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Artbooks: Several
Love Hina art books have been released in Japan, but so far
none have had an English language release. Most of the art
books are based more on the anime than the manga, and many include
loads of facts and figures (in Japanese) about the characters and
voice actors. For fans of Ken Akamatsu's artwork the Mugendai
artbook (shown to the right) is the best bet as it weighs in at a
mighty 450 pages and contains a hell of a lot of sketches and colour
images. Click to see a larger
image of the cover.
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Obligatory Odd Merchandise!
Paper Bags:
There is so much merchandise released for some series nowadays
that some things Westeners would consider odd are pretty much the
norm. Because of this we've not picked the mini Love Hina
samurai banners or even the limited edition bath bucket as our odd
merchandise of choice. Instead we've gone for the paper bags.
We at Animetion always marvel at the kinds of normal things
that can be branded with an anime logo and then released at inflated
prices, and you can't get more normal than a paper bag. The
print is very nice and there are two designs available, but they
cost over £2! In Japan you get a massive paper bag almost
every time you buy something so there really is very little point to
this. Random.
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Availability & Prices:
Figures & Statues: As with most
modern series Love Hina has a huge amount of figures, statues
and toys available for it, and more still gets released despite the
series having long ended. Figures range from the small
'gashapon' (see glossary) type which cost just a couple of quid,
through to resin statues and garage kits that cost upwards of £80.
Many figures are still widely available from online retailers such
as TokyoToys
and
Anime-on-Line, and can also be found in many specialist shops
like Forbidden Planet and Sheffield Space Centre.
Another good place to look is
eBay*
Computer Games: As a pretty modern
series, Love Hina has not only benefited from a hefty number
of game incarnations but also from the fact that they were released
on pretty modern consoles. This makes them relatively easy to
get hold of despite none of them getting a release outside of
Japan. Import
game sites are pretty common now and you should be able to get hold of
games for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast without too
much trouble if you know where to look. Prices can vary
considerably, and as always auction sites*
can be a good place to look for bargains. Expect to pay between £10
and £40 per game, depending on the system.
Soundtracks: There are loads of Love
Hina soundtracks and spin-off CDs available in Japan, and a handful
have been re-released in America by Geneon. US CDs are far cheaper than Japanese imports,
and you should be able to pick up the American CDs for around a tenner
each from
online retailers such as
Amazon. The
Japanese CDs can be harder to get hold of and the price does vary,
usually on most go for between £18 and £25 and shops such as
Amazon,
CD Japan and
YesAsia are good places to look. Take extra care if you look
for these CDs on auction websites as there are a lot of fakes about -
check out
Digital Anime's Piracy FAQ for more details
Artbooks: Surprisingly few Love Hina
art books have been released in Japan, but none of them are too hard to
get hold of.
The popularity of the series in the West sees the books pop up regularly
in specialist shops and online, and the price varies but is usually
between £15 an £30. Keep your eyes open for them in online shops
like
Otaku
UK and
YesAsia.
Other Merchandise: There's loads of completely random merchandise
available for Love Hina, and price varies depending on the item.
Love Hina ended a fair few years ago in Japan so the amount of
merchandise coming out has dropped. Things like the paper bags,
posters, clothing and the like crop up from time to time but are getting
harder to find and prices are affected by the rarity factor. Check
specialist shops and import websites as they do get the occasional
t-shirt or phone strap in, but your best bets are auction sites such as
eBay*. *Auction sites can be rife with unscrupulous individuals who will
knowingly sell you pirated goods. Although the risk is mainly with
DVD and CD purchasing, there is a notable amount of pirated toys and
apparel cropping up too. To
minimise the risk of being ripped off make sure you check Digital Anime's
excellent
Piracy FAQ.
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