01. What's Love Hina? 02. Basis of the Plot II. Cast of Characters 01. Urashima, Keitaro 02. Narusegawa, Naru 03. Maehara, Shinobu 04. Kaolla, Su 05. Aoyama, Motoko 06. Konno, Mitsune (Kitsune) 07. Urashima, Haruka 08. Otohime, Mitsumi III. Supporting Characters 01. Noriyasu, Seta 02. MacDougal, Sara 03. Urashima, Hinata (Grandma Hina) 04. Kimiaki, Shirai / Masayuki, Haitani 05. Sakata, Kentaro 06. Urashima, Kanako 07. Monks (Town Council?) IV. Minor Characters 01. Narusegawa, Mei 02. Amalla, Su 03. Aoyama, Tsuruko 04. Maehara, Kouji 05. Moe 06. Namo, Nyamo V. Token Cute Things 01. Onsen, Tamago (Tama-chan) 02. Liddo-kun B. In-Depth Information I. Disclaimer II. Love Hina (TV Series) Volume 1: Moving In... (American Release: 02/19/2002) 01. "All-Girl Dormitory with an Outdoor Bath - HOT SPRING!" 02. "Hinatasou's New Resident, Shinobu - ARROW SIGNS" 03. "Kendo Girl in Love? - SWORDPLAY" 04. "The Promise to Get Into Tokyo U was 15 Years Ago - DIARY" Volume 2: Go West! (American Release: 04/23/2002) 05. "Close Contact! A Trip to Kyoto." 06. "Keitaro's First Kiss!" 07. "First Date, Keitaro's True Feelings - NOW A DAYS" 08. "Kendo Daughter and the Legendary Dragon Story... A Dream?" Volume 3: Secret Lives (American Release: 06/18/2002) 09. "Hinatasou's Missing Money Case - MYSTERY" 10. "The Identity of the Wandering Beauty Under the Moonlight - TRANSFORM" 11. "Fearful Toudai Student, Idol is a Reapplying Student - SING" 12. "Transform? Swordmaster Motoko's Casual Look - WOMAN" Volume 4: Love Hurts (American Release: 08/20/2002) 13. "Did Your First Kiss Taste Like Lemon or Marshmallow? - ADULTHOOD" 14. "Naru's Crush is Now a Tokyo U Professor - IS IT LOVE?" 15. "I Love You! Romantic Confession Inside a Cave - TALL TALE" 16. "Monkey Performance at Hinata's Seaside Teahouse - A KISS?" Volume 5: Summer By The Sea (American Release: 10/22/2002) 17. "Enchanted by Naru on the Haunted Isle! - SUSPISIOUS" 18. "Girls Dressed in Yukata for the Summer Festival - LET'S" 19. "Marry Into Money? A Prince from Across the Sea - WARM" 20. "A Sepia-colored Promise with a Sleeping Girl - A TRICK?" Volume 6: And The Winner Is... (American Release: 11/19/2002) 21. "Jealous Outburst!? Two Lovebirds on a Boat - TREMBLING" 22. "Little Sister Mei's Devious Plan - IMPOSSIBLE" 23. "Naru Narusegawa - Her Wavering Heart and Keitaro - CRUSHED" 24. "Celebrate! Are the Blooming Flowers Tokyo U? Love? - EVERYBODY" III. Love Hina Specials 25. "Motoko's Decision, Love of the Sword - DON'T CRY! / Motoko Special" CS. "Christmas Movie / Silent Eve" (American Release: 11/19/2002) SS. "Spring Movie / Springtime Special" (American Release: 03/18/2002) IV. Love Hina Again (OAV) 01. "Kanako" (Japanese Release: 01/26/2002) 02. "Keitaro" (Japanese Release: 02/28/2002) 03. "Narusegawa" (Japanese Release: 03/27/2002) C. Closing Statements I. Frequently Asked Questions 01. Who created the Love Hina series? 02. Is the Love Hina TV series coming to North America? 03. Right then, what about Ken Akamatsu's Love Hina manga? 04. How can I import the Love Hina series or manga? 05. Are there any video games based on Love Hina? 06. Where's the Japanese/English lyrics to the opening/ending theme? 07. Are there more Love Hina productions where this came from? 08. Hey, why don't you cover the hentai Love Hina productions? II. Domo Arigato 01. Dedication 02. Special Thanks 03. Legal Disclaimer _______ ___/ A \________________________________________________________________________ General Information _______ _____________/ I. \______________________________________________________________ Series Description ________ ________________________/ 01. \__________________________________________________ What's Love Hina? ____________________________________________________________________________________ "Love Hina" is a refreshing Japanese animation series, or animé, with a romantic storyline, as well as a generous helping of Japanese iconography, some extremely frantic plot twists and hilarious scenarios. Thankfully, Love Hina is kept short and sweet, as the plot gains a serious amount of momentum before you've even had a chance to figure out what's going on. There are many in-jokes, as well as some Japanese puns which probably won't make it into the U.S. translation. (See: C-2) For the quickest answer to whether or not you'll like the Love Hina animé series or manga, I'll just say that if you like Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo!, Urusei Yatsura or Maison Ikkoku, chances are extremely favorable that you will enjoy Love Hina. Love Hina is also one of the shortest series you'll ever see, as it clocks in at 25 twenty minute episodes long, with 2 forty-five minute specials, including one for both Christmas and Spring. The animated series was canceled on September 27, 2000, and though the manga continues the plotline where the animé leaves off, it isn't a must-have for each viewer, since the main plot is resolved in the animé. ________ ________________________/ 02. \__________________________________________________ Basis of the Plot ____________________________________________________________________________________ Based on the manga¹ (Japanese picture novel) by Ken Akamatsu which was, in turn, based loosely upon an ancient Japanese tale called "Urashima Taro", a story that ponders whether we live in a constant dream or live in a reality. The story also reportedly contains a kamé (turtle), quite similar to Tama-chan. In the original tale, people begin preparation for the upcoming festival, but when they woke up, they begin preparing again. Rather surprising that a philosophical Shinto legend would inspire such a romantic, touching and entertaining animation/manga series, let alone one that came to be serialized in Kodansha's "Weekly Shounen Magazine" and broadcast on TV Tokyo---all while getting critical acclaim across the board. ¹ Episodes 1-24 are loosely based around the storyline of Volume 1-7 of the manga by Ken Akamatsu, while the Spring and Motoko ("Episode 25") Specials are loosely based upon the storyline of Volume 8 and 9 of the Love Hina manga, respectively. ________ _____________/ II. \_____________________________________________________________ Cast of Characters ________ ________________________/ 01. \__________________________________________________ Urashima, Keitaro Date of Birth: January 5, 1979 Age: 20 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Yuuji Ueda, who's the voice of Tehkawa Akito in Nadesico and Sagara Sanoske in Rurouni Kenshin, is the seiyuu (voice talent) of Keitaro Urashima, who is, of course, the geeky main character of the Love Hina series. However, Kei-kun is also a very good illustrator and, despite failing an entrance exam to Tokyo University multiple times, is quite a good study. Too bad that he is clumsy and doesn't really know how to handle delicate situations all too well, especially with girls. Kei-kun's primary interests are taking Purikura (photo booth pictures), getting into Toudai (Tokyo U) and eventually, being Kanrinin (resident manager) of his grandmother's all-female dormitory/onsen, Hinatasou. ________ ________________________/ 02. \__________________________________________________ Narusegawa, Naru Date of Birth: March 25, 1981 Age: 17 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Yui Horie, who is well-known as the Japanese voice of Sakuya in the Tenchi in Tokyo TV series, and lesser known for playing Lieza in Arc The Lad, and Freya Aun in Photon, Narusegawa, or simply "Naru", is quite a violent and intolerent girl. Though things really start off on the wrong foot between her and Keitaro, she actually does admire him a lot. Unfortunately, her affection often turns to blind hatred, as she really doesn't know how to express any of her feelings towards Keitaro. This leads to her venting her anger on Keitaro, who despite trying his best not to, often lands himself in a number of highly questionable situations, which she refuses to let him explain. Naru is a good friend of Kitsune, though they're almost complete opposites in responsibility. ________ ________________________/ 03. \__________________________________________________ Maehara, Shinobu Date of Birth: November 15, 1985 Age: 13 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Masayo Kurata, Shinobu is a Freshman in Class E, Student Number 23. A shy, sheltered young girl, Shinobu is devastated by the imminent divorce of her parents when she stumbles upon Keitaro and Hinatasou. One excellent cook, Shinobu is the perfect addition to Hinatasou household, as none of the Hinata girls can cook worth a damn :) Chronically pessimistic, Shinobu doesn't really value her special talents until Keitaro and the Hina girls have begun to rely on her as if she were part of their family. A sweet little girl at heart, she has an enormous crush on Keitaro, but due to her big sister relationship with Naru, she usually decides against revealing her first love feelings, in favor of witnessing Keitaro and Naru's feelings for each other come into full bloom. ________ ________________________/ 04. \__________________________________________________ Kaolla, Su Date of Birth: January 11, 1984 Age: 14 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Reiko Takagi, Kaolla Su is a bundle of pure energy. Hyperactive and clingy, Su is an exchange student from a mysterious foreign country. Although there are a few good clues as to what country this is, no one is really quite sure of the exact country; currency from Su's homeland features an elephant's head with three eyes. Known for possessing an enormous appetite, Su isn't one to ever turn down a meal. Telling Su about a person/place/thing she has never heard of almost always causes her to ask whether it's delicious. Good friends with Shinobu, Su has a tendency to hang all over Keitaro, Motoko and Kitsune, although she doesn't seem to be hiding love interest in Keitaro. Rather, she treats him as if he were her brother, although it IS customary to marry one's brother in her country of origin, so we really can't be totally sure with Su. ________ ________________________/ 05. \__________________________________________________ Aoyama, Motoko Date of Birth: December 1, 1983 Age: 16 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Yuu Asakawa, who previously voiced Priss Asagiri in Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Shiiris from Record of Lodoss War and Pochi 2 Gou from Photon: The Idiot Adventures. Motoko is quite a female kendo student, soundly mastering an ancient Japanese sword artform at the age of fifteen. Of course, having family and a dojo in Kyoto, Motoko-chan had several advantages that traditional kendo trainees normally don't have. Despite Motoko's astounding abilities, her older sister, who decided to relinquish her sword for a husband, remains much better at their family's kendo swordforms than she's ever been. Coupled with the fact that Motoko is uneasy around boys as well as men in general, and what you have is a walking, sword-swinging time bomb waiting to go off at the slightest bump. Her surface hatred of Keitaro is just that, as he makes her feel like a normal woman, which, of course, severely disrupts her concentration and kendo traning. ________ ________________________/ 06. \__________________________________________________ Konno, Mitsune (Kitsune) Date of Birth: August 31, 1979 Age: 20 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Junko Noda, whose previous work as seiyuu includes Hikari Hinomoto, from Konami's Tokimeki Memorial 2, Mitsune Konno usually goes by her favorite nickname, "Kitsune", a shortened form of her full name, and the Japanese word for "Fox". (Name truncating is a fairly popular practice in Japan, especially among teenagers.) Despite her youthful antics, Kitsune is a mature woman who, according to her favorite shirt, doesn't trust anyone over the age of thirty. Kitsune seems to have some kind of rivalry with Keitaro's Aunt Haruka, though for what reason, you'll just have to learn about during the series. Known for being underhanded and generally up-to-no-good, Kitsune never seems to pass up a chance at playing a practical joke. Still a girl at heart, she dislikes the fact that a majority of younger men still think of her as an easily-won woman. ________ ________________________/ 07. \__________________________________________________ Urashima, Haruka Year of Birth: 1972 Age: 27 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Megumi Hayashibara, who is probably best known for her voicework as Ayanami Rei in Hideaki Anno's Shin Seiki Evangelion, or more recently as Faye Valentine in Bandai's Cowboy Bebop. Usually known for her bright, perky voice acting, Megumi Hayashibara plays a dual part in the Love Hina series, both as the voice of Haruka and as the vocalist behind Love Hina's opening and ending themes, "Sakura Saku" and "Kimi Saeireba". Haruka, being somewhat more mature and older than the other girls is very calm and collected. Of course, she has her soft spot, but it doesn't often come out in plain view. Haruka may seem a bit dull, but deep down, she's a woman just like any other. She is apparently also a chain smoker; there aren't many times when she doesn't have a cigarette lit. At high risk for personal injury, Keitaro frequently calls Haruka an old woman, even though she's actually only a scant seven years older than himself. She currently runs a little café near Hinatasou known as "Wahuuchahou Hinata". ________ ________________________/ 08. \__________________________________________________ Otohime, Mitsumi Year of Birth: 1978 Age: 21 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by a soft-spoken Satsuki Yukino, who was previously the voice of Sylia Stingray in the AIC-produced Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Kagome Higurashi in Rumiko Takahashi's recently released Inu Yasha, not to mention Milly Thompson in the Trigun series, Mitsumi Otohime is quite an enigma of a main character. On one hand, she bears a strong resemblence to Keitaro's promised Toudai girl while, on the other hand, she lives in Okinawa, Japan and has a cute pet kamé (turtle) by the name of Tamago. She is a nice person, but doesn't really have much modesty when it comes to being around Keitaro. She's very prone to bouts of fainting, due to her admittedly weak constitution. Her physical appearence is much like that of Naru, but she has a darker hair color and a larger bust, something that Naru is extremely jealous of, as Kei-kun has difficulty paying attention to her exclusively, especially when Mitsumi Otohime is around them. In the manga, Mitsumi has a mom, Natsumi, and seven sibs; six girls, one boy. _________ _____________/ III. \____________________________________________________________ Supporting Characters ________ ________________________/ 01. \__________________________________________________ Noriyasu, Seta Year of Birth: 1970 Age: 29 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Yasunori Matsumoto, Noriyasu Seta is a middle-aged archeologist with a nine year-old daughter Sara, and a propensity toward gaining severe injuries to the head from driving his van around like a maniac. Though Seta seems to be a klutz at times, he's actually very learned, as illustrated by his impressive fighting skills. As Naru and Kitsune's mutual high school crush, Seta is quite fond of Keitaro and is equally as helpful in getting Keitaro to come admit how he feels to Narusegawa. Seta-san also seems to be an extremely lucky guy, with both Kitsune and Haruka periodically vying for his attentions. His most recent goal during excavations has been the search for an ancient turtle civilization. ________ ________________________/ 02. \__________________________________________________ MacDougal, Sara Date of Birth: December 4, 1990 Age: 9 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Yumiko Kobayashi, Sara MacDougal's a tomboy at heart and frequently dresses in a backwards baseball cap and overalls. Obnoxious and even cruel at times (especially to Keitaro), Sara finally meets her match when she comes to Hinatasou and meets Kaolla Su for the first time. Severely outclassed by Su's hyperactive behavior, Sara soon becomes fast friends with Su, leading to many a troubled time for Keitaro and the Hinata girls. Sara's apparent dislike for everyone at Hinatasou might just be surface deep though, as she is well-known for being overprotective of her dad. Born in America, Sara eventually ends up temporarily living with Keitaro and friends at Hinatasou, against her wishes. Sara also has a rather embarassing panda-shaped birthmark on one of her hips. ________ ________________________/ 03. \__________________________________________________ Urashima, Hinata (Grandma Hina) Age: Old ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Masako Nozawa, she's the current owner and previous Kanrinin of the Hinatasou (Hinata Inn). In Episode 1, she decides to go on a lengthy vacation to try the hot springs of the world, leaving her grandson Keitaro, in charge. Hinatasou is a very old, resort-hotel-turned-dormitory, located about an hour and a half from Tokyo, with a rather large Onsen (outdoor hot spring) located in back of the dormitory building. Previously a five-star hotel, Grandma Hina has converted the whole place to an all-girl dormitory after the death of her husband. Not much is made of her, other than the fact that she trusts Keitaro. ________ ________________________/ 04. \__________________________________________________ Kimiaki, Shirai Date of Birth: March 8, 1980 Age: 19 Masayuki, Haitani Date of Birth: February 6, 1979 Age: 20 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Keitaro's "friends", this laughable pair of college drop-outs act as the comic relief in almost all episodes. Voiced by Michio Miyashita and Hiroyuki Yoshino Shirai and Haitani are a double thorn in Keitaro's side, but still remain just as oblivious as ever that their "helpful advice" has never worked for Keitaro, and probably never will. More often than not, Keitaro gets into large helpings of trouble because of them, but that's to be expected, as Shirai and Haitani's advice tends to be rather ill-advised, incorrect and outdated, perhaps because neither of the pair has ever had any success dealing with the problems Keitaro is now forced to face on an almost daily basis... Oh, and just for the record, Shirai's the short, overweight guy, while Haitani's the tall, sarcastic one... Keitaro, Shirai and Haitani are often called "The Trio with Glasses" at school. ________ ________________________/ 05. \__________________________________________________ Sakata, Kentaro Year of Birth: 1979 Age: 20 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Ryoutarou Okiayu, Kentaro is an exclusive TV series character and is nowhere to be seen in the manga. The opposite of Keitaro, Kentaro is a bit too bold and overconfident, when it comes to potential love interests and sweeping women off their feet. Kentaro is also the butt of Japanese puns throughout the animated series, as his name is one letter away from being Keitaro. Brash, and even considered boorish by Narusegawa and the Hina girls, Kentaro lacks a tiny bit of charm and shyness that makes Keitaro such an object of desire for girls at Hinatasou. Kentaro is rich, due to an extensive inheritance, but his wealth can't and won't solve everything, as evidenced in the beach tea house episode. ________ ________________________/ 06. \__________________________________________________ Urashima, Kanako Year of Birth: 1982 Age: 17 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Exclusively found in the manga, and nowhere to be seen in the animated series thus far, Kanako Urashima is the adopted daughter of the Urashima family, and a stepsister to Keitaro. However, unlike typical stepsisters, Kanako seems to have a bit of a crush on Keitaro. After Keitaro departs Japan for America, in the manga, Kanoko takes over as Kanrinin of Hinatasou, turning the place back into the hotel it had been before Grandma Hina's husband died. Unfortunately, Haruka doesn't like Kanoko and Naru seeths with jealousy when she sees Kanoko flirting with Keitaro. Could this prove Kanoko to be Keitaro's promised girl? Status Update: It seems that Kanako Urashima will be the co-star of the newly announced "Love Hina Again" OAV, set to be released on January 26th, 2002. It has also come to my attention that Kanako's voice acting will be performed by none other than Natsuko Kuwatani. I've also confirmed that Kanako is a witch, which is clearly illustrated in the first episode of "Love Hina Again", first by her ability to change her form to mime others and then by her talking cat. ________ ________________________/ 07. \__________________________________________________ Monks (Town Council?) Age: Old ____________________________________________________________________________________ Also exclusive to the TV series, the monks are, at least in my opinion, one of the best additions to the series when it was converted to animated form. These old men have a tendency to appear in a thick fog and quote a number of cryptic sayings. There's a strong debate over whether these old men are simply Buddist monks or Hinatasou's local town council, as Shinobu clearly calls them members of the Chonaikai (town council), when they're picking on Keitaro in Episode 2. ________ _____________/ IV. \_____________________________________________________________ Minor Characters ________ ________________________/ 01. \__________________________________________________ Narusegawa, Mei ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Yuri Shiratori, Mei is Naru's younger stepsister. Appearing just in time for the TV series climax, her personality isn't built upon much. Still a child at heart, Mei wants her older sister to come home and stop this endless trying to get into Toudai. However, upon seeing that Naru is trying to get to Toudai for both personal reasons and because she wants to be with Keitaro for good, Mei attempts to break the couple up in order to make her sister finally see reason and come home to live with her and her father and stepmother again. ________ ________________________/ 02. \__________________________________________________ Amalla, Su ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Aya Hisakawa, Amalla Su is Kaolla Su's older sister. Fairly similar in both build and demeanor, Amalla plays the flute, has a pet crocodile named Whitey and dresses like an amazon. Feeling responsible for her younger sister leaving their home country (wherever that may be), Amalla decides to track Su down to find out just what the hold-up is and to possibly coax her to return. ________ ________________________/ 03. \__________________________________________________ Aoyama, Tsuruko Year of Birth: 1972 Age: 26 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by , Tsuruko is Motoko-chan's older sister. ________ ________________________/ 04. \__________________________________________________ Maehara, Kouji ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Masashi Ebara, Kouji is Shinobu's father. Through a bitter divorce, and an even longer separation, Kouji has tried to be the best father he could be. Accused of being with another woman by Shinobu's mother, Kouji had little he could do to change her mother's mind about the divorce. A very loving dad, Kouji didn't want to see his little girl hurt by her mom and dad's struggles, so he just allows her to stay with Keitaro and the Hinata girls indefinitely. ________ ________________________/ 05. \__________________________________________________ Moe Year of Birth: ???? Age: 13 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Satomi Koorogi, who previously played the voice talent of Sara from Iria - Zeiram the Animation, and Yoshimi Hagiwara in All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku-Nuku, Moe-chan is an old, wooden clockwork doll. Finally discovered almost completely by accident several decades after being put back into store rooms deep within the Hinatasou complex, Moe is a French clockwork doll, made to look and talk just like a little girl. The trouble is that Moe has been in a dust-filled storage room for a long time, and her inner-workings have begun to degrade and break. Thinking Keitaro to be Grandma Hina's husband, she asks Kei-kun and friends to fix her, "just as he promised to do for her long ago." One of my favorite characters, even though she's only around for two episodes. ________ ________________________/ 06. \__________________________________________________ Namo, Nyamo Year of Birth: 1985 Age: 13 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by , the enigmatic Nyamo makes both her first, and last, appearance in the Love Hina Spring Special. As the sole daughter of a missing archeologist, Nyamo enlists Keitaro's offer to help her find her lost father, and forget his own troubles. A shoe-in for Shinobu's twin sister, Nyamo bears more than a passing resemblence to the shy, innocent Hinatasou resident. With darker skin and hair than Shinobu, Nyamo is mistaken for Shinobu Maehara many times, even though her demeanor is less shy and more determined than Shinobu. Previously a resident of Pararakerusu Island, Nyamo is now Shinobu's pen pal. _______ _____________/ V. \_____________________________________________________________ Token Cute Things ________ ________________________/ 01. \__________________________________________________ Onsen, Tamago (Tama-chan) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by Yukie Maeda, Tama-chan is Mitsumi Otohime's pet kamé (turtle). As a gift to both Naru and Keitaro for helping Mitsumi and being close her friend, Tama-chan becomes a permenant resident of Hinatasou, and a close companion of the Hinatasou residents. A yellow turtle with a green shell, Tama-chan avoids being around Su-chan as often as she can, due to Su's inclination towards the cooking and eating of turtles. She appears to be some sort of sea turtle, but instead of using her flippers for swimming, Tama-chan uses them to fly around. Tama-chan also seems to have no problem performing tasks most humans normally would take for granted, such as solving complex math problems, lounging in an onsen (hot spring), making full use of most standard TV remote controls, and, best of all, drinking coffee. Tama-chan also seems to have a special affinity towards Motoko, despite the fact that Motoko has a terrible fear for turtles. ________ ________________________/ 02. \__________________________________________________ Liddo-kun ____________________________________________________________________________________ Voiced by , Liddo-kun has his own children's animé series and an extensive line of merchandise, including stuffed animals, one of which belongs to Naru. _______ ___/ B \________________________________________________________________________ In-Depth Information _______ _____________/ I. \______________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: COMPLETE SPOILERS!!! Okay, this is REALLY the point of no return; once you've scrolled down, you'll potentially ruin nearly EVERY plot twist for yourself. Assuming that you're an intelligent, well-informed reader, I also assume that you have prior knowledge that Love Hina is NOT intended as a series for very young children (age twelve or less) and therefore this complete episode guide was also never intended for children of that age group either. This guide is, in no way, meant to keep you from purchasing either the import or domestic version of the Love Hina series. ________ _____________/ II. \_____________________________________________________________ Love Hina (TV Series) ________ __________________________________/ 01. \________________________________________ "All-Girl Dormitory with an Outdoor Bath - HOT SPRING!" ____________________________________________________________________________________ In the very first episode of Love Hina, we're introduced to Keitaro Urashima, cronic daydreamer and Toudai student-to-be. His dream, which seems clouded by a memory of a young girl who promised to go to Toudai with him when they both grew up and his fantasies of making it in and finding her anew. Unfortunately for Kei-kun, his dream of prosperity turns to a nightmare, as his Grandmother Hinata shows up to give him a great big smootch after his student marriage to the promised girl of memory. Waking up, Keitaro gets scolded for getting an E on his last Toudai entrance exam and promises to get a job, since his parents won't be able to afford supporting such a failure for much longer. ^____^; He gets a telephone call from his grandma but due to the nightmare, he dismisses it. Meanwhile, Haruka, Kitsune, Narusegawa, Su and Motoko listen carefully to Grandma Hina, who says that she'll be going on a long vacation, to try all of the hot springs in the world. Naru is worried, but everyone else is busy with other things and Grandma says that everything will be fine. Haruka wonders... Meanwhile, back in Keitaro's suspicious world of daydreams, the whole student body is asking him how he studies for the exams and always achieves the first placement. Everybody wants to shake his hand and he accepts. However, reality sets in and his bewildered classmates wonder about his overall sanity. In the midst of all of this, Keitaro accidentally grabs a female classmate's hand at the exact moment that his "friends" show up and tease him for getting twenty- seventh--from the bottom of the list of exam scores. ^__^;;; The girl Keitaro is shaking hands with yells that he'll get his bad grades on her and stuggles to break free, only to stumble and fall. Accidentally seeing her pink undies, Kei-kun is then clobbered by the girl and literally bounces to the end of the hall. Upon regaining consiousness, Keitaro hits up his "friends" for money so that he can go to his grandma's house. And, like most friends, they backpedal down the hallway. -_______-; Priceless Quote of the Paragraph: "Hey! Money!!" Despite his "friends" unwillingness to lend him a few yen, Keitaro manages to get to Hinatasou on his own, though not before he's caught up in a mysterious fog with an old Buddist monk, who tells him to "beware of the dream". Keitaro then tries to draw a picture of what the girl of his memories would look like if she were his current age. However, he still cannot remember how she looked and gets up to leave. Shinobu, whose character will be more filled out in the next episode, notices his drawing and wonders why it's so crude. Kei-kun says that he is sorry and smacks his hand for drawing such a crude representation. Keitaro runs away, leaving his sketch book behind, and stumbles upon the path to Hinatasou. Making his way inside, he calls out for his grandma, but cannot seem to find her anywhere. Stumbling upon the door marked "BATH", he finds an outdoor hot spring and decides that since he's there already, he should relax in the hot spring for a little while. Of course, Narusegawa soon joins him in her bath towel, but fails to realize who he is before the inevitable happens. Thinking him to be Kitsune, she wades over to him and, realizing who is truly is, screams for help. Holding on to all his evidence of manhood, Naru screams and runs, with Keitaro begging her to let go. (Wouldn't you?!) After smashing him into a rock in the hot spring, Naru finally lets go, and Keitaro attempts to apologize. Unfortunately, he accidentally bows directly into her cleavage. Obviously, this doesn't earn him any brownie points, and the insane cycles of violence start again. Naru punches Kei-kun into an undress room with Kitsune, who has just wrapped a towel around her. Naru gets dressed REAL FREAKING FAST and chases Keitaro upstairs, where he jumps from the window. Keitaro's nearly apprehended by Kitsune and Naru, but narrowly escapes again by climbing trees to the roof of the inn. The antics only continue though, as Su is waiting for Keitaro with an arsenal of super-powerful toy tanks, which cause an explosion that lands him outside of Hinatasou. Naru, Kitsune and Su contemplate what to do to him, leaning heavily towards crucifixion. (Uh-oh, religious overtones.) Thankfully, his Aunt Haruka shows up and saves him from the wrath of the Hina girls. Revealing his grandmother's plan, Haruka-san tells the girls that he's a sophomore at Tokyo University and that he'll be the new Kanrinin ("resident manager") of Hinatasou. As will become the norm, Narusegawa rejects this idea of having a male Kanrinin in Hinatasou, since Hinatasou's an all-female dorm. Kitsune wants to know what his major is, and nearly faints from bliss when he says that he's studying law, and will likely make wads of cash. ^___^ Keitaro lets his imagination run wild again, which leaves him wide open for Kitsune's first scheme; one grope for one month of help with homework. -__-; Of course, Naru walks in at just the wrong moment and Kitsune turns the situation to her advantage. Depressed about his aunt's misunderstanding that he'd already made it into Tokyo U, Keitaro tells her the truth. She tells him that he shouldn't worry about lies, as long as he makes it into the truth later. Naru overhears the conversation and later confronts him about it. Slipping on a small bottle of cleaning spray, Naru falls on Keitaro. Recovering her composure, Naru says that he has a cute face without his glasses. Thinking it to be yet another of his daydreams, he grabs Naru's arm, which causes Naru to pound Kei-kun's face into the ground. Then, as if the situation wasn't zany enough, Kitsune and Su both show up and ask why Naru is alone with him all of a sudden. Surprisingly enough, Naru covers for him by saying that they got into a heated discussion, about Kei-kun's studies at Tokyo U. Later, while Keitaro is soaking in a huge bath barrel, he says it'd probably be better to have a non-violent girlfriend, much to the dismay of Narusegawa, who belts him one good, sending him soaring. ________ __________________________________/ 02. \________________________________________ "Hinatasou's New Resident, Shinobu - ARROW SIGNS" ____________________________________________________________________________________ Poor little Shinobu just isn't having any luck. Her mom and dad are getting a divorce and, to make things worse, her grades aren't so hot. Apparently she's also been left behind one grade and she has no real friends at school. That's when, with tears in her eyes, she meets Keitaro-sempai, who notices her tears and sketches what she might've looked like when she smiles. At first, Shinobu takes offence at Kei-kun's crude drawing of her. He then blames his left hand and runs off, accidentally leaving his book of sketches with Shinobu-chan. On her way home, she stumbles upon the stone steps leading up to Hinatasou, then proceeds to hand Keitaro's sketch book over to Kitsune, Naru and Su. They all have a peek at his sketches and remark how every one of them is a sketch of a girl. Su teases Kei-kun about being a pervert. He obviously disagrees. ^____^ Later, Keitaro, Narusegawa and Kitsune try some food from Su's native country (where exactly IS that girl from anyway?) only to rush the kitchen sink for a glass of water. Spicy, isn't it? They all try to go and cheer Shinobu up, but it's no use, as she's still upset and her parents refuse to stop arguing over her custody rights. Kei-kun has a dream about Shinobu leaving in a moving van (like in his memory of his promised girl), where he can't keep her from going away, because a large arrow pointing towards the opposite direction keeps him from proceeding. The next day, Shinobu-chan leaves her mom's house, despite a few objections from both her still-arguing mother and father. Following signs that point to Hinatasou, she runs into Keitaro, who apologizes to and invites Shinobu to a Farewell Party that Hinatasou is throwing in her honor. Naru and Kitsune blow up the kitchen (literally), but all is not lost, as Shinobu says that she'll cook the meal. After the meal is through, Shinobu begins to clean up, but Keitaro objects and, in his usual fashion, trips over Su-chan's chair and accidentally grabs Shinobu's skirt, earning him a swift kick from Naru... Su joins in on the fun and kicks Kei-kun into a wall (for no apparent reason) and shouts "Keitaro is really WEEEEAK!" Keitaro obviously disagrees. ^______^ Shinobu's parents eventually track her down, but Keitaro thinks it's not fair for Shinobu to have to move, so both of them climb the Hinatasou roof. There, Shinobu admits to coming to Hinatasou's roof when she was younger, but claims that after she fell from it, her parents told her she wasn't allowed up there anymore. Shinobu says that she doesn't do anything well, so she wants to hear an opinion from someone who can "do anything". Keitaro picks up the sack that she dropped and eats the homemade cookies inside. Shinobu insists they're her first try and must taste terrible, but he exclaims that he's very jealous and wishes he could cook so well. Looking out over the city, Kei-kun says that he could eat Shinobu's delicious cooking everyday and make himself very happy... Everything gets all metaphysical for a minute, but not to worry, this isn't a Lain or Eva situation. Shinobu-chan simply encounters herself on a park bench and pushes herself up the steps towards Hinatasou, and lets her self know the arrow signs don't point in one direction and that the choice is in her hands. Nonetheless, Shinobu decides to stay at Hinatasou for the foreseeable future. ________ __________________________________/ 03. \________________________________________ "Kendo Girl in Love? - SWORDPLAY" ____________________________________________________________________________________ This particular episode starts out in a very untypical way. Ever watched old, black-and-white samurai films? Well, that's the overall impression you'll get when you see the introduction to this episode. In fact, the beginning of this episode goes even further by making the whole samurai film segment completely silent, adding even more to its cult value. This silent film insanity doesn't stop there though, as Keitaro, Shirai and Haidani once again get pathetically low grades. Keitaro finally puts a stop to the silent film nonsense, but this is only the beginning. Once again, Keitaro's "friends" Shirai and Haidani get him indirectly into trouble, this time with a kendo girl named Motoko Aoyama. In a vain attempt to explain, Keitaro's attacked by Motoko for his "friends'" actions. Before losing consciousness, Kei-kun wonders what the chances of the mysterious kendo girl attacking him are. Later, while returning to Hinatasou, he wonders why these things happen to him, only to be answered by those Monks that appear around him all the time. Their solution: "Because Keitaro's weak!" The crap then hits the proverbial fan, as Keitaro unwittingly enters into the next room, only to find the kendo girl, Motoko, in nothing but a towel, doing her laundry. Motoko knocks him through the laundry room door and, with speeds showcased by only Naru so far, gets dressed REAL FREAKING FAST. Thinking that Keitaro is following her, Motoko asks him what he's doing at Hinatasou, which he replies to as "I live here!" Of course, since Hinatasou is a dormitory for girls-only, she doesn't buy that. Luckily, Shinobu, Kitsune, Su and Naru come to his rescue, explaining that he's the Kanrinin and a Toudai student. Motoko doesn't like the arrangement one bit, but after explaining the situation, the girls stand up for Keitaro and Motoko blushes and leaves the room. Kitsune is the first one to tell Keitaro that he needs to get to know her better, so she shoves him onto Hinatasou's upstairs patio, where Motoko is training. Keitaro become nervous about her swordskills, which leads Motoko to attack him again, but this time, Motoko is overwhelmed by her emotions, fainting right into the awaiting arms of Keitaro. Upon waking, this sign of weakness upsets her to no end, and she attacks him yet again. (Noticing a pattern yet?) While the girls ask Keitaro if he's alright or just pretending to be asleep, Motoko remembers the days when her sister gave up the sword and was married. Motoko leaves the inn in disgust, to ponder what has just happened to her. Along the way, monks explain to her that this feeling is that of her first love. Motoko, of course, refuses to believe that she's falling into the same "trap" as her sister, and returns to Hinatasou. Later on, Keitaro complains about being tired, becoming curious when he notices a large hole beneath a poster on his ceiling. However, sticking his head through this hole, he finds that it leads into Naru's room. Motoko-chan, who was talking with Naru in her room when Kei-kun found the big hole in the ceiling, once again overreacts to Keitaro's clumsy behavior, this time striking him with a Zankusen. Naru and the other girls scold Motoko-chan for being so harsh towards Kei-kun and point out that the hole had been there a long time before Keitaro ever came to stay there. Motoko then vows that she will never accept Urashima as Kanrinin and promptly faints dead away. I don't think she should do that while holding a sword... Later that evening, Su says that Motoko-chan has a cold, which relieves Motoko's worries about first love feelings towards Keitaro. Of course, she then comes to hasty conclusions that Urashima was trying to toy with her feelings, when he knew she had a cold all along. She vows to get back at him for making her think that he was her first love. (...Riiiiiight...) Motoko decides to challenge Keitaro to a duel, which interrupts him drinking his green tea. She says that if he wins, she'll accept him as Kanrinin, and if she wins, she'll become Kanrinin and he has to leave. Escaping through this gaping hole in his ceiling, Kei-kun unknowingly forgets where it leads; right into Naru's bedroom. Narusegawa is obviously upset, but Keitaro ends up tripping and falling on her and, of course, Motoko finds them in this rather compremising position and, once again, overreacts. Chasing him around Hinatasou's interior, and then onto the roof, Motoko readies to finish him off, but ends up fainting, only to have Keitaro catch her arm and grab at the roof's eave at the last second. She wakes up, yelling at him again to let her go, but he says that he's the Kanrinin, and therefore can't do that. Once he helps her onto the roof once more, he falls into the hot spring, where the other girls check him to make sure he's still alive. Su calls him Keitaro the immortal. ^__^ Later, Keitaro finds out that he's caught a cold and the girls find his student ID in the hot spring, which reveals to everyone but Naru that he's still a Prep School Student and not, as Haruka claimed, a Toudai Student. ________ __________________________________/ 04. \________________________________________ "The Promise to Get Into Tokyo U was 15 Years Ago - DIARY" ____________________________________________________________________________________ Keitaro is in deep trouble when the girls find out that he hasn't gotten into Tokyo University at all. After being thoroughly threatened by Hinatasou girls Kitsune, Su and Motoko, Shinobu asks if he was really lying and Naru proposes a little deal: If Urashima can make it into Tokyo U this year without failure, then he can remain Kanrinin of Hinatasou. After all, he really has nowhere to go. Later that day, Kitsune tells Keitaro that she needs something of him that only he can provide, and begins to undress him, much to his dismay. Of course, nothing is ever as it seems, and it turns out that Kitsune is dressing him up for janitorial work. ^__^ In a frenzied rush, Keitaro breaks one of the pipes in the hot spring. As the day wears on, Keitaro is forced to clean the halls, clean the windows via a bungie cord, stoke the furnace, and even make dinner, all of which is promptly gobbled up by Su-chan. -_-; After sweeping the front entrance way of Hinatasou, Keitaro turns in for the night, to begin his study for the mock exam. Using the hole in his ceiling, he pops through to ask Naru the answer to one of the questions and accidentally catches her adjusting her panties and stockings. This earns him a swift kick into the stratosphere, but once he returns, she decides to help him anyway. While helping him solve this problem, Naru gets frustrated and asks him how he could possibly take Tokyo U entrance exam twice with his abilities, and then inquires as to why he hasn't applied for colleges other than Tokyo University. Claiming that's none of her business, Keitaro asks her if it's foolish to want to keep a promise with his childhood sweetheart, no matter the difficulty. Naru then gets very emotional and tells him that she'll definitely remember that promise, that he shouldn't fail her. However, when they hear Kitsune coming down the hallway, Naru panics and shoves Kei-kun under a table. While under the table though, Keitaro looses his glasses and feels around to find them again, accidentally touching Naru's thigh. Kitsune then asks why her face is so red and leaves. However, Keitaro's not out of the woods yet, as Naru took the whole situation the wrong way, and calls him a lecher and a pervert, knocks him back down into his room, and then quickly begins nailing boards over the hole. The next day, while Keitaro nails more boards over the hole, Naru's diary falls from a bookshelf and he ponders what could possibly be inside. He tries to put it back, but then accidentally drops it onto the floor, where it conveniently opens to a page with the words "15 years ago...Tokyo U...reason...promise" on it. Naru finds him, and pushes him down the hole mumbling something about this being much worse than peeping. For the next few days, Narusegawa gives Kei-kun the cold shoulder, but that's not going to get Keitaro down, because he has to study for his tests, for the promised girl's sake. The following day, Kei-kun is at the testing center, in a dazed stupor due to lack of sleep. After the practice test, Urashima begins to self-grade the test. (Now you know how a home-taught high schooler feels.) After grading the first five questions, he leaves the center white-as-a-sheet. Returning to Hinatasou, Keitaro watches from the snow-covered stone stair as Naru reveals that she passed the test. He turns around and says goodbye, but quickly realizes that everything he owns is still in his room. Donning thief clothing (A scarf wrapped around his head then tied under his nose), Keitaro sneaks into his room and reclaims his junk, only to be spotted by Shinobu in the hallway, who yells "Thief!" Motoko comes to the rescue, but Su-chan one- ups her efforts with a bazooka (no kidding!), and Kitsune gives the order to fire at will. Running away from Su's blasts, he bumps into Naru, jarring his diary from his bag. The other girls ask Naru why she let the thief get away, to which she responds that the thief was Keitaro. Shinobu, worried that Kei- kun wasn't able to make the grade, goes to find him, but Naru tells her just don't bother, as it was impossible for him to pass anyway. Aunt Haruka comes up to the girls and explains that Naru had the same trouble passing the exam two years ago. The girls then rush off to find him. Without footprints, they finally give up, and Su builds a Keitaro snowman. ^______^ Naru continues to look after the other girls go back, and she finds him standing near Tokyo U. Keitaro wonders how Naru managed to walk for over an hour and a half to make the trip to Tokyo U, but his thoughts are quickly answered when Naru asks him to close his eyes--and promptly lands a strong right hook to his jaw. To make up for looking at her diary, Kei-kun offers to let her read a page from his, but says that the current page is inappropriate. Naru giggles and says that's not fair for him to pick the page and tells him to read it. He recounts what he wrote concerning the forced labor they put him through, but before he can finish, Naru nabs the diary and runs away while reading it, only to stop and turn back, telling him that she feels like she can almost touch Tokyo U from where they're standing -- and admits that she promised someone she'd make it as a Tokyo University student when she grew up. Afterwards, Keitaro recounts what really happened to his diary. Turns out that he didn't fail the exam; he just missed the first five questions, and then gave up on grading it. In his excitement over earning more than 600 points (making a passing grade) though, he walks out to the hot spring, and stumbles upon the girls in their towels. This once again earns him a very swift "stratosphere punch" from Narusegawa. ________ __________________________________/ 05. \________________________________________ "Close Contact! A Trip to Kyoto." ____________________________________________________________________________________ After finding out that Naru might be his promised girl, Keitaro studies with her for the next Tokyo U entrance exam. However, on exam day, he drops a few hints about her being the girl he promised to go to Toudai with when he just a little boy. Naru asks him to not bother her and continues her studies. The morning then gets more hectic as Hinatasou's fire alarm goes off. Rushing to the kitchen, Kei-kun discovers that Shinobu has overcooked the fish. However, the trouble hasn't passed yet, as he accidentally barges in on Kitsune while she's putting on her red dress. Of course, that isn't the source of the loud bell noise, so Kitsune, Shinobu and Keitaro rush up to Motoko and Su's room, where they find Motoko trying to slash Su's flying alarm clock. Crisis over. Later, Naru and Keitaro leave to take the entrance exam again, but when they arrive, the security guard tells Keitaro and Naru that this is not the place for them. Of course, Kei-kun overreacts and thinks that the guard means that they aren't worthy of Tokyo University. However, the guard then explains the situation; they're at the wrong high school to take the Toudai entrance exam and the right school is halfway across town. With their hair standing on end, Naru and Kei-kun dash off to the other school. Meanwhile, a beige van starts. Arriving at the extrance exam center, Keitaro cannot seem to find his student ID. However, while frantically searching through his bag, he doesn't notice a large beige van on a collision course with him. Seeing the van, he runs away, muttering "What the...?!" along the way. Ducking inside the school, he knocks over a girl in a green dress and, realizing what he's done, checks her pulse. When he can't feel one, he panics and is caught in the blank guilt-confirming stare of a small turtle sitting on the girl's head. After the moment of sheer terror, the turtle exclaims "Yew!" in a squeaky voice and raises a flipper to say hi to Keitaro. The girl regains conciousness, sits up and begins reciting her name (Mitsumi Otohime) and her student ID number (A10582). Unfortunately, Keitaro hears the van outside and runs once again, just as the girl asks him where the classroom is. Outside again, the van tracks Keitaro to the sidewalk railing, which Kei-kun climbs over and the van collides with, causing the van to roll end over end towards Keitaro. Smashing top-first into the school wall, the van finally comes to a stop, and a man with an extremely severe headwound gets out--and hands Keitaro his missing student ID. Keitaro then asks him who he is, but he's already back in his van and leaving the scene with haste. ^_^ Inside the school, Keitaro begins taking the entrance exam, but drops several of his pencil leads on the floor before he can even answer the first question. That night, Naru and Keitaro return to Hinatasou and are congratulated by all of the girls on their achievements. However, the next day following the exam, Keitaro finds out that he didn't make it onto the passing charts. Leaving the scene, Naru screams at Keitaro to stop following her. However, Naru's cut off by a passing car and is forced to stop and explain herself to Keitaro. Crying her eyes out, Naru admits that she failed the exam also. Taking Naru out to a restaurant, he listens as she gripes about spending two years studying, with- out having any fun, friends or time of her own. Keitaro then asks her if they can simply keep their 15 year-old promise to enter Tokyo U together next year. Unfortunately for Kei-kun, Naru asks him what he's talking about and explains that she could never have made such a promise when she was only two years-old fifteen years ago. A horror-struck Keitaro stands at the doorway of the diner and watches as Naru walks slowly away. Kei-kun then mumbles, "It's all over." The next day, Naru has apparently booked a train seat to travel away from her responsibilities, and Keitaro, for a couple days. Unfortunately for them both, Keitaro has booked a seat on the exact same train. Of course, neither of them notice that the other is there. Naru phones Kitsune at Hinatasou to let her in on her plan to get away for a couple days. Then, Keitaro phones the Hinatasou using a telephone card borrowed from a nice lady, who just happens to be Naru. Su picks up the phone and says that he must have dialed the wrong number, but Shinobu grabs the receiver and asks where he is. When the girls find out that they're both headed to Kyoto, Kitsune concludes that the "couple" planned this all along. However, things don't go according to plan; Narusegawa and Keitaro bump into each other and both of their glasses are broken as a result. Thanks to the fact that they're both blind-as-bats, they actually enjoy each other's company, thinking all the while how different this other person is from Naru/ Keitaro. Upon arriving in Kyoto, they drop their glasses off to be fixed, and Kei-kun suggests that they see the sights together. When Keitaro comes across a booth for taking Purikura he tries to take his picture alone, but Naru gets into the photo booth with him. Naru tells him how inconsiderate he must be to take his picture alone while there's a girl present. Attempting to get a good look at the Purikura, he grabs Naru's hand, but then says he's sorry. ^____^; Arriving at their hotel, they both comment to themselves concerning how close the resemblence to Hinatasou is. Inside, Naru stops off at her room, which is incidentally the exact room that Keitaro reserved. (Quite a setup, isn't it?) The innkeeper asks if they mind sharing a room, as this is the last available lodging. Of course, then the optometrist shows up with their glasses and says that he's finished. Putting their glasses on, they see each other and scream. Later, the two of them are engaged in heated sessions of ping-pong. (Really.) Naru tells Keitaro how pathetic he is for thinking he could get into Tokyo U, just because of a promise to a girl, to which he counters that Naru looked as if she were a nerd and studied hard every single day for two years and failed anyway. Naru is hurt by his criticism, but just as he tries to apologize, she hits him with an insane volley of ping-pong balls. Later that night, they both discover that their beds are right next to each other. Naru quickly puts up a divider between the beds, explaining frantically to Kei-kun that he better not come across to her side. Laying down, Naru worries about what Keitaro might do to her during the night... Looking over the divider in the morning, she finds that Keitaro tied himself up with rope during the night and fell fast asleep. Sitting against the hot spring divider the next day, Naru asks Keitaro why he came to Kyoto. He explains that he wanted to go away for a couple days before returning to Hinatasou, after he failed the exam. Naru says that their reason for coming there was almost exactly the same. Naru then asks Keitaro if he'll ever go out on a date with her again. Of course, Keitaro answers with "Sure." ________ __________________________________/ 06. \________________________________________ "Keitaro's First Kiss!" ____________________________________________________________________________________ The Hinata girls are beginning to worry about Naru and Keitaro going to Kyoto together, but when they see him with Naru on the TV, Su and Shinobu decide to go looking for them. Kitsune thinks that Shinobu might feel betrayed and that she could very well track him down and kill him for such an offense, but then Motoko wonders how such a weird situation could ever occur. Kitsune says that it's only a possibility. Convincing Motoko to travel with her, Kitsune leaves Hinatasou to find Keitaro and Naru as well. Meanwhile, Keitaro acts like he's relaxed around Naru, until she breaks it to him that there isn't anything all that special between them yet, by stretching his cheek reeeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy far. You've just gotta love those zany, artistic exaggerations. :) Of course, then everything gets really zany, as Mitsumi Otohime, the one Keitaro knocked down at the entrance exam center, shows up out of nowhere and promptly faints. When she comes to, she explains to Naru and Kei-kun how she faints because of her weak constitution all the time. Keitaro shows his concern about her well- being, and Mitsumi moves in to kiss Kei-kun, much to the dismay of Narusegawa. Just short of doing so though, Mitsumi pulls back and says that he has a very cute face and asks if he's still in middle school. ^__^ Keitaro exclaims that he is twenty years-old. After Mitsumi explains that she failed her last exam, Naru tells her that Keitaro failed his three times so far. Mitsumi takes this to mean that he's stupid. Mitsumi: "Oh, I see. So you're stupid, aren't you?" Mitsumi then admits that she has failed her last four entrance exams to Tokyo U. She also admits that she got a 50 on her last Christmas test, then Keitaro says that he got a 49. Then, in sync, they both tip the table up, reach for a handkerchief, spill all of their drinks on Naru, and say apologies in tandum. Naru wonders how these two could be so much alike. Mitsumi says her goodbyes, and Naru shows a bit of jealousy that Mitsumi would call Keitaro's face cute. While waiting for their train, Naru asks Keitaro what he plans to do now, and before he can formulate an answer, Mitsumi shows up again and promptly faints on Kei-kun's shoulder. Naru gets upset and hits Kei-kun with their table, and says that they better travel with Otohime-san, just to be safe. However, when she asks Mitsumi where she lives, she's startled to hear her state "Okinawa." Let the traveling nightmare begin! First, Mitsumi Otohime gives us a somewhat brief Japanese history lesson, but not before Naru jumps in and exclaims that they must have traveled east rather than west and ended up in Nagoya. And yet again, Mitsumi and Keitaro apologize in tandum. Naru wonders if these two are related in some way. ^_^ Nearby, Motoko is performing a street show to earn a bit of money. Kitsune is happy about all of the money, but poor Motoko had to use her family sword to cut an inanimate object, and feels as if she's shamed her family. Kitsune says that this was unavoidable, since Keitaro didn't have enough money in his personal bank account to get them very far. ^_____^ After they spot Naru getting into the back of a truck, they rush after. Keitaro and Naru get into another up-close-and-personal situation, then realize that they are heading further east, towards Sendai. Which is exactly where we find both Su and Shinobu. Su's reenacting a female tour guide routine that she says saw once on TV, but she claims that it's just not the same. Shinobu tells Su that they should be heading to Kyoto, not Sendai. Su asks her if the two locations are really all that different. ^___^ Shinobu spots both Naru and Keitaro in a truck. Su says that this must be Kyoto then, and Shinobu says "No, it isn't!" Later, onboard a cruise ship, Mitsumi talks about Mount Sakurajima, an active volcano, while Naru and Keitaro argue in the background. She also asks all of us, the audience, if we can see the lovely couple and points over at Naru and Keitaro. When Mitsumi asks Keitaro if she can see the Purikura he took of him and Naru, he refuses and she says that she knows he must be in love with Naru, as she was awake when Kei-kun accidentally fell on Naru in the truck. She asks him why he didn't kiss her when he had that chance, and he goes berserk. Naru is taking a shower aboard the cruise ship, so Mitsumi decides to join her and reveals to her that Keitaro said he likes Naru. Meanwhile, Su and Shinobu are trying to sell matches to earn travel money. Several warriors soon appear and advance toward Shinobu, but are quickly cut down by Motoko. Happy to see both Kitsune and Motoko, Shinobu is interrupted by someone yelling "Cut!" It seems that Motoko has just injured all of the extras on a samurai movie set. Motoko is embarrassed and apologizes. Elsewhere, Keitaro asks Naru if she knows what happened to Mitsumi, but before she can answer, Mitsumi appears with a rather large inflatable raft and says that the must use this raft from this point on. In a small restaurant, the girls are watching a news report that claims three young people and one inflatable liferaft have been lost at sea. Shinobu can't believe that it's true. Back on the raft, Kei-kun, Naru and Mitsumi wonder if they'll ever get back to dry land, when a lightning storm suddenly appears and makes their liferaft capsize. After letting his last breath go, Keitaro wakes up to find himself washed up on a beach, with Mitsumi and Naru splashing each other in a nearby lagoon. Noticing that Keitaro is awake, Mitsumi faints once again. When she comes to, Naru offers to get her a drink of water, and leaves her alone with Keitaro. With Naru gone, Mitsumi pulls Kei-kun's glasses off of his face and kisses him. Keitaro freaks out, as does Naru, dropping the water she got for Mitsumi. Naru runs off crying with Keitaro in pursuit, and he asks Naru why she's running away and crying if she doesn't care, then accidentally falls on her once again. The silence of the moment is broken though, when the girls from Hinatasou show up in a rescue boat and tell Keitaro and Narusegawa that a lover's suicide isn't worth it. ^__^ Mitsumi then walks up and, seeing the captain of the rescue boat, realizes that they've been on her island, for literally the past few hours, much to the bewilderment of Keitaro and Naru... Back on mainland Japan, Mitsumi says her goodbyes to Keitaro and then, to the shock and befuddlement of Keitaro, Mitsumi kisses Naru right on the lips. She then gives Naru a present, but tells her to open it later, as it is a present in appreciation of their wonderful time together. So on the way home, Keitaro opens the package, revealing Mitsumi's little pet kamé (turtle) hidden inside. On the way back to Hinatasou, the girls decide to stop by a public bath house, and Naru is confused as to why they've done so. Kitsune says it's because the voters demanded it, while Motoko says that this bath house's water is good for their health, but Naru says those explainations don't make any sense. When the camera zooms out, it becomes clear that they're not even in Japan anymore. :) ________ __________________________________/ 07. \________________________________________ "First Date, Keitaro's True Feelings - NOW A DAYS" ____________________________________________________________________________________ When this episode begins, we find Naru on a beach with who seems to be Keitaro without his glasses on. She tells him that it's over between them and that he should move on with his life and be with the other girl if he wants. However, the young man stops her from running away and pulls her back into the foaming waves of the tide. Looking into the man's face, Naru becomes confused, as the man isn't Keitaro at all, but some imposter. The Hinata girls then brake into conversation in the background, asking "Who in the world could that be?" Naru pushes the man away and wakes up, pulling a visor from over her eyes. Kitsune asks Su to rewind the tape a bit (?) and let her take another look at the guy. Naru becomes confused as to how her dream is on the television and Su explains that this is visual feedback gathered from the virtual reality visor that Naru was wearing and, of course, it's Su's latest invention. Su then explains that the visor connects to the antenna on the user's head and transmits an image of what's in that person's heart. Naru becomes frustrated and says that her hair isn't an antenna. ^___^ Tama-chan falls off of Naru's head and lands right on Keitaro's head, waking him up. He says something incoherent to Naru, about how fun it was when they drank oolong tea together, then notices the image of the mysterious guy on the TV and asks who it is. Su says it's Naru's dream prince, which causes Keitaro to go ballistic. Naru swears that she doesn't know anyone like that, but the potential standoff is cut short when Haruka reminds Naru of the graduation ceremony today. Naru disrobes in a hurry, but is soon replaced by a Vénus de Milo" statue, which is quickly covered by Shinobu yelling to not change her clothes in front of everyone. Keitaro gets a severe nose bleed and Naru stomps on him for seeing her naked. ^__^; Suddenly, a huge treaded drill machine comes through the floor of the room and out pops the same guy that we just saw inside Naru's dream. He extends his hand to Naru and asks for her to trust him. She weakly agrees. The drill then turns into a makeshift plane and blasts off, while the monks comment on how this new guest just won't do here. The young man explains to Naru that he could have flown in by helicopter, but that would be the entrance of a rich rival, so he used the drill ship instead, an invention of his father's company. To this guy's dismay, Naru asks him who he is, and he plonks (as does the entire plane), explaining that he's Kentaro Sakata, her classmate. Remembering how he was the representative at her class graduation, Naru remembers how the school thought them to be an item, because of her coming to school beside him earlier that morning. She also recalls how she thought he was Keitaro, when his real name was Kentaro. By the way, don't feel bad if you didn't really get the blatant Japanese pun; you aren't alone. Elsewhere, Keitaro and Kitsune are on their way back to Hinatasou from grocery shopping. Kitsune claims that they should be able to have an excellent picnic with the sashimi and sake she bought, but Keitaro complains that she spent all their money on nothing but sake and sashimi, even the money set aside for the juice and snacks. Before their street car begins the trip to Hinatasou though, Shirai and Haitani show up to pick on Keitaro for failing his exams yet again. (After all, what are friends for?) Keitaro counters though, by asking the two if he knows them. ^__^ They make it perfectly clear who they are and then hit on Kitsune. Being Kitsune though, she acts sarcastic, saying that Keitaro and her are living together, from which Keitaro's "friends" draw all of the wrong conclusions. Kitsune inquires as to where they found their Kanagawa Neverland jackets, to which they answer that they work there and only staff get to wear them. Keitaro is confused, but Kitsune explains to him how Kanagawa Neverland is a brand-new theme park that recently opened. Kitsune expresses her desires to go to the theme park's Asian wine showcase also. Kitsune's such a lush. :) Shirai and Haitani then decide to do Keitaro a favor; they'll give him V.I.P. passes to Kanagawa Neverland, if he'll forget about the other girl (Naru) and go there with Kitsune. Keitaro says that he'll never forget Naru and imagines the two of them riding the teacups ride and having a perfect date at Kanagawa Neverland. In his current state of expectation, Keitaro grabs at the tickets, and begins thanking Shirai and Haitani in advance. However, they then clarify the terms of the deal; 8,000 yen per ticket. Shirai nearly blows this deal by admitting that they get 2 tickets for free as staff members, but Haitani puts a hand over his mouth and seals the deal, explaining that their price is low, since they're such good friends with Keitaro. -_-x Just then, Naru, alongside Kentaro, says that she'll be expecting him at the park later, and gets on the street car with Kitsune and Kei-kun. Kitsune says that she saw everything and asks who that guy was. Naru explains that he is just a classmate with tickets to Kanagawa Neverland. Kitsune says that it must be nice to have a date and to be so young, but Naru claims it isn't like that. Meanwhile, Shirai and Haitani have just lightened Kei-kun's wallet of 16,000 yen. Keitaro, however, who just heard that Naru is already going to Kanagawa Neverland tonight with the other guy, turns into a pillar of ashes. Kitsune tells Naru that she looks a little weak and asks if she has diarrhea and Naru asks her what she's talking about. Later, Kitsune and Naru are ascending the sakura-covered stairs to Hinatasou, with Kei-kun pulling up the rear with groceries and Kanagawa Neverland passes in hand. He wonders if he should even ask Naru to go on a date with him there, as she's already going with Kentaro. After watching her undo her pigtails and take her glasses off, Keitaro wonders why Naru looks so lonely, then asks her if she's depressed. She tells him that he's talking too much, and runs ahead. Later that day, Haruka asks Keitaro what he plans to do, and he expresses his wish to remain Hinatasou Kanrinin, provided everyone forgives him for failing his exam again. Su expresses her hope that he fails every single year, so she can continue to pick on him forever. He says, with understandable vigor, that he'll pass it next time for sure. ^___^; Shinobu is a bit worried about Naru, explaining that she looked troubled when she returned from her graduation. Su wonders if it could be because she's hungry. ^___^ Motoko thinks it's because of her weight gain during her lengthy study period. Kitsune still insists that it's diarrhea. {:p Keitaro thinks that they're all wrong, but Su asks if they should just find out directly from Naru, by using her virtual reality visor to spy on her dreams. Keitaro says no and that it's not nice to peek into Naru's dreams. Motoko asks him if he knows what's wrong, but before he can formulate an answer, Su pops the visor on his head and Kitsune says that Keitaro's dream should be even more fun to peek in on. In his dream, Keitaro tells Naru how he got the tickets so that they could go together, while Kitsune wonders when he had the chance to get two tickets. His dream continues to play out in typical fashion, with Naru and him riding on teacups and rollercoasters, going into a haunted house and eating ice cream together. Su-chan sees the ice cream, then pretending that she's eating some too. ^__^ Kitsune complains about Keitaro's dream being too mushy. Back in the dream, Naru asks Keitaro how he knew about her wanting to come to the park with him, but he doesn't have a decent answer. He suggests they get off, but Naru wants to ride the ferris wheel once again, then asks him "Don't you want to be with me?" Suddenly, somebody says there's no way this could ever happen. Kentaro appears and asks Kei-kun if he's really expecting a girl to let him kiss her without any effort on his behalf. Kei-kun asks him how he can lecture him if he's inside his own head. Su then pulls his visor off, revealing Kentaro sitting next to him wearing another of Su's dream visors. Kentaro introduces himself as Sakata Kentaro, and says that he managed to get into K University's medical school on his first try and that he's from a rich family. The girls exclaim "Sakata Keitaro?", causing Kentaro to get mad and correct them about his name once again. He asks where he can find Naru and claims that they have a date set for tonight's Kanagawa Neverland invitational. Motoko doesn't accept the fact that Narusegawa would lower herself to go on a date with this guy, but Kentaro counters with "Do you think that this slacker and Naru would make a better couple?" The Hinata girls, as well as Tama-chan, look around them, oblivious to the fact that he is insulting Keitaro. Shinobu breaks in during the silence and says that Naru never told them about Kentaro. He then counters by pulling out a scroll which tells the history of how he met Naru and how he's been tracking her growth ever since. Kitsune: "So, you're a stalker, right?" Kentaro slowly reveals how he was waiting for a perfect time to let Naru accept him as her destiny. He then comes on to Shinobu, >:| who's more than happy to share her opinion that he's just toying with Naru's tender feelings. Motoko agrees. Kentaro explains, demonstrating his complete scumbag degree, that Naru is suffering from what he likes to call "The Desire to Love and be Loved in Return Syndrome", or D.L.L.R. Keitaro then asks him if how he could analyze someone he supposedly loves, and says that he'd rather be loved for who he really is. Kentaro counters, saying that dating is a game in which you conquer the other person. Kitsune has a plan though, as she suggests they use Su's visors to determine who would go on a better date with Naru; the one who wins will date Naru. Within the visor, Naru asks Keitaro what they should do first and he suggests going on a popular rollercoaster. Kentaro then shows up and explains that the coaster usually has a two-to-three hour wait-in-line at this time of day. Keitaro then suggests the Surprised Ghost House; Kentaro says two-hour wait-in-line. Keitaro suggests riding the Neverland Cruise, but Kentaro says it's reached 200% of its maximum allowed amount of passengers. A ride on the Missle Cart is also out of the question, as it is currently under repair. Naru decides that Keitaro's date is boring and Kentaro takes her on a ride in the Teacups, which is the emptiest ride at this time. He takes her to the gift shop to buy something. He then suggests going to the less-busy rides for an hour and a half, and afterwards, suggests they go eat at a restaurant, which he reserved for Naru. Keitaro then becomes rather angry, wondering just how the Naru in the visor could fall for such an obvious stategic plan. This, and how everything else during his date had been working to his disadvantage, finally makes him realize that the real Naru would never be this way. Kentaro then takes Naru to the ferris wheel, which Keitaro argues isn't even romantic with the sun already set. Kentaro counters, saying that night scenery is very important to a woman's heart. Kentaro leans forward to steal a kiss from her, but Keitaro lurches forward, breaking the visor and ending the game. Kentaro, believing that he's won, asks if Kei-kun forfeits, but he explains that Naru, the real Naru, isn't anything like this simulated Naru. The real Naru strolls into the room, telling Kentaro that she'll be ready in just a few minutes. An exausted Keitaro sighs and Kitsune says "We have a winner." Outside, the monk horde stands in the fog surrounding Naru and the stunned Kentaro... Returning to his rooms, Keitaro lazes around and says that it's the Kanrinin's day off. The silence passes pretty quickly though, as Naru barges in and tells Keitaro that if he's not busy, would he come with her to Kanagawa Neverland. It seems that she's acquired several tickets from a friend. Of course, combined with a pair of tickets from Keitaro, there's just enough for every one of the Hinata girls to come along. Keitaro asks Naru if she still plans to go to college. A bright smile and "You can't figure out my feelings?" is her answer. And since everything is going so smoothly, Su kicks Keitaro, causing him to accidentally grab Naru's breast. Oops. Keitaro gets "stratosphere punched" yet again, then Kitsune admires how high he's flying today. ^_^ Naru wonders how she could've decided to study for yet another year with such an idiot, then Haruka asks if that means she has already decided. Meanwhile, Kentaro asks the audience what we're looking at, while he soaks in Hinatasou's onsen, but is then interrupted by the undress room door creaking open. In anticipation of seeing girls enter the hot spring wearing nothing but towels, Kentaro fails to notice a somewhat thick fog enveloping the entire hot spring. However, when Tama-chan steps out of the doorway, Kentaro realizes that he's in the onsen with all of the monks. ________ __________________________________/ 08. \________________________________________ "Kendo Daughter and the Legendary Dragon Story... A Dream?" ____________________________________________________________________________________ The scene begins with Keitaro, Naru, Kitsune, Shinobu and Su looking at the TV screen in high anticipation. A video game title screen pops on screen. Shinobu says that she's never seen a video game like this one before. Keitaro explains that it's because he bought this video game when he was still attending Junior High. Kitsune marvels at the fact the he still has it, and Naru says she found it hidden away in storage. Kitsune says because of the combination of Naru and Kei-kun, they now have yet another form of entertainment at Hinatasou. Keitaro takes Kitsune's comment about "combination" all wrong and blushes, earning him a knuckle sandwich from Naru. Motoko leaves Hinatasou to meet with her admirer friends, who tell her that she has changed a lot lately. It seems her feminist friend sees a problem with Motoko living with a man under one roof. Of course, Motoko takes the advice with a grain of salt and later that day, consults with Naru about it. However, while they're talking a pair of Keitaro's boxer shorts flies off of the laundry line and hits Naru in the face. Angered by this, Naru says that even Kei-kun's laundry bothers her, and that his very existance is a bother. Motoko is astonished that Naru feels the same way about Keitaro, while Naru hangs the boxers back on the line. Naru says that she thinks he's stupid, perverted and can't make up his mind, and it almost seems as though there isn't anything good about him at all. Naru inquires as to what it is Motoko needed to ask her about, but Motoko says nevermind and that she's heard enough. While in deep meditation, Motoko attempts to solve her situation, as there's only shame if she continues the way she is. Making her way back to Hinatasou, Motoko finds Keitaro looking like a zombie. He clings to her, saying that the game won't end and she tells him to let go of her. When he lets go and falls to the floor, she realizes that he's having a dream. Hearing Naru's voice call out to her, Motoko sees an angelic vision of Naru, who tells her that she should give up her sword and come to the party with her, where many handsome men are waiting. Motoko is confused, and Naru explains that a woman's heart is beautiful when it acquires a man's heart and says that Motoko doesn't want to go. Naru runs up to the hill to a castle, which is then engulfed by darkness. A wicked laugh echoes through the area around the castle and Naru asks the voice, "Is that you, Dragon King?" The Dragon King grabs Princess Naru (?) and tells her that she will become his bride. When the Dragon King disappears, Motoko calls out for Naru, but there's no answer. Suddenly, a bright light glimmers, and Motoko teleported to a sunny beach. There, she notices two super-deformed boys kicking at a turtle shell, so she walks over to help. The two boys then transform into full grown versions of Shirai and Haitani. Motoko asks them what's going on, but soon notices that the turtle shell they were kicking contains a battered Keitaro. Kei-kun pleads for help, saying that everyone has been picking on him. Shirai and Haitani say that they're only picking on him because he's failed to get into Toudai three times. Motoko tells them to quit picking on Keitaro, turning them both back into their super-deformed state. After they run away, Keitaro, now super-deformed as well, thanks Motoko for sticking up for him. He says that he's glad that he's finally met his first companion. Motoko wonders what he's talking about, so the Keitaro in super-deformed mode explains that he is Warrior Keitaro, the one who's brave enough to rescue Princess Naru from the evil Dragon King. Motoko then realizes that she's trapped inside of Keitaro's dream, which must have been inspired by the role-playing game he was playing. Motoko gets upset and tells Keitaro that she won't go and help him rescue Naru, causing him to cry and claim that she's being mean to him. Motoko gets pretty irritated at him for being such a whiner, but decides to go with him anyway, wondering how she ever got herself into this mess. Suddenly, a super-deformed Su appears ahead of them, riding an ostrich... Leaping over their heads, Su's ostrich lays a ton of eggs around them. However, when they stop falling, Motoko and Keitaro are suddenly in a large blender with all of the egg yolks and whites. ^___^ Su asks them if it's delicious and joins Keitaro's party. As the party walks down the road, a huge lizard and bull frog appear, with a super-deformed Kitsune and a baby Shinobu on their backs. Then, Kitsune tells Keitaro that if he'll drink some Frog and Wart Milk, he'll cheer up. Unfortunately, the lizard tries to eat Keitaro, and he flails about in its mouth. Later on, Keitaro's party comes to a town and he says that that's where the Dragon King lives. Motoko recognizes the town as the place where Hinatasou is located. With a wicked laugh, the Dragon King welcomes the would-be warriors and says that he won't hand over Princess Naru without some sort of fight. The party, all except Motoko, agree to rescue her and the Dragon King laughs, then disappears. Motoko wonders how long this dream will go on... Back at Hinatasou, Keitaro, dreaming that he's finally made it into Toudai, rolls over and puts an arm around someone... Back in the dream, Keitaro tells the party that they have arrived at the White Witch's House, while Motoko asks "Isn't this Hiza Hinata?" (Haruka's Shop) In a puff of smoke, a super-deformed Haruka appears and offers to help the brave warriors. Motoko asks how Haruka-san can participate in such a dream, and Haruka says that she can't help it, since it isn't her dream. She then tells Motoko that only one of the people within the dream doesn't know it is only a dream. Motoko asks if it's Keitaro, but is interrupted when Keitaro's party exits the shop dressed in new armor and attire. Keitaro now has a knight uniform and sword, Kitsune has a magician's robe and Su is dressed in a catgirl outfit. Kitsune asks how Shinobu is going to help them if she is only a little baby, but Haruka uses her wand to turn her, Sailor Moon-style, into Nurse Girl Rurururu. Shinobu: "In the name of Love and Calmness, I'll fix your heartache." Shinobu asks if her promise was a bit overdone, but Kitsune assures her that's okay, as it's only a dream. Everyone then insists that Motoko get a new outfit, but she's not too thrilled about that. Afterwards, Haruka tells the party that they must find the Legendary Dragon, but before they can do that, they'll need to find the Triangle Map. As the party walks one-by-one past the camera, we see that Motoko now has a Roman Breastplate and Broadsword. She doesn't look happy about it either. ^__^ Keitaro suggests they ask the nearby monks where to find the Triangle Map. The monks tell them that a Triangle Flag can be found in the nearby Gift Shop. However, when Motoko asks the super-deformed monks where the Gift Shop is, they just say that a Triangle Flag can be found in the Gift Shop again. Kitsune then becomes full-size and tells Motoko that you can't pressure non-playable characters in an older game, so it's useless to ask them anything more than once, Su adds. :) Shinobu says that someone is coming, then everyone except Motoko turns super-deformed once again. The screen flashes and a random battle begins. The opponents, Shirai and Haitani, tell Keitaro that they won't let him pass and attack him, calling him a Tokyo University exam failer. Fried beyond recognition, Keitaro faints and both Su and Shinobu burst into flames of rage. Motoko doesn't know what's going on, but Kitsune explains that when their main character dies, his comrades become angry and powerful. Shirai and Haitani tell the party to hurry up. Shirai says "It IS your turn, you know." The girls ask Motoko to end the battle, and she then uses a large energy attack. Kitsune tells her that she needn't use such an enormous attack, as it's only a game... Motoko apologizes, and they move on to the Souvenir Shop, where the party finds the Triangle Flag Map, but Motoko points out that it's only an ordinary flag... Using the map, they find out that the dragon lives in Hinata Lake, and go there to find him. Arriving at the lake, Keitaro finds a tourist marker that explains how to awaken the sleeping dragon: beautiful ladies must sing a beautiful song. Two voices say that they are the beautiful ladies and the party's view pans up to the top of the tourist marker. It's 2 extremely small Mitsumi Otohimes! They say they've decided to follow the example set by Keitaro's party by being small. Motoko says she thinks that they misunderstood the definition of small. The two Otohime's apologize and say they must have done it again. They sing their song, calling out the "dragon", which turns out to be a REALLY FREAKING LARGE version of Tama-chan. When Motoko asks how that could be a dragon, Tama points at a the small tag on her side that reads "Legendary Dragon". ^__^ Mounting the turtle, Motoko reveals her fear of turtles, but before anyone can comment, they arrive at the Dragon King's Palace, which just so happens to be Hinatasou. Keitaro and friends run inside, but Motoko falls behind and is forced to look for the party. Falling through the hole in Naru's floor, Motoko finds Keitaro--eating ricecake and drinking green tea with the Dragon King. ^__^; Motoko asks Keitaro why he's doing so with his mortal enemy, but the Dragon King says it's okay, because it's only a dream. Motoko says it is NOT okay, that she won't let the dream end this way, because she's gone through too much already, such as wearing a ridiculous outfit. The Dragon King agrees to fight her and the scene changes to a lengthy bridge, with Motoko and the Dragon King at opposing ends. They rush each other, slash and land, but when Motoko turns around, the Dragon King's mask falls off. It's Motoko's sister, Tsuruko, in disguise! Motoko asks why her sister would be in Keitaro's dream, however Naru appears in her sister's place and explains that it's actually been her dream all along. For reasons yet unknown to Motoko-chan, she remembers when Keitaro promised to go to Toudai with the girl at Hinatasou. The super-deformed Hinata girls run into the scene with little Keitaro, thereby replacing the promised girl. Playing with Kei-kun, they all ask Motoko why she doesn't come over and play with them. Turning into a super-deformed version of herself, Motoko runs to them, but before she can get to them, the dream starts to fade and she wakes from her meditation. Returning to Hinatasou, Motoko goes to apologize to Urashima, but changes her mind when she finds him and the other girls taking a nap near the video game system. Vowing to never forgive him, she attacks him, sending a now-awakened Keitaro flying out the open window. Noding to Naru, Motoko smiles in thanks, and we see that Keitaro has beaten the RPG. Later, while bathing in the onsen, Naru confides that even though the game was pretty old, it wasn't half-bad, and was actually kind of fun. Motoko says that she guesses that a dream like that wouldn't be so awful every now and then, to which a surprised Naru and Motoko respond in unison "You saw it too?!" Keitaro then slides on-screen, saying that he just found yet another of his old games. He says that in this one, you play the manager of a girl's dormitory, and that it's a common game, but very fun as well. After caressing his face with the old cartridge, he realizes that he's walked in on a now-furious Naru and Motoko. He tries to apologize, but is nevertheless sent into low earth orbit by kicks from both of the girls, who afterwards look at each other and begin to laugh loudly. ________ __________________________________/ 09. \________________________________________ "Hinatasou's Missing Money Case - MYSTERY" ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's a fairly peaceful day at Hinatasou, with everyone going about their daily business, except Keitaro, who's taking a nap in his room. Kitsune walks in and tells him that sleeping with the windows open, he might catch a cold. Keitaro, rudely awakened from a dream about getting into Tokyo U with the promised girl, says that he would be doing something, but he's already collected the rent for this month, and that was the only thing on his agenda. He also goes on to tell Kitsune that money is very tight right now, as she spent all of the money he'd kept in his bank account. -_-; Kitsune says she didn't know the rent money was in his account at the time and says she thought he would make a lot more money for being such a good student and the kanrinin. He says that isn't the problem. Seeing Keitaro yawn, Kitsune says that he can't go collecting rent with only a half amount of sleep. She drags him into the hallway and tells him to wash his face and wake up. Su yells good morning to Keitaro, but gets a dull reply back. Kitsune asks Su where Shinobu is. Su says she should be hanging clothes out to dry. Kitsune then asks Su to ask Shinobu what she's making for lunch. Shinobu, who's currently hanging laundry, says she's making Su's favorite curry. Motoko returns and Haruka says Motoko works so hard, especially for a Sunday. Keitaro finishes washing his face, comments about Motoko looking well today, and walks into his room. A few seconds later, he screams "IT'S GONE!" Kitsune, the first on the scene, asks him "What's gone?", to which he replies "My money!" Turning his room upside-down, he can't seem to find it anywhere. Kitsune then asks him if he's sure he's looking in the right place. He then claims that when he left the room a few minutes ago, he dropped it on the kotatsu (table/desk). Finding the Purikura of Naru and him in Kyoto, Kei-kun cheers up slightly, but Kitsune then pours salt on an open wound, reminding him that they both took their trip to forget about failing Toudai exam. He says there's no time to bring that up. Kitsune apologizes and suggests that maybe the envelope with the rent money in it was blown out the window, but Keitaro says that it was pretty heavy and had a lot of money in it. Su then hangs from above his window, suggesting it might have been a robbery. The three assembled begin to think of a possible scenario, starting with Kitsune saying that anyone inside would have to pass by her room first, but since she didn't see anybody, then this robber had to come from the open window, much like Su-chan is doing at the moment. Su says that she was on the roof when the robbery occured. Keitaro insists that this isn't some kind of mystery novel, but is quickly corrected when he turns and sees Kitsune wearing her Sherlock Holmes outfit. ^__^ Kitsune tells him not to underestimate such a mystery, recruiting Su as Watson to her Sherlock. >:D Keitaro asks "Isn't that a completely different story?" Kitsune then suggests his room isn't completely sealed, pointing to the hole in the ceiling that leads to Naru's room. Peeking in, Keitaro earns a fist-in-the-mouth by saying good morning, and Kitsune asks if Naru is looking for something as well. Naru says it's nothing, then Kitsune informs her of Kei-kun's missing money envelope. Naru says she doesn't know of anything concerning the envelope, thinking to herself that maybe the item that she lost was stolen as well, prompting Su to ask what she was looking for. The blushing, angry Naru asks if it matters, and Su says she looks scary. ^______^ Kitsune says that entrance and exit from Naru's room would be fairly quick and effective for robbery, but Keitaro bears the brunt for suspecting Naru. Before Naru can flatten Keitaro, Kitsune suggests that they prove Naru's innocence by finding some evidence in her favor in her closet. Naru strongly objects, which leads Keitaro to ask why she's being so defensive. Kitsune assures her Keitaro won't be doing any of the searching personally. Keitaro worries that maybe she did steal the money, because she needed it to apply for the exams again. While he holds his head in agony, Su cutely mocks his actions. ^__^ Kitsune says for Naru to clear her name, she must have an alibi. Naru says that getting down to Keitaro's room is easy, but getting back up to her's would take more than just one perpetrator. Kitsune congratulates Naru, and says that they should move on to the next scenario. Shinobu, with tears in her eyes, says "I'm... a robber?" which makes Kitsune feel bad for suspecting her, but she tells her that they've got no choice but to question everyone. Naru, seeing Shinobu with tears in her eyes, then blames Keitaro for suspecting her and slugs him. Keitaro: "Why me?" Kitsune asks everyone to run through the events that they saw earlier. Shinobu remembers telling Su that she would make curry for lunch. Su remembers yelling good morning to Keitaro, Kitsune asking her of she'd seen Shinobu, then asking her to ask Shinobu what was for lunch. Keitaro suspects Naru once again, since she was able to see the whole transaction, yet played no part in it. Naru then begins to strangle him for suspecting her. Ruling out Shinobu, Su and Kitsune, that leaves either Motoko or Haruka as prime suspects. The would-be detectives walk over to the temple nearby, where Motoko is meditating. Before anybody can ask Motoko nicely though, Su blurts out "Motoko, do you have Keitaro's money?" Motoko gets really upset and says she won't forgive Keitaro for suspecting her, which she proves by attacking him with her Zanganku technique. Fairly injured, Keitaro says that Motoko-chan isn't the robber because he saw her and "the old woman" from the hallway, a remark which earns him a rather firm slap from his Aunt Haruka. Haruka then asks him who this "old woman" he's talking about is. Later, while everyone is eating lunch, Keitaro complements Shinobu on her food, but Su interrupts and says that it could be more spicy. (What is it with that girl and spicy food?) Kitsune asks if this is really the proper time to relax and eat, causing Keitaro to go into a spazmatic frenzy. Haruka then says that she remembers finding something outside when she was sweeping out the corridor between the main buildings. It's Keitaro's money envelope! The money, however, is gone. Haruka says that this is exactly how she found it, then Keitaro asks if that's really the case. Haruka asks him who he thinks he's talking to, and proceeds to stomp him into the ground. :) Shinobu asks if the robber could've just left the envelope and took the money, and Su says that she's just solved the case. Gathering everyone at a kotatsu, Su says that she'll now reveal the culprit. Kitsune asks if she's dressed up like Kin Dai Ichi, but Su says that it's actually supposed to make her look like Akechi. Anyway, Su says that one suspect is still left, and Motoko holds her sword up to Keitaro, who exclaims "No, not me!" Su says it's not Urashima, and points over to the corner of the room. Naru exclaims "Tama-chan?!" and Su reasons that it had to have been her, since normal people would be too noticeable and Tama-chan could have flown in through Keitaro's open windows. Naru says that even though the money envelope was made of paper, it was still too heavy for Tama-chan, but Su insists Tama- chan probably ate the money, mistaking it for food. Noticing something on her stomach, Su says that they'll have to eat Tama-chan to pay for the damages to the money and Hinatasou. Naru also notices the object and pushes everyone out of the way, grabbing Tama-chan and running, triping and falling down. Keitaro suspects that she did it, but then offers to escape justice with her. Kitsune says that they're both getting away and Su says "After them!" Haruka sighs... Naru asks Keitaro to wait, but he says he's on her side and he won't let them catch her. The others chase them throughout Hinatasou's corridors, until they duck into a closet, where Keitaro finds some very odd things. Saying that she isn't guilty, Keitaro says that he doesn't care if she is or not, and that if they can be together that everything will be okay. Naru blushes and the girls close in on their location. Keitaro suggests crawling deeper into the closet. Finding their way into a jungle, Keitaro and Naru emerge from the crawlspace, only to have Keitaro kicked in the face by Su-chan. She then says they should be ashamed for hiding in her room and says that the phrase "An evil deed goes a thousand miles in no time." must have been refering to this moment. Kitsune urges the pair to surrender. When they run away, Su cautions them to watch out for the pond and, falling in, Keitaro asks her why there's a pond in her room. Surfacing elsewhere, Keitaro and Naru find that Su's pond is connected to the hot spring out in the back. Kitsune tells Naru that she can't run forever and Naru says that she and Tama-chan are innocent. Haruka says let's all stop this nonsense and tells Kitsune that she's had her fun. Kitsune guesses she must've been caught now, so she admits that her alibi wasn't conclusive. She says that the thick paper replacing the money would've been impossible for Tama-chan to do and, upon Keitaro's realization that this is true, Naru tells him "Realize these things more quickly!" and punches him, causing him to land in the onsen. Kitsune then reveals that everybody only THOUGHT the money went missing, when Kei-kun went to wash his face, but in reality, she had taken the money out of the envelope earlier that day, while Keitaro was still asleep. She then tells of how she attached some fishing line to the envelope, lowered it down to her room when Su wasn't looking, and pulled it down later. Keitaro says he doesn't remember any fishing line, but Kitsune says that the fishing line was thin and that he wasn't quite awake yet; Su tells Kitsune that was cheap. According to Kitsune, the rest was easy; she woke Keitaro up, asked him to leave the room, made sure Su wasn't looking by asking her to ask Shinobu what she was going to make for lunch and then pulled on the fishing line, which, of course made the envelope fall out the window and into the alleyway between the main buildings, where Haruka later found it. Kitsune admits that the fishing line taped to the envelope wasn't supposed to come off, but her plan still worked out extremely well. Kitsune then blames Keitaro for leaving the money out in plain view and sleeping so soundly, but apologizes to Naru for accusing her. Su says when an investigator turns out to be a robber in disguise, it is a classic storyline. Keitaro isn't quite convinced though and asks where Kitsune could have hidden all that money, to which she replies "In your wallet." However, upon checking his back pocket, Keitaro finds out that he must have lost it when he and Naru were running away. The girls chase after him again, and he says that all this is really Kitsune's fault. Meanwhile, Shinobu wonders what Naru was originally looking for. Outside, Naru tells Tama-chan that she wasn't upset about losing her item and leaves it to dry. It's the Purikura of her and Keitaro in Kyoto. ________ __________________________________/ 10. \________________________________________ "The Identity of the Wandering Beauty Under the Moonlight - TRANSFORM" ____________________________________________________________________________________ When this episode begins, we find Keitaro waking to thoughts of Naru sneaking into his room to snuggle with him during the night. Turning over, however, he discovers a sleeping Kaolla Su on the opposite side of the bed. Attempting to wake her turns out to be a mistake, as she puts her arms around him and gives him a huge bearhug. Hearing Keitaro's screams for help, Naru looks in through the hole in Kei-kun's ceiling and, of course, assumes the worst. Naru attacks Keitaro and asks him what he thinks he's doing with a junior high student. He tries to explain, but Naru insists that Su will undoubtedly catch his some of his stupidity if she sleeps in his room, to which he counters that his stupid nature isn't contageous. As yet unconscious, Su bearhugs Naru and Keitaro, an odd feeling of pain and pleasure, as far as Keitaro is concerned. Bursting in on the trio, Kitsune cheers Keitaro on for finally getting Naru's attentions, but Shinobu fearing the worst, wonders how Keitaro could do such a thing, let alone with both Naru and Su. Naru denies that anything happened between them, but Motoko still rushes into Kei-kun's room and punishes the poor guy for his alleged indescretions. However, when Motoko asks if they're all okay, Su then mumbles something about Onii-san whom she loves him dearly. The plot thickens. Later that night, Kentaro is wandering the streets with a bouquet of flowers, and runs into a mysterious woman playing a soothing flute in front of a blood red moon. Enchanted by her beauty, he offers her the flowers, but the mystery girl asks him who the heck he is. Suddenly, Kentaro is attacked from behind... The next morning, Keitaro is still trying to explain that Su came to his room on her own and that he didn't do anything wrong, when Su jumps on-screen, and uses his head to leapfrog it to her chair. The others ask Su if she's alright, and she explains that she was in Keitaro's room because she likes him. Keitaro has a fit, and Naru questions his innocence, but Kentaro then climbs up a pole near the dining room and explains that this is the first time Keitaro has had a girl admit that she likes him, so the reaction is natural. However, when he sees Su, Kentaro becomes extremely frightened and falls down the pole. Keitaro asks Su why she called him Onii-san last night, and she explains that she has both an older sister and an older brother (onii-san). Naru asks Su if Keitaro looks anything like her brother, but she says not at all. Asking why she would come into his room if he didn't look like her brother, Keitaro receives a firm kick in the face from Su, who says she's late for school, and runs off. After she's gone, Kentaro crawls back up the pole, and through the window, to inform Naru that there's a monster living in Hinatasou and that she has to leave. Of course, Naru then plants her fist in his mouth. Keitaro asks what his name was again, but Kentaro says that it doesn't matter. Later, Kentaro explains about his run-in with a mysterious Indian-like girl with a pet crocodile and claims that Su-chan is behind the crime. Naru says that she didn't think of Su being Indian, Keitaro asks what Su's true ethic background is, and Kitsune explains that no one knows for sure. Kentaro suggests that no one else could have done these things and says that Su might just have a secret identity. Keitaro says that he'll find this mysterious woman, in order to clear Su-chan's good name. Naru and Keitaro ask a local shop owner if they've seen the mysterious woman, and he says that she paid for all of Hinatasou's Dumplings with some currency that had a picture of an elephant with three-eyes on it. When they show him a picture of Su, he says that's not her, but she does resemble her. Another man says that he tried to talk to her, but says lightning began to strike and she started to play a haunting melody. The last man then tells Keitaro that it is magic to wake for the dream, but when Keitaro turns around, the man is silent. Later, Su-chan comes home from school and says she's starving. Watching as she runs about the house and causes havoc, Keitaro and Naru both say that Su isn't doing anything out of the ordinary. While watching Su from a distance, Keitaro is suddenly attacked by a metal turtle. Su yells that this thing is her newest invention, the Mecha-Tama. When she notices that Keitaro is unconcious though, she picks him up and shakes him out like a rug. ^__^ Later that night, Keitaro is walking around outside Hinatasou, wondering if they assumed the worst about Su, but before he can answer himself, he notices that the moon is red and that there is a young woman who looks a lot like Su on the roof playing a mandolin. Addressing Keitaro and Onii-san, she tells him that she's been waiting a long time for him to come. Running as quickly as he can up the stairs and climbing onto the roof, he finds nothing but an empty spot where this woman previously was. Naru asks what's wrong, scaring Keitaro and causing him to fall into her room, but before she can clobber Kei-kun for the invasion of privacy, Keitaro grabs her arm and tells her to follow him. A few seconds later, they open the door to Su-chan's room, which as you might remember, was a literal jungle-in- a-room. However, they find that Su is fast asleep on one of the tree branches. Waking sluggishly, Su-chan asks Keitaro if he's come to jump her, and that he might want to rethink doing so, as it wouldn't be good for his health. ^____^ Keitaro asks if she was on the roof a few minutes ago, but Su says she's been asleep in her room all this time. Keitaro remarks that this mystery woman had a height and set of facial features similar to Su's, but Tama-chan then drags one of Su's most precious possessions out in the open; her Precious Shawl she received from her brother. Leaving the room to let her be alone, Naru asks if Keitaro plans on continuing to follow Su indefinitely, but he says that he is a bit concerned, since he remembers that Su looked lonely when she called him her Onii-san. The next day, Keitaro asks Haitani what kind of currency it was that the mystery girl used, but he doesn't know. He tells Keitaro that Shirai wanted to ask him something, but before Haitani can say what, Shirai shows up and tells Keitaro that he thinks Su-chan is Magical Girl Rururu (he even does the whole Sailor Moon-esque transformation schpeal), much to Keitaro's dismay. While Shirai continues to blab about a transformed Su-chan being this mystery girl at Hinatasou, they all watch as Shinobu and Su make their way home. When Shirai says that the speed at which Su moves is proof enough, Keitaro counters that she's like that all the time. Haitani says that Su's appetite can't be a normal one for a girl her age, but again, Keitaro says that's how she is every day. When Su talks to Tama-chan, Shirai says that her talking to animals isn't a normal thing, but before Kei-kun can disagree, Su jumps onto his shoulders, only to have Shirai snap numerous pictures of him and her. Su-chan gives him a big hug and tells him she doesn't mind playing with him, even if he decides to stop stalking her. ^___^ She tells him that she likes his hair and his smooth cheeks, causing Naru to suddenly appear and belt Keitaro right in the kisser. Naru asks what he thinks he's doing with a junior high student, and in public no less. Su-chan then teases Naru, saying that she sure is keeping a watchful eye out on Keitaro. Naru denies this, but Su claims that she looks embarassed. Running after Naru and Su, Keitaro runs into the mysterious woman in an alley, who asks him who he is. Seemingly realizing who she thinks he is, she sics her pet crocodile on him. Shortly after, Naru finds a battered, bitten and scared Keitaro lying in the alleyway, and takes him back to Hinatasou. When he wakes up, Naru asks him if he's going to keep protecting Su-chan, but before he can answer, Su holds up a magazine with pictures of girls in bikinis in it, asking Keitaro and Naru what it is. Keitaro freaks, and says that children shouldn't be reading such things, and runs after the fleeing Su-chan. Su stops him from following her with a pillow and laughs. Later that night, Su, Keitaro and Naru are sitting around a table, and Su asks Keitaro if he really was unpopular in school. When he collapses to the table in embarassment, Su-chan jokingly asks him if he wants to be her lover. Naru objects, but Keitaro tells her that it's none of her business. When Naru gets upset and leaves, Keitaro runs after her while Su laughs. However, when she sees the red moon outside, Su-chan becomes entranced and disappears from the room. Keitaro then returns to find her gone. Keitaro climbs to the roof once again and finds a transformed Su-chan playing a mandolin. When he calls out her name, Su stops playing and runs over to him, addressing him as Onii-san and telling him that she's finally become an adult. She says that her wishes were fulfilled by the red moon of the desert and that she can finally prove her adulthood by marrying him. Su tries to kiss him, but before she can, another mysterious girl shows up and tells Kaolla Su that this man isn't her Onii-san. While Keitaro marvels about the two Su-chans, he gets carried off by the second woman's crocodile. Naru realizes that there were two mysterious women, Kaolla Su--transformed--and someone else. Elsewhere, Keitaro pleads with the crocodile to forgive him, but a woman soon stops the crocodile and introduces herself as Amalla Su (voiced by Aya Hisakawa), older sister to Kaolla Su. She tells Keitaro that, unlike most desert dwelling people, she can speak with an Edo accent. Keitaro tells her that's not an Edo accent, and she asks "But, isn't Edo the center of mainland Japan?" Keitaro says that she has to be Su's sister with such a personality trait. ^___^ Keitaro asks Amalla why she came here. She says that she kept hearing a voice calling for help and, of course, that this is all Keitaro's fault. Tama-chan observes what's happening through a window and flies off to alert the others. Flying into Su's room and waking her, Tama-chan tells her what's going on while Naru and Kitsune realize that the turtle could fly all this time. Meanwhile, Amalla is busy explaining to Keitaro how Kaolla Su ran away from her and her brother, and that there was a man who brought out her feelings for her brother: Keitaro. She also explains that it was this love for her brother that caused her transformation under the light of the red moon. Keitaro finally realizes that it was Amalla Su, and not Kaolla Su, who was responsible for the trouble in the streets at night. Amalla tells him to be quiet and listen to the rest of her story. She then says that if Kaolla Su isn't ridden of Keitaro, she won't stop transforming, but if she could get Keitaro to fall in love with her instead, she could return with him to her home country. ^__^; She tries to kiss him, but Naru and Su walk in and, upon seeing him in a somewhat compromising position with Amalla, Naru punches him clean out the window. Su suggests that they should follow Amalla and both girls take off after Keitaro's captor. Amalla runs away with Keitaro bound and gagged in her arms, but is headed off by Motoko, Shinobu and Kitsune, just as Kaolla Su and Naru show up behind her. Amalla tells Kaolla to look at Keitaro and realize he's not her brother. She tries to kiss him again, Naru yells no, and Su sees the red moon and transforms, right in front of God and everybody. Kentaro appears and points up at the transformed Kaolla Su, yelling that he's been right all along, right before being landed on by Su when she flies down, and lands on his head. ^__^ Kaolla vows that she'll save her beloved Onii-san from her sister and plays her mandolin, initiating the Lovely TamaTama Attack, which then rains down a multitude of Tama-chan on her sister. The two sisters fight on, Amalla calling down lightning and commanding her pet crocodile, and Kaolla using Tama-chan to counter and attack. Naru unties Keitaro and he says that they must save Su-chan, because she can't possibly stay transformed much longer. Pushing Su out of the way of a lightning bolt, Keitaro tells her that she doesn't have to transform, as her original form's already cute. Recalling her brother's request for her to grow up as quick as she could, so that she'd be beautiful, Su realizes that Keitaro isn't her brother and promptly faints. Back at Hinatasou the very next morning, Keitaro tells the recovering Su that her sister returned home, saying that everything would be alright now. Su asks if her brother has been there, and tells Keitaro that if he and the Hinata all stay together, then she's not lonely at all. Keitaro asks if that's so, which leads Su to reveal her latest havoc-wreaking invention, the Mecha Tama-Chan 2! The contraption chases Keitaro around the room as Kaolla Su laughs. Meanwhile, Shinobu asks the other girls why Su wanted to be an adult so badly and Kitsune seems to think that it has something to do with her brother. Naru wonders what kind of person Su's brother is, drawing a response from an unexpected guest in the hot spring; Amalla Su. Amalla says that she thought she would take a bath in Hinatasou's hot springs before leaving. Kitsune says that Amalla must be an Edo person, but Shinobu is terrified, as Amalla brought her pet croc, "Whitey", in for a swim as well. She asks if there's something wrong about bringing her pet crocodile into the bath, and the girls scream and flee. Amalla relaxes and wishes someone had told her she didn't have to become an adult to be beautiful. ________ __________________________________/ 11. \________________________________________ "Fearful Toudai Student, Idol is a Reapplying Student - SING" ____________________________________________________________________________________ It seems that the Town Council is judging a contest of the loveliest and most vocally talented girl at Hinatasou. Shinobu and Naru currently have the lead, and after a short but sincere round of applause for the innocent Shinobu, the Master of Ceremonies (Kentaro) announces that Narusegawa is the event winner. Nearby, Motoko and Haruka are talking about whether it's right for Naru to be Kentaro's lover at such a young age. This conversation is apparently meant to be a catalyst for Keitaro's jealousy, and it works quite well; he's furious!! (Quick note: An idol is a public representative of a business or group, kinda like the winner of the Miss America pageant is honored as a representative of the American woman, only without all the plastic surgery and back-stabbing..) At a train station, Kentaro begins to promote Naru as a currently-enrolled-in- Tokyo-University student. However, Naru wants to be honest, so she pushes him out of the way and, grabbing the microphone, tells the people that she's busy reapplying for entrance to Toudai. Back at Hinatasou, Kitsune's busy flipping through the many idol magazines, telling Keitaro all about it. He refers to a careless girl that will show her true self very soon. He asks Kitsune why she is reading all these idol magazines in his room, and she answers that they're all his magazines anyway. ^___^ Keitaro says that doesn't matter and that she will surely return very soon, as she's only the idol of a small town. However, Kitsune turns his head to the television screen and, to his surprise, there's Naru, asking the Japanese public if they're still studying hard and announces that her debut music CD will soon be released. Keitaro asks why she's on T.V. and Kitsune tells him that's because she's already a big-time idol. Of course, arguably the low-point of this episode then occurs; we hear Yui Horie, Naru's Japanese seiyuu, sing "Egao no Mirai e". I had a good (Lynn Minmei) feeling! Back at Hinatasou, Keitaro cheers her on, shouting for her "charge on towards Toudai!" Sighing, he asks himself what he's doing and Su-chan wonders as well. At the press conference afterwards, the reporters ask Naru if the rumors about her dating her manager (Kentaro) are true. Kentaro tries to tell them they're true, but as he puts his hand around Naru, she pinches his hand and says that they're just rumors. Back at Hinatasou once again, Kitsune says that having a reapplying student as an idol for Hinatasou's town must have worked, and they don't even have any advertising fees. Motoko says that Kentaro and Naru formed their own company for further promotion. Shinobu offers Keitaro a bit of rice, but Kitsune tells her to let him be, as he probably couldn't swallow anything right now anyway. He says that's not how it is and then proceeds to shred the magazine with Naru and Kentaro on the cover and eat it out of his bowl, while complementing Shinobu on how good the rice tastes. ^___^ Motoko says that he's got problems, but Su-chan then informs them that Naru's just arrived outside. Walking into the entryway, Keitaro waits for a frantic Naru to notice him, but waits in vain. Before she can leave, he calls out to her and she tells him to wait a moment, as she's very busy right now. He says that she hasn't been back in quite a while, but she tells him that she's been busy, what with all of the public appearances and T.V. shows. She even tells him that she's the seiyuu in an upcoming animé. ^___^ Noticing a bit of rice stuck to Keitaro's face, Naru pulls it off; this really gets Keitaro's attention that she would care at all. Before the two can get any intimate time together though, Kentaro rushes into the entryway and says that Naru will be staying at hotels from now on, as it's far too difficult to come back to Hinatasou with her hectic schedule. Kentaro claims that Naru'll be staying at the same hotel he stays at, but admits that they'll be staying in separate rooms. Naru tells Kei-kun to not misunderstand the situation, but as she's being led out the door by Kentaro, Keitaro thinks that her being an idol is great, but wonders if she still wants to make it to Tokyo U. Now, back to singing. Aren't you glad this is the only idol episode? Back at Hinatasou, Keitaro is racking his brain to draw a good dress for Naru, and the monks stand in the fog and say that all of this is just like a dream. Waking from a dead sleep, Keitaro senses that someone's returned to Hinatasou. Peeking through the hole in his ceiling, he finds Narusegawa studying hard for the upcoming Toudai entrance exam. Naru jokingly asks him if he could come in through the door once in a while, and says that she's been putting off all her studies because of her work. She asks if they can make it to Tokyo University next year, and Keitaro says that he'll study as hard as he can. However, when he tries to crawl the rest of the way up into Naru's room, the jagged edges of the hole pull his pajama bottoms down, which earns him a fisty foot-long from Naru. Landing on the ceiling, Keitaro slowly peels off and falls back through the hole and onto the floor of his room. The next morning, Shinobu wakes him, asking if he didn't have his exams today. He says yes, and asks her if Naru's left yet. Shinobu says that Naru is still staying in a hotel and Keitaro then realizes that his pajama bottoms aren't pulled down, and that it must've been a dream. Later, Kitsune tells him that of course it was a dream, as an idol'd have no reason to show up at a run-down place such as Hinatasou. Keitaro says that he doesn't think she's the sort of girl that would enjoy being an idol... Kitsune then lets the cat out of the bag; Naru had fallen in love with one of her high school tutors many years ago.. Haruka adds that "He wasn't even that great of a man." Kitsune continues, saying that this man was a Toudai student, so Naru began to try to make it into Toudai as well. Haruka says that she had lost contact with him after high school and Kitsune adds that if Naru doesn't have an idea of where he is, then does she still have a reason for wanting to go to Toudai anymore? Later while taking a bath, Keitaro mumbles to Tama-chan that perhaps Naru has found another reason to enter Tokyo U, other than to be with him. Suddenly, Naru bursts into the room and jumps, fully clothed, right into the water barrel bath with Keitaro. He nervously asks her what she thinks she's doing, but she reaches up and stuffs Tama-chan in his mouth to shut him up. Just then, Kentaro walks in and asks him if he's seen Naru anywhere. When Keitaro shakes his head no, Kentaro walks out of the room, making a couple of remarks about how weird Keitaro must be to bite down on a turtle while taking a bath. ^___^; Naru surfaces, asking Kei-kun how much longer he's planning to bite down on Tama-chan and removes her from his mouth. He then inquires as to why she appeared out of nowhere and jumped into his bath barrel; he soon gets distracted by Naru's wet clothing, which earns him a swift dunking from Naru. Later on, Haruka asks Naru why she ran away and to Hinatasou no less. However, before she can answer, Keitaro asks if Kentaro sexually abused her or decided to prostitute her out to a fat man, but Naru puts an end to Keitaro's twisted imagination by saying that she's just tired. She complains that she gets only five hours of sleep and has to eat her lunch in five minutes. She also informs him that she looked ahead to tomorrow's schedule and it was FORTY-EIGHT HOURS LONG! Needless to say, Naru says she needs a little rest, and getting Kentaro in trouble was worth her efforts. Keitaro goes to ask her about her feelings, but decides against it when Naru smiles at him. In Hinatasou's entryway, poor Kentaro is answering very personal questions about why Naru ran away, such as maybe he isn't man enough for her or perhaps it's just a simple money problem. Kentaro asks the reporters to calm down, but when Shinobu, Motoko and Su come out to see what all the commotion is all about, and Kentaro says they're cute, in an attempt to hire replacements for Naru. Before he can get his dirty paws on them though, Kitsune steps in and says that she's both Shinobu and Motoko's manager. Reluctantly accepting Kitsune's terms, Kentaro announces the pair as "Sword and Flower", the backup girls for Naru while she rests up for her work on her latest music single. Su-chan runs into the next room to inform Keitaro and Naru that they can both run away now, as Shinobu and Motoko are now taking Naru's place in the spotlight. Keitaro is worried, but Naru says they're fine, as long as Kitsune is with them, and leaves with Keitaro on a date. Naru asks if they can go see a movie, but Keitaro says that it would be very difficult, as she already sticks out bad enough when they're just walking about. Grabbing his hand, Naru says let's go. Keitaro tells her to not be in such a hurry and she tells him not to be so embarassed. While Motoko and Shinobu are recording their debut music single, Keitaro takes Naru to see a Bruce Lee film, where he finds out that's not such a good idea with a violent girl like Naru... ^___^; Later, Keitaro and Naru are eating sherbet outside. Naru offers to spoon-feed Keitaro a bit of hers, but when a little girl recognizes her as Naru the idol, she accidentally shoves the spoon up his nose. ^__^; Afterwards, when the two of them are walking through the local aquarium, Keitaro asks Naru why she came back to Hinatasou rather than simply going home. Naru says it would be rather awkward, as her mother has remarried again. Keitaro asks if that's why she was living at Hinatasou, but she replies that it's only one of the reasons. She's worried that she's lost her self-confidence, as her mother's new family seems to be more important than her. Remembering her high school tutor, Naru claims that she doesn't think anyone loves her anymore. Keitaro says that's not true and uses her fans as an example of people who love her. Naru says she guesses that is why she enjoys being an idol. Later, at a diner, Keitaro is shuffling through his wallet, and when Naru offers to ask the bartender if he'll accept a smaller payment, he says he didn't realize he was doing that. She tells him not to worry, since she's a student too, but he counters with "the person you promised to go to Toudai with is already..." Apologizing for his outburst, he offers to take her back home. Chasing after him, Naru asks Keitaro why he said such a thing. He tells her that since she's an idol, people like him shouldn't even be allowed to speak to her. She responds with "if that's so, then I just don't want to be an idol anymore... I want to go home--to Hinatasou." Keitaro tells her that she can't do that since she's made a promise to her fans, just as he made a promise with the girl of his memories to go to Tokyo U. He tells her that she can't just come back to Hinatasou whenever things get tough, and says that he'll cheer for her as Narusegawa the Idol. Taking these comments to mean "Don't come back.", Naru punches Kei-kun high into the sky and calls him an idiot. Crying, Naru runs down the stairs and away from Keitaro, failing to notice a camera taking a close-up snapshot from a nearby row of green bushes. Back at Hinatasou the next morning, Keitaro is busy cleaning the hot springs, when Kitsune, Shinobu, Su and Motoko come out to bathe. Kitsune says they did not know he was cleaning. Keitaro asks why everyone is back, including Motoko and Shinobu, and Kitsune admits that they bet Kentaro's idol company funds on a horse race and lost, so they told Kitsune and friends to leave the premises. ^__^; Keitaro asks Kitsune if she's aware that it's a crime to spend company's funding, but before he can get an answer, he realizes that Narusegawa is back as well. Running to hug her, Kitsune shoves a tabloid in his face and says to read it. The headline: "Special Report: Violent Idol." After getting the gist of the article, he says that Naru's true self was finally exposed. This earns him another of Naru's famous fist-to-face responses. Keitaro's glad the girls are back, but wishes that Naru had returned for his sake. Turning her back on him, Naru smiles and tells him to get out of the hot spring, so that they can take their bath. He slowly walks away and Naru tells him "GO, GO!" and begins to push him back inside. Back inside, Naru tells Keitaro that she decided not to quit, and she'll try to get into Tokyo U with him again this year. Keitaro finds himself alone and wonders if this's just another of his silly daydreams. ________ __________________________________/ 12. \________________________________________ "Transform? Swordmaster Motoko's Casual Look - WOMAN" ____________________________________________________________________________________ As Motoko opens a package that she received in the morning mail, she finds an old kimono that used to belong to her older sister, as well as a brief letter from Tsuruko (her sister) saying that she thought Motoko would like to having the old kimono that she found while cleaning out her house. As the last lines of the letter ("We probably won't even recognize each other, the next time we meet...") are read, Motoko takes a roll of tape and tapes the box shut again. Later that morning, Keitaro and friends are enjoying Shinobu's delicious Miso Soup. The others all complement her on her cooking, but Shinobu says that the old lady up at the temple gave her some homemade bean paste and that's really why it tastes so good. Kitsune says that Shinobu will make an excellent wife, which makes poor Shinobu blush in embarassment. Returning to the kitchen, she screams. Keitaro asks what's wrong, and Shinobu points and says "Cockroach!", which causes Keitaro to scream and climb the walls, looking for a fly swatter or possibly even a can of Raid. Remember something he was told concerning how cockroaches die when sprayed with detergent, he goes to squirt some detergent at the roach, but before he can, it flies up and lands on his face. ^____^ In utter disgust, Motoko stands and hits Keitaro and the cockroach with the back of her sword. Keitaro asks if that was perhaps a bit much for a simple roach, and the cockroach crawls away. Naru says that's the whole problem and Su-chan asks how Motoko uses her sword so well. Motoko explains that the sword is not mechanical, but that she uses her ki (energy from will) to attack others with extreme force. Telling Keitaro that a weak man such as him could not possibly understand such a concept, she sits down at the table--and picks up Tama-chan with her chopsticks. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Motoko huddles in one corner of the room. Shinobu tells Tama-chan she shouldn't scare her superiors like that, and Kitsune says that it is one thing to be afraid of cockroaches, but it's quite another matter to be afraid of turtles. Motoko says she cannot help it, and that ever since that self-reliant turtle came to live with them, at Hinatasou, she hasn't had a single goodnight's sleep. Naru says not to let it get to her, but then Keitaro walks into the room and begins teasing Motoko about her fear of turtles. Motoko is angered and almost gives Keitaro a sound thrashing--until she realizes that she's holding Tama-chan instead of a sword. Screaming again, Motoko tosses Tama-chan up into the air, but when the turtle obeys the laws of gravity, she slides right down the back of Motoko's outfit. Motoko pleads desparately for somebody to get the turtle out of her clothing, but when Keitaro freaks out about such a prospect, Naru punches him through a window. While Keitaro wonders what he's done to deserve this, Motoko continues to cry for someone to remove Tama-chan from her clothes. Before anyone can do anything, Tama-chan jumps out on her own, prompting Motoko to use a Zankusen, which breaks the kitchen table. All is for naught however, as Tama-chan lands on Motoko's head, causing her to faint dead away. The girls rush in to see if she's alright, while a set of eyes in a dark corner of the room glow faintly. Later that day, when the girls are in the onsen, Naru assures Motoko that her fear is understandable, since everyone has something they don't like. Su-chan offers to eat Tama-chan if she really bothers Motoko so much. ^__^ Shinobu is not happy about that and tells Su she can't eat her. When Motoko walks inside to get dressed, Tama-chan surprises her by climbing out of a pile of clothes. Motoko tells Tama-chan that she belongs in a river, full of pesticides! Tama- chan flies out of the room, causing a towel-wrapped Motoko to run through the hallway, where she runs into Keitaro, who accidentally pulls her towel off... (Oops.) A buck nekkid Motoko, conveniently covered by Keitaro's head, blushes and then punches him through Hinatasou's roof and high into the sky overhead. Saying that her towel smells like turtle, Motoko goes to the laundry room, so that she can wash it, but when she gets there, Shinobu tells her she can't do that, since she just washed the Kanrinin's clothes in there. Motoko says that is alright, since she can just put her uniform back on. An embarassed Shinobu admits that she sent Motoko's uniforms to the dry cleaners. Motoko wonders if she has nothing else to wear; this yanks Kitsune's chain and she tells Motoko that she seems to be in trouble. A few minutes later, Keitaro and friends are waiting in the hallway as Kitsune attempts to dress Motoko. What soon follows is a fashion show of sorts. Kitsune dresses Motoko in a mini-skirt, which she definitely doesn't like; Shinobu thinks it's cute. ^_^ Motoko asks if Kitsune if she has any normal clothes, but Kitsune says that those are normal, but if she really doesn't like it, she has more. Next up is Motoko in a rather sexy, blue evening dress, which embarasses her to no end. Keitaro kind of likes it. Who wouldn't? :) Naru then suggests a short green skirt and shirt showing off Motoko bare midriff. Motoko says that she couldn't possibly walk around, with her belly button showing. Su-chan suggests her home country's hunting uniform, which looks ridiculous, going over like a lead balloon. Finally, Kitsune puts Motoko in a tastefully-made pink dress with small ruffles. Naru asks who owns this one, and much to Keitaro and Naru's surprise, his Aunt Haruka raises her hand. Keitaro asks why an "old lady" would own such a nice dress, which earns him a backhand to the face. Motoko doesn't think it fits her and Kitsune says they need a male opinion so she asks Keitaro, who says it's cute. Motoko gets upset and strikes at Keitaro--who blocks her sword with his hands!! Motoko is dumb-struck, but Kitsune cheers and says that Keitaro's "Sword Stopping Move" was really cool. ^__^ While Motoko wonders why her blade was stopped, by such a weakling, Tama-chan flies up to the perplexed Motoko, who once again lashes out with her sword--which is stopped by a sword stopping move from Tama-chan! Motoko is dumb-struck once again, and faints dead away, as the others rush in and yell "Motoko-chan!" Deep within a flashback, Motoko's Onee-san (or "older sister") gives her her first sword, and tells her to become a great bearer of the sword, before leaving for her wedding. Young Motoko calls out to her, but can't stop her from giving up the sword. Waking from this dream, Motoko looks around her room, taking extra special notice of the box she received from her older sister earlier that morning. Motoko worries about her skills, since she must carry on her family sword fighting skills in her sister's place. Hearing someone knock on her bedroom door, she answers it, and find Tama-chan waiting on the other side. Screaming, Motoko runs away from Hinatasou, and into town. Walking down the street, Motoko soon finds herself getting hit on by a couple of guys. When she tries to dispatch them though, she finds out her heart just isn't in it at the moment. The guys ask if she's studied karate or something, urging her to tell them all about it. Before these two punks can lay a finger on Motoko-chan, Keitaro appears and calls out to her, making the punks leave. On the trolley, back to Hinatasou, Keitaro is hard-pressed not to notice that everyone is staring at Motoko. Of course, he realizes they all probably think she's beautiful, which he finds even himself admitting to. Motoko wonders why she's been chased by a turtle, hit on by strange guys and stared at, assuming that it's all because, being so tall, she looks rather odd in a dress. Asking Kei-kun how tall he is, she realizes that she's at least 4 centimeters taller than even him. When the trolley stops, who should get on, but all of Motoko's "friends", who ask what she's doing there and tell her that her new look's so cute. One of them assumes that she's donned this feminine attire for Keitaro, and they all want to take a group picture with her. Yelling at them to shush, Motoko stops the trolley and gets off. Keitaro is in pursuit though, and asks her to wait for him. Motoko suddenly asks him to do her a pretty big favor... Back at Hinatasou, Su-chan says that Keitaro is late in returning and Kitsune suggests that maybe Motoko's managed to lure him into a date, citing Motoko's innocent new look as the cause. Shinobu freaks out at such a suggestion. Naru says that Urashima wouldn't have the guts for something like that... Suddenly, Kitsune is right next to Naru, saying that she must be dying from all of this jealousy. ^___^ Su-chan yells that Motoko has finally returned, but when they all look out the window, they see Motoko dressed in Keitaro's usual attire... Shinobu asks what happened to her skirt and then, as if on cue, Keitaro walks up the last few stone steps--in Motoko's dress. Naru jumps out of the window, asking Keitaro if this is one of his twisted hobbies, and kicks him back down the stone steps. Motoko tells Naru it wasn't like that; Naru doesn't buy that. Meanwhile, a silhouette moves along the dark wall dragging a rather large bag. After a brief intermission, Naru yells that her electric water boiler is gone, Keitaro yells that someone took his cassette player, and Su-chan says someone has stolen her computer. Meanwhile, Motoko asks Shinobu if her normal clothes are dry yet, but Shinobu tells her that they were just there a minute ago and that someone has taken her pots from the kitchen cabinets. Kitsune walks into the kitchen, points out the window and asks "You mean, like those pots?" ^__^ Shinobu and Motoko looks out the window and, sure enough, there is the thief; it's Tama-chan, flying off while carrying a rather large bag of loot with her. A few minutes later, Su-chan decides to convene a special session of the Tama Defense Headquarters. ^___^ Su suggests that Tama-chan's residence must be in Hinatasou, and that they'll find the stolen items there. Kitsune says that it is a lot like losing one of your shoes, and then finding it in a dog's house. Elsewhere, Motoko thinks her situation through. She accepts the defeat of the turtle, because of her fear, but she feels that she is not worthy of carrying her family name since she lost to a weakling like Keitaro. Her contemplation, however, is cut short; Kitsune walks into the room, and tells her to suit up. Outside, Commander Kitsune briefs all of her "troops" on the search for Tama. The camera pans across the others, standing-at-attention, but when it reaches Motoko, she asks Kitsune why she is the only one in a dress. Su-chan answers, saying that her research shows that Tama-chan is attracted to Motoko's female look; Shinobu asks "But, isn't Tama-chan a female?" Kitsune says Tama-chan is probably a stalker turtle. ^__^; Motoko goes white at the word "stalker", and Keitaro asks Haruka "Is that also one of your dresses, old one?", earning him yet another backhand. Naru asks where they could possibly begin to look for a turtle, and Su-chan says she thought this might happen, so she brought one of her latest inventions along: a Kamé (Turtle) Seeking Radar!! So, why would Su make such a thing? For her final battle with Tama-chan, of course! (As usual, Shinobu is against the eating of Tama-chan. ^__^) The radar suddenly picks up a signal inside the house, and they all run inside. When they inside, Kitsune says "Yup, that's definitely a kamé..." ("Kamé" is a common word in Japanese, not just for "turtle", but also for "jar") looking down at this large ceramic jar. Moving right along, Su-chan finds an almost-cavernous passage, beneath a staircase in Hinatasou's entryway. The others follow Su inside, but when they come to a fork in the passage, they decide to split up. Now, in two groups of three, they continue their search. Motoko wonders why it must be so difficult to walk around in this dress and just can't bring herself to understand women who wear such things. Keitaro turns and says that he, personally, thinks it's cute, which causes Motoko to attack him with a Zankusen. Unfortunately, she's unable to muster the necessary ki to do so. Helping Naru climb up a tall step, Keitaro tries to help Motoko up as well, but she refuses to be helped by him. As they continue down the corridor, Keitaro shines a flashlight on a wall and when they all see the cockroach from earlier, Naru grabs hold of Keitaro, but then realizes that Keitaro has grabbed onto Motoko instead of her. Of course, this earns Keitaro a pounding-into-the-floor. Naru then strangles him, saying that he somehow manages to do this every day. Keitaro asks Motoko why she did not just dispatch the roach with her sword and Motoko blushes, realizing that she didn't even think to try. Meanwhile, Su-chan and the other party have yet another dot on the Kamé Radar. Shinobu asks if maybe it could just be another jar. ^__^ Opening a door at the end of the passage, Su and company find Tama- chan in a room full of metal objects. The problem is that Tama's eating them! Su says she will surely eat Tama-chan for such disobedience, but before she's able to chow down on the Shelled One, Tama-chan turns and spews a fireball at them. Ducking out of the way, Shinobu asks why Tama-chan is spewing fireballs at them. Fire then engulfs Tama-chan, and it's skin melts away to reveal that it's not Tama-chan at all, but one of Su-chan's inventions: Mecha-Tama-chan!! Eating more and more metal, Mecha-Tama grow enormous, and the girls decide to run for it; a wise decision! Crawling out from beneath a floor tile, Keitaro, Naru and Motoko find the real Tama-chan, right as one of the mountains behind Hinatasou explodes, giving way to massive bulk of the rapidly-growing, Mecha- Tama. Back at the Tama Defense Headquarters, (now renamed "Mecha-Tama Defense Headquarters") Kitsune relays the speed and range of Mecha-Tama to the troops and says that they must keep Mecha-Tama from reaching the final defense line. When Shinobu asks what the final defense line is, the camera pans to the bam- boo wall around Hinatasou's hot spring. She then asks Su-chan why she doesn't just stop Mecha-Tama, but Su says that it will give off tremendous amounts of plasma if it self-destructs. Outside, Motoko tries to attack Mecha-Tama, with a Zankusen, but fails to produce any ki yet again. She says that it must have something to do with the dress she's wearing.. Su-chan tries attacking Mecha- Tama with her remote-controlled airplanes, but it just gobbles them right up. Kitsune says that they probably just fed the beast, and Su-chan admits that's a strong possibility. ^__^ Meanwhile, Shinobu notices a large surge protector with a multitude of devices plugged into it. On a hunch, she unplugs the cord going towards Mecha-Tama. A dumb-founded Shinobu receives numerous cheers for stopping the monster, but it isn't over yet. Mecha-Tama switches over to it's internal power supply (a metric ton of D batteries) and reactivates!! Kitsune asks Su-chan "What should we do now?" Su says how Motoko usually helps during times like these, but Kitsune points out that Motoko isn't doing all too well today. Su-chan then asks Kitsune if she thinks it's a good idea to flee. ^__^ Meanwhile, Motoko attempts to discard her feminine clothing, but Keitaro stops her from doing so, telling her that clothes don't really matter, and whatever she decides to wear, she's still the same person. He says she's just afraid of them, but she'll eventually learn to overlook them. Motoko asks if she's truly afraid of her feminine clothes, while an equally scared Keitaro faces a raging Naru, telling her that she won't believe him, that it isn't what it looks like and this is all just a misunderstanding, but Naru says "Don't make excuses if you know I won't believe you!" and punches Keitaro into the gaping maw of the awaiting Mecha-Tama. Shinobu asks what they're going to do, as it is about to pass through their last defensive line and Kitsune says that Mecha-Tama could possibly destroy Hinatasou. Aunt Haruka blandly replies "We can rebuild it.." Standing at the apex of the Hinatasou roof, Motoko finally decides her sister walked her own path, and that no matter how she looks, she will walk her path as she sees fit. Jumping high into the air, Motoko attacks Mecha-Tama, with a Zangoku, which causes it to fall apart. Everyone finds their lost possessions, but when Su-chan finds what's left of Mecha-Tama, she says that next time she will just have to make it stronger, so that it won't lose, to which everybody yells "NO!" That night, Motoko tries on her sister's kimono, and realizes how good she actually looks. Outside in the onsen, Shinobu is glad that Tama-chan is no longer a suspect and Naru tells Su to not make any more of these "noisy troubles". Su-chan says that she guesses in Science there are numerous things that mankind shouldn't be messing with and Kitsune says "Look who's talking!" As the girls laugh the night away, a dark silhouette of Mecha-Tama appears in the lower right-hand corner and the closing reads "Mecha-Tama... The End...?" ________ __________________________________/ 13. \________________________________________ "Did Your First Kiss Taste Like Lemon or Marshmallow? - ADULTHOOD" ____________________________________________________________________________________ As this episode begins, we drop in on Mitsune Konno or Kitsune as she prefers to be called. Looking over the horse racing sheets, in the newspaper, Kitsune concludes that looking at horse racing sheets isn't any fun if you're not the winner. ^___^ Pondering what mischief she can cause today, she "accidentally" eavesdrops on Naru explaining something to Keitaro about their upcoming tests and wonders if maybe there's another reason why those two have been together, "studying" at all hours of the day and night. ^__^ In a panic, Kitsune begins to look for a drill. When she finds one, she drills a small hole in her wall, giving her perfect visibility into Naru's room. Meanwhile, Shinobu ponders if it would be rude to bring some food and drink into Naru's room, since they've both been studying for so long, and must be tired by now. However, before she has a chance to knock on the door, Su-chan hangs down from the ceiling asking Shinobu what she's doing. Shinobu panics and tells Su-chan that it's not what she thinks and that she isn't worried at all about Naru and Kei-kun, studying in Naru's room together for so long. Kitsune whispers to Su and Shinobu "Come over to my room. I have something interesting to see." Once back in her room, Kitsune drills two eye-sized holes in her wall, and both her and Su decide to take a peek. Shinobu tells them that peeking is a crime, but she then decides to take a peek as well, since Kitsune claims this is "getting very bad". ^__^ In the other room, Naru has fallen asleep, and Keitaro is debating on whether he should take this chance to give her a kiss. He does try to once, but pulls back at the last second. Kitsune quietly cheers him on, saying "Come on! Show some guts!" Keitaro finally accumulates enough courage to do it, however when he goes to try again, Naru opens her eyes, claims she's been awake all along, and pummels Kei-kun through her bedroom door. Afterwards, Naru walks over and pokes each peeping girls in the eye, telling them that peeking into another's room is a crime. Later, Su-chan and Shinobu put an eye drop into each other's eyes. Su-chan wonders why Keitaro decided he should try to kiss Naru. Shinobu thinks that he was just trying to blow the dust off of her eyes. ^__^ Su-chan says she doesn't think kissing is anything special, but when Shinobu asks her if she's ever kissed a boy, Su gets upset, and says she doesn't know. Shinobu wonders what it must feel like to kiss someone, and says that she hasn't done it yet because she wants to give her first kiss to someone she truly loves... Su-chan offers to let Shinobu have her first kiss and Shinobu gets embarassed and refuses. Motoko asks them why junior high students would be talking about kissing, but before she can get a decent answer, Su-chan asks Motoko if she's ever kissed before. This catches Motoko offguard, and she attacks Su-chan and Shinobu with her Zangan Sen! Falling into the stairwell, the girls notice the sign on the staircase, that says "Practice your sword swing where there is no one around you." At school later that day, Shinobu finds her friend Taichi in a maintenence closet with a LOT of make-up on her face. Helping her wash that off of her face at the fountain outside, Shinobu tells Taichi-chan that she's hopeless without her around. Surprisingly, she sees her put lipstick on again. Back in class, Shinobu tells Taichi that she was surprised to see a friend of her's almost kiss another friend of her's yesterday, recounting how the event transpired. Taichi then tells her how she also kissed someone yesterday. This leads Shinobu to ask if it was her dad, but to her surprise, Taichi tells her that her first kiss wasn't from her dad, and that it was somewhat forced upon her. As if on cue, Su jumps down from the ceiling and asks Taichi and Shinobu if they want to go try the Extra Spicy Curry Sandwich in the school cafeteria. However, when Shinobu notices that Su and Taichi are holding hands, she tells them to go ahead without her. Back at Hinatasou, Shinobu is drawing a picture of Kaolla Su and Taichi kissing, but panics when she realizes that she's also drawn a picture of herself kissing Keitaro. Suddenly, Kitsune is right behind Shinobu, asking if that's a picture of Keitaro, and saying that it looks 50 % like him. Shinobu panics yet again, but Kitsune tells her not to worry, since she won't tell anyone, and gives her one of her old lipsticks that she claims doesn't really suit her anymore. Shinobu says thank you, but says that it's a bit too early for her to be wearing lipstick for the first time. Kitsune says to hold still. A few minutes later, Kitsune is finished putting some lipstick on Shinobu and tells her that she's now a real woman; she then tells her that she should treasure her first kiss. Shinobu notices that Kitsune has a little kissmark (hickie) on her neck, gets upset and runs away crying from the room. Looking in on Keitaro and Naru, Shinobu says to herself that it's still a bit too early for her to think about kissing. Keitaro then pokes his head out the window, which scares her, and asks her what she's thinking about. Inside, she explains that she's curious about kissing and that it's really no big deal to her.. Naru and Keitaro are caught offguard by this; Keitaro mumbles something about a pumpkin and Naru mutters something about a watermelon. Keitaro's Aunt Haruka walks in, and says that Shinobu is at that curious age. Haruka asks if Keitaro and Naru have kissed yet, leadings Naru to ask "Why would anyone want to kiss such an idiot?", to which Keitaro responds "But remember at Okinawa?" Naru claims that was an accident, and Shinobu asks both Naru and Keitaro "Who was the first person you kissed?" The camera's lense quickly pans to Okinawa, where Mitsumi Otohime says that would be her. ^___^ Keitaro asks Naru if that was her first kiss as well, but Naru ignores him and tells Shinobu how a kiss is as soft as a marshmallow and tastes like a lemon. Keitaro says in his case it was just overly salty; Naru punches his lights out, yelling that he should not ruin an anxious little girl's ambitions. Keitaro recovers from the impact and tells Shinobu that she shouldn't have to worry about kissing too much, as it will be automatic when she finds the right person. However, before Keitaro can finish his sentance, Kentaro walks in and asks him what in the world he's talking about. Keitaro asks him what he's doing here, and he tells them that, thanks to them, his family's company went bankrupt and he was forced to get a PART-TIME job. Kentaro tells Shinobu that he will be glad to show her how the first kiss feels anytime, which causes Keitaro and Naru to push him away from Shinobu and tell him to quit it. Kentaro tells the others not to worry, since a kiss is just a way to say "hello." He then tells them that if they continue to worry about the other person's feelings, they'll never receive their first kiss. Kentaro says it's preferrable to do things that are soothing right now, and not wait and squander your chances. To emphasize this point, Kentaro then sweeps Haruka off her feet, but before he can kiss her, she smacks him in the head with a metal tray, and tells him to do his work. Nice try, Kentaro. ^__^ Meanwhile, Keitaro tells Shinobu that she looks different somehow, asking her if she's wearing lipstick. However, when he tells her it makes her look older, she gets embarassed and runs outside. Shinobu finally admits to herself, that she is happy Keitaro-senpai (elder teacher) was looking at her so fondly, but when she stops running she begins to wonder why... Back at Hinatasou, Su-chan is worried about Shinobu. The next morning, Shinobu has a dream about kissing Kei-kun, but before she can, Naru punches him in the face. ^___^; Waking, she finds Su-chan and Taichi in her room. Shinobu rubs her eyes and tells Su-chan that she's really loud in the morning. (How observant of Shinobu...) However, upon waking, Shinobu panics when she sees two Su-chan's. It turns out that Su has dressed up Akiko Taichi, the girl from earlier, just like her. Later that day, they play janken (rock-paper-scissors), battle Liddo-kuns, play with Su- chan's inventions, and even draw pictures. Their pictures are all pretty good, but when Su notices Shinobu's, a picture of Shinobu, Su and Taichi, she tells her that she's so good at drawing. Nearby, Naru is hanging up her laundry and says that the three girls look like little dolls. Keitaro agrees, saying they are very fortunate to still be children. Overhearing Kei-kun, Shinobu becomes upset and goes back to her room. To cheer Shinobu up, Su-chan and Taichi both follow her to her room. Su-chan tells her to eat the cherries she brought, to see if she can tie the stem in a knot. Taichi informs Shinobu that if she can do that, it means she'll be a great kisser. Su-chan asks if it's true, saying that she's sure she can do it. Taichi shows Shinobu that she did it, so she's sure that Shinobu can. Su says that she did it too, but Shinobu finds that it isn't a knot Su tied; it's a cactus shape! ^_^; Su-chan tells Shinobu to wait a second and runs from the room. When Su returns, we see that she brought one of her latest inventions: "Su-chan's Special Good Kiss Toy, the Cherry-kun!!! When Su-chan is done explaining how the machine works (it seems that it spins cherries around into its mouth, making anyone into a better kisser...where in the world does Su get these ideas?), Taichi says that Shinobu has fled. ^___^ Su and Taichi chase Shinobu down Hinatasou's hallway, telling her to wait up. Su commands her machine to speed up, but when it follows Shinobu down a hall, to a dead end, Kitsune peeks out of her room, wondering what's going on. This prompts the machine to jump up and deeply kiss Kitsune on the mouth. Kitsune, moaning, falls over and says it's been a while, so she must have lost most of her strength. Shinobu asks how that could be, as she had seen a "kissmark" on her neck earlier. Kitsune tells her that it's only a mosquito bite... Motoko, wondering what's going on, wanders into the room then, prompting Su's machine to go to work yet again, this time on Motoko-san. Motoko manages to force the machine away with a Zankusen. Su-chan thinks Motoko is stingy, since she must have kissed a few times in high school. However, when Motoko excuses herself, Akiko Taichi asks if "perhaps that was her first kiss?" This brings Motoko to her knees in embarassment, and she says to herself "How dishonoring to have a first kiss taken by such a device." Later that day, Shinobu finally begins to realize that the adults around Hinatasou don't kiss a whole lot either. Akiko shows up and, sitting down next to Shinobu, tries to put some lipstick on her and tells her that she's so cute, why not try out kissing with her? Shinobu's initial reaction is meritted, as Akiko attempts to pin her down and kiss her. Shoving Akiko away, Shinobu leaves her room and running down the hallway, she bumps into Keitaro, who asks her what's wrong. To his surprise, she then asks him if he'll do her a small favor. A few minutes later on the Hinatasou roof, Shinobu-chan asks Keitaro if his first kiss was given to someone very dear to him. Reminded of what Mitsumi Otohime did to both him and Naru on Okinawa, he tells her that it actually just kind of happened. Shinobu assumes that this's what it means to be an adult; Keitaro says that he still would have preferred to give his first kiss to someone he truly loved, but that couldn't be helped. Suddenly, Su-chan appears and slaps her latest invention onto Keitaro's head, and announces the device as her "Auto-Kissing Machine, Cherry-kun 2!" Su-chan explains that this machine will cause the person wearing it to kiss the first person they see. When Keitaro advances toward Shinobu, she runs away in panic and Keitaro explains that he can't help it, as the machine is controlling his body. Thankfully, before Shinobu's feelings are hurt by Su's new contraption, Naru shows up, and punts Keitaro into orbit around Hinatasou in typical form. Back in her room, Shinobu asks Akiko Taichi and Su-chan why they're doing all of this to her, and Su says that when she saw the picture Shinobu drew of her and Keitaro kissing, she thought she actually had. Su-chan says that it's not a problem, since she'll give Shinobu her first kiss. Once she does so though, Shinobu begins to cry and snatches her sketchbook back from Kaolla Su. Again, Shinobu asks Su why she's so intent on taking away all of her precious things such as her sketches, friend and first kiss. Su explains that she just wanted to know Shinobu better, and Akiko claims that Su kept asking questions, about Shinobu and what she liked. Shinobu realizes that Su meant well, and cries on her shoulder. Later that night, Shinobu, Su and Akiko are talking, while they take a bath in the onsen (hot spring). Su tells Shinobu that the first person she ever kissed was her brother, but that it's no good anymore. Su avoids the query of "Why not?" from Shinobu, and Akiko picks up Tama-chan, and gives her a kiss, laughing about how she kissed again. Shinobu realizes that the person Akiko kissed wasn't a person at all; it was the pet kamé (turtle) that's been living at Hinatasou. Akiko says that Tama-chan shows up at their school every day; Shinobu asks Tama-chan "Wait a minute! Aren't you female?!" However, her statement falls on deaf ears, as Su-chan and Akiko chase after Tama-chan, and Su says she wants to make turtle soup out of Tama. ^__^ Shinobu says that she can't eat her, and Akiko, Su and Shinobu start trying to splashing each other. The other girls walk out to the onsen and, after they comment about the young girls being rather rowdy, Aunt Haruka tells Shinobu and her friends that they are no longer children, so they should be quieter. Shinobu says that they ARE children and continues to splash, and Motoko and Kitsune join in. *Fade away* ________ __________________________________/ 14. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 15. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 16. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 17. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 18. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 19. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 20. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 21. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 22. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 23. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 24. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ _________ _____________/ III. \____________________________________________________________ Love Hina Specials ________ __________________________________/ 25. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Often referred to as the Motoko Special, this "episode" doesn't really fit in the above category, as Motoko Aoyama is the central character throughout this episode, rather than Keitaro. ________ __________________________________/ CS. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ SS. \________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ In the Spring Special, we're introduced to another girl character named Nyamo, who is voiced by ; she looks a lot like Shinobu, but her skin is much darker and her demeanor is filled with determination. ________ _____________/ IV. \____________________________________________________________ Love Hina Again (OAV) ________ __________________________________/ 01. \________________________________________ "Kanako" ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 02. \________________________________________ "Keitaro" ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________/ 03. \________________________________________ "Narusegawa" ____________________________________________________________________________________ _______ ___/ C \________________________________________________________________________ Closing Statements _______ _____________/ I. \______________________________________________________________ Frequently Asked Questions ________ _______________________/ 01. \___________________________________________________ Who created the Love Hina series? ____________________________________________________________________________________ While Ken Akamatsu was primarily responsible for the manga (print) version of the series, Yoshiaki Iwazaki directed the television animation version, while Kro Hazuki wrote the animated version's screenplay. Makoto Uno handled all of the character designs, while the series was published and aired on television through TV Tokyo and was aired from April 19th, 2000 to September 27th, 2000. "Xebec", a division of the infamous Production I.G., was responsible for Love Hina's frantic visual style, while Bandai Visual published it on DVD in Japan. ________ _______________________/ 02. \___________________________________________________ Is the Love Hina TV series coming to North America? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yes! Bandai Entertainment, the company behind the outstanding English version of Cowboy Bebop, as well as other decent North American translations, will be releasing their first Love Hina DVD on February 19, 2002. Unfortunately, this release includes Episodes 1-4 of their currently announced 24, but Bandai has yet to comment on a possible release for the Motoko ("Episode 25"), Christmas and Spring Specials. Make sure you let them know that you want more Love Hina by buying all the upcoming DVD releases, because only popular series succeed. ________ _______________________/ 03. \___________________________________________________ Right then, what about Ken Akamatsu's Love Hina manga? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yes! TOKYOPOP has announced their acquisition of Ken Akamatsu's original Love Hina manga series. The Japanese version contained nine lengthy volumes, while the North American version, which TOKYOPOP will ship in January 2002, will be divided into 32 page installments and will retail for $2.95 a piece. The U.S. translation of the Love Hina manga will feature the same right-to-left layout of the Japanese version. No word from TOKYOPOP as yet, on any possible edits. ________ _______________________/ 04. \___________________________________________________ How can I import the Love Hina TV series or manga? ____________________________________________________________________________________ The Love Hina series is available in a Chinese/English subtitled version with the original Japanese language voice track, in a three DVD set. Unfortunately for the closet VHS fans (I know you're still out there), I don't believe that a VHS retail set of Love Hina has ever been released. The Love Hina TV series will run you $75 bucks or more on DVD, and that isn't including the Christmas or Spring Specials, which each add on $25+ dollars, especially on eBay. While the manga set will run you well over $120, it's supposedly much more in-depth than the animation series is when it comes to character development. However, I strongly recommend waiting for Bandai Entertainment's domestically released DVD version this upcoming February, as it should have a superior translation, as well as much less compressed video imagery and a few decent extras, unless something goes horribly wrong and they decide they don't want any big profits. ________ _______________________/ 05. \___________________________________________________ Are there any video games based on the Love Hina series? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yes. As far as I know, there's a total of seven Love Hina video games that're currently released in Japan. These include Love Hina Pocket for Nintendo Game Boy Color, developed by Marvelous Entertainment, Love Hina for Sega Dreamcast developed by Sega Entertainment, Love Hina for Sony PlayStation, developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (makers of the Tokimeki Memorial series), and Love Hina 2 for the PlayStation, also developed by Konami. Game Boy Color rendition of Love Hina wasn't all that fun, but one Dreamcast Love Hina game, released as a Limited Box in Japan by Sega, was supposedly the best available on any system. The Love Hina games for PlayStation were reportedly similar to the Tokimeki Memorial games, in that the menu choices you made would directly affect the outcome of the story and who Keitaro ends up. So far, there aren't any plans for English localizations of any of these games, and importing them isn't recommended for people who don't understand Japanese kanji or katakana, or those who don't enjoy slow-paced, dating simulation-style adventure games. The Game Boy Advance version, developed by Marvelous Entertainment, should be released by the end of 2001, since a near-complete version was shown at Space World 2001. This game is said to make up for the previously not-so-good games made for the Game Boy Color. While it could be, we'll have to wait and see... Title: Developer: Platform: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Love Hina Advance Marvelous Entertainment Game Boy Advance Love Hina Pocket Marvelous Entertainment Game Boy Color Love Hina Party Marvelous Entertainment Game Boy Color Love Hina: Totsuzen no Engeji Happening Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Sega Dreamcast Love Hina: Smile Again Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Sega Dreamcast Love Hina -Ai wa Kotoba no Nakani-* Konami Comp. Ent. Japan Sony PlayStation Love Hina 2: Kotaba wa Konaynki you ni* Konami Comp. Ent. Japan Sony PlayStation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Requires imported PocketStation to play. Beware though; they eat batteries. -_-x ________ _______________________/ 06. \___________________________________________________ Where's the Japanese/English lyrics to the opening/ending theme? ____________________________________________________________________________________ "SAKURA SAKU" (Cherry Blossoms Blooming) -Japanese Pronunciation- Yane no ue de sora o aogu, hizashi wa uraraka Miageru sora, karadajuu genki ga minagitteku THAT'S SO WONDERFUL! ikiterunda! Yamerarenai, akirameru da nante Tohou ni kureta kinou ni sayonara Futsufutsu to wakiagaru kono kimochi Nando demo yomigaeru, hana o sakaseyou Omoi dewa itsumo amai nige basho Dakedo tachi kire, asu o ikiru tame Shukufuku no toki wa kuru, te o nobashite Uruwashi no yawaraka na hada, imada te wa todokazu Me o tojireba fukuramu IMEEJI, miwaku no kajitsu THAT'S SO WONDERFUL! ikiterunda! Yamerarenai, sono saki o mitai Dotou no hibi wa tsuzuku, doko made mo Tengoku to jigoku, yukitsumodoritsu Nando demo yomigaeru, hana o sakaseyou Hashire hashire, ai o te nisuru made Sore de kurushimunara nozomu tokoro Shukufuku no toki ga kuru, te o nobashite Tohou ni kureta kinou ni sayonara Futsufutsu to wakiagaru kono kimochi Nando demo yomigaeru, hana o sakaseyou Omoi dewa itsumo amai nige basho Dakedo tachi kire, asu o ikiru tame Shukufuku no toki wa kuru, te o nobashite Te o nobashite, ryoute agete -English Translation- On top of the roof, looking at the sky. The sun's light is warm and gentle. When I look at the sky, my entire body is filled with energy. That's so wonderful! I can live! I can't quit! Goodbye to the bewildered wanderings of yesterday. My feelings are springing up. I can bring them up many times. Let a flower blossom. Memories are a sweet hiding place. Live to see another day. One day, a blessing will come. Stretch out your hand. Daily life is like an angry wave. A cycle of heaven and hell. I can bring it up many times. Let a flower blossom. Run, run, until you find love. If I was to suffer, let it continue. One day, a blessing will come. Reach out your hand. Reach out your hand. Raise up both your hands! "KIMI SAEIREBA" (I'm a Dreamer) -Japanese Pronunciation- I'M A DREAMER Yoake no hikari sosogu ka no chi wa doko? I'M A DREAMER Hono shiroi sono hohoemi, douka sawarasete Koko hi no ataranai basho Hitorikiri de naku toki no himitsu no basho Sakebu you ni namae yobunda Kimi ga inakerya, kimi saeireba Kitto iku yo, hi no ataru basho Kono mama ja owarenai, yakusoku ga aru Tooi michi, hitosu ji no michi Kimi ga inakerya, kimi saeireba Kitto iku yo, hi no ataru basho Kono mama ja owarenai, yakusoku ga aru Tooi michi, hitosu ji no hikari Kimi ga inakerya, kimi saeireba -English Translation- I'm a dreamer Where does the morning sun pour over the earth? I'm a dreamer How does this smile feel in the white flames? It doesn't hit this place It's your secret place when you cry alone. I call your name as if I'm screaming. You're not here, if only you were here. Surely the light will come and will hit there It can't end like this, for there are still promises The far off road, the only road You're not here, if only you were here. Surely the light will come and will hit there It can't end like this, for there are still promises The far off road, the only road You're not here, if only you were here. ________ _______________________/ 07. \___________________________________________________ Are there more Love Hina productions where this came from? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Supposedly, there are several unconfirmed rumors that a brand-new, three-part Love Hina OAV (Original Animation Video) series starring Keitaro's stepsister Kanako is currently being produced, with a scheduled Japanese release date of January 26th, 2002. The direct-to-video animation release, currently known as Love Hina Again, will reportedly contain three thirty-minute volumes. Whether a North American release is even feasible at this stage is unknown, since the series isn't even out in Japan yet and neither is the Bandai-produced English translation of the original. Until I've had a chance to learn more about this new series, please hesitate to ask, since I would've included any information if I had it. Each video in the new Love Hina Again OAV will retail for ¥3800. And yes, as you can see on the list below, all of the previous seiyuu (voice) are set to return, as their respective characters' voices in Love Hina Again. STAFF: Original Story Ken Akamatsu Scenario Kurou Hazuki Character Design Akiyoshi Maeda Props Design Shin-ichi Yamaoka Music Shinkichi Mitsumune Animation XEBEC Director Yoshiaki Iwasaki CAST: Keitaro Urashima Yuuji Ueda Kanako Urashima Natsuko Kuwatani Naru Narusegawa Yui Horie Shinobu Maehara Masayo Kurata Motoko Aoyama Yu Asakawa Kaolla Su Reiko Takagi Mitsune Konno Junko Noda Haruka Urashima Megumi Hayashibara ________ _______________________/ 08. \___________________________________________________ Hey, why don't you cover the hentai Love Hina productions? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Well, for those of you who don't know, hentai basically means "filthy", or in layman's terms, pornographic. I do not, and will not, provide any information concerning these versions, as they are not only unofficial, meaning that they infringe on and exploit the copyrights of the Love Hina series' creators, but also because they're illegal in most parts of mainland Japan, as pornographic shows have the potential to taint youthful minds. Keep in mind that there's a very, very broad distinction made in the Japanese culture between just nudity and outright pornography. I don't think that pornography is beneficial to men or women, no matter what you may think of it. If you truly enjoy seeing animé containing naked women performing degrading sexual acts, then you REALLY need to get out more often. I enjoyed the Love Hina series for the romantic comedy it was originally meant to be by its creators, nothing more and nothing less. ________ _____________/ II. \_____________________________________________________________ Domo Arigato ________ ________________________/ 01. \__________________________________________________ Dedication ____________________________________________________________________________________ The Ultimate Guide to Love Hina is dedicated to Stephen Keller, my friend-in- the-industry, the first person to co-author something with me, a genuine pal. I would never have thought of myself as a great writer if we hadn't first met way back in April 1997 on Årcadium. I probably wouldn't have ever heard about that writing job at Cloudchaser Media either. Little did I know that we would end up aspiring to write so much and so well. Here's hoping that we'll always have this mutual respect for each other's abilities, especially if we make it to the top of the pile. Oh and don't worry, I'm still happy as a clown... ^.^ ________ ________________________/ 02. \__________________________________________________ Special Thanks ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sovereign God Almighty: The Father, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) and The Holy Spirit for my blessings, my salvation, my inspiration and everything. If you don't know Him personally yet and would really like to, then just read Genesis 22:8, Isaiah 53 and John 3:16 in a 1611 King James Version Bible. The Gideons will be happy to provide you with one, plus it really is a great read. My mom and dad both, for raising me right, for teaching me, and for loving me. All of my friends, for giving me great ideas, even when they don't think they do, and for helping to make me a much happier human being than I normally am. ________ ________________________/ 03. \__________________________________________________ Legal Disclaimer ____________________________________________________________________________________ Since The Ultimate Guide to Love Hina took a significant portion of my total lifespan to compile, I'd appreciate it if you didn't chop-shop it. To put it another way, if I find out you've been copying any of the information that I went to so much trouble and selfless effort to write, you'll be hearing from my attorney. Okay, so I don't really have an attorney, but I do have two pet ferrets and they tend to poing and bite when something is taken from them or their master (me), so if you don't want a smelly care package of doom, don't go rewriting, reverse engineering or chopping my guide for your own personal vendettas. My ferrets will be watching you, especially if you have any food.