You may have noticed updates to the Love Hina MMF have been a bit more…sparse than they are in a typical Manga Moveable Feast. There’s a reason for that: the realities of the US Postal Service combined with the completely-and-foolishly-overlooked-on-my-part Columbus Day holiday kept review copies of the first volume of Kodansha’s brand new Love Hina omnibus edition out of the hands of the MMF crew. But we here at PLAYBACK:stl are a flexible lot, and we’ve extended the deadline for entries until Sunday, October 16th, to make sure everyone involved has ample time to participate.

 

And trust me, while the links have been slow in coming, they’ll be arriving fast and furious over the next few days, and they’ll be worth the wait. Just poking around at posts tagged “Love Hina” or “#MMF” on Twitter leads to a number of posters pondering different angles from which to tackle the series. Add to that that Playback’s own Sarah Boslaugh is readying a review of the series, and of course Erin Jameson will be readying a special edition of her Lovefool column for your enjoyment. So yes, please, continue to watch this space, and if you have an article for the MMF, send it my way at jason [at] playbackstl [dot] com or via Twitter @PLAYBACKjason.

 

Our first official new, non-Jason-Green-written entry for the MMF comes from Sean Gaffney at A Case Suitable for Treatment, a member of the Manga Bookshelf blog network. As I suspect many will, Sean came at the series from the perspective of someone who enjoyed the series when it was first published nine years ago, and ponders what does and doesn’t work about the series with the benefit of hindsight. Most interesting, perhaps, is his take on the series lead, Keitaro, which I’ll admit is entirely true in the deatils, and yet somehow, I come away with a completely different take on the character (which I’ll be fleshing out later this week).

 

“Admittedly, it takes a while to get going. As with Negima, Volume 1 of Love Hina is pretty obviously the nadir. Keitaro was a highly influential harem lead, but for all the *wrong* reasons. Ataru was after the girls himself, Tenchi had actual superpowers to bust out, and Ranma was a martial arts master. Keiichi Morisato comes closest, and is certainly unlucky, but lacks the patheticness Keitaro Urashima has at the start. We see him as a 2nd year ronin, having failed to get into the prestigious Todai university. Again. He also notes that he’s not handsome, and has no real friends, and has never had a girlfriend. What does he have? Well, he has the bad luck to always walk in on women naked, and tends to fall over clutching their breasts. Oh yes, and he’s NICE. Keitaro was first, so I won’t get on his case as much, but he was the prototype for many harem leads who literally have no redeeming qualities except their ability to be extra super nice. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)”

 

Much more, including an appreciation for Mutsumi (who we don’t get to see much of in this first omnibus volume) at the link.

 

That’s it for today. See you again (hopefully) tomorrow with more! | Jason Green