Manga
artist Ken Akamatsu created Love Hina, but animator and director
Yoshiaki Iwasaki guided the series into animation as the director of the
animated version. The anime of the story of a young man who wants to go
to Tokyo University and find the love of his life features a quintet
of cute girls and a lot of romantic comedy, a formula that helped Love
Hina become a Japanese success and has led to the series being announced
for North American release by Production I.G., Bandai and Synch-Point.
The transition to anime meant some changes - as happens with every manga
series that moves to anime - but in Love Hina's case that meant
toning the original art down, the director said. "In the original manga
there are a lot of scenes with naked women which we're not allowed to show
on television," said Iwasaki. So some of the manga scenes were too sexy
to show on TV." The nudity was replaced with character development, the
director noted.
While
the man of Love Hina, Urashima Keitarou, is supposed to be the focus
of the story, the five young women in the building he manages have become
the most popular animated characters, especially the long-haired Narusegawa
Naru. "Her appearance has a lot to do with her popularity," Iwasaki said.
"She's about the same age as the main character. They have their interaction
and that's what appeals to the audience." To the director, a combination
of a good story and attractive animation can make for a success. "As long
as you have good animation of the characters, I can develop the problems
and the conflicts between the characters," he said. "I concentrate on making
each character not a simple character, but unique in the way that they
have conflicts and problems."
You
might see reflections of the stories from shows such as Gunbuster
and Slayers in Love Hina; Iwasaki worked on both of those
series, learning about animation from Gunbuster's creator and stories
from the Slayers series. Both of those series featured strong and
attractive female characters, and that's a factor that stayed with Iwasaki
in the development of Love Hina. And it all started with the amateur
animated films that Iwasaki made in college, something that the encouraged
him to enter the animation industry as a professional. Learning that
Love
Hina has a following outside of Japan led Iwasaki to say that he "...will
think about how to make my shows attractive not only to the U.S. but worldwide."
In the future, he might make a kids' show like Pokemon or Digimon
because his old college friends, now with their own children, want Iwasaki
to make a series that their children can enjoy.
Manga
artist Ken Akamatsu created Love Hina, but animator and director
Yoshiaki Iwasaki guided the series into animation as the director of the
animated version. The anime of the story of a young man who wants to go
to Tokyo University and find the love of his life features a quintet
of cute girls and a lot of romantic comedy, a formula that helped Love
Hina become a Japanese success and has led to the series being announced
for North American release by Production I.G., Bandai and Synch-Point.
The transition to anime meant some changes - as happens with every manga
series that moves to anime - but in Love Hina's case that meant
toning the original art down, the director said. "In the original manga
there are a lot of scenes with naked women which we're not allowed to show
on television," said Iwasaki. So some of the manga scenes were too sexy
to show on TV." The nudity was replaced with character development, the
director noted.
While
the man of Love Hina, Urashima Keitarou, is supposed to be the focus
of the story, the five young women in the building he manages have become
the most popular animated characters, especially the long-haired Narusegawa
Naru. "Her appearance has a lot to do with her popularity," Iwasaki said.
"She's about the same age as the main character. They have their interaction
and that's what appeals to the audience." To the director, a combination
of a good story and attractive animation can make for a success. "As long
as you have good animation of the characters, I can develop the problems
and the conflicts between the characters," he said. "I concentrate on making
each character not a simple character, but unique in the way that they
have conflicts and problems."
You
might see reflections of the stories from shows such as Gunbuster
and Slayers in Love Hina; Iwasaki worked on both of those
series, learning about animation from Gunbuster's creator and stories
from the Slayers series. Both of those series featured strong and
attractive female characters, and that's a factor that stayed with Iwasaki
in the development of Love Hina. And it all started with the amateur
animated films that Iwasaki made in college, something that the encouraged
him to enter the animation industry as a professional. Learning that
Love
Hina has a following outside of Japan led Iwasaki to say that he "...will
think about how to make my shows attractive not only to the U.S. but worldwide."
In the future, he might make a kids' show like Pokemon or Digimon
because his old college friends, now with their own children, want Iwasaki
to make a series that their children can enjoy.
