Quote by xaznbabychikxi lOve tHys aNime.. i wOnDeR iF tHeY aRe gOiNg tO gEt mArRiEd.. i hOpE
tHeRe iS a tHiRd sEaSoN :\ i tHyNk tHyS aNimE iS vErY sAd..
doesn't writing like that consume alot of time?
Ai Yori Aoshi tv Review
The anime adaptation of Fumizuki Kou's manga features Kaoru Hanabishi, a normal every day college student. For years, he lived independently and alone. One day, his entire life gets turned upside down. He meets a young woman about his age one day at the train station. She appears lost and is searching for someone. In kindness, Kaoru lends a hand, without knowing that he was who she was searching for.
Aoi Sakuraba is the only daughter of a wealthy family. As such, her hand is well sought after. Unfortunately for her family, she already has her heart set on Kaoru, her betrothed. As a gesture of good faith, her parents allow them to live on the same property, with her acting as the landlady and her caretaker as the owner. Poor Kaoru has been reduced to playing the part of a tenant.
Of course, they don't know about all the other women who will be moving in with them...
How will Aoi and Kaoru explore their love with so many distractions? Will Aoi be able to cope with the number of love rivals?
Story & Characters
First of, I'm going to point out that I'm not reviewing the Anime, but rather the Manga. I have watched the entire series, and have read up to Volume 8 of the Manga (The Manga has 15 Volumes but only 10 have been released North America), and both are of high quality, but I think that the Manga does a better job of telling Kou Fumizuki's romantic story of an arranged marriage.
The story is about Aoi Sakuraba, the daughter of a wealthy and influencial family, who decides that she is going to marry Kaoru Hanabishi, her love of eighteen years, despite her families protests. Once he realizes that her intentions are genuine - and that she's not just trying to get him to reconcile with his estranged (domineering and abusive) family - he begins to definitely warm up to the idea, too.
This manga has some of the most touching, and shocking moments that I have ever read in a manga. More then a few times, I've almost been brought to tears, and it does a very good job at making you laugh along the way.
I think that S.A. Bennett, a writer for the Comic Buyers Guide puts it best: "Ai Yori Aoshi is... Tender, sweet, and heartfelt, with beautiful artwork that never gets in the way of its simple story"
While I would give the anime a 7, I'm giving the Manga a 9.
Rating:
Art
The artwork in the manga is great. The characters are drawn to portray emotion, and backgrounds are very detailed. Hell, everything in this manga is drawn with amazing detail. Everything, from the grain the wood to the prices on food in the supermarket can be seen with clarity. I'd love to get my hands on an artbook for this manga, just to see the images in a larger format.
The chibi-art (The manga has a little one page parody of an event from the previous chapter called Ai-Ao theater) is cute and it looks hand-drawn, which looks nice in its own way.
The quality of the character design pregesses through out the manga (Example, Aoi seems to get cuter and cuter as the story goes on).
A clear 9 in my books.
Rating:
Sound
I'm reviewing the manga, so this section is moot. but since I have to write 500 characters in this section, I'll talk about the sound effects.
This is also the one beef I have with Tokyo pop’s publications, they don't give translations for the sound effects like Viz Comics with their publications, and leave you wondering what sound just happened (While some of it's common sense, some are confusing.)
Sometimes the effects get in the way of the artwork, but doesn’t subtract from it thankfully.
I give this section a five, only because they should have given section in the back of the book that translates the effects.
Rating:
Presentation
This manga is very good read (although it is a quick read). I can pick up this book, and have it finished inside a half hour.
Tokyopop released the manga in Japanese format (reads Right to Left), which preservs the art work, which I think is key to any manga publication when its translated into English (Or any language that reads Left to Right).
While the story unfolds slower then the anime, as I've stated before, it does a better job in telling the story. Character backstories go into more detail, and doesn't leave you guessing stuff as the Anime did to me.
There is some nudity in this manga, and its used tastefully, weather to delvier a punchline, or make a moment seem more romantic, although, Tina's gropping does get out of hand sometimes.
The humor is great in this manga, in each volume, it always leaves me chuckling at some point while reading it.
All in all, I give the presentation an 8, and I give my full recomendation to buy this manga, it would make a great addtion to your collection, even if you're just starting out.
Rating:
Final Verdict
8.0000 (good)
Reviewed by aceman67, Apr 22, 2005
Comments
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aceman67 May 06, 2005
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MizuhoKusanagi Jun 11, 2005
I ove this anime.The story is very gentle and moving.
But after the fourth episode the plot seems to have come to a standstill. -
aceman67 Jun 11, 2005
Quote by MizuhoKusanagiI ove this anime.The story is very gentle and moving.
But after the fourth episode the plot seems to have come to a standstill.I reviewed the manga, not the anime, Have you picked up the Manga? :)
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rinnin1 Jun 13, 2005
very good quality anime, havent seen the manga
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shoimi Jan 13, 2006
this is a great amine and even better manga
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