User:Dandy Sephy/Naru Narusegawa

Creation and development
Despite being the lead female character in the series, Naru's name and character design were changed many times. Six months before the series entered serialization, Naru was called "Midori' and she was supposed to fall through a hole in the floor naked, bump her head on Keitaro and lose her memory. The main character was to give her a name and then fall in love with her. Midori was clumsy and a Philanthropist. Midori had a hairstyle based on a unnamed female personality, and her eyes were changed a number of times to fit her personality between designs. A "hair antenna" was later added prior to Naru's finished design, and Naru's name was changed many times before the author settled on Naru Narusegawa.

Much of Naru's look and physical nature were inspired by Akamatsu's previous work A.I. Love You as well as personal and physical traits he enjoys. In addition to Naru's length and style of hair being very similar to Saati Namba's from A.I. Love You, Akamatsu has admitted to thinking of Naru when redrawing Saati and pointed out that by covering Saati's eyebrows on some drawings of Saati you can see the likeness between the two designs. Her eye color is IC Screen No.51. At the close of the series, Akamatsu apologized to the character for always drawing her naked in some scenes, however he had previously stated that he couldn't help it because she was the main female character.

Voice actors
In the Japanese version of the anime, Naru was voiced by Yui Horie, who also performed many songs for the series. Several image songs were recorded and released on CD along with songs from other cast members. The Daily Weather (毎日がお天気) was released on April 26, 2000 as part of I Love Hina, and was followed by Promise (約束) on June 26, 2000 as part of Love Hina 1, Happy Happy Rice-Shower! on July 26, 2000 as part of Love Hina 2 and Ramune Iro no Yatsu on August 23, 2000 as part of Love Hina 3. Mainichi ga O-tenki was later performed in-character by Naru within the TV series along with To the Future with a Smile (笑顔の未来へ), and Yakusoku was used in the background during a scene in episode 23. Horie also participated in Cherry Blossoms Blooming -Musical Version- (サクラサク -Musical version-), which was performed with Yuji Ueda and Satsuki Yukino.

Horie later performed the opening and ending themes for Love Hina Again. The opening theme was Glittering Treasure (キラリ☆宝物) and the ending theme was Be for Me, Be for You. A solo version was used for the first episode, and a duet with Yuji Ueda was used for the third episode..

Yakusoku (as Yakusoku: Eternal Promise) and Happy Happy Rice Shower! (as Happy Happy Rice Shower! -type yui-) were later used on Horie's debut solo album Mizutamari ni Utsuru Sekai.

Naru's English voice actor is Dorothy Elias-Fahn.

Appearance and personality
Although Naru frequently physically attacks Keitaro for "peeping" or misunderstandings, she rarely holds it against him in the long term unless it is during an heated argument. On a rare occasion when Keitaro fully concentrates on his studies and doesn't cause any misunderstandings or accidently peep on Naru, she begins to miss his old tendancys and even tries to cause Keitaro to peep on her. When this fails she begins to question her own appearance and Keitaro's interest in her.

Naru's physical attacks on Keitaro come from her short fiery temper, however Naru very rarely shows this side of herself outside of retaliating for something Keitaro has done or occasionally said. She can also become fiercely jealous if Keitaro receives the attention of another girl. When Mutsumi asks Keitaro on a date, Naru secretly follows them. In contrast to this, Naru's relationships with the other residents of Hinata Inn are much more consistent. She is kind, friendly, supportive of others and sensitive to their problems. Because of this, the other residents of Hinata Inn see her as a role model and try to adapt elements of Naru into their own personality.

Plot overview
At the start of the story, Naru is a 17 year old student living at the all girls dorm, Hinata Inn, while studying for the Tokyo University entrance exams. She began living at the Inn when she was in Junior High. Naru's parents were worried about her grades and so they hired Seta Noriyasu, a Tokyo University student, as a private tutor. Naru developed a crush on Seta, but Seta left to go overseas. During the next two years Naru avoided all social and extracurricular activities, and had no boyfriend in order to concentrate on her studying. She became short sighted and has to weak 'coke bottle' glasses for studying and going out. Due to her intense studying she becomes the Number One prep school student in the nation, however, she fails the Tokyo University entrance exam at the first attempt

When Keitaro Urashima arrives at Hinata Inn, Naru becomes angry with him immediately as she thinks he is a pervert. As she spends time with Keitaro and then begins to study with him, she becomes less angry towards him and the two grow closer over time. However this is often punctuated by Keitaro accidentally seeing her in various states of undress, or the pair arguing. Naru's room is directly above Keitaro's, with a hole in the floor only covered by a small piece of wood that allows the two of them to communicate quickly and easily. However, this easy access is the cause of many misunderstandings between the two.

A Liddo-kun doll usually sits on the wood covering the hole in the floor between the two rooms. The doll was given to Naru by Keitaro when she was two years old. It was originally owned by Mutsumi but she lent it to Keitaro to give to Naru. The doll is the source of confusion over the identity of Keitaros promise girl. Originally Naru doesn't remember how she obtained it, but she later discovers Mutsumi's name written on it, and jumps to the conclusion that Mutsumi is the promise girl. This is compounded by the discovery of a photo of Naru as a child showing Mutsumi and Keitaro playing together in the background. After Naru and Keitaro assume Mutsumi is the promise girl, Mutsumi corrects them, stating that she made her promise with a girl. After a period of uncertainty over the identity of the promise girl, it is eventually revealed that Naru was the girl who made the promise with Keitaro.

Several years later, Naru and Keitaro marry in a ceremony at Hinata Inn, fullfilling their childhood promise to each other.