Love Hina ("that's so wonderful...")

[Neophobic Man]

I've picked up the first four volumes of the collected Manga (Borders carries them too!) and I have to say I like it, yet I'm taken slightly aback by, what I feel, are too many cimilarities to Maison Ikkoku (did I spell that right? It's late...)...Don't get me wrong, I'm not contradicting jones (never would! [img]smile.gif[/img] ), I'm just pointing out one possible, small flaw in a pretty good story...and it's only a flaw if you know the other story of which I speak...

[Branflakes]

Hi to everyone.

*i haven't read any Love Hina, just wanted to say hi*

[jones]

Tenchi's too sci-fi/fantasy-ish for me (space aliens, demons, superpowers and whatnot). Granted, it's not serious sci-fi/fantasy, but that lack of seriousness doesn't seem to amount to much more than irreverence -- almost a parody like Excel (which I'm tempted to say is faster and funnier, but I haven't seen enough Tenchi to judge that accurately). I see Love Hina as more character driven -- maybe even a little bolder in that it shoots for (and often attains) some real dramatic moments. And though it's fairly youth obsessed (a weakness that seems to be common to the whole medium), there are at least two adult characters (Haruka & Seta) that are essential to the story.

But, of course, I've also got a weakness for Love Hina because it's pretty much the manga I would write if I wrote manga. For the two or three people who read _Works & Days_, you might be interested to see the similarities in Shinobu/Sylvia, Haruka/Irene, Kitsune/Marie. It's not like they're exactly alike, but I think they share some telling personality traits and serve similar purposes in the narrative. And the overall theme of the ad hoc family of strangers gradually forming is similar too. I love reading and writing those kinds of stories.

Neophobic: haven't seen Maison Ikkoku. Checked out a couple sites on the web. It does sound similar, but very good. My only reservation is that the few descriptions I've read describe most of the characters as "crazed" (or some similar adjective). I don't mind outlandish characters unless they're so outlandish that they're not really characters anymore. I'm tired, so I'm not really describing this well. I guess I'm thinking of something like _Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil_, where all the craziness just gets annoying and you're left with a pack of unsympathetic boobs to look at. But I'll definitely check out Maison Ikkoku. Are there DVDs?

Jace: the AMC is a convention for people who publish zines, broadcast radio or TV, make records or movies, or do any other kind of media independently (i.e. not under the supervision of a corporation or government grant). It's a lot of fun. And there's a bowling party Saturday night. Did you know Gollum and Blue Orange are both really lousy bowlers?

take care

---jones

[JaceSan]

I didn't know about their bowling skills. That doesn't surprise me about Gollum, but I'd thought Blue Oranges were above average. Her strip about the bowlers was great. (#52 in the archives 6:35) "Low energy electron diffraction"

I bet leesh knows how to bowl.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 12, 2003 08:29 PM: Message edited by: JaceSan ]</font>

[jones]

"Do you call that one your MEAT HOOK?"

And even further off-topic: I did a Flash rendition of that comic for Stef that I kind of like. If I can get her permission, I'll post it or send it or something.

Love Hina rules.

take care

---jones

[Neophobic Man]

jones: I do believe that there are DVD's...and I have a feeling when you saw descriptions as "crazed" it was more in a whacky sense of the term...the neighbors of Maison Ikkoku are crazed, but they're a whacky crazed with nosiness...think Jelymo and you got the right idea...do you know Inu Yashu (sp?), One Pound Gospel, and I do believe, Ranma 1/2? All the same creator, so there IS quality behind it...

[JaceSan]

If Love Hina's anything like Works and Days then it's probably worth checking out.

[jones]

Love Hina's better than Works & Days.

Went to the AMC this weekend. Sold some books. Met some people. Very fun. But the real news is that both Stef and Kate were able to defeat me at bowling. The standings are currently tied: one game each. I guess the championship game will have to wait for next year.

take care

---jones

[JaceSan]

Ha Ha Ha. So you suck worse than they do?

[crazy a]

Is "6:35" only an online comic or is BlueOrange (Stef? Same person?) putting it out or planning on putting it out as a "regular" comic? I read some of the strips and thought they were pretty good.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 17, 2003 11:31 PM: Message edited by: crazy a ]</font>