Product Details

• Actors: Tony Pope, Karen Strassman, Sôichiro Hoshi, Ayako Kawasumi, Akiko Hiramatsu
• Directors: Akira Tsuchiya, Daisuke Shimoda, Mitsutaka Noshitani
• Writers: Katsuhiko Takayama
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
• DVD Release Date: April 22, 2003
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008DDG1
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,304 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 2: My Dearest (Episodes 6-10)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The cast expands as Taeko, a girl from Kaoru's university, joins the odd ménage at the Sakuraba family mansion and Tina, the loudmouth American, buys a pet ferret. Although Taeko is supposed to become the housekeeper, she breaks, spills, burns, and otherwise destroys everything she touches. Aoi--the heiress to zillions--cheerfully cooks for everyone and cleans the enormous mansion by herself. The relationship between Kaoru and Aoi slowly blossoms, but the scenes of them shyly holding hands and exchanging confidences don't jibe with the often gross humor that includes fan service shots of lingerie and jiggling breasts. Another romantic comedy involving mismatched (mostly female) roommates, Ai Yori Aoshi is clearly aimed at Love Hina fans. But Kaoru is so bland, he makes Keitaro look dynamic, and Aoi lacks Naru's rambunctious appeal. (Rated 13 and older: nudity, risqué humor, alcohol use, comic violence) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Love Hina Type Fans, May 12, 2003

By 

Courtland J. Carpenter (Fort Wayne, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 2: My Dearest (Episodes 6-10) (DVD)

This Series which had an excellent first few episodes degrades quickly to traditional lite anime plot devices. The pet, the clumsy person, the letchers, the ghost stories, etc. There are still occasional moments of a growing love relationship between the two principal characters, and that makes it fair. Unfortunately the original promise of the series does not reappear until near the of its 26 episode run. Fans of the romantic genre should wait for upcoming release of Maison Ikkoku.
If you have to buy everything romantic thats out there ok, but remember this is simply light fan fair for most of the remaining episodes. You get the obligatory crushes, beach episodes, and road trips. If you skip to the last DVD in the series after buying the first and just get those two you really won't miss much in between.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Series!, April 24, 2003

By 

GAIL BRANDT (Baton Rouge,LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 2: My Dearest (Episodes 6-10) (DVD)

At first many people who look at it may say it looks like another Love Hina,which I also collect,but let me tell you it isn't really.The characters are great.The stories are more original.In some ways it is much better than Love Hina.I fully recommend this series to any anime fans who love romance animes.Believe me you won't be sorry.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aoi Sakuraba and friends, just like a real family, August 2, 2005

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ai Yori Aoshi, Volume 2: My Dearest (Episodes 6-10) (DVD)

The second volume of the Ai Yori Aoshi anime corresponds roughly with most of the second manga, but without the story of the photo club having a traditional tea house for the college fest-that's put off until the fourth DVD! And only a few stories from the third manga are incorporated here. Story so far: Kaoru and Tina are tenants in a Western-style mansion, with lovely Aoi Sakuraba as the landlord and strict Miyabi-san as manager. Kaoru and Aoi must keep their engagement and relationship secret to avoid a scandal.

Taeko joins the group proper when after being fired as a live-in housekeeper, finds herself without a job or place to live. Kaoru and Tina want to help, and Aoi wants to hire her. However, her clumsiness sorely tests the patience of Miyabi-san. Aoi though sees that Taeko tries very hard, and because of her clumsiness, she has to give it her all just to give average results. Taeko also has no sense of direction, as seen when the photo club members and Aoi go on a hot springs trip, and tops herself by accidentally booking everyone for reservations for the next year. What to do? Tina, Suzuki, and Sato are clearly the party animals, as they pig out on food to the bewilderment of the more modest Kaoru and Aoi. In one scene, Tina is putting away both sake and beer, so that before long, a wall of bottles appear in front of her. The difference is that in the manga, Taeko is employed AFTER the hot springs trip and not before per here.

"A beautiful atmosphere is needed for inner peace," says Miyabi as she polishes the grandfather clock. However, when Tina brings home a cute and cuddly ferret, Miyabi-san gets anything but inner peace, as the animal is a bit mischievous. When the ferret steals Miyabi's fountain pen, Miyabi loses her temper and chases the animal around. An exterior shot of the mansion is overlaid with sounds of crashing and screaming, including "it's [whizzing] over here!" A devastating scene of destruction is then seen. In the manga, Miyabi's freaking out over the ferret having a bug and the naming of the ferret was in the special episode in Volume 5. They have combined elements of the ferret's introduction in manga vol. 3 and naming in the same story here. But despite her apparent strictness, Miyabi-san does have her soft side.

Aoi and Miyabi then leave for a memorial service, while Taeko plays train conductor for a photo shoot for Suzuki and Sato, leaving Kaoru and Tina alone in the mansion. Here, we see how Tina has a crush on Kaoru, but is unable to express herself. However, she fills us in on how Kaoru was before meeting Aoi and shows a keen admiration for Aoi. From her POV, Kaoru looked rather lonely, not wanting to let anyone inside his heart, and that was why Tina invited him to join the photo club. "The landlord and manager put your heart at ease. They don't look at me funny `cause I'm American, and when I'm in trouble, they actually worry about me. It's just like a real family. Miss Landlady's really nice and can do any household chore. That's you'd call a traditional Japanese beauty. I wanted to be born Japanese just like Miss Landlady. If I had been..."

Aoi is interested in Kaoru's fun stories of his time at college, and impulsively gets the opportunity to visit Meiritsu College, just to share some taiyaki with him, the reason being that the mythically delicious taiyaki is from a shop that shows up in random places. However, her traditional clothing draws stares from the more modern-dressed students, who think she's an actress or model, causing the poor girl bewilderment. There's a cute scene when she flops down on Kaoru's bedding. She grows a pair of cat ears and wagging tail!

With the addition of Taeko and Uzume the ferret, the tableau is missing two more characters, one of whom debuts on the next disc. However, the lineup so far is, just as Tina mentioned, just like a real family.