Ai Yori Aoshi Anime Review
A Review by the Silvertongue Connoisseur
Anime and I have an interesting relationship. After my brief phase of being a complete weaboo/wapanese around age 12-15, I kind of lost interest in anime. I finished FMA quite late and then pretty much left anime alone all together, except for some sporadic viewing of a few semi-mainstream series. Now, at age 18, with my interest in many facets of non-Asian foreign pop-culture now piqued as well, I've taken a second look at the world of anime.
That renewed interest may have started about a year and a half ago when my local Gamestop was having a deal where they sold something like six DVDs of any kind for $20. I was browsing the DVDs when I saw the complete series of an anime title I'd started watching a couple of years back before what I refer to as the great YouTube anime purge, and decided to pick it up. That title was none other than the romantic comedy, Ai Yori Aoshi.
The story of Ai Yori Aoshi revolves around two childhood friends, Kaoru and Aoi. As children, their wealthy families had them engaged to be married. However, due to reasons unbeknownst to poor Aoi, her would be fiancee Kaoru left his family (don't worry, I'm not telling you anything that you wouldn't find out within the first couple of episodes). An unwitting chance encounter between the two at a train station during which Aoi breaks her sandal (I can't be effed to recall or look up what the proper name for that style of japanese shoe is, so please don't bother me about it) occurs, and Aoi explains that she's looking for the home of someone very dear to her.
After putting together some proverbial puzzle pieces, Aoi figures out that the nameless college student is indeed her beloved Kaoru, she asks him to marry her. After some deliberation and a couple of interesting incidents, Aoi decides to live with Kaoru, and their life together begins, though it will be fraught with obstacles, both in the forms of people and in simple occurrences. Kaoru must resist the temptations of being surrounded by lovely female friends and remain faithful to Aoi.
Ai Yori Aoshi is filled with colorful characters, even if some of them are mildly stereotypical. Its story doesn't have many unexpected twists, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable ride. It features moments of comedy that are competently executed even if most of them aren't laugh-out-loud hilarious, and its dramatic points are almost always touching in some capacity...or at least they were to me. I can't recall any instances where I found myself groaning at a bad joke or moaning in agony as the characters on the screen failed to elicit sympathy from me with their sappy antics.
The ending wasn't super open-ended, nor did it create more questions than it answered. It seemed as if it was wrapped up with a nice, neat little bow and dropped in your lap. This rendered its second season/sequel series, which I never finished, completely pointless and unnecessary, but that's a review for another day.
Presentation wise, the art and music in Ai Yori Aoshi are certainly up to par with most better known productions, and they did a rather nice job with the English voice acting, although I found that I preferred Aoi's Japanese voice actor to her Western counterpart in some instances. The animations never seemed phoned in, and the visuals maintained a refreshing consistency in their quality. Not much else to say about this part, other than that it was more than capable in every way.
Overall, AYA is a light, pleasant little rom-com wrapped up in a reasonably sized 24 episode package. It didn't blow me away, but I never regretted watching or purchasing it for a second. If you're in the mood for something light hearted that isn't too time-consuming, this anime is by all means a safe bet.
A Review by the Silvertongue Connoisseur
Anime and I have an interesting relationship. After my brief phase of being a complete weaboo/wapanese around age 12-15, I kind of lost interest in anime. I finished FMA quite late and then pretty much left anime alone all together, except for some sporadic viewing of a few semi-mainstream series. Now, at age 18, with my interest in many facets of non-Asian foreign pop-culture now piqued as well, I've taken a second look at the world of anime.
That renewed interest may have started about a year and a half ago when my local Gamestop was having a deal where they sold something like six DVDs of any kind for $20. I was browsing the DVDs when I saw the complete series of an anime title I'd started watching a couple of years back before what I refer to as the great YouTube anime purge, and decided to pick it up. That title was none other than the romantic comedy, Ai Yori Aoshi.
The story of Ai Yori Aoshi revolves around two childhood friends, Kaoru and Aoi. As children, their wealthy families had them engaged to be married. However, due to reasons unbeknownst to poor Aoi, her would be fiancee Kaoru left his family (don't worry, I'm not telling you anything that you wouldn't find out within the first couple of episodes). An unwitting chance encounter between the two at a train station during which Aoi breaks her sandal (I can't be effed to recall or look up what the proper name for that style of japanese shoe is, so please don't bother me about it) occurs, and Aoi explains that she's looking for the home of someone very dear to her.
After putting together some proverbial puzzle pieces, Aoi figures out that the nameless college student is indeed her beloved Kaoru, she asks him to marry her. After some deliberation and a couple of interesting incidents, Aoi decides to live with Kaoru, and their life together begins, though it will be fraught with obstacles, both in the forms of people and in simple occurrences. Kaoru must resist the temptations of being surrounded by lovely female friends and remain faithful to Aoi.
Ai Yori Aoshi is filled with colorful characters, even if some of them are mildly stereotypical. Its story doesn't have many unexpected twists, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable ride. It features moments of comedy that are competently executed even if most of them aren't laugh-out-loud hilarious, and its dramatic points are almost always touching in some capacity...or at least they were to me. I can't recall any instances where I found myself groaning at a bad joke or moaning in agony as the characters on the screen failed to elicit sympathy from me with their sappy antics.
The ending wasn't super open-ended, nor did it create more questions than it answered. It seemed as if it was wrapped up with a nice, neat little bow and dropped in your lap. This rendered its second season/sequel series, which I never finished, completely pointless and unnecessary, but that's a review for another day.
Presentation wise, the art and music in Ai Yori Aoshi are certainly up to par with most better known productions, and they did a rather nice job with the English voice acting, although I found that I preferred Aoi's Japanese voice actor to her Western counterpart in some instances. The animations never seemed phoned in, and the visuals maintained a refreshing consistency in their quality. Not much else to say about this part, other than that it was more than capable in every way.
Overall, AYA is a light, pleasant little rom-com wrapped up in a reasonably sized 24 episode package. It didn't blow me away, but I never regretted watching or purchasing it for a second. If you're in the mood for something light hearted that isn't too time-consuming, this anime is by all means a safe bet.
