Motoko?

[Takahashi]

Is she secretly in love with Keitaro?
She gets just as angry as Naru, when Keitaro is even near another girl beside her. She usually beat him up just because she thinks he did something wrong. Even though she act tough, you can still see that she is admiring him from a distance.

[Ikari_Asuka_Langley]

Hmm... the thought did cross my mind... and another thing... did you notice how much prettier she gets through the series?

[cloakactive]

I think all the girls who are dorming at the inn Love Keitaro.... and thats why guys want to be him.... (we just don't want to get beat to near death like him... :lol: )

Originally posted by Ikari_Asuka_Langley

Hmm... the thought did cross my mind... and another thing... did you notice how much prettier she gets through the series?



I noticed! :D She looked very very Pretty in Ep 25.... Even without the fan service you could notice a change. Well... IMHO. :p

[Ikari_Asuka_Langley]

Well I just noticed that in the spring special she looks much more grown up...

[strikeotoko]

Originally posted by Ikari_Asuka_Langley
Well I just noticed that in the spring special she looks much more grown up...
Isn't that because they used different animators for the spring special? I thought everyone looked different in the spring special.

[Darklightz]

I think that's mostly due to the fact that at one episode she admits her own feminity,after that she wears normal girl clothes and is nicer with Keitaro.

But then again she also hits Shirai and Hitani.and I guess she'd hit any guy that she wanted to.

[Ikari_Asuka_Langley]

I love the part in the subway train with the old man... i would break his freaking nose too!

[Mr_Bug]

yeah, she is a lot prettier now then at the beginning. :)

Oh and cloakactive, been in Keitaro's place and getting beat up all time wouldn't be so bad, after all you would be immortal :D
The one down side is the repair costs to the building :)

[Takahashi]

Originally posted by Ikari_Asuka_Langley
Hmm... the thought did cross my mind... and another thing... did you notice how much prettier she gets through the series?

Yeah, I did. :) Thats why I posted this.
I have kinda fallen in love with her, the more I see her. Its more like she changes from the inside rather than from the outside. At the beginning I thought it would be a real drag having to live with her, but during the whole serie she starts growing on me, maturing and caring. I wouldn't even mind if she beats me up three times a day.

[daniel480]

Hnnn. . . while readin th'manga. . .isn't she already kinda in love with him? ^^;; hnn. . . m'not sure. . . I think it is kinda obvious she has at least SOME attraction to him despite their conflicting outward personalities^^;

[Ikari_Asuka_Langley]

Yes I agree I REALLY enjoyed the development there... and especially in the christmas episode :bawling: ... wonderful... she shows the most of a journey into adulthood me thinks.

[Ronin Aquila]

Originally posted by daniel480
Hnnn. . . while readin th'manga. . .isn't she already kinda in love with him? ^^;; hnn. . . m'not sure. . . I think it is kinda obvious she has at least SOME attraction to him despite their conflicting outward personalities^^;

Motoko is often surprisd at Keitaro's increasingly frequent gestures of courage, responsibility and masculinity, and respects him for it. And yes, she is equally often shown to be moved by these gestures.

However, any positive opinion towards him is invariably extinguished by an "unfortunate accident." Hence Motoko's feelings towards Keitaro is more akin to the classic "begrudging respect" of a warrior towards an inferior than Shinobu's outright loving affection.

[Takahashi]

I just saw the christmas special, I think she has definately got feeling for Keitaro, she said something like another lonely christmas. And when she pushed Naru out the train she was thinking:"Why should I interfeer with their relationship, what rights do I have." This show a deeper feeling which she is suppresing because she doesn't want to ruin her relationship with Naru, thus taking a step aside. I think she definately has a shot at Keitaro if she really tries, but chose friendship instead.

[Ronin Aquila]

Originally posted by Titan21
I just saw the christmas special, I think she has definately got feeling for Keitaro, she said something like another lonely christmas. And when she pushed Naru out the train she was thinking:"Why should I interfeer with their relationship, what rights do I have." This show a deeper feeling which she is suppresing because she doesn't want to ruin her relationship with Naru, thus taking a step aside. I think she definately has a shot at Keitaro if she really tries, but chose friendship instead.

As according to the "calssical anime narrative", the outcome of Motoko's life would either be:

1) She relinquishes the path of the warrior, becomes a genteel woman and falls in love with a kind man.

Or more likely

2) She staunchly adheres to the way of the warrior and lives a life of lonliness.

There tends to be a sadistic trend amongst manga authors to punish female characters romantically for being aberrant to their traditional social roles. The women in question can either chose pride or happiness; one or the other, but NEVER both.

[Yui_Reborn]

Well, I think Love Hina was pointing out that it doesn't have to be one or the other-Motoko walked one path and she thought her sister walked the other when she fell in love, but it turns out of course that to be the strongest warrior she can be, she too will have to fall in love. You get the impression that abandoning the sword was something her sister wanted to do, not that she was torn between her love and her discipline. But I haven't seen episode 25 yet, where some of this could have come up and I could have been proven wrong on any number of counts. I will admit that I have seen that trend in a lot of manga and anime though.

I really loved Motoko's character, because she's such a great example of the perfectionist who sets herself above other people, only to realize how lonely it is when you refuse to open yourself to anybody. While there aren't that many people who can do what Motoko does with a sword, that personality trait is everywhere!

I especially love that scene at the end of the 'Video Game' episode (7 or 8 I think), where everyone has been going super-deformed for the whole episode except Motoko, and she finally realizes what she's missing when she sees everyone playing in the sandbox. When she goes SD, she's not going to miss out on all the good things in life by holding herself above everyone, in that case in the most literal sense: She may have to 'sink down to there level', but hey, why the hell not?

*This Love Hina Overanalysis brought to you by Yui_Reborn"

[Ronin Aquila]

The tragedy of the warrior Aoyama Motoko is that she was raised in an enviroment that forced her to "grow up" and become cynical far too quickly before she could enjoy the joyful fruits of childhood and its innocence.