To Love Ru Manga Reading Order for Beginners

To Love Ru Manga Reading Order: Start Here

Here’s the full version: read the original To Love Ru first, then read To Love Ru Darkness. That’s it. No complicated branching paths, no interleaving, no alternate timelines. Just two series read back to back in the order they were originally released in Japan.

The original To Love Ru (To LOVEる) is a completed manga written by Saki Hasemi with art by Kentaro Yabuki. It ran in Weekly Shonen Jump — a popular Japanese manga anthology magazine where many well-known series get their start — from 2006 to 2009 and spans 18 Japanese volumes across 162 chapters. In manga, individual chapters are short installments (similar to episodes of a TV show), and volumes are collected editions that bundle multiple chapters into a single book. The story kicks off when an alien princess named Lala crash-lands into the life of ordinary high schooler Rito Yuuki, and from there the harem comedy snowballs as more and more girls enter the picture. “Harem” in manga terms means a story where one central character is surrounded by multiple romantic interests — it’s a genre, not just a plot device, and To Love Ru is one of the most well-known examples.

To Love Ru Darkness is the direct sequel. It picks up right where the original left off, continuing Rito’s increasingly chaotic romantic life with a larger cast and higher stakes. Skipping the original and jumping straight into Darkness means missing every character introduction, every relationship foundation, and all the context that makes the sequel’s payoffs land. You’d be walking into the middle of a conversation.

Between the two series, the full To Love Ru franchise in English adds up to nine omnibus books for the original series plus the Darkness volumes — so you’re looking at a sizable but clearly defined collection with a definite beginning and end.

For English-language readers, the most accessible way to collect the original series is through the Ghost Ship (Seven Seas Entertainment) 2-in-1 omnibus edition — nine physical books that cover all 18 Japanese volumes. An omnibus, if you haven’t encountered the term before, is a single book that collects what were originally multiple separate volumes into one binding. More on the specifics in the next section.

Every English Edition Compared

When it comes to reading To Love Ru in English, you have one main option that’s widely available, and it’s a good one.

The Ghost Ship 2-in-1 omnibus is the current standard English edition of the original To Love Ru. Ghost Ship is Seven Seas Entertainment’s mature-content label — a sub-brand that publishes titles with content geared toward older readers. They released the entire series as nine omnibus volumes, each combining two Japanese volumes into a single book. So the English “Vol. 1-2” contains the equivalent of Japanese volumes 1 and 2, “Vol. 3-4” covers Japanese volumes 3 and 4, and so on through “Vol. 17-18” which wraps up the series.

This is the edition you’ll find on shelves and at major retailers. It’s complete, it’s in print, and the 2-in-1 format means fewer books to buy and store. Each omnibus typically carries a retail price in line with other 2-in-1 manga releases on the market, so nine books to complete the original series is a manageable commitment compared to tracking down 18 individual volumes.

Digital editions are also available through platforms like BookWalker, Kindle, and Kobo, which is worth checking if you prefer reading on a tablet or phone. Digital versions let you start reading immediately and don’t take up shelf space.

One important note: the Darkness sequel has its own separate English release. The Darkness English editions are also published by Ghost Ship under the same 2-in-1 omnibus format. The volume numbering resets for Darkness, so don’t accidentally order a Darkness volume thinking it’s part of the original series. They’re distinct products with distinct numbering — look for “Darkness” in the title to tell them apart.

Older single-volume English prints of To Love Ru from previous publishers may surface in used bookstores or secondhand markets. Different companies sometimes hold the English-language rights to a manga at different times, which is why older editions from other publishers exist. These can be hard to track down and may not cover the full series. For most people, the omnibus is the way to go.

Which Edition Should You Choose?

For the vast majority of readers, the 2-in-1 omnibus is the clear pick. It’s the complete series in a format that’s currently available, straightforward to collect in order, and you only need nine books on your shelf to have the whole original story.

If you’re the type who prefers the feel of standard single volumes, you might get lucky finding older prints, but you’d likely end up with an incomplete set. The omnibus removes that hassle entirely.

Complete Reading Order Mapped to the Omnibus Edition

Here’s your full reading path laid out step by step. No tricks, no conditional branches — just read in this order from top to bottom.

Step 1: To Love Ru (Original Series)

Read all nine omnibus volumes in order:

• To Love Ru Vol. 1-2
• To Love Ru Vol. 3-4
• To Love Ru Vol. 5-6
• To Love Ru Vol. 7-8
• To Love Ru Vol. 9-10
• To Love Ru Vol. 11-12
• To Love Ru Vol. 13-14
• To Love Ru Vol. 15-16
• To Love Ru Vol. 17-18

That covers all 18 Japanese volumes and 162 chapters of the original series. Start with Vol. 1-2 and read straight through. Side chapters, bonus pages, and extra content are included within the volumes they were originally bundled with, so you won’t miss anything by simply reading each book cover to cover.

Step 2: To Love Ru Darkness (Sequel Series)

Once you’ve finished the original series through Vol. 17-18, move directly into To Love Ru Darkness. Start at the beginning of Darkness and read through in volume order — same straightforward approach. The Darkness English editions are published by Ghost Ship as individual single volumes — unlike the original series, Darkness does not use the 2-in-1 omnibus format.

That’s the complete To Love Ru Darkness reading order and the original series combined. No interleaving between the two series is needed. You don’t need to alternate chapters or pause one series to read part of another. Each series flows naturally in its own volume order, and the transition from the end of the original into the start of Darkness is seamless.

Step	Series	Format	Volumes
1	To Love Ru	Ghost Ship 2-in-1 Omnibus	9 books (covering 18 JP volumes)
2	To Love Ru Darkness	Ghost Ship Single Volumes	Read in volume order

Where the Anime Fits In

If you came to To Love Ru through the anime, you’re in good company — the anime is a lot of fun and a perfectly valid way to discover the franchise. That said, the anime rearranges material, skips some content, and takes its own liberties with pacing. If you want the complete romance storyline without structural cuts, reading the manga gives you the most thorough version of the story.

Here’s what you should know:

• The earlier anime seasons draw from the original manga, but they don’t follow it chapter-by-chapter. Episodes shuffle events around, and some manga content doesn’t make it into the adaptation at all.
• The Darkness anime seasons correspond to the Darkness manga, not the original series. So if you’ve only watched the Darkness anime and want to read the manga, you still need to go back and read the original To Love Ru manga first to get the full foundation.
• You can enjoy the anime alongside or after the manga without confusion, as long as you follow the manga reading order above. Think of the anime as a companion experience rather than a replacement — it covers a lot of the same ground but with different emphasis and some gaps.

If you’re anime-first and came here because you want the full story, the reading order above gives you everything the anime adapted plus everything it left out. You’ll recognize familiar scenes and also discover plenty of material that never made it to the screen.

Tips for New Readers

A few things worth knowing before you pick up volume one:

Romance develops gradually. Rito’s relationships with Lala, Haruna, and the growing cast don’t resolve quickly. The original series takes its time establishing characters and dynamics, building the harem piece by piece. This slow, steady development is part of the charm — you get to know each character before the story adds the next complication.

Many fans consider Darkness the stronger half of the franchise. Darkness tends to be more plot-driven with deeper character focus and higher emotional stakes. If you find the early volumes of the original a bit lightweight, know that the story does evolve significantly once you reach the sequel. The original series lays the groundwork that Darkness builds on, so the investment pays off.

Know what you’re getting into. To Love Ru is an ecchi harem comedy. “Ecchi” is a manga and anime term for content that’s suggestive or sexually themed — think revealing outfits, comedic nudity, and risqué situations played for laughs. Fan service, meaning content included primarily for audience enjoyment rather than plot advancement, is a core part of the experience. It’s baked into the humor, the character dynamics, and Kentaro Yabuki’s art style. If you’re comfortable with that, you’ll have a great time.

No prerequisite reading or viewing needed. You don’t need to have seen the anime, read any related series, or have any prior manga experience. To Love Ru Vol. 1-2 is genuinely the starting line — Lala shows up, the chaos begins, and you’re off. One quick note if this is your very first manga: physical manga volumes are read right-to-left, meaning you start at what would be the “back” of a Western book and read panels from right to left across each page. It feels natural within a few pages.

Start Reading Today

Here’s the recommended path one more time, nice and clean:

1. Grab the Ghost Ship 2-in-1 omnibus of To Love Ru starting with Vol. 1-2 and read through all nine omnibus books up to Vol. 17-18.
2. Move to To Love Ru Darkness and read through the sequel from the beginning in volume order.

The original series is complete at 18 volumes with no waiting for new releases — you can read the whole thing at your own pace without worrying about an ongoing release schedule. This order takes you through the full romance arc from Lala’s arrival and Rito’s initial awkwardness, through the expanding harem dynamics, and into the deeper storylines that carry through Darkness.

Whether you’re coming from the anime, heard about the series from a friend, or just stumbled across it while looking for a fun harem comedy to read, this reading order has you covered. Volume 1-2 is where it all starts — everything else follows naturally from there.