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.

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 on forever.

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]

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]

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: 2nd Darkness (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: 2nd Darkness on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on November 1, 2016.[33][34] Three OVA episodes of To Love Ru: 2nd Darkness 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]

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]