To LOVE-Ru (series)

To LOVE-Ru (To LOVEる/とらぶる) is a japanese manga and anime series written by Hasemi Saki and illusrated by Yabuki Kentarō, the creator of Black Cat. The title, とらぶる (Toraburu), is the English gairaigo (loan word) "trouble" and "rabu" (ラブ)is the English loan word "love". The title is a pun on the words "love trouble", which describes the harem aspect of the series.

Plot
The story of To Love-Ru revolves around Rito Yuuki, a high-school student who cannot confess to the girl of his dreams, Haruna Sairenji. One day when coming home and sulking in the bathtub, a mysterious, nude girl appears out of nowhere. Her name is Lala and she comes from the planet Deviluke, where she is the heir to the throne. Her father wants her to return to her home planet so she can marry one of the husband candidates. But she decides that she wants to marry Rito in order to stay on Earth. Her father decides that, if Rito is able to protect Lala from her fiancés, then he can marry her. However, if Rito cannot protect Lala from her other fiancés and meet the king's expectations, Lala's father will kill Rito and destroy the Earth, thus putting Rito in a difficult situation especialy with all the odd adventures that's been happening since her arrival.

Main Characters

 * Yuuki Rito
 * Lala Satalin Deviluke
 * Sairenji Haruna

Secondary Characters

 * Momioka Risa
 * Tenjōin Saki
 * Yuuki Mikan
 * Run Elsie Jewelria
 * Kotegawa Yui
 * Golden Darkness/ Konjiki no Yami
 * Momo Belia Deviluke
 * Nana Astar Deviluke
 * Kurosaki Mea

Support

 * Sawada Mio
 * Oshizu Murasame
 * Kujō Rin
 * Ayako "Aya" Fujisaki
 * Ryoko Mikado
 * Peke
 * Celine
 * Zastin
 * Gid Lucione Deviluke
 * Saruyama Kenichi
 * Ren Elsie Jewelria
 * Kirisaki Kyōko
 * Sairenji Akiho
 * Kotegawa Yū
 * Kuro
 * Yuuki Saibai
 * Yuuki Ringo
 * Maul and Smutts
 * Motemitsu Taizō
 * Tachibana
 * Principal
 * Honekawa
 * Sasuga
 * Naruiwa
 * Nitta Haruko
 * Arai Sayaka
 * Shirayuri Koyomi
 * Ijuin
 * Nogiwa Mami
 * Kogure Sachie
 * Makoto Ooyoshi
 * Michael

Antagonists

 * Lala's arranged suitors:
 * Ghi Bree
 * Pryuma
 * Lacospo
 * Keize
 * Tiger and Panther
 * Cartman
 * Khameleon

Manga
To Love-Ru began as a manga series written by Hasemi Saki with illustrations by Yabuki Kentarō. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between April 24, 2006 and August 31, 2009. Eighteen tankōbon volumes were released by Shueisha in Japan between November 11, 2006 and April 2, 2010.

A sequel named To Love Ru: Darkness (ToLOVEる-ダークネス-) began serialization on October 4, 2010 in Jump Square. The first volume for Darkness was released on March 4, 2011, and four volumes have been published as of March 2, 2012.
 * See here: To Love Ru Manga Chapters
 * See here: To Love-Ru Darkness Chapters

Anime
An anime series adaptation produced by Xebec and directed by Takao Kato aired in Japan between April 3 and September 25, 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) by Anna, and the second ending theme is "Kiss no Yukue" (kiss の行方), also by Anna. The anime is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and distributed by Section23 Films. The complete collection part one containing the first half-season was released on December 15, 2009. Following the release of part two on February 16, 2010, the series began playing on the Anime Network in March 2010. Sentai will release the series on Blu-ray Disc in March 2014.

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. An additional three OVA episodes were released with the bundled version of the 16th, 17th and 18th volumes. The opening theme for the OVAs is "Yattekoi Daisuki!" and the ending theme is "Apple Panic?!"; both songs are by Haruka Tomatsu and Sayuri Yahagi.

A second season titled Motto To Love-Ru produced by Xebec and directed by Atsushi Ootsuki aired 12 episodes between October 6 and December 21, 2010. The opening theme for the second season is "Loop the Loop" by KOTOKO and the ending theme is "Baby Baby Love" by Haruka Tomatsu. Sentai Filmworks have also licensed the second season and will release the complete series set in spring 2012.

An anime TV series adaptation of To Love Ru: Darkness has been produced by Xebec and directed by Atsushi Ootsuki, and an OVA episode produced by Xebec was released with the manga's fifth volume on one DVD on August 17, 2012. A second OVA was released on December 2, 2012, and two more OVAs will follow on August 19, 2013 and December 4, 2013.
 * See here: To Love Ru Anime Episodes /Motto To Love Ru Episodes (season 2)

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

Video Games
Two video games have been released. The first is a 2D and 3D visual novel on the Nintendo DS entitled To Love-Ru: Exciting Outdoor School Version (To LOVEる-とらぶる- ワクワク! 林間学校編 To Love-Ru -Trouble- Waku Waku! Rinkangakkō-hen) which was released on August 28, 2008.

The second is a 2D adventure visual novel on the  PlayStation Portable entitled To Love-Ru: Exciting Beach School Version (To LOVEる-とらぶる- ドキドキ! 臨海学校編 To Love-Ru -Trouble- Doki Doki! Rinkaigakkō-hen) which was released on October 2, 2008.

Other Media
Several characters of the series make cameo appearances in the manga series [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayoi_Neko_Overrun! Mayoi Neko Overrun!]

Reception
The seventh manga volume was the best selling manga volume in its first week of release in Japan.

In 2012, To Love-Ru Darkness was reviewed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to see if it violated their newly passed controversial Bill 156. 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. 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 it did not violate the new ordinance, but did include the aforementioned nudity.

Trivia

 * The series itself seems to be a spiritual successor of sorts to Urusei Yatsura or at least heavily inspired by it.