To Love Ru

To Love Ru (Japanese: To LOVE（とらぶ）る, Hepburn: Toraburu) is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hasemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, creator of Black Cat. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from April 2006 to August 2009, and the chapters collected into 18 tankōbon volumes. The title, Toraburu, is a pun on the English loan words toraburu ("trouble") and rabu ("love"), referencing the harem aspect of the series.

To Love Ru
Cover of the first manga volume featuring Rito Yuki (left) and Lala Satalin Deviluke (right).
To LOVE（とらぶ）る
(Toraburu)
GenreHarem, romantic comedy, science fiction[1]
Manga
Written bySaki Hasemi
Illustrated byKentaro Yabuki
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runApril 24, 2006 – August 31, 2009
Volumes18
Anime television series
Directed byTakao Kato
Produced by
  • Akihiro Kawamura
  • Kazuhiko Torishima
  • Yoshihisa Nakayama
  • Yukinao Shimoji
Written byAkatsuki Yamatoya
Music byTakeshi Watanabe
StudioXebec
Licensed by
Original networkJNN (TBS, MBS, CBC, BS-i), AT-X
English network
Original run April 4, 2008 – September 26, 2008
Episodes26
Original video animation
Directed byTakao Kato
Produced by
  • Nobuhiro Nakayama
  • Takeshi Tanaka
  • Makoto Ōyoshi
  • Masanori Gotō
  • Hiroyuki Yonemasu
  • Takatoshi Chino
Written byAkatsuki Yamatoya
Music byTakeshi Watanabe
StudioXebec
Released April 3, 2009 – April 2, 2010
Runtime25 minutes each
Episodes6
Anime television series
Motto To Love Ru
Directed byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Produced by
  • Nobuhiro Nakayama
  • Takeshi Tanaka
  • Takumi Kusakabe
Written byYasunori Yamada
Music byTakeshi Watanabe
StudioXebec
Licensed by
Madman Entertainment
Sentai Filmworks
Original networkTokyo MX, Chiba TV, SUN, TVA, AT-X
English network
Anime Network
Original run October 6, 2010 – December 22, 2010
Episodes12
Manga
To Love Ru Darkness
Written bySaki Hasemi
Illustrated byKentaro Yabuki
Published byShueisha
English publisher
Seven Seas Entertainment
ImprintJump Comics SQ.
MagazineJump Square
DemographicShōnen
Original runOctober 4, 2010 – March 4, 2017
Volumes18
Original video animation
To Love Ru Darkness
Directed byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Produced by
  • Nobuhiro Nakayama
  • Tsuyoshi Tanaka
  • Kazumasa Sanjōba
  • Kentarō Hattori
Written byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Music byTakeshi Watanabe
StudioXebec
Released August 17, 2012 – April 3, 2015
Runtime25 minutes each
Episodes6
Anime television series
To Love Ru Darkness
Directed byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Produced by
  • Nobuhiro Nakayama
  • Tsuyoshi Tanaka
  • Kazumasa Sanjōba
  • Kentarō Hattori
Written byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Music byTakeshi Watanabe
StudioXebec
Licensed by
Madman Entertainment
Sentai Filmworks
Original networkTokyo MX, AT-X
English network
Anime Network
Original run October 6, 2012 – December 29, 2012
Episodes12
Anime television series
To Love Ru Darkness 2nd
Directed byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Produced by
  • Nobuhiro Nakayama
  • Tsuyoshi Tanaka
Written byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Music byTakeshi Watanabe
StudioXebec
Licensed by
Madman Entertainment
Sentai Filmworks
Original networkBS11, Tokyo MX, SUN, AT-X
English network
Anime Network
Original run July 7, 2015 – October 28, 2015
Episodes14
Original video animation
To Love Ru Darkness 2nd
Directed byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Produced by
  • Nobuhiro Nakayama
  • Tsuyoshi Tanaka
Written byAtsushi Ōtsuki
Music byTakeshi Watanabe
StudioXebec
Released January 4, 2016 – November 2, 2017
Runtime10–25 minutes each
Episodes4

A drama CD was released in February 2008, featuring an original story along with character songs. A 26-episode anime television series adaptation by Xebec aired in Japan in 2008. Six original video animation episodes were produced by Xebec between April 2009 and April 2010. A 12-episode second season by Xebec titled Motto To Love Ru aired in 2010. Four video games have been released for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita.

A continuation of the manga called To Love Ru Darkness was serialized in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine from October 2010 to March 2017, and the chapters collected into 18 tankōbon volumes. Xebec produced six OVA episodes of To Love Ru Darkness from August 2012 to April 2015. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by Xebec aired in 2012. A second season, called To Love Ru: 2nd Darkness 2, aired in 2015. Four OVA episodes of To Love Ru Darkness 2nd were released between January 2016 and November 2017.

Synopsis
See also: List of To Love Ru characters

To Love Ru

Set in the fictional city of Sainan (彩南), the story of To Love Ru revolves around Rito Yuki, a shy and clumsy high-school student who cannot confess his love to the girl of his dreams, Haruna Sairenji. One day when sulking in the bathtub, a mysterious, naked devil-tailed girl appears out of nowhere. Her name is Lala Satalin Deviluke, the runaway crown princess of the planet Deviluke. Her father wants her to return home to marry one of her marriage candidates. When Devilukean commander Zastin arrives to bring her home, she swiftly declares she will marry Rito in order to stay on Earth, leading Zastin to attack Rito. But when Rito angrily declares that marriage is only possible with the person you love, the two dull-witted aliens misunderstand him, believing he truly understands Lala's feelings.

Lala quickly falls in love with him, and Zastin also approves of their engagement, much to Rito's dismay. While Zastin reports his support for the pair to Lala's father, Gid Lucion Deviluke, who is the King of Deviluke and much of the known universe, Rito reluctantly helps Lala transition to life on Earth, while gradually befriending his dream girl, Haruna, along with a colorful cast of other girls (both humans and aliens), such as the uptight, high-strung girl Yui Kotegawa, the gender-switching alien Run/Ren, and the queen bee Saki Tenjouin, among others. In the meantime, Rito must also fight off Lala's antagonistic alien suitors, one of whom sends the alien assassin Golden Darkness to kill him.

To Love Ru Darkness

The story continues in To Love Ru Darkness, which focuses on Lala's little sister, Momo Belia Deviluke. She and her twin sister, Nana Astar Deviluke, have since come to live with Lala in Rito's house. While Rito remains indecisive between his longtime crush on Haruna and his growing affection for Lala, Momo has also fallen in love with Rito. But not wanting to steal Rito away from her sister, Momo instead plots to build a harem of girls around Rito, hoping that if Rito marries Lala and becomes the King of Deviluke, he can legally marry every girl who is in love with him, including Momo herself. While Momo works in the background and plays matchmaker with Rito, a plethora of beautiful girls gradually enter Rito's life and warm up to his kindness, including Golden Darkness, who has since lived peacefully on Earth but struggles to escape her dark past. Thus, Rito's otherworldly love troubles continue forever.

Media

Manga
See also: List of To Love Ru chapters

To Love Ru is written by Saki Hasemi with illustrations by Kentaro Yabuki. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine between April 24, 2006 and August 31, 2009.[2][3] The chapters were collected into 18 tankōbon volumes and were published by Shueisha in Japan between November 11, 2006 and April 2, 2010.[4][5] A sequel manga, To Love Ru Darkness (TO LOVE（とらぶ）る ダークネス, Toraburu Dākunesu), was serialized between October 4, 2010 and March 4, 2017 in Jump Square.[6][7] Shueisha published 18 volumes for Darkness in Japan from March 4, 2011 to April 4, 2017.[8][9] Additionally, two bonus chapters were published in the May and June 2017 issues of Jump Square.[7] Both manga series are licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment, who release them in print and digital formats.[10] To Love Ru was published in two-in-one omnibus volumes, while To Love Ru Darkness was released as single volumes. Both manga series were originally slated to begin publication in October 2017, but were later delayed to December 2017.[11]

Drama CD

A drama CD for To Love Ru was released on February 29, 2008 with an original story, featuring the voice cast later used in the anime, along with character songs.[12]

Anime
See also: List of To Love Ru episodes

An anime series adaptation produced by Xebec and directed by Takao Kato aired in Japan between April 4 and September 26, 2008, and contains twenty-six episodes. The anime uses characters and general themes from the original manga, it captures various chapters and events from the manga in no specific order. The anime's opening theme is "Forever We Can Make It!" by Thyme, the first ending theme for episodes one through thirteen is "Lucky Tune" (ラッキーチューン, Rakkī Chūn), and the second ending theme is "Kiss no Yukue" (kiss の行方); both are sung by Anna. The anime is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and distributed by Section23 Films. The complete DVD collection part one containing the first half-season was released on December 15, 2009[13] and part two containing the second half-season was released on February 16, 2010.[14] Sentai released the series on Blu-ray on March 18, 2014.[15] An English dub for the first season is currently in production by Sentai Filmworks.[16]

Three original video animation (OVA) episodes produced by Xebec and directed by Takao Kato were shipped starting on April 3, 2009 with pre-ordered copies of the manga's 13th, 14th and 15th volumes.[17] An additional three OVA episodes were released with the bundled version of the 16th, 17th and 18th volumes.[18] The opening theme for the OVAs is "Yatte Koi Daisuki" and the ending theme is "Apple panic"; both songs are by Haruka Tomatsu and Sayuri Yahagi, the voice actresses of Lala Satalin Deviluke and Haruna Sairenji, respectively. A second season of the anime, titled Motto To Love Ru (もっと TO LOVE（とらぶ）る, Motto Toraburu),[19] produced by Xebec and directed by Atsushi Ōtsuki aired 12 episodes between October 6 and December 22, 2010. The opening theme for the second season is "Loop-the-Loop" by Kotoko and the ending theme is "Baby Baby Love" by Tomatsu. Sentai Filmworks have also licensed the second season and released the complete series set on DVD on April 3, 2012;[20][21] the Blu-ray set was released on May 27, 2014.[22]

Six OVA episodes of To Love Ru Darkness were produced by Xebec and released with the limited editions of the manga's 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th, and 13th volumes on DVD on August 17, 2012,[23] December 19, 2012,[24] August 19, 2013, December 4, 2013,[25] December 4, 2014,[26] and April 3, 2015,[27] respectively. A twelve-episode anime television series adaptation was also produced by Xebec, directed by Atsushi Ōtsuki, and aired between October 6 and December 29, 2012.[28] The opening theme for To Love Ru Darkness is "Rakuen Project" (楽園PROJECT) by Ray and the ending theme is "Foul Play ni Kurari" (ファールプレーにくらり) by Kanon Wakeshima. Sentai Filmworks released To Love Ru Darkness on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on July 15, 2014.[29][30] A second season of Darkness, titled To Love Ru Darkness 2nd (To LOVE（とらぶ）る ダークネス 2nd（セカンド）, Toraburu Dākunesu Sekando) aired in Japan between July 7 and October 29, 2015.[31] The opening theme is "secret arms" by Ray while the ending theme is "Gardens" by Mami Kawada.[32] Sentai Filmworks released To Love Ru Darkness 2nd on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on November 1, 2016.[33][34] Three OVA episodes of To Love Ru Darkness 2nd were produced by Xebec between January 4 and December 2, 2016. A fourth OVA episode to commemorate the 10th anniversary of To Love Ru was released on November 2, 2017 with a book titled To Love Ru Chronicles.[35]

Video games

Five To Love Ru video games have been released.[36] The first is a 2D and 3D visual novel on the Nintendo DS titled To Love Ru: Exciting Outdoor School Version (TO LOVE（とらぶ）る ワクワク! 林間学校編, Toraburu Waku Waku! Rinkangakkō-hen) which was released on August 28, 2008.[36] The second is a 2D adventure visual novel on the PlayStation Portable entitled To Love Ru: Exciting Beach School Version (TO LOVE（とらぶ）る ドキドキ! 臨海学校編, Toraburu Doki Doki! Rinkaigakkō-hen) which was released on October 2, 2008.[37] A third game, titled To Love Ru: Darkness — Battle Ecstasy (TO LOVE（とらぶ）る ダークネス バトルエクスタシー, Toraburu Dākunesu Batoru Ekusutashii), was released on May 22, 2014 for the PlayStation Vita. It was developed by FuRyu, the developer of Unchained Blades.[38][39] Lala Satalin Deviluke appears as a support character in the Jump crossover fighting game J-Stars Victory VS.[40] A smartphone game titled To Love Ru: Darkness — Idol Revolution (TO LOVE（とらぶ）る ダークネス IDOL REVOLUTION, Toraburu Dākunesu Aidoru Revoryūshon) was released on March 19, 2014;[41] the game was later added to the website DMM.com on May 13, 2015.[42] A game titled To Love Ru: Darkness — True Princess (TO LOVE（とらぶ）る ダークネス トゥループリンセス, Toraburu Dākunesu Turū Purinsesu), was released on November 5, 2015 for the PlayStation Vita.[31]

Reception

The seventh manga volume was the best-selling manga volume in its first week of release in Japan.[43] In November 2014, readers of Media Factory's Da Vinci magazine voted To Love Ru number 20 on a list of Weekly Shōnen Jump's greatest manga series of all time.[44]

Anime News Network had four different writers review the first two-in-one omnibus volume of To Love Ru. Lynzee Loveridge, Amy McNulty and Rebecca Silverman each gave it a 3 out of 5 rating. Loveridge described the work as pure harem and praised Yabuki's comedic artwork, but felt that the personality types of the love-triangled main characters were "retreading well worn ground." McNulty disagreed, calling Lala "refreshingly charming" and noting that Haruna does not enter tired tropes either. Silverman called Yabuki's art dynamic and attractive and recommended the series to fans of harem rom-coms, but called the plot very cliché and providing nothing new. McNulty stated that the beginning with just the original love-triangle works just fine, making the love interests added later seem unnecessary, and comes off as quaint when compared to To Love Ru Darkness. Also in comparison to the sequel, Loveridge described the original series as tame in comparison to the "thinly veiled hentai" that is To Love Ru Darkness.[45]

Austin Price, the fourth writer, gave it a scathing review, calling the story a straight rip-off of Urusei Yatsura and claiming the jokes were ripped straight from harem comedy classics such as Ranma ½, Tenchi Muyo! and Love Hina. He also called Yabuki "the most utterly unremarkable artist in Shonen Jump's history."[45] Stig Høgset and Tim Jones of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews described the first season of the anime series as "a watered down Urusei Yatsura for the 21st century" and called it the worst romantic comedy they have ever seen. They mainly criticized the anime's large amounts of original material not adapted from the manga, but also noted poor animation and music.[1] When they reviewed the Motto To Love Ru anime, Høgset and Jones felt it improved significantly as it reduces manga arcs into 7 minutes each so as to include three in each episode. They gave it 3 out of 5 stars, but stated it unfortunately focuses on the "lesser characters" too often, and their "antics will get old in 5 minutes."[46]

In 2012, To Love Ru Darkness was reviewed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to see if it violated their newly passed controversial Bill 156.[47] This was after they had received a phone call from a parent who discovered a To Love Ru Darkness book while cleaning a son's room.[47] The parent did not like that there was frontal nudity of a female character, including her lower body. At the meeting on April 9, 2012, they decided that while the book did include the aforementioned nudity, it did not violate the new ordinance.[47]

References
  1. Høgset, Stig; Jones, Tim. "To Love-Ru". T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  2. 週刊少年ジャンプ 2006年 Vol. 21•22 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  3. Loo, Egan (August 25, 2009). "To Love-Ru, Freesia, Noramimi Manga End This Month". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  4. "To LOVEる―とらぶる― 1" [To Love-Ru 1] (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
  5. "To LOVEる―とらぶる― 18" [To Love-Ru 18] (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  6. "To Love-Ru Spinoff Manga Series to Launch in October". Anime News Network. July 29, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  7. ""To Love-Ru Darkness" Manga Ends With Extra Chapter Planned". Crunchyroll. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  8. "To LOVEる―とらぶる― ダークネス／1" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  9. "To LOVEる―とらぶる― ダークネス／18" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  10. "Seven Seas Licenses To Love Ru, To Love Ru Darkness Manga". Anime News Network. April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  11. "Seven Seas Launches Mature Reader Imprint With Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, World's End Harem Manga". Anime News Network. October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  12. "'To Love Ru' Darkness Manga To End On March; Final Volume To Be Scheduled On April". TravelersToday. March 3, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  13. "Sentai Filmworks, Section23 Adds To Love-Ru Anime". Anime News Network. October 6, 2009. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
  14. "Sentai Adds Skull Man, Maria Holic Anime in February". Anime News Network. December 4, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
  15. "To Love Ru: Season 1: Complete Collection (Blu-ray)". Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  16. "Sentai Filmworks Announces English Dub for To Love-Ru Anime". Anime News Network. December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  17. "To Love-Ru -Trouble- To Love-Ru -Trouble- OVA Project to Be 3 Volumes Long". Anime News Network. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  18. "3 New To Love-Ru OVA Volumes Green-Lit". Anime News Network. 2009-07-01. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  19. "Motto To Love-Ru -Trouble- Anime to Air this Fall". Anime News Network. July 12, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  20. "Sentai Filmworks Licenses Motto To-Love-Ru Trouble Anime Series". Anime News Network. January 11, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  21. "Motto to Loveru Complete Collection". Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  22. "Motto to Love Ru: Season 2 (Blu-ray)". Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  23. "To Love-Ru Darkness Manga to Bundle Anime DVD in August". Anime News Network. April 17, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  24. "To Love-Ru Darkness Manga to Bundle 2nd Anime DVD". Anime News Network. August 2, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  25. "New To-Love-Ru Darkness Anime to Be 2 New OVAs". Anime News Network. March 30, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  26. "To Love-Ru Darkness Manga Gets New Original Video Anime DVD". Anime News Network. June 30, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  27. "Next To Love-Ru Darkness OVA Slated for April 3". Anime News Network. October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  28. "To Love-Ru Darkness Anime Confirmed for TV". Anime News Network. April 3, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  29. "To Love Ru Darkness: Season 3: Complete Collection". Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  30. "To Love Ru Darkness: Season 3: Complete Collection (Blu-ray)". Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  31. "To Love-Ru Darkness Gets 2nd Season, New PS Vita Dating Sim". Anime News Network. December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  32. "TVアニメ「To LOVEる -とらぶる- ダークネス 2nd」ED担当決定！". NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. March 21, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  33. "To Love Ru Darkness 2nd: Season 4: Complete Collection". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  34. "To Love Ru Darkness 2nd: Season 4: Complete Collection (Blu-ray)". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  35. ""To Love-Ru" OVA Delayed". Crunchyroll. July 21, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  36. "To Love-Ru DS and PSP Editions Official Website Open Today" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  37. "To Love-Ru Doki Doki! Rinkaigakkō-hen" (in Japanese). Marvelous Interactive. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  38. "Unchained Blades Developer Working On To Love-Ru "Harem" Game For Vita". Siliconera. November 26, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  39. "To Love-Ru Darkness Manga Gets Vita 'Harem' Game by FuRyu". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  40. "J-Stars Victory VS+ Game's New Trailer Reveals June Release Date". Anime News Network. April 16, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  41. "「To LOVEる-とらぶる- ダークネス -Idol Revolution-」が本日配信開始" (in Japanese). Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  42. "「To LOVEる-とらぶる- ダークネス -Idol Revolution-」配信開始" (in Japanese). Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  43. "Japanese Comic Ranking, January 1–7". Anime News Network. January 14, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2008.
  44. ""Da Vinci" Magazine Asks Japanese Readers to Name Greatest "Shonen Jump" Manga". Crunchyroll. 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  45. "To Love-Ru Vol. 1-2 - The Fall 2017 Manga Guide". Anime News Network. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  46. Høgset, Stig; Jones, Tim. "Motto To Love Ru". T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  47. "Tokyo's Youth Healthy Development Council Looks at To Love-Ru Darkness". Anime News Network. June 2, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
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