To Love-Ru: Darkness Merchandise

An ecchi romantic comedy series created by author Saki Hasemi and illustrator Kentaro Yabuki, To Love-Ru Darkness is the sequel to To Love-Ru. The story picks up where the last series left off: following 16-year-old high schooler Rito Yuki and his endless love troubles with aliens Lala, Momo, Nana, and Yami while trying pursue his interest in crush Haruna Sairenji. Yuki’s clumsiness (and Lala’s constantly defective but hilarious inventions) often get him into all kinds of compromising situations with the girls, and things are complicated even further with the arrival of a mysterious new girl who reveals herself as Yami’s little sister. All the while Momo continues to plot and scheme to make her Harem Plan for Rito a reality.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in Jump Square in October 2010 and 16 volumes have been printed as of July 2016. The series has also seen several anime directed and written by Atsushi Ootsuki with music by Takeshi Watanabe and production by Xebec. The first six OVA episodes of To Love-Ru Darkness were included in special editions of the manga between Aug. 17, 2012 and April 3, 2015. This was followed by the first season of the TV anime which spanned 12 episodes and ran from Oct. 6 to Dec. 27, 2012. The opening theme of the anime was "Rakuen Project" by Ray and the ending theme was “Foul Play ni Kurari” by Kanon Wakeshima. The second season of the anime, To Love-Ru Darkness 2nd, spanned 14 episodes and aired on BS11, Tokyo MX, Sun TV, and AT-X between July 6 and Oct. 28, 2015. The opening theme was "Secret Arms" by Ray while the ending theme was "Gardens" by Mami Kawada. The OVA episodes for the second season of the anime are being released between Jan. 4 and Dec. 2, 2016. The series has also seen the release of three games: To Love-Ru Trouble Darkness: Battle Ecstasy released on the PS Vita on May 22, 2014; the smartphone game To Love-Ru Darkness: Idol Revolution released on March 19, 2014; and the PS Vita game To Love-Ru Trouble Darkness: True Princess released on Nov. 5, 2015. There have also been several art books created for Darkness including Juicy, To Love-Ru Darkness: Artworks -Venus, and Harem Gold.

Rito Yuki
The protagonist of the series. A 16-year-old high schooler, Yuki has an altruistic nature and is willing to help out almost anyone in need. He is especially kind and considerate toward females, which is ironic since he always seems to find himself in compromising situations with them due to his shyness, clumsiness, and infamous skill at accidentally groping any girl within reach whenever he falls. This skill is honed 10 fold in Darkness, with Yuki eventually getting diagnosed with Cataplectic Indecency Syndrome by Dr. Mikado.

Lala Satalin Deviluke
Lala is the first princess of Deviluke whose family rules the galaxy. She has an eccentric, playful personality and no notion of modesty, feeling perfectly comfortable walking around Rito’s house nude. Since first appearing in Rito’s Bathtub, Lala’s and Rito’s friendship has grown, and though she constantly tries to get him to confess to Haruna as well so the three of them can get married, she learns through help from Momo to show her love for him in less clingy ways.

Although she can appear airheaded at times, Lala’s intelligence and creativity gives her a penchant for creating inventions, many of which go off at the most inopportune times for Rito, leaving him stranded naked (Pyon Pyon Warp-kun), in another person’s body (Round Round Change-Kun Revised Beta Edition), changed into an animal (Animal Change-Kun), or stuck together with Yami (Clingy Clingy Glue-kun). There’s also Boobie-Boobie Up-Kun, which is used by Nana to make her boobs bigger while making Momo’s smaller, Bye-Bye Memory-Kun, Skip-Skip Warp-Kun, and Wind-Wind Rope-Kun 2 to name but a few others.

Though the main heroine in To Love-Ru, in To Love-Ru Darkness Lala becomes a supporting character with the major focus switching to Momo and Yami.

Nana Astra Deviluke
Nana has a tomboyish personality and can be short-tempered and impatient, although underneath this behavior she is actually kind, caring, and helpful. She dislikes anything lewd and often calls Rito a beast for his raunchiness, which is ironically always unintentional. She cherishes friendship and in To Love-Ru Darkness she befriends new character Mea, teaching her how to open up and enjoy life. After feeling betrayed by Mea, Rito encourages her to talk it out, mending their friendship and making her feelings for Rito grow. She also has a special connection to animals and is able to communicate with them. She is an expert on animal biodiversity throughout the galaxy and is able to maintain in ecosystem in her cyber safari where her different pets, which she can summon with her D-Dial, can all co-exist together.

Momo Belia Deviluke
Momo appears to be sweet, innocent, and kindhearted, but hides a perverted side she only shows to Rito, whom she lusts after on her quest to complete her Harem Plan. She often sneaks into Rito’s bed at night to sleep with him, often to Mikan’s chagrin when she finds them in the morning. She also has a yandere side, acting upset whenever Nana takes credit for something she did, and becomes very protective over Rito, even threatening other characters with violence if they attempt to harm him (i.e. Mea).

She is also an expert xenobotanist and horticulturalist can communicate with plant life and understands the biology and chemistry of most plants in the galaxy as well as the abilities and effects of their spores and pollens. Using her D-Dial she can access any plants from her interplanetary garden at any time to use their abilities for various purposes, including combat.

Yami
Yami aka Golden Darkness is a lone assassin originally hired to kill Rito, but who ends up developing feelings for him as she spends time on Earth. She has a close relationship with Rito’s younger sister, Mikan, and in Darkness, being convinced by Mikan, she starts attending school with the Lala, Momo, Nana, Rito, and the others. Though she no longer wants to kill Rito, she still lays down the occasional beating whenever he does something ecchi. She possesses a destructive weapon called Darkness, which Nemesis wants unleash.

Mea Kurosaki
A mysterious first-year student who appears in chapter 1 of Darkness, Mea is a transformation weapon like Yami and thinks of herself as Yami’s little sister. She is tasked by her master Nemesis to convince Yami to kill Rito and return to her life as an assassin. She soon becomes friends with Nana while keeping her true identity a secret. She possesses a special ability called Psycho Dive which lets her control another person’s body and share in their deepest thoughts and feelings.

Nemesis
Nemesis is the primary antagonist in Darkness and is Mea’s master. She normally appears as a young girl with tan skin and black hair but can change her appearance at will. She is a transformation weapon like Yami and Mea created from Project Nemesis, a failed weapons project which she survives. She has the unique ability of Trans-fusion which allows her to fuse her body with that of another person, which she uses on Rito after being fatally injured in her fight with Gid Lucion Deviluke.