Reviews Comments: More entertaining than it should be (manga)

To Love Ru whole series review by Japanese Teeth

More entertaining than it should be (manga)

Rito has crush on Haruna, Can Not Spit It Out, Lala (alien) lands in boy's bathtub, boy acquired Unwanted Harem, Fan Service ensues.

Content: Fan Service, Fan Service, and more Fan Service.

The bad:

They Wasted A Perfectly Good Plot. It could have been about Rito's response to suddenly becoming the heir to the entire universe, and the dealing with Lala's other suitors, but that gets shoved to the side early on to focus on the Unwanted Harem antics.
There's so much Fan Service that it can choke the plot, although it depends on your tolerance for fanservice.
There's very little depth or originality.

The good:

To Love Ru obviously not supposed to be deep, and doesn't pretend to be. Despite the lack of innovation, it's still entertaining; the characters, are quirky enough, and interact well. The entire thing is so absurd at points that it's good for a laugh.
Most of the absurdity seems to come from the aliens (Ren/Run does a Gender Bender when s/he sneezes), and their technology (Lala's inventions, all the stuff that Run orders, etc.) The ridiculousness of everything that happens makes up for the lack of originality in the plot. I can't think of any other series where a beach chapter includes a sentient watermelon with Naughty Tentacles.
If you are so inclined, the Fan Service can indeed be a good thing.
Yami and Mikan. Two of the more entertaining characters in the series.
The art isn't particularly spectacular, but but it's certainly good, and Rito often has really funny facial expressions.
The serious character moments, while sparse, are genuinely sweet and "awwww" worthy; despite the cookie-cutter plot, the characters still have enough depth to make you care.

Overall: This is the epitome of the Guilty Pleasure. It's obviously meant solely to be entertaining, not to provoke deep thoughts or carry some sort of message. As far as that goes, it's more or less successful. Even though it doesn't have a lot of substance, it's still good for a laugh and the occasional touching moment.

Good review. I did reject it after watching the anime, but I might take a look now. Im curious, though, is Rito a little less of an ass in the manga then the anime?

comment #858 Lemur 20th Aug 09

I haven't seen the anime, so I wouldn't know. As far as the manga goes, he's really not a jerk at all, although all of his Accidental Pervert moments cause some of the girls to think he is.

EDIT: I should also note that the manga ends with Ok, it doesn't really end, although there are hints that Rito will go with a Tenchi Solution, which I'm sure is going to be an issue for some people. Personally, I think it's kind of fitting, as choosing a single girl to end up with Rito would undoubtedly piss off a good chunk of the fanbase, and it fits the feel of the series as it leaves up to the reader who Rito ends up choosing. My only complaint is that it was far too abrupt, and didn't have a lot of build up. But then again, as I said above, you don't really read To Love Ru for the plot.

comment #887 JapaneseTeeth 24th Aug 09 (edited by: JapaneseTeeth)

This series is hardly groundbreaking, but it's worth reading. It's got plenty of humor, a dash of drama, exciting action sequences (the artist also did Black Cat so this is no surprise), actual Character Development (nearly every character gets this!), and Fan Service in spades. That last one seemed excessive to me, but I'm a prude anyway.

The ending is a bit abrupt and doesn't really resolve anything, but at least Rito manages to admit to himself that he does indeed love Lala and Haruna. Most Unwanted Harem male leads don't reach this point until the end of the series anyway. And given the completely understandable and justified Creator Breakdown of the artist, it's probably for the best that the series ended before the art and writing suffered.

comment #1017 61.230.167.86 17th Sep 09

Just thought I'd mention, the Bleach anime also had a Beach Episode that included a living watermelon with Naughty Tentacles. The watermelon probably wasn't sentient, but still...

comment #10181 EmbracingShadows 22nd Sep 11

The series baffles me. I guess I will always be entertained by crazy shit happening, no matter what my age.

comment #10213 Gerazzi 24th Sep 11

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