Known for her fiery temper and tendency to use physical violence to punish central character Keitaro Urashima, she is the first female introduced in the series.

While her character was initially rated positively in fan polls, reviews have since been negative due to her "abusive behavior" towards Keitaro.

Midori was to be the complete opposite of Naru in character, acting very kind and nice like Mutsumi in personality.

[3] Naru is characterized by her signature hair antenna (which is only shared by one other character in the series, Mutsumi), short and hot temper, immense strength and agility despite her size, and physically aggressive nature when it comes to Keitaro.

This is further tempered by the fact that his room is directly underneath hers, a hole in the ceiling connects the two making for easy access, and they study together most of the time.

She is also given a flying onsen turtle, Tama-chan, and a kiss as a sign of forgiveness and thanks for helping her get back home after the entrance exams.

She is very intelligent, having placed Tops in the nation on the college practice entrance exams at the same cram school that Keitaro was enrolled in.

She is also more prone to being exposed, grabbed, or depicted in very provocative positions in the manga, which are heavily played on in the Love Hina series.

The manga also follows Naru's relationship with Keitaro longer and more closely after they both pass their entrance exams.

The main focus of the story switches to their feelings, commitment mishaps and problems, and insecurities—all of which are often depicted in comical manner.

Yui Horie, who voiced Naru in the Japanese version, is also noted for singing the opening theme song Kirari Takaramono (lit.

[19] Freelance Writer Maria Remizova from Comic Book Resources placed Naru as #10 on a "10 Worst-Written Female Characters From Classic Anime" list.

[20] While she said that the Tsundere trope can be handled well, this is not the case with Naru due to her "manipulative, aggressive, and outright abusive behavior" that only leads to hatred.

[20] Freelance writer Dallas Marshall from Comic Book Resource shares Remizova's opinion on how she is written so viewers sympathize with her, which he calls "baffling".

While he says that Keitaro Urashima isn't flawless, the fact that he is constantly insulted and assaulted to the point where he becomes used to the abuse just for laughs is the worst.

[25] Naru has been the subject of a large range of merchandise, such as figures, gashapon, posters, postcards and other goods, both by herself and with other characters from the series.

[26][27][28] Tokyo Mint produced several cold-cast resin statues of the Love Hina cast in 1/8th scale that were released worldwide.

The first statue featured Naru in a pink Bikini and was released in December 2002 in a production run limited to 600 pieces.