Ai Yori Aoshi
DVD Features:
|
English Dubbed Version
AKA: "Bluer Than Indigo" & "Bluer Than Indigo: Fate"
Released: 2003
Version: DVD (Pioneer)
Approx. Rating: PG-13 (or 13UP) due to mild swearing and blatant nudity
Length: Approx. 120 minutes
English Cast: Dave Wittenberg (Kaoru Hanabishi), Georgette Rose (Aoi Sakuraba), Lia Sargent (Miyabi Kagurazaki, Kumi Honjo), Wendee Lee (Tina Foster), Sue Beth Arden (Taeko Minazuki)
Japanese Cast: Soichiro Hoshi (Kaoru Hanabishi), Ayako Kawasumi (Aoi Sakuraba), Satsuki Yukino (Tina Foster), Kaori Mizuhashi (Taeko Minazuki), Sayaka Narita (Miyabi Kagurazaki)
Synopsis
Kaoru is a college student that finds a lost young lady (named Aoi) in a kimono in a railway station. She is looking for some lost love of her youth and since the address she has is on Kaoru's way home, he decides to help her out. I'm sure her cuteness is a factor too. At the end of their search they discover that Aoi was looking for Kaoru all the time.
The Review
The premise is hokey, and this show is billed as a romantic-comedy, ala Ranma 1/2. Unfortunately it's more romance than anything and it's rather odd romance at that. Aoi is at times very reserved and at others she flaunts herself. In episode 2 or 3, Kaoru gets wet when hunting for Aoi and promptly gets a cold. Next thing we know, Aoi is naked and slipping into his bed to keep him warm. It's not sexual per se, but it crosses the line.
Still, I think the characters are likable. Aoi really wants to be accepted and be Kaoru 's wife very badly. She seems to be very devoted to Kaoru and I think it's dumb that he doesn't just marry her. She's from a high-and-mighty family though, and he's been rejected from his, so he is considered low-class by Aoi's family.
Another dumb scene in the show is where Kaoru is bathing and Aoi comes in to wash his back. He falls out of the tub and his hands land on her breasts (no, she's not naked!). Then in pops this other big-breasted lady that's very angry when she finds them like this. She kicks Kaoru's butt and we find out she's Miyabi, a kind of caretaker of Aoi.
By the 5th episode, Aoi has gotten permission from her parents to live with Kaoru at one of Aoi's parent's mansions. Right now would be a good time to get the two married, but the writer wasn't that smart. Instead, he made Aoi the landowner with Miyabi a kind of boss of the household affairs and Kaoru as a kind of one-man cleaning crew so as to keep Aoi's family's name intact. I call this utter tripe! Why do we have to go the Love Hina route when these two could be a couple and still be funny???
But it gets worse. They bring in a girl named Tina, some kind of drinking buddy of Kaoru's. Tina and Kaoru are a part of a photographer's club at his school and he has two stupid guy friends there. Tina is a member that went off to Africa. There's also another girl, Taeko, that was initiated only because she's super dense, a good body, and will wear any outfit.
Anyway, Tina ends up living at the mansion with Kaoru et al. She also has an annoying habit of greeting other women by walking up to them or sneaking up behind them and then massaging their breasts. This is completely uncalled for and NOT funny at all! She also has a kind of southern-like accent which is dumb, but not as bad as Kitsune's voice in Love Hina.
Let's end it at that point.
The Good Stuff:
 |
You get 5 episodes on this disc. That's one more than normal. I call it more bang for the buck! |
|
The voice-acting is quite well done. Pioneer scores again! |
|
The artwork is lovely and the animation well done |
|
Excellent soundtrack with the intro song done by Yoko Ishida |
|
There are some nice "heart-rending" moments...or maybe I should say they pull at the proverbial heart-strings. |
|
This show does an excellent job of following the manga |
The Bad Stuff:
|
Plenty of nudity and panty shots of Taeko |
|
Some cursing |
|
Stupid dream sequences with lingerie |
|
A cat licking its unspeakables which looks awful anatomically correct to me |
|
The intro even has nudity, although fortunately this show doesn't do anything that's even close to detailed |
I like a lot of the characters on this show, but it's also quite offensive. If you like hentai-leaning shows that are more romantic than comedy, this show is for you. Otherwise, I'd check out Ranma 1/2 or Love Hina for your funny girl fix.
STORY: 
VIOLENCE:
COMEDIC FACTOR:
(that train loving weirdo is funny)
SEXUAL CONTENT:
LANGUAGE:
ACTION:
OVERALL SCORE:
Ai Yori Aoshi
DVD Features:
|
English Dubbed Version
AKA: "Bluer Than Indigo" & "Bluer Than Indigo: Fate"
Released: 2003
Version: DVD (Pioneer)
Approx. Rating: PG-13 (or 13UP) due to mild swearing and blatant nudity
Length: Approx. 120 minutes
English Cast: Dave Wittenberg (Kaoru Hanabishi), Georgette Rose (Aoi Sakuraba), Lia Sargent (Miyabi Kagurazaki, Kumi Honjo), Wendee Lee (Tina Foster, Sue Beth Arden (Taeko Minazuki)
Japanese Cast: Soichiro Hoshi (Kaoru Hanabishi), Ayako Kawasumi (Aoi Sakuraba), Satsuki Yukino (Tina Foster), Kaori Mizuhashi (Taeko Minazuki), Sayaka Narita (Miyabi Kagurazaki)
If you've read the synopsis for the previous volume, then that's good enough. You don't need it a second time. This volume continues Kaoru's adventures. Taeko-chan enters the story right away in Episode 6 where she becomes Aoi's housekeeper. Now I'm not sure what Kaoru's position is, but no one seems to care about it.
More panty humor comes in. Just look at the back cover and you'll see Kaoru wearing someone's panties. Episode #7 is the requisite bathhouse show for these multiple chick animes. There's nothing really special about it, except that Aoi continues to act cute and wish for a life with Kaoru.
Tina keeps throwing herself at Kaoru, although I'm not sure she actually wants him. I think she just likes to drape herself on him. She actually sleeps with him (both are wearing their clothes) in one of the episodes and this is irksome for all involved.
In Episode 8, Tina gets a ferret. The ferret promptly gets in the girl's clothing and runs about their breasts. Stupid plot. Miyabi (who hates the critter from the get-go) eventually falls for its cuteness and lets it stay. She's pretty dumb and sometimes I think she's falling for Kaoru as well. At least Taeko isn't.
Episode 9 is about Tina and Kaoru having the house to themselves. She takes a bath, a storm scares her and knocks the power out. Kaoru goes looking for her to see if she's alright and a naked Tina jumps him. Fortunately, it's dark, but you see more than enough. Why is it that every episode has to have some kind of fanservice? And how is this a service anyway?
I watched the 10th episode in Japanese. It was by far my favorite one on here and the subbing was very well done. I never had to rush to read anything and I had no trouble reading it. Excellent! Also, they advanced Kaoru and Aoi's relationship. Yay!
The Good Stuff:
|
This show has so much potential under the surface and you see the cool stuff in very small glimpses that make you want to keep on watching through all the crud. |
|
It continues to make you feel for the two main characters |
|
The animation, dubbing, and soundtrack continue to be of high quality |
The Bad Stuff:
|
More dumb panty stuff |
|
NUDES!!! Why do they even wear clothes? Tina's skirts are so short you don't have to have an imagination! And why does Aoi have to have a dream of having big breasts for anyway??? Somebody needs to give the guys behind this series a serious whack to the head! |
|
More mild swearing. |
As stated previously, the show has potential and could rock. As it is, it's good for a little entertainment, but it needs to be tempered by watching something else or it'll drive you rather batty with it's sexual innuendoes.
STORY:
VIOLENCE:
COMEDIC FACTOR:
SEXUAL CONTENT:
(put some clothes on already!)
LANGUAGE:
(what good does it do to swear at stupid animals???)
ACTION:
OVERALL SCORE: