The series tells the story of Keitarō Urashima and his attempts to find the girl with whom he made a childhood promise to enter the University of Tokyo.

The manga was licensed for an English-language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop, in Australia by Madman Entertainment, and in Singapore by Chuang Yi.

Two novelizations of Love Hina, written by two anime series screenwriters, were also released in Japan by Kodansha.

A twenty-four episode anime adaptation of the manga series, produced by Xebec, aired in Japan from April to September 2000.

Both anime and manga have received numerous industry awards in Japan and North America, as well as praise from critics.

The series takes place in the Kanagawa Prefecture, and centers on Keitarō Urashima and his attempts to fulfill a childhood promise that he made with a girl to enter the University of Tokyo together.

Having failed the entrance exam twice and with his parents no longer willing to support him, he goes to stay at his grandmother's hotel, only to find out that it has been converted into a female-only apartment (Dormitory).

Much to their dismay Keitarō becomes the new manager of the family-owned girls' dorm Hinata House and must now balance his new responsibilities in addition to studying for the university entrance exam.

While on their trip they settle their differences and meet Mutsumi Otohime, who lives in Okinawa and is also studying for the university exams.

After they deal with new obstacles, Grandma Hina returns to Hinata House and reveals Naru is the girl of Keitarō's promise.

Three years later, a wedding ceremony (with a new girl, Ema Maeda, presented) is held at Hinata House for Naru and Keitarō as they finally fulfill their childhood promise to each other.

[11] At one stage the character Naru was named Midori, and she was supposed to fall through a hole in the floor naked, bump her head on Keitaro and lose her memory.

[12][13] Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno's money-grubbing nature and her older, jaded, and more mature personality were originally intended to be used for Kaolla Su.

Instead of redrawing a location from scratch every time it was used, these banked images could be used as a base, and extra detail added to them depending on the requirements for the scene.

[38][39][40] The series is also licensed for an English-language release in Singapore by Chuang Yi and for regional language releases in France and Québec by Pika Édition, in Spain by Glénat, in Brazil by Editora JBC, in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in Poland by Waneko, in Greece by Compupress, in Germany in German, in Norway by Schibsted Forlag, in Sweden by Bonnier Carlsen and in Denmark by Egmont Manga & Anime.

[48] The series and bonus episode were directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki, written by Shō Aikawa and featured character designs by Makoto Uno.

[60] After the television series was completed, a Christmas special, Love Hina Xmas Eve: Silent Night, was produced and shown on December 25, 2000, on TV Tokyo.

[51][59][63] Finally, an OVA series called Love Hina Again was released on DVD in Japan in 3 parts between January 26 and March 27, 2002.

[74] Two novels have been written by the anime screenwriters and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu as side stories of the main series.

Love Hina: Mystery Guests at Hinata Hotel was written by Shō Aikawa under the pen name "Kurō Hazuki", was published in Japan by Kodansha on May 17, 2001.

Love Hina 0 was released on July 17, 2002, and contains character profiles, interviews and production info as well as other supporting materials for the first seven volumes of the manga.

[80][81] Love Hina Mugendai (ラブひな∞) was released on July 17, 2002, and contains character profiles, a timeline, artwork, interviews and production info.

[84][85] Each book contains character profiles, episode summaries, production sketches and details as well as interviews and information on the voice actors; each covers half of the anime series.

[94] Several maxi singles were released featuring some of these image songs as well as drama tracks, also performed by the anime cast.

Love Hina Original Sound File was released on September 21, 2000, and contains all of the background music for the series as well as many vocal songs.

Tony Chen, of Anime News Network (ANN), found it to be a funny series, though finding the 16+ rating appropriate due to the number of jokes involving sexual innuendo.

Chen found Naru's regularly catching Keitarō making a mistake and calling him a pervert redundant and annoying.

[1] Eric Luce of Ex.org notes an increased character development over other love comedies, and describes the series as "nothing if not whimsical".

[106] ANN's Bamboo Dong praised the anime adaptation for being very intriguing and mixing "drama, romance, and slapstick comedy in a pleasing combination".

"[112] Beveridge praised the fun and comedy as well as the fan service, but also noted that one's enjoyment would depend on whether they still cared for the characters.