http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lt/lovehina.jpg
[[caption-width:196:He's not as lucky as it seems.]]
-->''"Don't touch me! What if I catch bad grades from you?!"''

A recent classic in TheUnwantedHarem/romance subgenre, ''LoveHina'' tells the story of klutzy loser Keitaro Urashima, a {{ronin}} who has failed three times to qualify for Tokyo University. (In the Japanese educational system, a student's placement in school, from kindergarten through college, is determined by annual nation-wide standardized tests. Different institutions have different minimum acceptable scores, and Tokyo University is the hardest college to get into in all of Japan.) He is driven to make it into Tokyo U. because of a promise he made to a little girl fifteen years before -- they would both go to Tokyo University, get married, and live happily forever after.

It would probably help if he could actually remember who the little girl was, but he has only the vaguest memory of what she looked like, and no memory whatsoever of her name.

His parents are disgusted with his persistent failure and refuse to support him through another year's study and testing. But his grandmother, the owner of Hinata House, a hot springs resort, has offered him a job as the manager there while she goes on a round-the-world trip. Keitaro leaps at the chance.

When Keitaro arrives at Hinata House, he discovers that his grandmother has left already without leaving any instructions, and worse, failed to warn him that the former resort is now a girls-only dormitory. The inhabitants are less than pleased with the incursion of a "perverted male" into their domain, but he eventually convinces them to let him stay, on sufference and with much vigilance on their part against any future misbehavior.

Through the course of the 25-episode series, two movies, and a three-episode miniseries, Keitaro not only wins over the girls of Hinata House, he finds self-confidence, a career, love and his promise girl. Just not all at the same time.

A comedy with a dramatic thread running through it, ''LoveHina'' has a strong ensemble cast that adeptly brings together a wide variety of characters and character types into what can arguably be called a family. As one of the first anime to be produced entirely on computers, the art is crisp and clean and never suffers from the usual loss of quality that can affect traditionally-animated series during deadline crunches. Although Keitaro is subject to a large amount of cartoonishly slapstick violence at times, it is not just a love story but the story of his growth into an adult. A definite winner of a series.

Compare with MaisonIkkoku. Contrast with MahouSenseiNegima (by the same author)
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This show provides examples of:
* AccidentalPervert (countless times)
* AdaptationDecay (The rushed plotting of the two movies and the {{OVA}}s are considered examples of this)
* AdaptationExpansion : (Siblings and parents only mentioned in the manga show up in the anime; Shinobu's Dad, Suu's brother and sister, and Naru's little sister)
* AdventurerArchaeologist (Seta, and later Keitaro)
* AlmostKiss
* AmusingInjuries(Everyone in the anime series and Manga get at least one of these except for Haruka and Tsuruko)
* AnimeThemeSong
* ATwinkleInTheSky (Keitaro)
* AuthorAvatar
* BeachEpisode
* BeautifulAllAlong (subverted: Naru deliberately "[[ClarkKenting geeks up]]" her looks to keep from being bothered by guys)
* BedmateReveal (Keitaro and [[spoiler:Mutsumi]])
* BigOlEyebrows (A minor case, but Mutsumi's eyebrows are much more prominent than anyone else's. Strangely, this makes her ''cuter.'')
** A case of AuthorAppeal, too, as Akamatsu admitted he likes designing cute girls with these.
** Kitsune's eyebrows are noticeable thicker than the rest of the main cast as well. Also adds to her cuteness.
* BigSecret
* BlindWithoutEm (Keitaro and sometimes Naru)
* BrattyHalfPint (Sarah [=McDougall=])
* BrokeEpisode
* BrotherSisterIncest ([[NotBloodSiblings stepsister]], actually)
* ButtMonkey (if you have to ask...)
* CallingYourAttacks
* CanonFodder (Whenever a throwaway line of dialogue is need, one of the characters, usually Keitaro, says some variation of "...It had three holes, and I really wanted one." The mysterious object with three holes is never revealed, and is probably an inside joke among the creators.)
* CelebrityIsOverrated
* CensorSteam - Opaque enough for the audience, but apparently not enough to spare Keitaro's hide.
** On a related note, we have, at one point, Censor Suu. This sort involves hanging one strategically-folded Kaolla Su around Motoko's neck, and letting her run around the screen for a few panels before and after to justify her presence.
* CherryBlossoms
* ChildhoodMarriagePromise
* ChristmasCake (Subverted [[spoiler: Haruka and Seta get married late in the manga]])
* ClothingDamage
* ComedicSociopathy
* CoolCar - Seta's van. Never runs out of gas (unless the plot requires), never breaks down, and will always hold as many people as it needs to. May overlap with TheAllegedCar.
* CrashIntoHello
* CryCute (Aunt Haruka, Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko)
* CompetenceZone
* TheDitz (Mutsumi, lightly subverted)
* Ditzy Genius (Mutsumi again)
* {{Dojikko}} (Mutsumi)
* DroppedGlasses
* DynamicEntry (Su LOVES to do this.)
* {{Ecchi}}
* ElegantGothicLolita (Kanako)
* EndingTheme
* TheFaceless (Kitsune, "hidden eyes" version)
* FanPreferredCouple (Mutsumi and Keitaro, Motoko and Keitaro, Shinobu and Keitaro...)
* FestivalEpisode
* FirstGirlWins [[supersecretspoiler: Played with; Mutsumi is initially presented as the "first girl" but ultimately, it's Naru.]]
* FirstKiss
* FootFocus (Kaolla Su is usually barefoot)
* TheFourGods
* FuroScene ("This is a girls-only bath!")
* GadgeteerGenius (Suu)
* GenkiGirl (Suu)
* GeniusDitz (Mutsumi)
* GoldfishScoopingGame
* GoldilocksAndTheMinesOfMoria
* GreekChorus (The Three Old Men Around Town, who may be ghosts)
* HairAntennae
* HexagonalSpeechBalloon
* HilarityEnsues - The wholes series can be summed up as:A man becomes the LandLord of an all girls dorm, HilarityEnsues.
* HimeCut - Motoko and Tsuruko.
* HotShoujoDad - Noriyasu Seta all the way.
* HotSpringsEpisode (Pretty much the entire series)
* ImplausibleFencingPowers
* ImportantHaircut (Motoko in Volume 13 of the manga)
* IsThatCuteKidYours
* IHaveThisFriend
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy (SO. MANY. TIMES.)
* KafkaKomedy - Keitaro's horrible luck, especially with the AccidentalPervert moments
* {{Joshikousei}} (Suu, and later Shinobu)
* KewpieDollSurprise
* KiAttacks
* KidSamurai (Early Motoko)
* LadyOfWar (Tsuruko)
* LatexPerfection
* LoveLetterLunacy (lightly subverted)
* LoveYouAndEverybody
* MetaGuy (Kanako)
* MagicalGirl (sort of -- Kaolla Suu and her sister Amalla)
* MagicRealism
* MasterOfDisguise (Kanako)
* MegatonPunch
* MegumiHayashibara (Haruka, theme song)
* MoodWhiplash
* MomentKiller(Someone count the times this happens)
* MyFistForgivesYou (Explicitly done by Naru over the diary incident, but also kind of by implication several other times.)
* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours
* NakedFirstImpression
* NameThatTune
* NerdGlasses
* NighInvulnerable: The only explanation for Keitaro's survival past the first chapter, considering how much the girls attack him. The characters are aware of how odd this is, however: At one point, they're chasing an airplane as its on the runway (long story) and they tell Keitaro "Jump! Don't worry, you're immortal!" Then another time he is hit by a car and gets up with nothing worse than a minor head wound, and all the strangers run away screaming "Monster!"
** ImmortalLifeIsCheap as consequence
** Lampshaded in the manga when part of the Budokan falls on Keitaro. [[spoiler: He breaks a leg.]]
* NoFourthWall (Kentaro Sakata's ironic comments to the audience about the anime, its plot, and his role therein)
* NotWhatItLooksLike
* {{Oba-san}}
* OcularGushers: most often Keitaro.
* {{Odango}} (Mei Narusegawa)
* OfficialCouple
* ParentalAbandonment
* PetalPower
* PhenotypeStereotype (Sarah)
* PimpedOutDress ([[spoiler:Naru's dress when she and Keitaro marry in the {{Manga}}. His aunt also wears a fancy wedding dress in the penultimate volume.]])
* PoorCommunicationKills (A lot of the incidents in the series could have been avoided had the characters actually bothered to speak up, but then it would not have been as funny)
* PrinceAndPauper:(Subverted)
* PuppyDogEyes: Shinobu.
* ResetButton (how many times has the inn been destroyed?)
* RobotGirl (Moe-chan)
* {{Ronin}} (Keitaro and others, modern meaning)
* {{Samurai}} (Later Motoko, plus her sister Tsuruko)
* SchoolgirlLesbians ([[spoiler: Otohime Mutsumi eventually reveals, if only in the manga, she's as much in love with Narusegawa Naru as she is with Keitaro.]])
* SelectiveObliviousness
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend (the "He Is not My Boyfriend" variant, a Naru speciality)
* ShoutOut: As Keitaro's having a HeroicBSOD:
--> '''Naru''': Hey, who told you to go all [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]] on me?
**Some of Mutsumi's costumes are based on Aeris of FFVII fame.
** There are also a lot of StarWars references, Seta's van has a license plate reading "R2D2", and Keitaro gets stabbed by a lightsaber at one point.
* SpringtimeForHitler
* TeamShot
* ThanksForTheMammary - Keitaro and his breast-attracting hands.
* TheAce (Seta)
* TheMinnesotaFats (Seta to Motoko, also Tsuruko to Motoko)
* ThereAreNoCoincidences - Fate, for lack of a better name, is somewhat heavy-handed in the series -a sort of mix of the XanatosRoulette and TheChessmaster with a dash of CloudCuckooLander thrown in for laughs. Like the AncientConspiracy without the "ancient" and minus the sinister connotations of a conspiracy.
* ThisAndThat
* TookALevelInBadass - Keitaro
* {{Tsundere}} - Naru, Motoko
* TheUnwantedHarem
* WeCanRuleTogether: [[spoiler: Suu]], in an unusually literal sense.
* WeddingsInJapan
* WendeeLee (in english dub): Kaolla Su, Amalla Su, and Tama the Turtle
* [[WontTakeYesForAnAnswer Won't Take Yes For An Answer]](nobody believes it when Keitaro actually ''succeeds'' at anything)
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes (Motoko and turtles)
* [[WhyDidntYouJustSaySo Why Didn't You Just Say So]] (and probably OneSideOfTheStory and YouKnowWhatYouDid as well)
* YouMustBeCold: Variant in the manga, with two females.
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