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Title: Love Hina Christmas Special
UK Distributor:
MVM
BBFC Certificate: PG
Suggested Retail Price (SRP): £19.99
Running Time: 75 mins (approx.)
Audio Options: English 2.0, Japanese 2.0
Subtitles: English
Reviewer: Rich (Webmaster)
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This first ‘movie’ tie in to the Love Hina franchise
is actually more of a Christmas Special than a full blown feature. Basically
following a Christmas plotline from about midway through the Love Hina
manga, The Christmas Movie is a shadow of its source.
The plot is similar but not the same as the manga, with a cheesy subplot about a
special Christmas Eve where a declaration of love will hold true forever
replacing the more realistic original story arc, where a disillusioned Naru is
helped through the aftermath of their exams by a sympathetic Keitaro.
I was massively disappointed with this film. Although the situations are not
much different from the anime series and the source manga, the charm seems to be
lost and the comedy is pushed into the background in favour of slushy romance. All of the clichés of Christmas films are present and correct – snow, magic in
the air, public declarations of love, friends coming through for you, shows of
giving etc. – and the whole thing is very predictable and contrived. The ending
is cheese of truly epic proportions, and most of what goes before has had more
than a faint whiff of cheddar. The really sad thing about this is that the manga
and the series as a whole are charming, upbeat and fun, with a fairly
unconventional style to them, whereas this film is highly unoriginal and,
despite some genuinely romantic moments, strangely stale.
In fact the film’s main saving grace is an utterly random cameo from Ken
Akamatsu – the creator of the manga – and the excellent unbroadcast episode 25,
which is included on the DVD as a bonus.
The episode recovers the feel of the series and follows the visit of Motoko’s
older sister to Hinata, where she informs Motoko that her time has come to
inherit the God’s Cry School of Samurai and as such she must leave. Motoko is
reluctant to leave her friends behind and tries everything from dishonesty to
force in an attempt to change her sister’s mind.
This episode is a real return to form, with the insane comedy and action we have
come to expect from the series reinstated and a plot sticking pretty closely to
the manga. Motoko is one of the best characters in Love Hina and this
episode gives a better insight into her character than the rest of the series.
The animation is good - as you have come to expect from the anime - and the
fight scenes are well executed with more than enough comedy thrown in to keep
you entertained. This is one of the better episodes and makes the DVD worth
buying.
Although some people may be more tolerant of the slushy romance of the Christmas
Movie than cynical old me, it still isn’t up to the standard of the series and
really suffers from the general lack of comedy. Unless you’re a fan of
saccharine but upbeat Christmas tales buy it as part of the Movies boxset as,
although the bonus episode is worth owning, you’ve seen everything in the film
done before. Ratings
Feature:
Extras:
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