Ken Akamatsu, the manga author, appeared in episode 14 of the TV series and in both the Christmas and Spring specials as a plot device and for comic relief. He is referred to in the movies as "Akamatsu-sensei". He is referenced in episode 14, where everyone in the Hinata Inn has to work for 10,000 yen. Keitaro works for him as a manga inker, but eventually leaves, and becomes broke, forcing Keitaro to return to Akamatsu. In the Christmas Special, he helps Kitsune and Shinobu with their financial problems by making them sell his books. In the Spring Special, he is forced to take Motoko, Mutsumi, and Kitsune on his yacht (and when he was about to go on vacation too!).   In connection with Ken Akamatsu, characters from his A.I. Love You manga make the most minimal cameo appearance in the Love Hina anime. A picture of Saati and Hitoshi is shown on the side of Akamatsu's yacht in the Spring Special. Also, the manga Keitaro is inking in episode 14 is A.I. Love You, as it has a very distinct picture of Toni. Also, the books that Kitsune and Shinobu sell in the Christmas Special are A.I. Love You.   Keitaro and Ken Akamatsu look very similar, especially when drawn in chibi form.   (Source: Wikipedia) 

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Ken Akamatsu is a Japanese mangaka from Tokyo.   

In his teenage years, Akamatsu failed the entrance exam to Tokyo University, and applied for Film Study instead (it is speculated that this is where he got the idea for Love Hina). Eventually, he became famous as an illustrator featured in Comiket (short for Comic Market, a comic convention bi-annually held in Japan). He used the pen name Awa Mizuno (水野亜和). Akamatsu, still in college, then proceeded to win the Weekly Shonen Magazine award twice. His "A Kid's Game for One Summer" was awarded the coveted 50th Shonen Magazine Newcomer's Award soon after he graduated.    

After a big hit with A.I. Love You, he finally made a grand success with his new manga, Love Hina. The series appeared in Weekly Shonen Magazine and has been collected in eleven volumes (with fourteen volumes in total), which have sold over 6 million copies in Japan, and received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen in 2001.  Akamatsu had added elements of his own life experiences to the story, and this was said to have induced a unique feeling to the manga especially for Western readers, whose lack of familiarity with Japanese culture for the most part added to the effect. The series, published in America in 2002, was especially well received in many overseas countries - Akamatsu was surprised that even foreign readers found Love Hina to be "cute" and to their liking.    

He is now married to his wife 'Kanon' Akamatsu, who was previously a singer/idol.

Since 2022, he has held a seat in the House of Councillors proportional representation block of the National Diet.

Ken Akamatsu

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