Love it or hate it, Love Hina is a genre-defining piece of work. Ken Akamatsu’s manga series, which was originally published in the pages of Weekly Shōnen Magazine, is still talked about to this day. The manga was later adapted into a highly popular anime television series that received multiple Original Video Animation sequels. Love Hina is widely known for its rom-com high jinks and well-defined cast. It’s one of the prototypical harem anime shows.
With that in mind, I have compiled a list of the five best places to watch the anime for this wacky, madcap comedy series and beloved franchise, online. Also, stay tuned, as I will provide information on where you can purchase the manga, DVD, and Blu-ray sets for this seminal anime series.
Love Hina Plot:
Young Keitaro Urashima dreams of entering the prestigious Tokyo University. When he was a small child, he made a promise to a girl he liked that they would both enter the university together. However, over the years, he forgot the girl’s identity.
After failing the entrance exam twice, he gets a job at his grandmother’s hotel, which has become a female-only dormitory. Keitaro can live there, but he also has to work as the manager under his cousin, Haruka. Much to the chagrin of the female tenants, the goofy and clumsy Keitaro is now the acting manager of Hinata Inn. However, one of these girls might be the person Keitaro made his promise to as a child. Now, Keitaro has to juggle the wild personalities of the girls at Hinata House as well as continue to ace his entrance exams to get into Tokyo University. Many rom-com high jinks ensue.
4 Places to Watch Love Hina Online
PLEASE NOTE: This list is meant to focus on legal streaming sites to watch Love Hina or its sequels and spinoffs online. The list does not mention unauthorized websites where you can watch Love Hina for free.
1. Crunchyroll
So there is a good news and bad news scenario when it comes to Love Hina on Crunchyroll. The good news? There is Love Hina anime streaming on Crunchyroll. The bad news? The Crunchyroll library currently only has the Love Hina Again OVAs to watch. Love Hina Again acts as the formal ending and conclusion to the anime series, so fans can skip to the end and get the climax of the story.
PROS:
- You can watch the conclusion of the anime series subbed or dubbed.
- A subscription is not necessary to start watching the OVA series right away.
CONS:
- Only the Love Hina Again OVA series is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
- A subscription is required to watch the OVAs without ads.
- If you are looking to watch the show from start to finish, the Crunchyroll library doesn’t have the whole anime series covered.
PRICE:
Crunchyroll does not require a paid subscription. Fans can enjoy all the content completely for free and without a subscription, but the experience does include ads. However, the website does have three different subscription plans. The basic fan plan costs $7.99 per month. There’s the Mega Fan Plan at $9.99 a month, and lastly, there’s the Ultimate Fan plan at $14.99. There’s also a two-week free trial option for each of those.
2. RetroCrush
Much like Crunchyroll, Love Hina again is also available on RetroCrush. The problem, once again, only the Again OVAs are available. None of the other OVA specials or television series are available on the RetroCrush streaming site.
PROS:
- You can watch the conclusion of the anime series subbed.
- A subscription is not required to watch the show on RetroCrush.
- The experience looks to be ad-free.
CONS:
- Only the Love Hina Again OVAs are available.
- Only the subtitled option is available, and there’s no English dub track.
PRICE:
A paid subscription is not required to watch the content on RetroCrush. However, there is a paid subscription available at $4.99 per month for a completely ad-free experience for the entire library. A 14-day free trial is also available.
3. PlutoTV
PlutoTV has the full Love Hina Again OVA series available to stream. The PlutoTV version of the OVAs appears to only have the English dub version available.
PROS:
- You can watch the conclusion of the anime series dubbed in English.
- A subscription is not required to watch the show on PlutoTV.
CONS:
- Only the Love Hina Again OVAs are available.
- This is the reverse of RetroCrush. Only the English dub for the OVAs is available for streaming on Pluto TV.
PRICE:
PlutoTV is a free streaming website, and an account is not required to view and enjoy the content.
4. TheRokuChannel
Much like the other streaming platforms, The Roku Channel also has the three-part OVA series, Love Hina Again available to stream in full. The Roku version only has the Japanese-subtitled version.
PROS:
- You can watch the conclusion of the anime series subtitled.
- A subscription is not required to watch the show on TheRokuChannel.
CONS:
- Only the Love Hina Again OVAs are available.
- Much like RetroCrush, the streams on TheRokuChannel only have the Japanese-subtitled version.
PRICE:
The basic version of The Roku Channel featuring Love Hina Again is available to watch completely for free. No premium subscription is required.
Love Hina Again Blu-Ray & DVD:
The good news is that the Love Hina Again three-part OVA series is available on Blu-ray for $19.99 on Amazon.com. The set is also available on DVD, but it costs a little bit more at $19.99.
With regards to the original TV series, it’s not readily available on Blu-ray and DVD at the moment. However, there are some seller options available for the complete version of the TV series at Amazon.com.
Love Hina Manga:
If you want to check out Ken Akamatsu’s original matcha from the very beginning, Kodansha has all the details on where to read or buy the print versions of the Lina Hina Omnibus. The good news is that the manga is still in print. It can be bought in both physical and digital copies at multiple online websites including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Right Stuf. The manga is also available in digital format for Comixology and Inkr.
