Love Hina, Vol. 5 [Paperback]

Ken Akamatsu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2002

When Keitaro Urashima fails his entrance exams to get into Tokyo University for the second time, he’s officially an unemployed and uneducated slacker. To make things worse, his parents have kicked him out of his house. Fortunately, his grandmother owns the fabulous Hinata Lodge and has agreed to take Keitaro in as caretaker. What he doesn’t know is that the lodge is actually a girl’s dorm and he’s the only guy around! Most guys would kill to live with five sexy ladies, but if Keitaro’s not careful, this job will kill him.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591820162
• ISBN-13: 978-1591820161
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,315 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The fun in the sun has begun, August 19, 2003

By 

Simon (Brampton, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Hina, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

Book 4 of the Love Hina series ended with Naru realizing that her former crush, Keitaro's boss Seta, had returned to Japan. Now in book 5, Naru struggles to sort out her feelings for Keitaro and Seta as the gang hits the beach for the summer.
The first half of this book works the best, as the gang goes to a summer festival, works at Haruka's seaside cafe, and does their own screwy rendition of Saiyuki, a famous Oriental myth/legend. Some classic bits include Motoko's martial arts battle with Seta, Naru's role as Goku the monkey, and Shinobu accidentally kicking Keitaro in his "delicate place."

While I wouldn't say the second half of the book was bad, it definitely comes off as disappointing after the gang returns from the beach. Motoko gets a good story about her kendo training, but the rest feels unusually pointless. Shinobu's story about her first kiss comes off as embarassing, while Kitsune's prank in the last story only sets back the progress of Keitaro and Naru's relationship. This is also the first time Su transforms into an adult, and it's something I wish Ken Akamatsu had never included, as it doesn't get much developement throughout the series. The anime highlights this part of Su much better, and I would've been completely lost if I hadn't watched it first. All in all, while I don't mind stand-alone, "day-in-the-life" filler stories, at this point they should be much better and maybe even have a running theme.

Speaking of the anime, there's one scene that I feel it does much better than the manga, and that is the kiss under the fireworks. Naru's misunderstanding here (which results in Keitaro being punched yet again) just doesn't work for me, and it feels like a cheap trick to prolong the series instead of letting the characters get their feelings out. While the mood is also spoiled in the anime version, it's due to a third character's interference, and even without the kiss, you know that Naru and Keitaro shared a meaningful moment. Here, the moment is completely spoiled.

Book 5 starts out with a five-star adventure on the beach, but drops to a three after the characters get back. Because of that, I'm giving this one four stars.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellently excellent and brilliantly brilliant!!!!!, July 27, 2003

By 

onikitten (Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Hina, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

The perfect summer read, Love Hina #5 finds the Hinata household living in up on holiday at the beach! (Perfect to read when its July in England and rain just keeps coming down!) I LOVED: the scene at the beach when Shinobu is-(almost!)-kissed-by-Sempai!, The play of Goku and her funtastic friends, Naru and Keitaro's first kiss, (together, anyway!) Su's big secret and poor Motoko nearly having a breakdown! Find all this and more in Love Hina #5, where anything, and I mean ANYTHING could happen!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, December 26, 2002

By 

Sarah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Hina, Vol. 5 (Paperback)

I got the first three books from my friend for Christmas, and they are great! After reading the first three, I went out and bought four more - up till volume 7 (the other volumes have not yet been released). They are really funny with a bit of romance...