| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Love Hina - Go West (Vol. 2)
Bandai // Unrated // April 23, 2002
List Price: $29.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie
Love Hina - Go West is the 2nd release of this series comprising of episodes 5-8. I talked a little about the history of Love Hina in my review of the 1st release, so I will not go into that very much here. Instead I will go straight into the episodes.
Episode 5 starts off with Keitaro and Naru ready to go for their Tokyo University entrance exams. This will be Keitaro's third attempt and Naru's first. At this point Keitaro still believes Naru is the girl he made the promise to 15 years ago to meet up with at Tokyo University. After the test they go to the house and Keitaro believes he aced the test while it is obvious from her expressions that Naru does not feel she did well. The next day they find out that neither of them passed the exam. Keitaro brings the promise up again, but Naru tells him that she was only 2 years old 15 years ago. Keitaro is devastated by the news that Naru is probably not the girl he made the promise to.
The second half of the episode Naru and Keitaro decide to go to Kyoto for some self-searching. The thing is each one thinks they are going alone without the other one there. They bump into each other and knock each other's glasses off. Then Naru pushes Keitaro slightly and he breaks both their glasses. They spend the rest of the day together like they are on a date, but neither one knows the other person is who they really are. They even comment about how the other person is so unlike the people they actually are. It is quite funny. They get their glasses back and find out the person they were with was not the person they wanted to be with. They even end up having to sleep in the same room because the hotel is booked.
In Episode 6 the rest of the girls from the house decide to go to Kyoto because they think Keitaro and Naru may be eloping. Shinobu is especially bothered by the idea and she goes off with Su to Kyoto before Kitsune and Motoko do. Mitsume, a girl Keitaro met at school, runs into he and Naru and she faints because Keitaro is such a cute guy. Funny thing is that she and Keitaro have the same expressions and say the same things. Naru is bothered by the similarity between the two. Mitsume also failed the test for the third time much like Keitaro. They all decide to go to Mitsume's home in Okinawa, but they end up going east instead of west. Mitsume also lets slip that Keitaro is in love with Naru. They end up taking a raft and they run aground after a tsunami hits. Mitsume faints again and she wakes up and gives Keitaro his first kiss. Naru sees this and runs off, but Keitaro follows. Just as he is about to tell her he has feelings for her the other girls show up on a boat and it ends up that they were on the other end of the island that Mitsume's parents own. At the end Mitsume ends up kissing Naru on the lips, getting Keitaro excited, and gives her a present, a turtle named Tama.
Episode 7 is centered around a Virtual Reality-type device that Su has created. At the very beginning Naru has it on and on the TV she is on a beach with another man. He is not Keitaro and the girls are wondering who he is, but Naru does not know either. A man named Kentaro crashes into the house in a ship and takes Naru to class. This is the guy from the dream, but Naru does not remember him until he introduces herself. Keitaro is, of course, jealous that this new guy is all rich and suave. On the train a couple schoolmates come up to Keitaro and offer him 2 tickets to the new theme park, Neverland, for $80 (the mates got them for free since they work there). He buys the tickets, but then finds out that Kentaro has already asked Naru to the theme park. The other girls end up tying Keitaro up and putting the VR machine on him and he dreams about taking Naru to the theme park. Then Kentaro shows up and the girls decide to have a VR contest and see who can win Naru. Kentaro wins, but Naru decides not to go with him and takes his tickets. She then meets up with Keitaro and they decide to bring the whole gang to the park.
Episode 8 is based around a RPG (Role-Playing Game) video game that Keitaro is playing at the very beginning. Motoko ends up dreaming about being in the game with the rest of the gang as miniature versions of themselves, including Shinobu as a baby since she is the youngest. Motoko believes she is in Keitaro's dream though, but it is obvious that it is hers. At the very end of the episode Motoko sees the vision of Keitaro making a promise to the young girl 15 years ago. I have no clue what this means at all. This episode is very filler in nature and actually is borrowing a lot of ideas from other things. The characters in the dream/RPG and the battles seem like they jumped right off of the console RPG scene and there is even some music that reminded me of video game songs. There is also a part that is a lot like Sailor Moon where Shinobu magically changes into a medic. We are treated to the magical transformation ala Sailor Moon and Pretty Sammy. It is all in good fun, but there is really nothing of huge substance in this episode.
The DVD
Video: This is a television presentation, so it is displayed in Full-Frame. This series is from 2000 and is excellently displayed here. I saw no noticeable errors in the video presentation, much like the first release.
Sound: Since this is a television show, this is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. This has both Japanese and English audio. Being a dub listener I listened to the whole thing in English. I still have a problem with Kitsune's southern accent, but it is starting to grow on me and she is not as overpowering. Once again it seems the Japanese track has more full sound and more use of the surround speakers than the English dub has. I have to say that the opening music is really growing on me.
Menus: A basic menu with the theme song being played.
Extras:
Trailers: Angel Links, Outlaw Star, Haunted Junction and Gundam Wing
Keitaro's Songbook: This is the song from Episode 8 sung by the twin Mitsumi's in Mokoto's dream. It has the Japanese lyrics as well as the English translation. You can also play the song in its original Japanese form.
Chracter Photo Gallery: Motoko is the only character here. There is a short bio accompanied by various still shots of Mokoto.
Credits: Gives credits to both the Japanese and English voices in the series as well as who worked on the DVD and series.
Final Thoughts: The extras are once again not the greatest, but Love Hina - Go West is still a great buy. The comedy has continued through this disc and the series seems to be hitting its stride moving into the halfway mark coming up. There is a lot of core storyline movement in this release and I think it continues to be an enjoyable series. Highly recommended.
Love Hina - Go West is the 2nd release of this series comprising of episodes 5-8. I talked a little about the history of Love Hina in my review of the 1st release, so I will not go into that very much here. Instead I will go straight into the episodes.
Episode 5 starts off with Keitaro and Naru ready to go for their Tokyo University entrance exams. This will be Keitaro's third attempt and Naru's first. At this point Keitaro still believes Naru is the girl he made the promise to 15 years ago to meet up with at Tokyo University. After the test they go to the house and Keitaro believes he aced the test while it is obvious from her expressions that Naru does not feel she did well. The next day they find out that neither of them passed the exam. Keitaro brings the promise up again, but Naru tells him that she was only 2 years old 15 years ago. Keitaro is devastated by the news that Naru is probably not the girl he made the promise to.
The second half of the episode Naru and Keitaro decide to go to Kyoto for some self-searching. The thing is each one thinks they are going alone without the other one there. They bump into each other and knock each other's glasses off. Then Naru pushes Keitaro slightly and he breaks both their glasses. They spend the rest of the day together like they are on a date, but neither one knows the other person is who they really are. They even comment about how the other person is so unlike the people they actually are. It is quite funny. They get their glasses back and find out the person they were with was not the person they wanted to be with. They even end up having to sleep in the same room because the hotel is booked.
In Episode 6 the rest of the girls from the house decide to go to Kyoto because they think Keitaro and Naru may be eloping. Shinobu is especially bothered by the idea and she goes off with Su to Kyoto before Kitsune and Motoko do. Mitsume, a girl Keitaro met at school, runs into he and Naru and she faints because Keitaro is such a cute guy. Funny thing is that she and Keitaro have the same expressions and say the same things. Naru is bothered by the similarity between the two. Mitsume also failed the test for the third time much like Keitaro. They all decide to go to Mitsume's home in Okinawa, but they end up going east instead of west. Mitsume also lets slip that Keitaro is in love with Naru. They end up taking a raft and they run aground after a tsunami hits. Mitsume faints again and she wakes up and gives Keitaro his first kiss. Naru sees this and runs off, but Keitaro follows. Just as he is about to tell her he has feelings for her the other girls show up on a boat and it ends up that they were on the other end of the island that Mitsume's parents own. At the end Mitsume ends up kissing Naru on the lips, getting Keitaro excited, and gives her a present, a turtle named Tama.
Episode 7 is centered around a Virtual Reality-type device that Su has created. At the very beginning Naru has it on and on the TV she is on a beach with another man. He is not Keitaro and the girls are wondering who he is, but Naru does not know either. A man named Kentaro crashes into the house in a ship and takes Naru to class. This is the guy from the dream, but Naru does not remember him until he introduces herself. Keitaro is, of course, jealous that this new guy is all rich and suave. On the train a couple schoolmates come up to Keitaro and offer him 2 tickets to the new theme park, Neverland, for $80 (the mates got them for free since they work there). He buys the tickets, but then finds out that Kentaro has already asked Naru to the theme park. The other girls end up tying Keitaro up and putting the VR machine on him and he dreams about taking Naru to the theme park. Then Kentaro shows up and the girls decide to have a VR contest and see who can win Naru. Kentaro wins, but Naru decides not to go with him and takes his tickets. She then meets up with Keitaro and they decide to bring the whole gang to the park.
Episode 8 is based around a RPG (Role-Playing Game) video game that Keitaro is playing at the very beginning. Motoko ends up dreaming about being in the game with the rest of the gang as miniature versions of themselves, including Shinobu as a baby since she is the youngest. Motoko believes she is in Keitaro's dream though, but it is obvious that it is hers. At the very end of the episode Motoko sees the vision of Keitaro making a promise to the young girl 15 years ago. I have no clue what this means at all. This episode is very filler in nature and actually is borrowing a lot of ideas from other things. The characters in the dream/RPG and the battles seem like they jumped right off of the console RPG scene and there is even some music that reminded me of video game songs. There is also a part that is a lot like Sailor Moon where Shinobu magically changes into a medic. We are treated to the magical transformation ala Sailor Moon and Pretty Sammy. It is all in good fun, but there is really nothing of huge substance in this episode.
The DVD
Video: This is a television presentation, so it is displayed in Full-Frame. This series is from 2000 and is excellently displayed here. I saw no noticeable errors in the video presentation, much like the first release.
Sound: Since this is a television show, this is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. This has both Japanese and English audio. Being a dub listener I listened to the whole thing in English. I still have a problem with Kitsune's southern accent, but it is starting to grow on me and she is not as overpowering. Once again it seems the Japanese track has more full sound and more use of the surround speakers than the English dub has. I have to say that the opening music is really growing on me.
Menus: A basic menu with the theme song being played.
Extras:
Trailers: Angel Links, Outlaw Star, Haunted Junction and Gundam Wing
Keitaro's Songbook: This is the song from Episode 8 sung by the twin Mitsumi's in Mokoto's dream. It has the Japanese lyrics as well as the English translation. You can also play the song in its original Japanese form.
Chracter Photo Gallery: Motoko is the only character here. There is a short bio accompanied by various still shots of Mokoto.
Credits: Gives credits to both the Japanese and English voices in the series as well as who worked on the DVD and series.
Final Thoughts: The extras are once again not the greatest, but Love Hina - Go West is still a great buy. The comedy has continued through this disc and the series seems to be hitting its stride moving into the halfway mark coming up. There is a lot of core storyline movement in this release and I think it continues to be an enjoyable series. Highly recommended.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||