List of Love Hina characters

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2009)

This article's tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (January 2009)

This article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points.

This is a list of fictional characters in the anime and manga series Love Hina created by Ken Akamatsu. The character names are listed in Western order, with the given name before the family name.

NB Where ages are quoted these are the ages at the time the character appears in the story – the story moves through a year fairly quickly so ages change quickly.

Contents 1 Hinata Inn Residents 1.1 Keitaro Urashima 1.2 Naru Narusegawa 1.3 Mutsumi Otohime 1.4 Shinobu Maehara 1.5 Motoko Aoyama 1.6 Kaolla Su 1.7 Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno 2 Relatives 2.1 Haruka Urashima 2.2 Hinata Urashima 2.3 Noriyasu Seta 2.4 Sarah McDougal 2.5 Kanako Urashima 3 Minor characters 3.1 Amalla Su 3.2 Lamba Lu 3.3 Kentaro Sakata 3.4 Mei Narusegawa 3.5 Tsuruko Aoyama 3.6 Kimiaki Shirai 3.7 Masayuki Haitani 3.8 Akiko Taichi 3.9 Motoko's Friends (Sachiyo, Emi, Kikuko) 3.10 Ema Maeda 3.11 Nyamo Namo 3.12 Keisuke Urashima 3.13 Village elders 3.14 Shinobu's Parents 3.15 Mizuho Fujisawa 3.16 Ken Akamatsu 4 Animals/Pets 4.1 Tama-chan 4.2 Kuro 5 Mechs/Automata 5.1 Moé-chan 5.2 Mecha-Tama-chan 6 Others 6.1 Hina: The Ominous Blade 7 Notes and references

Hinata Inn Residents

Keitaro Urashima

Keitaro Urashima (浦島 景太郎, Urashima Keitarō^?) is a cram school student, and second-year ronin studying to enter Tokyo University (or "Todai" for short). When Keitaro was a child, he made a promise with a girl based on a story that two people who love each other will live "happily ever after" if they enter Tokyo University ^[1] After being kicked out of home for failing to pass the entrance exams on his second attempt, he travels to "Hinata Inn", a Hotel owned by his Grandmother in order to find a place to stay and study. ^[2] After a misunderstanding, Keitaro discovers the Hotel is now a Girls only Dorm.^[3] Keitaro's Aunt Haruka mistakenly assumes he has already passed the entrance exams and is already studying at Tokyo University, and the residents agree he can stay. When he fails to correct her and is discovered to be lying, he is forced to leave until Haruka announces the Inn now belongs to Keitaro and he is the new landlord. ^[4][5][6]

In the anime, Keitaro is voiced by Yuji Ueda in the japanese version and Derek Stephen Prince in the english version. Keitaro's name is taken from Mangaka Keitaro Arima. ^[7]

Naru Narusegawa

Naru Narusegawa (成瀬川 なる, Narusegawa Naru^?) bears an extremely fiery temper and a tendency to inflict violent physical punishment(mostly on Keitaro). This 17-year old student and resident of Hinata Inn is described as "one fuse short of a cannon". She is very intelligent, having placed top in the nation on the college practice entrance exams at their cram school. Of all the girls in the Hinata Inn, she is victimized the most by Keitaro's clumsiness, which often results in her being naked, exposed in some fashion, or lying in very suggestive positions. Eventually, she develops very strong feelings for him, though has great difficulty in admitting these feelings to herself and Keitaro. Like Keitaro, she strives to get into Tokyo University because of a promise she had made to someone. In the manga series, she eventually marries Keitaro.

In the anime Naru is voice by Yui Horie in the japanese version and Dorothy Elias-Fahn in the english version.

Mutsumi Otohime

Mutsumi Otohime (乙姫 むつみ, Otohime Mutsumi^?) is a very gentle, very frail, anemic, clumsy, and soft-spoken 20 year old girl. Despite her poor physical health, she is very resilient and is able to quickly recover from any injury, much like Keitaro. She has a very sweet and generous personality, often sacrificing her own happiness for others. She lives on or near the island of Okinawa and has an affinity for watermelons and turtles. She met Keitaro and Naru while taking some time off for a brief vacation after flunking her entrance exam to Todai for the third time in a row, just like Keitaro.

Due to frequent near-death experiences, her outlook on life is somewhat disconnected with reality, a point reinforced by her almost surreal optimism. She has a number of unusual qualities such as being able to speak "turtlese", which she uses to communicate with her turtles and a guessing method she uses for exams which involves the sides of a pencil and sleepwalking into trouble (once she sleepwalked out her window and gets hit by a car). Despite her eccentricities she is extremely intelligent, scoring full marks in the practice exams – yet still failing to get into Tokyo University due to simple mistakes such as forgetting to write her name on the test paper (causing her to get grades of an all time low: Z).

When she was younger and living in Hinata, Mutsumi claims to have played matchmaker for Naru and Keitaro after it became clear that she wanted to go to Tokyo University with him. Although she loved Keitaro, she let him go for Naru's sake by deliberately losing a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide which of them would become Keitaro's wife. She then made a promise with Naru that both she and her would later go to Tokyo University, so that Naru would remember the promise made to Keitaro. Before leaving Hinata, she gave Naru her Liddo-kun doll in memory of their friendship. Like Keitaro and Naru, she finally passes the Todai entrance exam. She studies there, later entering graduate school. At the end of the manga she helps out in organizing Keitaro and Naru's wedding by bringing a plethora of watermelons.

Tokyopop sometimes misspells her name as "Mitsumi" or "Matsumi".

In the anime Mutsumi is voiced by Satsuki Yukino in the Japanese version and Julie Ann Taylor in the English version.

Shinobu Maehara

Shinobu Maehara (前原 しのぶ, Maehara Shinobu^?) is a 13-year old schoolgirl who, after a bad start with Keitaro, develops a crush on him. Shinobu is a boarder at the Hinata Inn, in room 201. In the anime, she is first introduced as a grieving girl who has run away from home due to domestic turmoil; however, in the manga, she is already at the Hinata Inn when Keitaro arrives and her parents are still together. She is quite skilled in both cooking and household chores as she became the cook (Her family once owned a restaurant in town prior to their divorce). Quiet and shy, she is overly caring of other's feelings and this contributes to her own emotional frailty. She is the first girl to fall for Keitaro and in the manga attempt to avoid him because of this. In both the anime and manga, she thinks highly of Keitaro and will often be at the verge of tears when she thinks that he is in trouble or likes someone else. In the epilogue 4 years later she has since grown her hair out and has become more mature though she retains her sincere personality, she also still has a crush on Keitaro and hasn't given up on her dream of being his girlfriend (and likely never will).

In the manga, she was rated the #2 most popular girl by the readers. Though since the end of the manga she has become the most popular.

In the anime Shinobu is voiced by Masayo Kurata in the Japanese version and Bridget Hoffman in the English version

Motoko Aoyama

Motoko Aoyama (青山 素子, Aoyama Motoko^?) is a 15-year old school girl who is extremely serious, athletic, and into kendo. Motoko is also a boarder at the Hinata Inn, in room 302.

She has difficulty dealing with other people, especially males; she finds men to be a distraction that keep her from being able to concentrate fully on her studies and kendo practice. She also dislikes men because her sister left the dojo to marry. Her relationship with Keitaro initially resembles Naru's relationship with him; he all too often finds himself on the receiving end of various attacks as a result of his frequent mishaps. She eventually mellows out as she becomes used to him and eventually finds herself developing feelings for him, along with a habit of writing trashy romance tales involving the two of them.

Motoko has an older sister, Tsuruko, who gave up the life of the sword to marry. Tsuruko is far stronger at kendo than Motoko, and Motoko both greatly admires and fears her. However, Tsuruko believes that Motoko has more potential than herself, and that Motoko lost her drive to improve when Tsuruko married. Motoko is also the next in line to inherit the dojo the Aoyama family has in Kyoto as she is not married. It is notable that Tsuruko is actually Motoko's biological sister. They are nearly the only characters in the series who are actually blood-related as siblings (the second siblings couple is presented by Kaolla and Amalla Su). In a flashback it seems that Motoko is her sisters spitting image when Tsuruko was around Motoko's age.

Motoko has only two serious fears in the world: Tsuruko, and for some unknown reason, turtles (even though Tsuruko correlates it to her intense dislike for men).

In the anime Motoko is voiced by Yū Asakawa in the Japanese version and Mona Marshall in the English version

Kaolla Su

Kaolla Su (カオラ・スゥ, Kaora Sū^?) is a 14-year old foreign transfer student. She is also a boarder at the Hinata Inn, in room 301.

She is from the fictional kingdom of Molmol, supposedly located near the International Date Line, and is the princess of said country. The dot on her forehead seems to have something to do with the 3-eyed symbol of Molmol, though it resembles (indeed, is almost identical to) a bindi dot. She is often barefoot and dressed in nothing else except her heavily altered school uniform in almost every anime episode and manga chapter, or some otherwise scant costume. To top her personality, she is above all extremely hyperactive, usually hugging (or, in Keitaro's case, kicking) someone, trying to eat something, especially bananas and/or Tama-chan, or inventing some potentially dangerous new device. She also has a tendency to snuggle against a person while she is sleeping and usually crushes them while doing it.

Molmol is a kingdom where the moon sometimes appears red. It also uses a western naming order, although the Hinata Inn residents never seem to pick this up: Su is actually Kaolla Su's family name.

Su likes all the other residents in the Hinata Apartments and gets along well with them, though they have difficulty keeping up with her hyperactive tendencies; only the athletic Motoko seems to be able to tolerate and keep up with her. Her like for Keitaro stems from the fact that he reminds her of the person she refers to as her older brother (actually her cousin, whom she grew up with). However, it can be inferred that she eventually comes to care about Keitaro as much as and perhaps even more than her older brother.

While she has stated that she likes everyone in the Hinata apartments (including Sarah, who was sent there for a short period of time), it is apparent that Kaolla shares a much deeper relationship with Sarah and Motoko as compared to the other residents.Her ambition is to return to her homeland to start a computing school and transform her country into a technological power that will rival, and eventually conquer, Japan.

As if her never ending energy, strange customs, and mechanical finesse were not strange enough, Su also possesses the ability to transform into a more adult version of herself on a single night every year, when the moon glows red. In anime she admitted to have fallen in love with Keitaro while she was in this form, despite her transformation just last a few seconds because there was no red moon. Though this is not explicitly stated in the manga, it is implied extremely heavily with the adult Su even kissing Keitaro and proclaiming herself his girlfriend afterwards.

Her room in the Hinata Inn is a faithful recreation of Molmol's natural habitat, complete with banana trees, a waterfall, and a small lake, along with a high-tech laboratory.

In the anime Su is voiced by Reiko Takagi in the Japanese version and Wendee Lee in the English version

Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno

Mitsune Konno (紺野 みつね, Konno Mitsune^?), also known as Kitsune, which means "fox" in Japanese, is a 19-year old freelance writer (who never seems to write anything). She is frequently drunk and seems to enjoy teasing Keitaro at every opportunity. Kitsune is also a boarder at the Hinata Inn, in room 205.

Her nickname comes from a combination of her first and last names, and the fact that she hardly ever fully opens both eyes at the same time (mostly when she is surprised). As a result, she has a perpetually fox-like, vulpine expression. She's a practical joker and troublemaker; her mission in life seems to be to ensure that things never get too dull or those around her too complacent. She is also seen drinking a lot. In the manga (Volume 4) Kitsune's bedroom walls are densely lined with bottles of alcoholic drinks. She is also the one who taught Kaolla japanese.

Kitsune is more flirtatious, especially with Keitaro, than any of the other residents. She is also the bustiest in the household, second only to Mutsumi Otohime, and is unafraid of using her charms to get what she wants, whatever it might be. Her relationship with Keitaro eventually develops into a "little brother/big sister" connection (though Keitaro is actually older than her).

She also is a bit greedy, as it is seen in a flashback sequence when she tells Keitaro about how much Naru's innocence ended up dismissing possible boyfriends; Kitsune was shown to encourage her to date a rich boy just because of his wealth. Also, when the girls are traveling to Molmol to try and bring Keitaro back to Hinata Inn, the only thing she thinks of is the inheritance that will be left to him and the girl that he chooses whenever Hina returns, even though, later on, Kitsune lets him stay with Naru. She eventually takes over the Hinata Tea House when Haruka leaves and picks up Haruka's habit of smoking. Between the start and the finish Kitsune held two other jobs. Her name is derived from the name of the mangaka Mitsune Ayasaka.^[7]

In the anime Kitsune is voiced by Junko Noda in the Japanese version and Barbara Goodson in the English version

Relatives

Haruka Urashima

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Mari Devon (English)

Haruka Urashima (浦島 はるか, Urashima Haruka^?) is Keitaro Urashima's "aunt" (actually his cousin). In the anime she dislikes being called aunt by Keitaro and often smashes him in the face when she is referred to as and corrects him by saying "its Haruka-san" (san being a respectful term to your elder in most cases)

Haruka Urashima is the only child of Hinata Urashima's eldest daughter, Yoko Urashima; her second daughter was Keitaro's mother. After the death of Yoko, Hinata adopted her granddaughter. Therefore, Haruka is Keitaro's legal aunt in addition to being his actual cousin.^[8] It was as a teenager that, while working at the inn, she was first called "Aunty Haruka" by her baby cousin Keitaro – the same time that Keitaro first met both Mutsumi and Naru.

Haruka is the ryōbo ("house-mother") of the Joshi Senyō Ryō Hinata-sō ("Women's Only Dormitory, Hinata House") and runs the Wafū Chabō Hinata ("Traditional Japanese Tea-Room Hinata"). Haruka is constantly seen smoking a cigarette. Like Naru, she has a fiery temper (and great physical prowess to match), which she hides under a calm, detached exterior.

Having traveled the world with Seta and Sara's mom, Haruka's skills in martial arts rival Seta's and can even surpass his when she is angry. She is also very skilled with firearms, which shows when she shoots Kaolla's missiles at Seta's head after being teased by him.

Hinata Urashima

Voiced by: Masako Nozawa
Hinata Urashima (浦島 ひなた, Urashima Hinata^?), also known as Grandma Hina, is the original manager of Hinata. Upon retiring, she entrusted Keitaro with looking over the Hinata Inn so she could travel the world.

In the manga, Grandma Hina knew all along that Naru was the girl Keitaro promised to go to Tokyo U with. She also knew the location of the Liddo-Kun shaped time capsule Keitaro, Naru, and Mutsumi buried beneath the sandbox when they were children.^[9]

Noriyasu Seta

Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

Noriyasu Seta (瀬田 記康, Seta Noriyasu^?) is a Tokyo University graduate and professor who specialises in archaeology, appearing to be a parody of Indiana Jones. Like Keitaro, he was a third-year ronin. He's clumsy - especially with women and his relationship to Haruka seems to be similar to Keitaro's relationship with Naru (i.e. both get physically thrashed around by their respective female and are married to them eventually as well as both of them apparently being invulnerable to just about everything), a terrible driver (his arrival often heralded by his van crashing down from the sky), and an exceptionally skilled martial artist, all partly due to his complete lack of self-preservation. Seta spends a good deal of his time traveling the world on one expedition or another. His goal seems to be to find evidence of the ancient turtle civilization that once flourished throughout east Asia.

Seta is also something of an adventurer, and possesses a van that shares his indestructible nature, and apparently has a submarine mode. In the past, Haruka had a major crush on him, though he seemed oblivious. They went on many expeditions together. Along with them on the expeditions was Sara's mother, an American that looked remarkably like Naru, who later died. Her last request was that Seta marry Haruka. This wish was granted, and Haruka and Seta married at the ruins of Todai, capital of the Turtle civilization. Seta is Sara's guardian, and she refers to him as "papa."

Seta is most probably a practitioner of Jeet Kune Do^{[citation needed]}. In most situations, his fighting stance is almost an exact mirror of Bruce Lee's proprietary stance^{[citation needed]}. Also, in the anime, Sara even uses the term "Jeet Kune Do" in reference to her father's fighting technique^{[citation needed]}.

His name is derived from the name of the mangaka Noriyasu Seta.^[7]

Sarah McDougal

Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi (Japanese), Julie Maddalena (English)

Sarah McDougal (サラ・マクドゥガル, Sara MakuDugaru^?), is a 9-year-old American from California and is Seta's adopted daughter.^[10] She initially delights in making Keitaro's life miserable, however, like most of the girls in the story, she eventually warms to him, even if she still calls him a dork.

Sarah is left for a time in the care of the Hinata Inn residents by Seta, as he feels that travelling the world with him on expeditions would be too disruptive to her childhood. There, she develops a close friendship with Su, most likely because of their shared disdain for the general order of things. In both the manga and anime version, Sarah even comments on how "Kaolla and I are not Japanese!" during a meal, when Motoko forces them all – sans Naru who is in a field trip to Kyoto – to have a samurai-like diet. Interestingly, Sara quickly becomes Su's new playmate, taking the place of Motoko, who was the only person in the house to keep up with Su's energy. Sara and Su eventually become so close they change their hairstyles to match, both of them with two pigtails. Sara eventually does return to travelling with Seta after his marriage to Haruka.

Sarah has an uncle in California. Her mother, now deceased, formerly worked with Seta and Haruka on an archaeological dig and competed for Seta's romantic attention.

Sara possesses no unusual talents or skills, save for a certain gift for Jeet Kune Do learned from Seta, though she is adept at bashing Keitaro on the head with priceless artifacts often pulled out of nowhere. She has a panda-shaped birthmark on her buttocks, which she avoids showing at all costs. She shares her family name with Cynthia McDougal from Ken Akamatsu's previous manga series A.I. Love You.

Kanako Urashima

Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani (Japanese), Melissa Fahn (English)

Kanako Urashima (浦島 可奈子, Urashima Kanako^?) is Keitaro's adopted younger sister. Kanako is a master of disguise and is able to impersonate anyone, which she uses to try to get control over the Hinata Inn. Keitaro is the only one who can see through her disguise at simple view. Kanako never came to see Keitaro as a brother, and had loved him since they were children. When they promised to run an inn together when they grew up, she had assumed it would be as husband and wife. However, Keitaro does not share these thoughts and only sees her as a sister.

She first appears in Volume 11 in the manga, and in the Love Hina Again OVA. Her appearance is often accompanied by the sound of a bell carried on the tail of her unusual cat Kuro.

After travelling with her grandmother for some years, she returns to Japan to fulfill her promise to her brother to run an inn together. She arrives while Keitaro was away in the U.S.A., and after assuming control, immediately changes the Hinata Inn from a girls' dormitory back into an inn. The residents are forced to either stay and work for her, or to leave.

She soon realizes that all of the girls in Hinata Inn have some sort of affection for her brother, and tests their affection in a variety of ways. She then tries to drive them away by being as mean and cruel as she could to them. At first it seemed to be working, as one by one everyone but Naru left the new Hinata Inn. When the girls (except for Naru) start to suspect Kanako's feelings for Keitaro and why she forces them to be mean to him, they form the "Hinata House Liberation Front" in order to reclaim the Inn. Kanako, Naru and Mutsumi form the Hinata-rōshi (日向浪士, translated as "Hinata Rebel Alliance") to reclaim it under the name Urashima Kanako-no-suke (浦島可奈子之助). ).

Even without knowing her, Kanako had harbored a deep hatred for the little girl to which Keitaro promised to go to Tokyo University with, as she believes that the promise is what plagued his life with bad luck. As such, she believed that by eliminating this girl, the "curse" would be lifted. At first, she thought that Kitsune, who was leading the "Liberation Front", was this girl, but in the nick of time, Naru ended up revealing that she was most likely the girl. Disheartened for having trusted her unwilling sworn enemy, Kanako attempted to sabotage Naru's relationship with Keitaro upon his return. However, in the end, she recognized that it was Naru whom he liked, and reluctantly accepts their relationship.

Minor characters

Amalla Su

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)

Amalla Su (アマラ・スゥ, Amara Sū^?) is Kaolla Su's older sister. She has long white hair, blue eyes, and wears an outfit resembling that of a Indian/Arabian princess. Both she and her sister are magical girls, and both are members of the royal family of the kingdom of Molmol. Amalla has been in love with cousin Crown Prince Lamba Lu for a long time, but has never admitted her feelings to him. She speaks Japanese in an Edokko accent, and claims to be from the deserts of Edo (Edo is an old name for Tokyo, which of course has no deserts). In combat, she possesses two weapons: a magical flute that controls the weather, and her pet albino alligator Shiro. She is referenced in the manga and has several appearances in the anime.

Lamba Lu

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (Japanese), Derek Stephen Prince (English)

"Brother" to Amalla and Kaolla. In reality, he is a cousin of theirs, but they have grown up as siblings. He is the king of their nation, and in the tradition of their people, he has to serve in the military for a period of time. Before that happens, he is required to marry. Once when Su was a very young girl he promised to marry her, but then he realises that she only sees him as a brother, whereas Amalla is in love with him. He marries Amalla instead.

Lamba Lu looks almost exactly like Keitaro when they both have their glasses on; the only striking differences are that he's a bit more tanned than Keitaro is, has darker hair and dark green eyes, and a somewhat Indian/South Asian appearance. Unlike Keitaro, however, Lamba Lu is very calm, collected, and 'together', and not at all clumsy or awkward.

While Lamba Lu does not appear explicitly in the manga, he does interact with Keitaro at one point and has a different role. In volume 14, Keitaro receives a letter from Lamba Lu inviting the former ronin to take part in a joint research project between Tokyo University and the University of Molmol (in which case Lamba Lu is actually the chairman of the joint research project) on the Lost Todai Ruins.

Kentaro Sakata

Voiced by: Ryotaro Okiayu (Japanese), Steve Areno (English)

Kentaro Sakata (坂田 健太朗, Sakata Kentarō^?), an anime-specific character, had a crush on Naru. Originally Keitaro's rival for Narusegawa, he eventually loses all of his money in his pursuit of her. He remained fairly tenacious for a time, but eventually gave up after getting deep into debt with the Hinata Inn. Haruka let him try to work off his debts at a very low pay rate of $1.50 an hour; from that point on, Kentaro became an occasional background character and plot device.

Also, Kentaro has been repeatedly mispronounced as 'Keitaro' by the residents, mainly before they grew too familiar with him. Strangely enough though, he has absolutely nothing, besides his original affection for Naru, in common with Keitaro.

Mei Narusegawa

Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori (Japanese), Rebecca Forstadt (English)

Mei Narusegawa (成瀬川 メイ, Narusegawa Mei^?) is Naru's younger sister. Naru describes her as her "half-sister" in manga volumes 11 and 14. On the other hand, in the anime, episode 22, Mei said "My father married her mother." This leads some to speculate that they are stepsisters, although this is never confirmed. She initially tries to get Keitaro and Mutsumi together in the hopes that Naru would return home if Keitaro were taken. She gives up on this when she and Naru clear up a few family misconceptions. Also, in Love Hina Again, she makes a very brief appearance to help all the Hinata residents about Keitaro and Naru's relationship & help speed it up. She also appears in the last volume of the manga, seen standing off on the side with the rest of the residents of Hinata Inn while Naru is chasing Keitaro down after accidentally undressing her. She also plays a minor role in the Spring Movie.

The character of Mei-chan was created for and appears primarily in the Love Hina anime, though she is referred to in at least two places in the manga and is seen in the last chapter of the final volume of the manga.

Tsuruko Aoyama

Voiced by: Miki Nagasawa (Japanese), Philece Sampler (English)

Tsuruko Aoyama (青山 鶴子, Aoyama Tsuruko^?) is Motoko's older sister and the one currently entrusted with the keeping of their family's Shinmeiryuu tradition. She is not active in running the school, having given up the life of the sword for marriage, and it is her duty to hand the school over to Motoko's care when the time comes.

Though Motoko has lived in fear of Tsuruko for years, Tsuruko has Motoko's best interests at heart and her only real wish is for her sister to be happy on whatever path she chooses to walk. Unfortunately, she has a habit of trying to kill her sister when she lies to her (when she tried to take Motoko back to Kyoto and, to prevent this, she pretended to be engaged with Keitaro) or does not tell her the full details of a situation (when Motoko omitted that she flunked the Todai admittance exam). She also gets into a bloodthirsty mood whenever Motoko is lazy and does not do her best (this is only seen in a nightmare sequence of Motoko).

While her usual appearance is that of a very proper lady well versed in Japanese culture, she sometimes has the eyes of a demon and becomes extremely violent. She is an incredible swordswoman whom few could hope to face, even though she abandoned the dojo after getting married. She is a very serious character, but also very just and in her own weird way, only cares for the well being of her sister.

She has a beautiful pet crane named "Shippu", which she later gives to Motoko in the thirteenth volume after Motoko finally defeats her. Like her sister, her sword techniques are centered around the destruction of evil, using ki attacks with her slash, some of them hurting only evil beings, but mostly slashing through rocks, people or larger objects (like a sports car, driven by Kentaro, that was 'accidentally' about to run over Keitaro – in the manga, it was a truck whose driver was drunk and sleepy) as if they were made of paper.

Kimiaki Shirai

Voiced by: Michio Miyashita (Japanese), Gene Holliday (English)

Kimiaki Shirai (白井 功明, Shirai Kimiaki^?) is one of Keitaro's friends. He loves to make fun of Keitaro, calling him a failure in girls and academics, but pulls back later on when Keitaro becomes more successful. He almost always appears with Haitani. His main interests are in women, and one of his only upside is some degree of skill in computers. He also seems to have an interest in older woman like Haruka. He is short, and is almost always shown with big round glasses. In the manga's fifth volume, Su even calls him a "small, fat, Hobbit".

Masayuki Haitani

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)

Masayuki Haitani (灰谷 真之, Haitani Masayuki^?) is one of Keitaro's friends, and is (apart from a few physical differences) almost exactly like Shirai. He is taller and enters a university before Shirai or Keitaro.

Akiko Taichi

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Julie Anne Taylor (English)

Akiko Taichi (太地 亜紀子, Taichi Akiko^?) is a schoolfriend of Shinobu and Su in the anime adaptation. The anime implies that she is often teased at school, possibly due to her generally passive personality, and in the beginning it seems that the only friend she has is Shinobu, who cares about her a lot. In episode 13 of the anime it was her relations with Su that caused Shinobu to turn somewhat jealous of Akiko; in fact, it was Su's plan to become closer with Akiko in case to know more about Shinobu's likes and dislikes so they (Shinobu and Su) could be better friends.

Motoko's Friends (Sachiyo, Emi, Kikuko)

Sachiyo Voiced by: Yukie Maeda
Emi Voiced by: Yuki Hokimoto
Kikuko Voiced by: Madoka Akita

Sachiyo Matsumoto (松本 幸代, Matsumoto Sachiyo^?), Emi Ichikawa (市川 えみ, Ichikawa Emi^?) and Kikuko Onoue (尾上 菊子, Onoue Kikuko^?) are loyal followers of Motoko, who they admire because of her skills with the sword and her beauty, especially Kikuko. She cares a lot about Motoko and at first, along with Motoko herself, believes that Motoko's appearance affects her skills and personality. Also known as Motoko's "fan club", they appear exclusively in the anime.

Ema Maeda

Ema Maeda (真枝 絵馬, Maeda Ema^?) appears in the epilogue of the Love Hina manga, Volume 14, which is set three years (four in the English manga) after the end of the main storyline.

A timid 15 year old girl who dabbles in conspiracy theories, Ema hopes to get into Tokyo University so she can improve her life and have people notice her. Due to her poor grades, she left home in order to live at the "legendary" Hinata Inn, which is believed to have the power to get anyone into Tokyo University. Being very clumsy, her arrival at the Hinata Inn mirrors Keitaro's initial arrival, as she is mistaken for a peeping tom and is chased out of the hot springs. In awe of all the beautiful girls living at the Hinata Inn, she accidentally steals Naru's wedding veil, tripping a theft alarm in the process. She is rescued by and flees with Keitaro. Despite a shaky first day, everything is set right when she is given a thank you kiss by Naru for finding and returning both her veil and groom. She then realizes that she can achieve her dreams if she tries hard enough. She has a pet chameleon named Leon.

Nyamo Namo

Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

Nyamo Namo (ニャモ・ナーモ, Nyamo Nāmo^?) is a young girl of the island Pararakelse. Her grandfather was once an acquaintance of Seta, and after her grandfather's death, Nyamo decided to work with Seta on his excavations to continue her Grandfather's work. Nyamo is physically almost identical to Shinobu, except for her darker skin and longer hair. She also shares a number of other traits with Shinobu as well, including her extreme initial shyness and reluctance to speak and a crush on Keitaro (which is shown when she glomps Keitaro in her second appearance to which Naru punches him into the ground for "assaulting" Nyamo) she also seems to have developed a fear of Naru after seeing her bludgeon Keitaro into the air (even hiding behind her giant tortoise when she saw Naru afterwards) though she is also very hard to surprise often having the same innocent quizzical expression in any situation. Nyamo and Shinobu quickly become good friends and correspond when apart. In the manga, when she visits the Hinata Dorms, she brings with her a pet giant tortoise named Gidget.

Keisuke Urashima

Keisuke Urashima (浦島 景介, Urashima Keisuke^?) is Grandma Hina's father and great-grandfather to Keitaro and Kanako. Keisuke had promised to fix Moé-chan, a Tsukumogami (tool or doll that has been cared for 99 years and comes to life in its 100th year). Unfortunately, he has a poor memory and eventually forgot about Moé-chan. Keisuke appears only in the anime.

Village elders

These old men were believed to be the ancestors of the Urashima family, aside from Keisuke; although they are referred to in the translation as being "village elders", a sort of town council. They appeared in the first episode, where several of them "toyed" with Keitaro's sketchpad, accidentally letting it land near Shinobu Maehara, the grieving girl who has run away from home due to domestic turmoil.

Though they made fewer and fewer appearances as the series progressed, ending completely with episode 24 in the anime, the old men were among the series' most intriguing characters. Apparently oblivious to everything around them except the goings-on at Hinata Inn, they seemed to possess strange insight towards the hearts and minds of the residents. Their role generally consisted of appearing at key points in an episode and commenting on the current emotional situation in short, thought-provoking statements. Whether or not the men were actually speaking to one another is not quite clear, as they would often finish one another's sentences.

They appear only in the anime; at least seventeen of them are shown in one group scene.

Shinobu's Parents

Mother Voiced by: Hiromi Tsuru, Father Voiced by: Masashi Ebara (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)

The reason Shinobu decided to leave home and live at the Hinata Inn was because of the marital problems between her father, Yashuhara Maehara (前原 康治, Maehara Yashuhara^?), and her mother. In the anime, their marital problems lead to their divorce. Shinobu's parents arrive at the Hinata Inn and argue over who Shinobu should live with. However, Shinobu decides to remain at the Hinata Inn, to which her mother is against as she believes the Hinata Inn is a bad place full of rowdy young girls. They eventually concede, allowing Shinobu to remain living at the Inn.

Shinobu's father also appears in the Love Hina Christmas Special as a taxi driver. He gives some of the Hinata girls a free ride, telling them that they are about the same age as his daughter and that he hopes that someone would take good care of her were she in such situation. He is reunited with Shinobu at the end of the Special. Shinobu's parents do not make an appearance in the manga.

Mizuho Fujisawa

Voiced by: Yuka Imai (game only)

She is a Tokyo University Student. She is asked by Keitaro's grandmother to become a tutor for Keitaro. If Keitaro fails to pass the coming Entrance Exam for Tokyo University, Mizuho says that she will take the responsibility and marry Keitaro. She only appears in the two Dreamcast games.

Ken Akamatsu

Ken Akamatsu, the manga author, appeared in episode 14 of the TV series and in both the Christmas and Spring specials as a plot device and for comic relief. He is referred to in the movies as "Akamatsu-sensei". He is referenced in episode 14, where everyone in the Hinata Inn has to work for 10,000 yen. Keitaro works for him as a manga inker, but eventually leaves, and becomes broke, forcing Keitaro to return to Akamatsu. In the Christmas Special, he helps Kitsune and Shinobu with their financial problems by making them sell his books. In the Spring Special, he is forced to take Motoko, Mutsumi, and Kitsune on his yacht (and when he was about to go on vacation too!).

In connection with Ken Akamatsu, characters from his A.I. Love You manga make the most minimal cameo appearance in the Love Hina anime. A picture of Saati and Hitoshi is shown on the side of Akamatsu's yacht in the Spring Special. Also, the manga Keitaro is inking in episode 14 is A.I. Love You, as it has a very distinct picture of Toni. Also, the books that Kitsune and Shinobu sell in the Christmas Special are A.I. Love You.

Animals/Pets

Tama-chan

Voiced by: Yukie Maeda (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)

Tama (タマ^?) (in full Onsen Tamago (温泉 たまご^?, lit. "Hot Springs Egg") is the turtle given to Keitaro by Mutsumi. Keitaro points out that the turtle is male, but the girls are convinced he is a 'she' and so 'he' is referred to as 'she' throughout the manga. She is an 'onsen kame' or hot-springs turtle, and like others of her species, it appears that she can fly. Su, Mutsumi, Seta, and (later in the series) Keitaro appear to have the ability to speak with Tama-chan, and Su occasionally develops the urge to eat her, though sometimes it is just to tease Shinobu (in the manga, it is said on a side note that Su drops this habit in order to wait for Tama-chan to reproduce). She appears in Negima on Chizuru Naba's apron on the back cover of volume 8, in chapter 85 of volume 10, and in other places as pictures.

Kuro

Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English)

Kuro (クロ^?) is a black cat with huge ears which follows Kanako. It first appears in book 11 in the manga, and in the Love Hina Again OVA. It becomes friends with Tama-chan. Kaolla is very interested in researching it and Sarah calls him "witch cat" after knowing about Kuro's unusual abilities to fly (using its oversized ears) and talk. In the anime, Kuro can talk, but in the manga, instead of Kuro being able to talk, it is just Kanako's ventriloquism. It carries a bell on its tail, which sounds as characteristic when Kanako appears.

As a side note, Kuro's name means 'black,' symbolizing its color.

As a footnote, Ken Akamatsu explained in his notes in Volume 14, page 148 that Tama, Kuro, Shippu, and Leon were inspired by the "Four Legendary Animals of Japanese Mythology". Tama was inspired by Genbu, Kuro by Byakko, Shippu by Suzaku, and Leon by Seiryuu.

Mechs/Automata

Moé-chan

Voiced by: Satomi Koorogi (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English)

Moé (萌, Moe^?) is an automaton with broken legs, built more than 100 years ago and bought by Tokyo Imperial University while she was on display at the Paris World's Fair in 1900. Urashima Keisuke purchased her from the university in hopes of repairing her.

Moé-chan was a great friend of Keisuke, Granny Hina's father and great-grandfather to Keitaro and Haruka. Keisuke had promised to fix Moé-chan's legs; but like Keitaro, Keisuke had a poor memory and eventually forgot about Moé-chan. Keitaro would later make the same promise to fix her. With the help of the Hinata residents, particularly Kaolla's help, he ultimately fulfilled his promise and Moé-chan was able to walk again.

Moé-chan's name came from a stamp on the nape of her neck, though it was later revealed as a misinterpretation; the stamp was smudged and originally read môme, the French word for a child's doll. Moé-chan is (or is similar to) a tsukumogami, a tool or doll that has been cared for 99 years and comes to life in its 100th year.

Moé-chan's only appearance in the TV series is in episode 20, and she has a very brief reappearance in Love Hina Again. She is not seen in the manga and only one sentence, in volume 9, might refer to her — Kitsune and Naru are sneaking around Naru's room, and while hiding, Kitsune sneezes, causing Naru to wonder aloud about the noise and if "it's that doll in the basement again."

Mecha-Tama-chan

Su, convinced she is going to have to face Tama-chan down at some point (Su wants to eat her), has designed multiple mechanical versions of Tama. Every Mecha-Tama has turned out to be dangerous to the residents of the Hinata Inn.

Mecha-Tama-Chan 0 (a prototype): Volume 11

Mecha-Tama-chan 1: Volume 5

Mecha-Tama-chan 2: Volume 5

Mecha-Tama-chan Mark 3: Volume 7

Mecha-Tama-chan 4: Volume 8

Mecha-Tamago 5: Volume 13

Mecha-Tama-chan 6: Volume 14

Mecha-Tama-chan 30: Volume 14

Apparently, Su has been developing Mecha Tama-chans during the three years that pass since the end of the main story until the marriage of Keitaro and Naru, the latest version being the 30th. Kanako Urashima somehow gets a hold of Su's prototype Mecha-Tama in her reign over the house in volume 11, and is probably the only time someone other than Su used a Mecha-Tama, aside from Naru in volume 7 while trying to keep Keitaro and Mutsumi apart.

Others

Hina: The Ominous Blade

Also known as the Urashima Sword, this katana was in possession of the Urashima family for what seems many years.

When drawn from the sheath, an evil presence (most likely a demon) possesses the holder of the sword, and then the person becomes incredibly powerful, although a bit silly (Naru giggling like a little girl, for instance). When the possessed person kisses someone, that person loses their energy so that they cannot fight. As noted by Tsuruko Aoyama, the presence was originally sealed into the sword by the Shinmei-Ryu school.

In both anime and manga, the blade was first drawn out by Naru. However, the manga version makes it so that Keitaro gets the sword after her, and chases after Naru like a zombie (he had a broken leg at the time and was superficially stabbed in the head).

In the anime it was sealed by Motoko by throwing Keitaro to Naru, who then kissed, and she executed the "Zanma Ken – Ni no Tachi" (Evil Cutter 2.0) with her sister's katana, which passed through Keitaro and killed the demon possessing Naru, leaving the sword empty. The manga was the same, except Motoko went in to kiss Keitaro (who had the sword at the time) to distract him. The subtle difference affected the way in which the characters evolved with regards to liking Keitaro.

After destroying the demon within the blade, Motoko takes up the Hina Blade as her new katana. Despite the destruction/death of the demon, she sometimes gets 'possessed' eyes when angry, if she is wielding the Hina Blade. In the manga, Motoko actually reseals the demon, rendering it powerless against her. However, it can still possess others; a monkey later gets the blade and becomes possessed.

Notes and references

v • d • e Love Hina by Ken Akamatsu Chapters • Episodes • Hinata Girls Song Best (2) • Characters (Keitaro Urashima · Naru Narusegawa)