1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!, August 1, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Love Hina, Vol. 10 (Paperback)
In this volume Keitaro, Naru and Mutsumi visit Mutsumi's parents. But the promise comes into play again. Just when they think they are about to find who the promise was made to, the only person who can answer that question (Mutsumi), comes down with a severe case of amnesia. Not to mention the fact that in order to try to get her memory backtehy have to act out one of her fantasies. That fantasy just happens to be where the two get married. But very quickly things start to become very realistic... And finally for the second half of his classes Keitaro decides to study abroad in America with Seta. Can Naru come to terms with her feelings yet? Find out in this volume of Love Hina!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite what it could've been..., July 2, 2003
This review is from: Love Hina, Vol. 10 (Paperback)
You have to realize that on the Love Hina scale, a rating of 3/5 stars means that I'll be reading this one 70 times over instead of 100. The book is still lots of fun, as is every book in the series, but #10 tries to squeeze in some new plot developments and revelations, but isn't quite successful in doing so.
The first half of the book deals with Keitaro, Naru, and Mutsumi's return to Okinawa, all part of Mutsumi's plan to get the two lovebirds together. An accident happens, and Mutsumi loses her memory. In order for her to get it back, Keitaro must pretend to marry her (I forget how this works exactly, but it's basically a plot device to make Naru jealous and uncomfortable). As Mutsumi relives her childhood, some long-forgotten memories resurface.
Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of Ken Akamatu's snippets of what really happened with the childhood promise. They were fun at first, but now they seem slightly jumbled and incoherent (a common problem with memories, but this is still a narrative here). I hope we get a full flashback before the series ends, because at the moment these glimpses aren't very satisfying. On the flip side, this particular glimpse offers a very touching moment in itself. And for those who have seen the anime, I'm guessing that if the wind-up doll doesn't actually appear in the manga, this is the inspiration for her story, since it ends on the same bittersweet note.
Another chapter deals with Su and her transformations into an adult when a red moon appears. This is another story arc that has been woefully underdeveloped. It worked fine in the anime, where it was given more development and the sci-fi/fantasy aspects of the series were played up, but so far in ten books we've only gotten 2 transformations and 1 more mention of Su's brother. I hope we get more with the last few books, but since those should focus on the Keitaro/Naru relationship and a new character, Kanako, I highly doubt it.
The last arc deals with Keitaro and his decision to follow his dreams and go with Seta to study overseas for half a year. This should've been the main focus of the book, as it will lead to events that further develop and change Keitaro, not to mention impacting the rest of Hinata House. However, here the development given is adequate, but could've been better. The Mutsumi arc should've been shortened to develop this one. As it is, Keitaro's decision comes completely out of left-field. Maybe this was the intention, but it didn't work for me.
Some important plot points in this one, but the execution could've been better. Still worth picking up, though.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
I (Still) Love Hina!, October 9, 2008
This review is from: Love Hina, Vol. 10 (Paperback)
Ken Akamatsu, Love Hina, vol. 10 (Tokyopop, 2000)
Keitaro and Naru are finally getting their relationship started. Or are they? We finally get to the root of Naru's indecisiveness, and of course Mutsumi has to show up again and complicate things... Love Hina has consistently been one of the best manga series I've read, and this issue is no different. Great stuff. ****
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