12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bluer than Indigo indeed-my favourite manga series, June 4, 2005
This review is from: Ai Yori Aoshi, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
Kou Fumizuki's manga series Ai Yori Aoshi has so far published nine of the (I believe) fifteen volumes here in the US. Each manga is divided into ten or so chapters of roughly twenty pages each. It has also spawned 25 half hour anime episodes and a second season of 12, the Enishi series. AYA is a romantic drama/comedy based on the reunion of Aoi Sakuraba and Kaoru Hanabishi, who were betrothed to each other eighteen years ago, when they were both little tykes. They played with each other and Kaoru was very kind to Aoi.
However, Aoi, now in her twenties, goes out in search of Kaoru when she discovers their engagement is off, and to find out why. Aoi, dressed in a traditional kimono amid the Western-clothed populace, She is quite bewildered at the Tokyo train station system, as it is her first time out alone and the lack of kindness in the busy metropolis. A young man helps her find the right direction train platform and even mends her hanao, the strap on her sandal. Guess who it happens to be?
To Aoi, Kaoru is the best thing that has happened to her. "When I think of him, I am truly grateful that I was born in this world," she tells him before she realizes who he is. But with her reappearance, Aoi is the best thing that has happened to Kaoru, as she cooks the best meal he's had in ages, and her habit of clutching things when she sleeps includes Kaoru, who gets flustered. She is also overly polite, cute, kind, and later, as it turns out, overly trusting, but quite a worrier. In fact she initially thought Kaoru left the Hanabishis because he hated her.
As for Kaoru, a college student, he had a rough time with the Hanabishis, his adopted family, who owns one of Japan's keiretsus (conglomerates) and after suffering years of abuse from the patriarch of the Hanabishi, severed ties with them to live alone. He even initially distrusts Aoi, thinking the Hanabishi sent her over as a lure to bring him back,
A brief separation occurs when Miyabi Kagurazaki, the tall stern businesswoman in charge of Aoi's education, comes to take her back, but in the end, Aoi and Kaoru are left to start their new life together, but under Miyabi's care. The series will introduce Kaoru's fellow student, the American Tina Foster, Taeko Minazuki, another student who becomes housekeeper to them, the spoiled rich kid Mayu, whom Kaoru befriended a few years back and who now has an insufferable crush on him, and the adorable Chika, Taeko's spunky and energetic cousin. All of them become like a great family together.
There are a few racy shots of Aoi, while she's showering or in the bath, part of the fan service, to be sure, but overall, she is one ideal woman. The literal translation for the title, Ai Yori Aoshi, means "bluer than indigo," but with "ai" also meaning "love" in Japanese, the title can also mean "true blue love."
At the end, Aoi says to Kaoru, "I am an inexperienced person, but please regard me kindly." As a reader who considers Ai Yori Aoshi my favourite manga AND anime series, I all but regard this series kindly, especially its sweet and lovable heroine.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Behind each great anime is a great manga..., July 1, 2004
This review is from: Ai Yori Aoshi, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
Kaoru Hanabishi was a lonely college stundent, who had willingly left his father's family, even after they had adopted him. Now, into his life, came a pretty young girl. A girl named Aoi Sakuraba who had come to marry him. A girl he hadn't seen since leaving home.
The problem is, in order for her family to approve of this marriage, he would have to go back to the family he hates. Will he go back to his family? Will she leave her's? What will the families do?
The first volume has the first ten chapters and seem to be the foundation for the first four (of five) anime episodes of the First DVD. The manga is for age 16 and up, higher than the DVDS, because mangas can get away with just a TOUCH more in mature scenes and adult humor. I would suggest you only buy it if you are a REAL fan of the anime OR don't have the anime.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simply put, a good read, September 23, 2005
This review is from: Ai Yori Aoshi, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
Basically this is a very normal story, in that it doesn't have any sci-fi/fantasy twists. It is very sweet and romantic how Aoi is a young and wealthy heiress who decided to seek out her betrothed Kaoru after finding out without explaination that their bethrothal had been ended. I like how very traditional she is, it teaches me a lot about Japanese culture and tradititions that I didn't know. The storylines are cute and sweet as well as dramatic. So far Kaoru is still in school and he and Aoi are engaged and growing more and more deeply in love, but their relationship is still a secret and all of the women in his life except Aoi's protector still don't have a clue about it and they all also have the hots for him, setting up that typical and annoying 'harem' situation. For some reason just about every girl in his life decided to move into the boarding house Kaoru lives in which is next to the mansion Aoi lives in posing as their landlady. So he and Aoi have to steal kisses and such for the few seconds in the day when he isn't being harassed by all of these girls. I've read up to volume eight so far and overall find it amusing, heart warming and captivating. I would appreciate a little closure between Kaoru and Aoi but another good feature, and somewhat rare in most of the manga I've read, is that the characters actually age along with the series. For example, by the end of volume 8 it's been two years since Aoi and Kaoru reunited. No matter how annoyed that I get however, by the fact that Kaoru and Aoi have been engaged for over two years and are still keeping it a secret I keep buying the books, that's how much I like it.
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