Any self-respecting anime fan has had to have seen at least one harem anime; you know, one guy, many girls.
Ai Yori Aoshi is just the type, although the first few episodes might not hint at it. With the backdrop of a touching engagement - rooted in childhood friendship, Aoi Sakuruba and Kaoru Hanabishi seem like the perfect couple (although it takes them some time to find out who they are). It looks like all is well, but there are some catches....and catches are everything in this wacky series.
First comes the family... and while Kaoru is somewhat of an orphan (he leaves the Hanabishi clan after his dad dies and his mom is exiled; pursuing a lonely life in college) Aoi certainly is not - coming from a wealthy family with a dynasty in kimono productions. With a family full of reputation, their social standing is their top concern. They send Miyabi, Aoi's childhood teacher (a strict woman of fine tastes; constantly busy with a sweet side to her tough exterior) to watch over the two in their escapades. On top of this, there is Tina, the wild, rowdy American (you know, not all Americans are like this... just alot of them) and Taeko, the clumsy, big-breasted maid (who doubles as a classmate of Kaoru and Tina). Later on, Mayu (one of the brattiest, most annoying
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characters I've encountered in an anime), the rich heiress, joins the cast, as well as Chika, a lovable little kid who galvanizes the other characters feelings for Kaoru to come out. However, there's another catch; minus Miyabi, they are all madly in love with Kaoru. Even the pet ferret, Uzume, seems to take a liking.
And so the chaos ensues, with crazy adventures, touching scenes, and all-out war between Tina and Mayu; the two sworn enemies who constantly battle over Kaoru, while Aoi sits quietly on the sidelines. Because of the family's reputation, no one can know of Aoi's engagement to a non-aristocrat, and so everyone else fights over Kaoru, oblivious to the truth (which is kind of aggravating; knowing none of them will get anywhere).
Ai Yori Aoshi is the type of anime you watch for fun and laughs; don't expect anything deep and meaningful. The heavily emotional scenes are rarely scattered about and brought out at the most arbitrary times, so that after you shed a tear (if you're that kind of person), you'll be plunged back into laughing. If you've seen Love Hina, or Onegai Teacher, or Tenchi, or Maburaho, or Nadesico, or even Vandread; you'll know exactly what I'm talking about (albeit, many of those are more emotional, and all around better). Fraught with filler episodes galore (about 4/5ths of the series consists of filler episodes...I mean most series have a hot springs episode, but 3 of them!?) and many somewhat loud, repetetive arguments, Ai Yori Aoshi isn't quite the best anime ever, but it's pretty damn good nevertheless.
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It does compensate with humor, premise, and characters though...the sheer annoyingness of Mayu, Tina, and occasionally Chika is balanced by the mildness of Aoi (a great character I think, however her obsession with Kaoru is a little odd, and her confidence needs work), the hilarious strictness of Miyabi, and the laugh-out-loud antics of Taeko. The basis for all of the conflicts however, is the fact that Kaoru is such a damn pushover; in all honesty, he can't seem to turn anyone down. He's too damn nice!
In aesthetics, the series is great; smooth animation, beautiful settings, great character designs, and vibrant colors. The music is great, and the opening/closings songs are excellent as well. But aesthetics aren't what one should be looking at when determining whether they want to see an anime. However, this is a romance comedy, meaning there is guaranteed fanservice! Yes, fanservice is easily one of the highlights of the series. |
Whether it is the cute Aoi in her kimono, or Taeko posing in her various cosplay outfits (and boy are her breasts huge). The ecchi-factor (ecchi= derived from the word "Hentai" which is more or less a animated, cartoonic soft-porno, but ecchi is significantly less explicit, red.) in Ai Yori Aoshi, is pretty damn high, and pretty damn great.
Overall, I guess I'd give Ai Yori Aoshi a solid B+. It's entertaining, but has its flaws. I do recommend you see it though. The ending really doesn't resolve anything, so they've now created AYA: Enishi (it's basically 13 pure filler episodes; very entertaining, but they go nowhere, very fast), whose ending probably opens up even more...although I'm not quite sure whether it will be extended or not (hopefully). This is the world of Ai Yori Aoshi, in a nutshell.
~Xenogears
| Additional info |
| Number of episodes | : | 24 |
| Studio | : | J.C. Staff |
Director | : | Shimoda Masami |
| Author | : | Fumizuki Kou |
| Script | : | Kanemaki Ken'ichi, Kubota Masashi, Takayama Katsuhiko |
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