I'm never sure if these things are called OAVs or OVAs, so I'll just shoot for one and hope that I'm right.  Whichever it is, Love Hina Again isn't part of the series, but rather a three-episode epilogue of sorts to the oh-so-popular 27-episode saga (if you include the Christmas and Spring specials and the crappy "Final Selection" episode).

    Considering that Love Hina had exactly three jokes, I'm surprised I'm as big a fan as I am.  I suppose it boils down to the fact that I'm an idiot for romance, and I'm WAY too attracted to anime females.  That being said, there are some lines that are crossed in Love Hina Again that I wish they wouldn't have.  Pictures will follow, I promise.

    For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, Love Hina centers around the Hinatasou (Hinata Inn) at Hinata Hot Springs.  Lead protagonist and utter yutz Keitaro Urashima is haunted (or blessed, depending on how you look at it) with a vision of a girl kissing him on his cheek and promising to marry him if he gets into Tokyo University, a.k.a. Toudai.  After failing the first time to get into Toudai, he winds up working for his grandmother at Hinatsou, which happens to have been converted into a girls dormitory of sorts.  Hilarity and panty shots ensue, all the while Keitaro is wondering whether or not resident Naru Narusegawa is the girl who promised him nookie once they get into Toudai.  As would be expected from low-brain-intensity anime, it turns out she is, but you don't find out for absolute certain until the last couple episodes of the original Love Hina series, at which point the plot turns towards Keitaro and Naru's awkward moments with each other and the reluctance to express their feelings.  Like I said before, I'm surprised I'm as big a fan as I am.

    Love Hina Again finds our heroes 'n' heroines at the induction ceremony for new Tokyo U. students, and Naru winds up popping Keitaro into the stratosphere for one reason or another, just like she did countless times before in the original.  At this point, I was thinking that perhaps this was going to be a big waste of time, but I stuck it out anyway.  It turns out, Keitaro isn't so sure about his enrollment at Toudai and winds up taking some time off to figure out what it is he really wants to do (as well as heal his broken leg delivered by Naru).  He returns to the Hinatasou to inform everyone that he's going to forgo his Toudai days to go trekking hither and yon with Naru's childhood crush, archaeologist Seta Noriyasu.  Of course, hurt feelings and unsaid words between Keitaro and Naru follow.

    A turn for the strange comes about when a mysterious girl shows up at Hinatasou and takes over Keitaro's position as manager.  After many hijinx, it turns out she's Keitaro's little sister (step-sister, to be more precise), Kanako, and she wants to steal him away from Naru!  An unknown annex to the Hinatasou is unveiled (which contains eerie, mysterious powers), craziness abounds, but finally, FINALLY there's some closure to Keitaro and Naru's relationship, as well as the Hina saga.

    However, as I mentioned earlier, Love Hina Again crosses some lines that were better left uncrossed in the original, and they mostly have to do with tastefulness and tact.  The humour in Love Hina Again is less physical and more ecchi (or "H" if you will), with truly unnecessary things like Shinobu in lingerie (see pic, and that's only *one* instance), "Naru" fondling Mitsune and full-on molesting Motoko, plus other instances of nudity and undress that are there simply for fanservice.  If it's within the plotline (or within hentai), I don't mid this kind of thing, but it just doesn't fit what's going on here!  It really drives the innocence away from the characters and (for me, anyway) makes you feel dirty for watching.  I mean, imagine if those stupid little Pokemon started getting freaky with each other.  It's kind of like that.

    Thankfully, Love Hina Again does have some good points that merit watching the title.  While the same three jokes are rererererecycled, the magical elements of the Hinatasou annex make for a refreshing twist on the story.  It seems that if a couple professes their love to each other in the annex, they will live together forever in happiness.  This presents a good opportunity for Keitaro to grow some testicles and prove his love to Naru and an even better opportunity for Kanako to sabotage their relationship.  So when Kanako tricks Keitaro into thinking she's Naru, setting in motion the machinations of the annex, it's up to Naru to overcome the power of the annex and break the link between them.

    I'm sure that when this OAV finds its way into Shelf Life on ANN, Bamboo is going to stick it in the Rental Shelf section.  Fans of Love Hina will rush out to buy it, while those looking to get acquainted with Love Hina would be better off checking out the original series first (lest they think they've stumbled across some softcore hentai).  Love Hina Again was probably made more to cash in on the series' popularity rather than add any extra depth to the storyline.  It's still more or less centered around two people who don't know how to talk to the opposite sex and the funny misunderstandings that result from that.  Still, the animation quality is fabulous, the voice acting is great (especially Naru's final speech to Keitaro, performed flawlessly by Yui Horie) and even Motoko and Kaolla Su get bits of character redesigns for the OAV.  It looks and sounds great, plus you get to spend some time with the characters that you grew to know over the course of the previous 27 episodes.  When it comes right down to it, I suppose that's really all that matters, but a little more diversity and a lot less "H" would have been preferred by me. 

Rating: At Least It Doesn't Totally Suck out of 10