It was over ten years ago when I first watched Love Hina, and I immediately identified with the protagonist, Keitaro. Keitaro is a loser, plain and simple. He's not too bright, not good looking, and his only hobby is taking photo booth pictures by himself. He's failed his college entrance exams twice already, and worse, he's 20 years old and has never had a girlfriend. The only girl who ever paid any attention to him was a playground friend whose name and face he can no longer remember and with whom he made a promise to get into Tokyo University together — an impossible dream with Keitaro's skills. He is pretty much the embodiment of low self-esteem, and as a young, hapless nerd in high school who was girl-repellent, I thought "Wow, this guy is me!"
In the intervening years, I'm both proud and surprised to say that I've matured a lot. When I look at Keitaro now, I can't help but think, "Wow, what a goober." I can't really relate anymore. It seems that a similar thing happened to Ken Akamatsu, the author. His first two stories revolved around the same kind of nerdy guy who was terrible with women; it's pretty clear Akamatsu was writing a lot of himself into these stories. His latest series, by contrast, involves a young boy who is very intelligent and confident (albeit inexperienced). Analysis of the fact that it also has 31 high-school girls, one of which is a robot, is left as an exercise to the reader.
"Well, why do I still like this?" I asked myself. Well, firstly, the stories in it are just plain fun. It has a great cast of characters, and it's never boring. But mainly, It's Naru. I realized something important about her.
She's a Right Proper Bastard.
Naru is sharp, and she never misses an opportunity to use the truth to cut people down to size. She has this really great expression you see when she's unamused with someone's bullshit. It looks like this:
In one instance, she even does a pretty good rendition of another great Bastard, House, M.D.
It doesn't hurt that she's also beautiful. Naru is an archetype for the kind of woman I'd like to meet but would probably despise after a few days. It's unsettling to find too much of yourself in someone else.
So I'll continue reading and maybe finally buy the rest of the series and give Akamatsu-sensei the money I should have paid years ago. :)
Love Love Chip
It is unfortunate, more for Mike and those around me, that I find myself turning more and more into Naru as the terms pass. Sharp, Cutting, and Brutal. Not to mention the pill popping... for Dengue not for kicks.
I cannot tell you how many morons I come across here and wonder how they ever got into *Medical* school, let alone will one day be *gasp* treating other humans... As if they have no idea what professionalism or kind frankness is...
I miss you. I'll be keeping closer watch on your posts now. :) BTW, thanks for the log and antilog lecture session, it helped my pharmacology understanding immensely, and will serve me well on the exam Thursday.
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Turning into? My dear, this is one of the reasons I liked you in the first place. :-P
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