Akamatsuverse What's with all the Naru hate?

[Arcomage]

I've seen it quite a lot on these forums - Naru getting characterised as a man-hating violence-prone bitch who will hit Keitaro without provocation or reason. And I can't help but wonder: why?

Now, I have not seen the anime, but in the manga the first time she meets Keitaro it's basically her entering the bath and discovering that the person she thought was her best friend (and was showing off her breasts to) was actually a man and a stranger on top of that. Oh, and he's naked. That doesn't make for a very good first impression, and even then she doesn't immediately move to violence. Keitaro escapes, coincidentally flashing all the other girls and getting a pair of panties stuck on his head beofre he's finally cornered on the rooftop. THEN she hits him. But so do Motoko and Su.

So then stuff gets explained, Keitaro gets accepted as living at Hinata although Naru is still upset at him (really bad first impression) and Kitsune cons him into putting his hand on her breast at which point the others walk in and Kitsune acts like she's been sexually harrassed. Still nothing from Naru. Motoko threatens to kill him, but Naru just calls him a creep and walks off.

-Then- she walks in on him masturbating. As if she wasn't convinced that he's a pervert to begin with. And -still- she doesn't actually hit him. She flails around with a broom in his general direction, but she next scene implies that she didn't even hit him. All in all, the number of times that she hits him (or tries to) in volume 1 of the manga comes to 3, one of which was the 'unidentified stranger hidden in the baths' which is arguably justified. The two other times this happens involve him accidentally groping her breasts and him accidentally giving her a case of wet T-shirt, respectively. In the latter case, she doesn't even hit him hard, just barely enough to push him into the baths.

Moving on to the second volume, 5 incidents.

- Discovers Keitaro lying on top of Su with porn magazines lying around them. Kicks him in the head but finds it easy enough to accept his explanation afterwards.

- Gets disrobed by a stumbling (stunned Keitaro), throws a chair at him. Okay, I can accept this one as being over the top.

- Discovers Keitaro reading her diary and pushes him in an effort to get him out of her room. Keitaro stumbles and falls into the hole in the floor. Still painful, but more of an accident than any real intent to harm.

- Triple-techs Keitaro along with Motoko and Su after discovering him caught in another one of Kitsune's seduction attempts. I get the impression that she has a short fuse, but she does accept his version of events and apologises afterwards.

- Punches him in the face while drunk after seeing him get a nosebleed from her getting stripped by Su. ...Yeah, not going to argue about that one either.

- Gets caught in another accidental groping session, turns a punch into a whiff at the last moment because she wanted to spare his feelings. I don't count this one. Note also that she and Shinobu are the only ones who don't hold it against him when it is revealed that he wasn't depressed at all.

...And that's the entirety of the first two volumes of the manga. 7 cases of Naru attempting violence on Keitaro over several months worth of in-series time, and all but three of those are very much justifiable. Also, in all but two cases she actually apologises afterwards. I'll go over the rest of the manga again later, but to me this does not paint a picture of a violent maniac.

 

[JiigarGhen]

It's simple, really. You are describing the first two volumes, yes? Naru does this ALL THE TIME, repeatedly. Many of these occasions, the situation could have simply been explained if she just waited for five seconds. Sure, she's 'sorry' after a few of them, but she seems to think most of the occasions she's been perfectly justified.

 

[Legacy|iB]

...really? :huh:

Well, you're only looking at the first two volumes of the manga thus far, and to be fair, the first bit of the manga did a better job with Naru's development than much later. Later into the manga, Naru's character took a rather big jump off a cliff in terms of likability and she tended to hit him quite a bit more later on. In comparison, Naru in the early sections of the manga could almost be considered likable, actually, but apparently not according the most of the people here.

In the anime, she was a far more vicious character. Any redeemable qualities about her - other than being voiced by the lovely Hocchan - were few and far between. That marks quite a difference between her in the manga and the anime.

We've had this discussion a few times in the past, and the underlying reason for the dislike of Naru would be how ridiculously short tempered, violent, and indecisive she is.

Short-tempered is obvious. In the event of almost anything that Keitaro might be implicated in, she jumps immediately to the conclusion - whatever it may be in her mind - and it usually results in her pummeling Keitaro. After awhile, you'd have to ask just why doesn't she just take a step back and just think things over for a moment, rather than jump straight to the conclusion that Keitaro had done something wrong and must be punished?

The violent part is rather self-explanatory. The main thing to keep in mind is how violent she remains to Keitaro throughout the course of the manga. Even after he shows how dedicated he is and how, despite his numerous failures and mishaps and shortcomings as a human being (...okay, maybe not that but still...) and in particular, how much he cares and perhaps loves Naru, Naru still clobbers him regardless.

From there is Naru's indecisive nature. Even after Keitaro's proven how much he cares regardless of how many times he'd be hit, pummeled, clobbered, etc by Naru, Naru's still unsure of how she'd feel. Even after all that Keitaro will do and show to her and even after she perhaps comes to a slight realization that she does have feelings for him - she denies it, and goes back to hating Keitaro.

Those are some of the reasons for why Naru is likable, and apparently there's always more.

As well, consider all the other characters. Motoko actually warms up to Keitaro and does have clear feelings for him, Shinobu genuinely loves him, as does Mutsumi, and despite being very, very creepy in nature, Kanako loves him as well, but few of us touch that area. As well, there's everybody else, and according to what I've seen from the community, it doesn't take much to make them a viable partner for Keitaro.

All of them, in contrast to Naru, who is indecisive about her feelings and is very much always openly hostile to Keitaro?

It certainly doesn't make Naru all that likable, and that's why she isn't very well liked by the Love Hina community or by the people here.

But personally, I'm not one of them. Of course, this is coming from the one and only Naru fanboy on TFF, but never mind that :lol:

 

[division-six]

I can agree with some of the points here, and add that if you haven't seen the anime, you won't know a large portion of the problem. In the anime Naru is presented as considerably less rational and more extreme in her violence, even knocking Keitaro through walls at offhand remarks that are not even remotely suggestive.

In the manga, she is a bit more even-tempered and can get along with Keitaro fairly well under normal circumstances and her actions are at least understandable, though rash and grow tiresome over the course of the story.

This is just my two cents, but the real reason that people don't like Naru isn't because of the violence. If that were the case, Motoko would be just as despised as Naru, if not more so. The truly annoying facet of her personality is her indecisiveness. Throughout much of the manga she doesn't know how she feels about him, yet dislikes the idea of anyone else near him. She refuses to come to grips with her feelings while others such as Motoko are shown confronting their emotions, while others liked him from the start.

We watch and root as the other characters grow and develop, while Naru remains stagnant, and eventually skips town rather than try to sort her emotional attachments. Even when chased to the ends of Japan she would rather jump off a cliff then give Keitaro a simple yes/no answer. From the outside looking in, it seems more like Naru was "stalked until she panicked and gave in" rather than "fell in love."

Suddenly the main pairing becomes very disappointing to many of the readers, and previous actions are viewed with a less friendly mindset, and she gets demonized. It's just my probably wrong opinion, but that's where I think the Naru hate comes from.

Edit: Crap, looks like legacy beat me to the punch on all my comments.

 

[Arcomage]

That's true, yes. The indecisiveness is a much bigger factor in why I don't like her character so much than any kind of violence. The violence in itself gets passed off for comedic effect, or else she's actually sorry afterwards (There's at least one scene later on where she berates herself for acting on a reflex). Not having seen the anime probably also has a lot to do with it, if it's as bad as people claim in that regard.

And while it's true that I'm only really covering the first two volumes of the manga here, I can't recall any particular cases of unprovoked bashing later in the series, either. Naru continues to react in a manner that is perhaps more extreme than can be considered healthy (There's a thought path along the lines of "Male sees me naked = must punch" in there that doesn't get removed until the final volume), but she never does it without any provocation at all. And there definitely is no open hostility between them after the first few volumes (as noted above, they got off to a -really- bad start) - Most of the time, even when Naru does get angry she makes up for it (or at least tries to) not five minutes later. Still, I can see where you're coming from, and yes, those are some of my personal peeves with the character as well.

Anyway, thanks for the responses.

 

[JiigarGhen]

True. From a certain viewpoint, all of her actions do at least have some reason behind them. Even though it's almost never really Keitaro's fault, he does in fact end up in situations that make him look pretty damn pervy. Like I said though, the main reason why I am...neutral, essentially, towards Naru, is because she doesn't even stop to ask.

 

[Lord Raa]

Reasons for Naru hate:

1) Contains 4 of the letters in Naruto. That's a big no-no.

/b/ There needs to be a certain amount of hatred for the Injustice Generators to function properly.

3) Because Kitsune is clearly a better choice.

4) Because it arouses me for her to be hated.



But that might just be me. :huh.:

 

[SimmyC]

Coming from the dude that never really read Love Hina (and yet, has fanfics set in said fandom).

Well, I can't really add much to what has already been said. Both Acromage and Legacy pretty much said what I wanted to say.

Although to throw my two cents in with, at least my person views, like what was already said, the violence itself is not the problem. It was her indecisiveness that, I myself dislike the most about her. It goes to the whole character development which IMO, is what is extremely lacking with Naru in the mangas and anime.

Compare this to Motoko. Man hating, didn't give a second thought to Keitaro when she first saw him. Etc. etc. Later? Not only did she warm up to him, but especially during the Burning Blades arc, it actually blossomed into something we would call love. Even admitted to him IIRC (which may or may not be true). All the while, Naru remained indecisive up until Volume 14. The LAST volume.

However, when you talk to people, especially the people that write Naru bashing fics, it isn't indecisiveness of her characters that they complain about, but the violence. This, IMO, automatically tells me that said people were anime watchers. Anime characterization was bad. I personally don't like Naru in either format, but at least the manga did try to show her good side. And yes, as mentioned before, the manga did give reasons for the abuse. Slightly irrational reasons maybe, but still, reasons that would make Naru send Keitaro on a trip across the sky. Anime? One slight provocation, BAM, Keitaro goes straight through the wall.

I should know, I've seen the anime first, before reading the manga. In fact, my opinion of Naru has mellowed due to that transition. This again shows how bad the anime was to Naru. I think I was just as bad as the Naru bashers are nowadays. But when I began reading the manga, my opinion of her almost took a complete 180. Her faults still give me a reason not to like her, but the pure hate I had for her after watching the anime is now all but gone.

 

[Meinos Kaen]

Recently, I began to count all the times Naru punched Keitaro..

In the first two volumes, Naru punches Keitaro into oblivion 15 times. And just two times is actually Keitaro's fault, like when he just couldn't wait to show Naru how he had solved that problem and walked into the hot springs.

The auburn-haired girl is as irrational and irascible as a squirell with rabies. ^^' That's the reason for the Naru-hate.

 

[Zenithos]

And this is, what, the 5th thread covering the exact same topic? :snigger: :rofl:

Oh give it a break, this has been overdone to death. There are decent answers in the previous threads so why waste your time rewriting everything that's already there? Now quit it before GH arrives. Spare him rewriting his usual Naru-Naru commentary

 

[OniGanon]

First two volumes? Try reading volumes 9 and 12 and see how your like for Naru holds up.

 

[PCHeintz72]

The thing that always gets me when this topic comes up is all the people saying Naru is *so* *much* more violent in anime than manga.

I have both, and read/seen both.

Naru is violent in both, Naru is indecisive in both. I will grant she is *very slightly* nicer in manga, but that is all.

IMO Naru's problem is not really men, it is specifically Keitaro. She is nicer and mostly non-violent to pretty much nearly everyone except him, even other men. Which is good for her, as most would not be able to take the abuse she dishes out to him.

I view this much the same as an Akane relationship with Ranma. I like Naru *a little* as a character, and don't mind reading about her, but I'm not a fan of a match with Keitaro. If the author of a story is going to match her to Keitaro, there better be some good background leading to it, or I won't believe it.

Also, except Motoko, Tsuruko, and Kanako, I thought the manga worse as a series.

 

[Arcomage]

Volumes 9 and 12?

Admittedly, volume 9 has a big strike against her for the whole indecision issue - Keitaro confessed to her and she didn't want to give him an answer but still acts possessive of him. But again, in the violence department it's not quite so bad.

- She hits him while being possessed by the Hina Blade. Not really a big deal.

- Hits him when she thinks he's putting the moves on Shinobu. Yeah, there's definitely some hypocricy going on there and she's got a short temper, but again I don't see the hate from that.

- Punches him skywards to go see Shinobu. I'm really not too sure about this one; it's pretty darn vioent by itself, but again it's pretty clear that there's the comedic violence effect at work. He'd be fine anyway and this was the quickest way to get him to where he needed to be.

- Double-team with Haruka to get Seta and Keitaro out of the baths. Note that he actually -was- peeping on them this time, so this is arguably justified.

- Punch after a failed romantic moment. Almost admitted that she loved him (but not quite) but got upset after he (quite by accident) broke the mood.

And about the anime... Well, from what I've seen of it (Not a lot, admittedly) it's not that Naru gets characterised as being more violent than in the manga, but more that it compresses a lot of storylines in only a few episodes. So the total amount of violence remains the same because it tends to happen during scenes that are important to the plot, but the scenes where they get along fine tend to get cut out because nothing really happens in them.

I will once again agree that I rather like Motoko better as a character, because she gets so much more character development in the manga that it's not even funny - Naru gets stuck in a particular role fairly early on and doesn't come out of it until the last few volumes.

PCHeintz - I don't think it's really possible to say that; over the entire course of the series the only two males with whom she actually interacts are Keitaro and Seta. She obviously had a crush on the latter and still wants to show him her best side, so there's no violence there. And for the comparison with Akane and Ranma... I don't know. At the very least, Naru has a tendency to actually realise when she's in the wrong and apologise afterwards, which is something that I haven't seen from Akane.

As a sidenote - Does the anime get better after the first few episodes or something? I've seen the first three episodes and decided that I didn't much like them raping the source material like this and stopped watching. From the way people are talking about it, it sounds like I missed something in there. Well, time to dig it up again, I suppose.

Oh well, I got the answers I was looking for anyway, and I guess you can't argue with opinion. As far as I'm concerned, this discussion is closed.

 

[PCHeintz72]

PCHeintz - I don't think it's really possible to say that; over the entire course of the series the only two males with whom she actually interacts are Keitaro and Seta.

Kentaro.

And for the comparison with Akane and Ranma... I don't know. At the very least, Naru has a tendency to actually realise when she's in the wrong and apologise afterwards, which is something that I haven't seen from Akane.

And yet... Naru learns nothing from it... ditto for Akane. They do it over and over and over again.

 

[Arcomage]

In my personal opinion, Kentaro doesn't count. He's not canonical, was not a character in the manga and did not appear in the anime due to authorial intervention. He's a throwaway gag and I don't consider him to be a character in the series.

Naru doesn't learn from her mistakes, no, but who really does? Motoko hits him with bladed weapons often enough, even near the end. Su fires heavy artillery at him and expects everything to turn out okay - and it does. IMO, Love Hina takes the comedic violence effect quite a bit further than Ranma 1/2 does - Ranma doesn't get hurt easily because he's an insanely good martial artist and has undergone heavy endurance training. Keitaro doesn't get hurt easily simply because he's the main character and everyone is aware of this.

 

[nuclear death frog]

*sigh*

Can we get links to the other threads of this exact topic? Absolutely nothing new of note is being said here.

 

[PCHeintz72]

In my personal opinion, Kentaro doesn't count. He's not canonical, was not a character in the manga and did not appear in the anime due to authorial intervention. He's a throwaway gag and I don't consider him to be a character in the series.

Shrugs... I've always found the concept of one continuity or canon base being superior or in effect the *only* valid base so fundamentally wrong I cannot understand why people are so determined to even suggest it.

Anime LH is a different continuity from manga LH, I grant. But is just as much canon as manga, as it is an official release to the public. It is approved, if not directly, then indirectly. Fan fiction authors should be able to equally pull from either base without discrimination. Just that they should note which they are using.

Thus... If you do not wish to count him, that is your choice. But not mine. I will grant he does not apply to manga continuity however. Thus still giving Naru a problem with men.

Naru doesn't learn from her mistakes, no, but who really does? Motoko hits him with bladed weapons often enough, even near the end. Su fires heavy artillery at him and expects everything to turn out okay - and it does.

Ah... but this thread was not about them, but about Naru. I have issues with the others in regards to my views of them, but that is not valid here.

IMO, Love Hina takes the comedic violence effect quite a bit further than Ranma 1/2 does - Ranma doesn't get hurt easily because he's an insanely good martial artist and has undergone heavy endurance training. Keitaro doesn't get hurt easily simply because he's the main character and everyone is aware of this.

You can view the violence as comedic if you so choose. But if the violence is so summarily dismissed, you cannot IMO effective argue any personality trait of any character effectively using reality as a base. Selectively dropping reality for certain traits defeats the whole ability to give justification. The credibility of your arguements are then ruined.

This is especially true if your intent is arguing aspects of fan fiction of a serious bent. Drama's, romance, introspective works, etc...

As for Keitaro's endurance, or immortality, you should check out the thread in this very subforum for veiws given by various members here for it.

Again... I am not against a Keitaro / Naru long term happy pairing per se in fan fiction, just that an author best go into a *good* backdrop for it and correct the problems they have, or I'll not like it for believability reasons. Do I believe that they stand a chance of having such a relationship in manga *or* anime canon continuity without him being treated like crap for his life? No.

Those are my views, they are not changing, and have not despite any other discussion on Naru / Keitaro interaction I've seen over the years.

 

[OniGanon]

Admittedly, volume 9 has a big strike against her for the whole indecision issue - Keitaro confessed to her and she didn't want to give him an answer but still acts possessive of him. But again, in the violence department it's not quite so bad.

It's not the violence in that volume so much as she takes three freaking months to come up with an answer of 'I love you... maybe.' If Keitaro was even a shred less pathetic he'd have given up after a month and taken the offer made by Mitsune in the same volume.

 

[Drawde]

Naru doesn't learn from her mistakes, no, but who really does? Motoko hits him with bladed weapons often enough, even near the end. Su fires heavy artillery at him and expects everything to turn out okay - and it does.

Ah... but this thread was not about them, but about Naru. I have issues with the others in regards to my views of them, but that is not valid here.

Actually, it's about why does Naru get hated so much, when many of the other characters in the series are just as violent.

IMO, Love Hina takes the comedic violence effect quite a bit further than Ranma 1/2 does - Ranma doesn't get hurt easily because he's an insanely good martial artist and has undergone heavy endurance training. Keitaro doesn't get hurt easily simply because he's the main character and everyone is aware of this.

You can view the violence as comedic if you so choose. But if the violence is so summarily dismissed, you cannot IMO effective argue any personality trait of any character effectively using reality as a base. Selectively dropping reality for certain traits defeats the whole ability to give justification. The credibility of your arguements are then ruined.

The main problem I usually see with this, is that when converting a comedy series to a serious series, they leave the comedic elements intact, and interpret them in a serious manner. If slapstick elements are treated this way, then the violence becomes serious as well. Instead, they should be changed into a more serious thing, like converting being hit into the sky, to a slap in the face. Something done simply for comedic effect should be either changed or ignored. Though people have different opinions on which elements are purely comedic.

In other words, I'm always seeing the slapstick violence treated like it's real. If you're going to make a series realistic, then people shouldn't be sent through a roof and land without being hurt.

 

[SimmyC]

*sigh*

Can we get links to the other threads of this exact topic? Absolutely nothing new of note is being said here.

True. Normally I would have avoided this thread altogether, but the one huge Naru supporter replied. So, I thought, what the hey, if he can deal with another thread talking about the same topic, no reason to get all butt hurt about it.

As for PCHeintz72 comments, well, I can see where say, bother continuities could be considered a 'good' source material. I mean, in a way, the anime did influence the manga with say, the introduction of Su's family and so forth. And I will again say, one thing the anime had that the manga lacked, a good setup to why Shinobu is at the Love Hina in the first place.

Thing is, 'official', doesn't always mean 'good' or even canon. I mean, Star Trek books are official. You'll find very few people call them 'canon'.

That being said, does not mean people shouldn't use them to base fanfiction off of. Like you said, people could use these 'other medium source material' without discrimination as long as they remark that they got this info from said source.

It just wouldn't be canon, and yes, to all of the 'original is the way' people, not always correct.

I do agree however that just because it is in a different medium, doesn't mean it's inferior. Take for example, Fullmetal Alchemist. The manga and the anime are different (even more so than Love Hina). Yet I have no problem referring, or even using the anime since, IMO, both are equally good in their own way. Different paths, different rules, but both the same goodness.

Now, back on topic... I obviously don't feel the same way with the anime to manga comparison. And why people would easily dismiss say Kentaro given that he wasn't a manga guy. I know your view on it PCHeintz72 from the other threads. And to an extent (in terms of Naru), I understand since, well, even though I see it as a 2d caricature, still had the violence and the indecisiveness of Naru. Just that, IMO, when you say that she is 'a little better' in the manga, given how extreme I thought her character raping was in the anime, 'a little better' was still enough to switch from my own Naru bashing ways to, meh, still hate her but not that extreme way.

To each their own, and the whole different perspective thingy. So, I'll leave it at that.

Oh, and rereading your comments, I have to say that in a strange way, I agree Naru's problem isn't men, but Keitaro. Granted, if you solely use the manga as a source, the other person is Seta. Still, you don't hear stories of her beating up other men (like a rumor spreading around about the demon lady). Motoko's problem was men. Naru's? I mean, who does she constantly hit (even if done solely for comedic purposes)? Keitaro. Seta? Nope. Keitaro's two dweebs? Ummm... maybe (don't remember). But their problem would have been association to Keitaro.

Of course the reason why it's only Keitaro, the whole 'you hurt the one you love' concept. Dumb and all. And why I will probably never like Naru as a character. But is something, I assume, Akamatsu was aiming for when he made her.

As for the violence? I tend to now see the violence as just that, Warner Bros. Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry, get hit by an anvil and not die, kind of humor. Now, it's humor that is taken too far IMO, but still, it's an aspect of the series that was never meant to be taken seriously.

Which is what I tend to do with my darkfics. :lol: Take the violence seriously. I have my reasons of course (besides not a fan of Naru). But well, it's hard to write a story, even a semi-realistic one, when the original source material wasn't always 'realistic'. Then again, I guess I can still boil it down to simply being anti-Naru. :unsure:

And in a way, I still don't take the violence THAT seriously. After all, hole in the roof due to a punch? Him landing on a bush or something? No one is really going "ZOMG! He did that? That's amazing!" Instead, it's just another day in the park. The main aspect of why those stories are dark, the emotional impact dealt with that caused that punch.

Sorry about the long rant. But well, wanted to add the above. Something you probably won't find in the billions of other... Naru threads.

 

[FanboyimusPrime]

I just don't like bitchy insecure female leads that like to hit the male lead they "love".

The relationships in that look like the one Namor and the Incredible Hulk have...and they definitely don't love each other.

 

[Drawde]

One reason I forgot to mention for why people hate her. She gets the guy, but she's not whoever's favorite girl. In other words, a Motoko fan might hate her simply because she's not Motoko, yet is the female lead.

 

[SimmyC]

That is part of it I guess. Though a big reason why would also simply be her personality. Motoko is a lot of people's favorite even though she at times, is just as violent towards Keitaro than Naru. The why has been already said in this thread.

I myself am not a fan of most canon pairings. Though unlike in some series, preferring the alternative does not equal hate of the main. Naru (and in Ranma, Akane) are different simply given the personality behind the fist.

 

[Wheeljack]

I just don't like bitchy insecure female leads that like to hit the male lead they "love".

The relationships in that look like the one Namor and the Incredible Hulk have...and they definitely don't love each other.

The bitchy insecure stuff is pretty much a plot device to keep the characters apart, as well as to create tension. Same with Naru taking so long to get back to him in later chapters, if they did and got together, then the series is pretty much over (hell, how many series do we see go on after the two main characters finally get together?).

One also have to keep in mind that the overdone slapstick violence is done for an audience that enjoys this type of comedy (to keep in mind that this is a japanese series done for japanese people, I doubt KA or other manga authors think about how fans in other countries will react) and don't do the overanalyzing that we all tend to do. I think in a similar argument I quoted Dan Okimoto (author of American In Disguise) who was born in America and had went to Japan (this being in the later 60s/70s), and there was this bit in the book where he went to a theater to watch a movie. The movie had an overdone violent slapstick element that he did not find humorous at all yet to his surprise and confusion the japanese audience were rolling in the aisles, clearly enjoying the show. Sound familiar?

Oh, and rereading your comments, I have to say that in a strange way, I agree Naru's problem isn't men, but Keitaro.

Heh, if one wants to apply real world views on Naru then we can do somewhat the same with Keitaro. I somehow think that if we were to be put in a position where any of us with female relatives were to live there and then we're to find out how this idiot manages to continue to end up in positions where he "accidently" gropes or manages to "accidently" pull off clothing of one of the tenants or somehow "forgets" to knock on the doors to the hot springs to double check if anyone's using it that we would pull this guy aside and have a "talk" with him.

What's also frustrating is that these main character types just don't get it. Get it in the sense that if they were to wise up and act a bit better or thought things through they would have what they want and have the others fighting over him.

This is very apparent in Love Hina chapter 55 where Keitaro is so focused on studying he manages to avoid all the problems he normally would be in, confusing the tenants and leading them to believe he had changed (for the better). Hell, Naru who was going to knock his block off for thinking he was staring down her shirt stopped herself from doing so. Stopped. Stopped when she realize that he wasn't doing that and got to a point where she was trying to show him skin. And look at the chain reaction that set off.
All of them were out to get his attention before the end when he went back to 'normal'.

I myself am not a fan of most canon pairings. Though unlike in some series, preferring the alternative does not equal hate of the main. Naru (and in Ranma, Akane) are different simply given the personality behind the fist.

::shrugs:: I'm someone who likes and tends to prefer canon pairings(Naru/Keitaro, Ranma/Akane), but don't mind alternates as long as it's well done. I hate how some authors go to such lengths to write in how awful that character is that it just ruins the whole story and much of the time that the character barely resembles how they are in the manga/anime.

 

[SimmyC]

he bitchy insecure stuff is pretty much a plot device to keep the characters apart, as well as to create tension. Same with Naru taking so long to get back to him in later chapters, if they did and got together, then the series is pretty much over (hell, how many series do we see go on after the two main characters finally get together?).

True. Hell, there is a lot of Love Hina that, if you change one little thing, it wouldn't take 14 volumes to get to the end. Like the bitchy insecure stuff. But is that supposed to make me like the character/s? Being a plot device, is one thing. Being something that would make me sympathize, care, or relate to a character is another. In this case, I couldn't with Naru.

::shrugs:: I'm someone who likes and tends to prefer canon pairings(Naru/Keitaro, Ranma/Akane), but don't mind alternates as long as it's well done. I hate how some authors go to such lengths to write in how awful that character is that it just ruins the whole story and much of the time that the character barely resembles how they are in the manga/anime.

Well this goes into another realm of discussion... bashing. We've had this discussion before on TFF I believe (as well as the topic of Naru. Sometimes going hand in hand actually). I mean, it's one thing not liking a certain character. It's another thing raping that character's characterization just for the sake that you can... and well, just for the sake that you HAET. As I have said before, I like alternate pairings. But I don't care if the alternate pairing you had in mind is one I liked. If you make someone (like Naru) into something he/she was never in the manga/anime/TV show/movie/comic/etc. then I wouldn't give that fic a second chance.

Characterization is important to me. Doesn't matter if you like or hate that character, if the characterization is just 'wrong', how am I supposed to relate this back to the original source material?

Especially if you want others to see where you're getting at. I mean, what would be more effective? Showing why Keitaro and Naru are not meant to be together... while keeping both in character? Or... making Naru into some uber bitch with tenticles? I rest my case.