| | Alternate title : Bluer than Indigo
Studio : J.C. STAFF
Licenced by : Geneon Entertainment (USA)
Length : 24 Episodes
Year : 2002
Genre : Comedy - Drama - Ecchi - Romance - Slice of Life
Synopsis :
Ai Yori Aoshi is about a young man named Kaoru, who is a university student in Tokyo. One day, he meets a girl, who he then finds out is from his past. The girl, Aoi, is apparently his fiancée due to a pre-arranged marriage organized when they were children. Kaoru is led back into his past, but comes back to the present into the caring arms of Aoi. However, regardless of the difficult events that have occurred, these two are able to begin their new life together.
Added : 2002-08-13
Synopsis by : Raymond
Last update : 2007-07-18
Last update details : Production staff added to studd
Score : 7.76
Number of reviews : 37
Link(s) :
Official #1 : At the Pearls - An Ai Yori Aoshi Screenshot Gallery Fansite (English)
Official #2 : Official Ai Yori Aoshi Website (Japanese)
Official #3 : Pioneer Animation's Ai Yori Aoshi Website (English)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : Yoko Ishida - Towa no Hana / Eternal Flower
Ending #1 : The Indigo - Namo Shirenu Hana
Ending #2 : I'll Be Home" - Satsuki Yukino
Ending #3 : The Indigo - Namo Shirenu Hana
Ending #4 : Yoko Ishida - Towa no Hana / Eternal Flower
Release(s) :
There are no release available for this anime.
Hits : 21533
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Posted by : Molenir 
Posted on : 2007-07-11 
Ai Yori Aoshi is about a girl who was promised to marry a boy. Years later after being told this promise is no longer in effect, the girl refuses to accept, looks for and finds her fiancee. She is determined to marry him, if he will have her, despite any obstacles.
This is a series I really want to rate higher. It has such an excellent intro episode that if it had followed up on the promise made in it, I would have rated it a perfect show. However as others have mentioned. This is a Harem anime, to its great detriment. None of the other characters really add to the story. At its heart this is a sweet story of the romance between Aoi and Kouru. Apart from their interactions, the music particularly the OP is probably the best thing in this series.
Apart from the Harem aspects, the one thing that really bothered me about this show was the total desire by Aoi to give herself to her fiancee. To do everything for him. This is a very Japanese attitude, and while its very sweet, its also rather jarring to Western sensibilities.
Because to me this is about the romance between Kaouru and Aoi-chan, all the extra female characters, and the vast majority of episodes end up seeming unnecessary. Making it feel like you are watching a series of filler episodes. While these are generally pretty entertaining, and most of the characters are fun to watch, you occasionally just wish they would get on with the real story. Also, they included quite a bit of ecchi, most of it unnecessary. Particularly Tina's way of greeting. I really wish they hadn't included that especially.
Overall I rate this an 8. I wish I could give it a better rating. But the problems I mentioned earlier bring it down significantly. Still, I do recommend this show. Particularly to people who don't mind a fairly high ecchi rating.
Posted by : GRC
Posted on : 2007-05-12
Overall - 8.0
Animation - 10.0
Sound - 9.0
Story - 6.0
Character - 8.0
Value - 7.0
Enjoyment - 8.0
If you ask ten intelligent anime viewers, "Which anime genre do you hate most?", at least five of them will tell you that they hate harem anime. And believe me, they are damn right. From characters with no redeeming qualities, yawn-inducing love hexagons, lame humor, and obtrusive ecchi drivel, it is no surprise that I have very low opinions of harem genre in general. Knowing that Ai Yori Aoshi is a harem anime, I did not expect it to be anything more than mediocre. Little did I know that this anime will give me a big surprise. Ai Yori Aoshi is not just average. It's very good. With lovable characters and a simplistic, yet naturally developed love story, this is one of the very satisfying 'mature' romance anime out there.
Although Ai Yori Aoshi's harem nature is obvious, but this anime did not throw in the annoying love hexagons to ruin its potential. Apart from Aoi, no other girls in the house are in love with Kaoru. Oh, they all like him as a person, of course. But none of them are seriously in love with him. Taeko admired Kaoru, but she is definitely not madly in love with him. Mayu only thinks of Kaoru as her big brother more than anything else. Tina is probably the only character who can qualify as Aoi's rival and there are two incidents which showed that Tina would not mind to 'go out' with Kaoru (the 'labyrinth' scene and the 'love hotel' incident). But still, she only regards Kaoru as her best friend, and she is apparently not madly in love with him.
Unlike most harem anime of its kind, Ai Yori Aoshi has very impressive casts. Kaoru is probably the best main male lead harem anime has to offer. Though he is not a 'macho' type of guy, but he's also not a wimp. When his grandfather insulted his mother and asked him to throw her amulet away, he refused to do so. Later, he chose to walk away from the Hanabishi family, leaving the luxuries behind him. One of the best scenes in this series is when Aoi realized that Kaoru is no longer one of the Hanabishi. Knowing that their marriage will no longer be valid, Aoi begged him to return home. Kaoru, however, told her that he will not return to the Hanabishi although he feels very sorry that he will not be able to marry her. Even his decision is obviously painful for him, but he would not turn back and swallow his pride. Kaoru is a very adamant character, and I like him because of that...
...but Kaoru is also not a cold and heartless guy. In fact, he cares deeply for others. In the first episode when Kaoru and Aoi were on the train and Aoi was still asleep when the train was about to reach the destination, Kaoru chose not to wake Aoi up for the fear that it will interrupt her sleep. The scene when he made friend with Mayu is another favorite scene of mine. In that incident, Mayu ran away from the party, feeling unfortunate that her parents had no time for her. Kaoru, however, told Mayu about how fortunate she was that both of her parents were still alive, while he has no chance to meet his parents any longer. Since I saw that scene, I had no doubt why Mayu has so much respect to Kaoru. Aoi is a lovely character who is very devoted to her lover. Miyabi is also another good character. Though she seems strict and inflexible, but she is a kind person inside. All in all, Ai Yori Aoshi's casts are impressive, and they are the strongest aspects of this show.
Nonetheless, this anime is not perfect. There are a few things which I don't like about this series. There are a few characters who have some annoying habits. Taeko for one. There are many ways one can portray one character as 'clumsy' without having her going 'oops-trip-fall' every now and then. Thank god that Taeko did not trip and fall too often, or I might have hated her. Tina is another. How she behaves told me more than enough that she is jovial and exuberant. There is no need to have her playing with others' breasts. Another thing which is the most noticeable weakness of Ai Yori Aoshi is the fact that its seventh to twenty-first episodes are fillers. This is a character-driven series. To fully enjoy Ai Yori Aoshi, viewers must focus their attention on the characters, not the story. Fortunately, I have seen a few of those series, so I knew what to expect. As a result, I enjoyed the character development. I enjoyed watching the growth of their relationship, and I loved its ending.
Character-driven anime have never been my preference. I felt extremely bored watching School Rumble and Azumanga Daioh due to lack of story and repetitive humor, and I could not bring myself to like Kimagure Orange Road due to lack of character development. However, Ai Yori Aoshi is a different case. Although most episodes are fillers, but it has excellent characters and good developments. The relationship of characters strengthened after each episode, and it is a pleasure for me to see them maturing. All of these lead to the impressive finish. Ai Yori Aoshi is one of the very few harem anime which is truly worth watching. If you have seen (and enjoyed) a number of character-driven drama series, I recommend it.
Animation
I am very impressed with the quality of Ai Yori Aoshi's animation. The pictures are sharp. The use of colors and lightings are excellent. Scenes are drawn with excellent attention to detail. I love the character design of Kaoru and Aoi. I also love Aoi's traditional costumes. Outstanding animation quality for 2002 production.
Sound
Ai Yori Aoshi has one of the most beautiful OP I have ever heard. It's a shame that the ED is not even half as good. The BGM is extremely beautiful. I loved the sound of flute. Outstanding music, so to speak. Voice acting is also impressive. Kaoru is voiced by Soichiro Hoshi who is Kira of Gundam Seed, and he did a great job. (Believe it or not, he also voiced Kazuma of Scryed. I almost could not believe it.)
Character
Tina's ferret is cute. I want one at home :)
Value
Ai Yori Aoshi is a very good work; however, it is quite audience specific. People who hate harem might look pass all of its positive qualities and dislike it anyway because it's harem. People who love brainless harem (like Love Hina or Maburaho) will also not like this series because it does not have those insubstantial harem cliches that they would expect. I also would not recommend people to expect this to be one of those idealistic romance series such as Fushigi Yugi and Hana Yori Dango. Ai Yori Aoshi's romance is a different kind. It's much more simplistic, yet much more mature. My highest recommendation goes to older audiences (preferably 20+) who feel neutral with harem genre and have tried a few character-driven drama series (such as Someday's Dreamers, Twin Spica, or Fruits Basket) before. Especially if you used to (or now) live away from home, there would be a much higher possibility for you to enjoy this series. Trust me, it does make a difference.
Posted by : ch3wyboi
Posted on : 2007-03-30 
Ai Yori Aoshi was a fairly light romantic comedy that i decided to watch. It follows a simple formula, really. Childhood friends falling for each other and their quest for love in the end, with difficult situations that they must overcome.
I found a few things that I didn't particularly like about the anime. I think the main female Aoi is way to clingy and is kinda stereotyping the whole "perfect woman" image: cute, does all the chores, looks after her man. A typical traditional Japanese woman in a kimono. It'd be great to find a wife like Aoi, but it is kinda unrealistic in today's times. Women are much more independent. Also what Aoi has repeated over and over and over again.... her dedication to Kaoru and how much she loves loves loves him.... it gets so repetitive, with some big chunks of dialogue dedicated to how much love-love it is between Aoi and Kaoru.
Anyway, the music is OK. I thought it had a good feel to this anime and suited it very well.
The animation was good, a very vibrant palette was used to bring out the mood when it mattered. The characters all had their own special traits.... though I think Tina-San and her little tooth that keeps showing is kinda annoying. Still, she's cute. And I thought the characters of Aoi and ...... were cute. Kaoru's design was rather typical of anime male protagonist. But at least he has big wardrobe, Aoi has kimonos, which are very cute, especially that pink one.
The plot was ok. There were times were it did become tedious, especially some of the dialogue (Aoi's scenes in particular) but overall I found it to flow rather well. Bits and pieces of Kaoru's past come to light and they did blend it in well as the plot progressed. And there were subtle splashes of Fan service that I found suitable, not too overdone like in some anime series of the same genre.
Overall, a good anime to watch as something light in your mix of anime. A good romantic comedy. Since I enjoyed watching it I'm currently into the 2nd season Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ and I'm finding it good so far. Was a good blend of romance and the comedy hit the spot. There were at times where it was tedious and dull, and some of the dialogue was also repetitive but overall 7/10. Give it a go.
Posted by : NatureDragon
Posted on : 2007-01-09 
Childhood fiancees, Aoi manages to find Kaoru after 18 years and a heartwarming love story thus begins!
Storyline/Plot: 10/10
The first 3 epidsodes and the last 3 epidsodes were the best, as they were very much focused on the relationship between the cute couple of Kaoru and Aoi. The rest of the epidsodes were great in bringing out some comedy and lighten the anime. The romance part of the anime is considered much more serious when compared with animes such as Love Hina.
Character development: 8/10
It was good to have episodes of less importance to the main storyline, but I think it kind of reduces the amount of character development for each character. Adequate amount of character development was done on Kaoru and Aoi which is good enough.
Animation/Graphics: 10/10
Great job for a 2002 anime. The characters were well drawn with nice background scenery.
Music/Songs: 9/10
"Towa no Hana (Eternal Flower)" by Yoko Ishida and "Namo Shirenu Hana" by The Indigo were nice songs, which were extremely suitable for this love story anime. Background music is good but lacked variety.
Overall: 9.5/10
A heartwarming love story which is a must for all anime fans who like romance. The pace of the anime is quite alright (could be slightly faster) and the epidsodes should have focused more on Kaoru and Aoi. Nonetheless, I shall still give it 5 full stars as it has a very nice love story.
Posted by : GreyCloak
Posted on : 2006-12-25
Utterly Heartwarming. This anime occupies my "Bestest Best Shelf".
I fell in love with the main characters... The very beautiful and steadfast Aoi, the caring and thoughtful Kaoru. The poignant relationship between them made me appreciate the depth and profoundness of serious true love. The sakura blossom scenes is really beatiful and its one of the highlights of the anime.
The story is beautiful to say the least. The absolute dedication of Aoi strikes a chord in the heart of even the coldest man. The sense of responsibility of Kaoru is quite admirable and the story of his life is quite tragic. I really like the weaving of their love story. It was slow and filled with ecchi at first (I like that scene with the sound of Aoi disrobing her dress which Kaoru finds sooo riveting) but then it blossomed into a genuine true love.
The second characters of Ai Yori Aoshi is engaging and fun filled. I like Tina most! I would like to add that I would really like to have Kaoru's luck with girls (lol).
The music suits the anime and I found myself singing the OP Song at school which was kinda hillarious.
Well, this anime is a must for romance addicts and for those who would like to watch a love themed anime.
Posted by : Ravensdark
Posted on : 2006-11-19
This is the one anime that I have gone back to and rewatched many times. I do not understand how someone can not be touched by the story. We have a girl that grows up absolutely dedicated to both a person and an idea. She grows up knowing her future only to have it be crushed when it is so near.
She decides to not accept her fate and reclaim her dream. Yes that dream is to marry the person that she as always wanted to marry and not be stopped by either family.
The male protagonist, Kaoru, is a character that I like as well. His past brings out a depth of character that makes the situation rather realistic as well as idealistic.
My only real downside on the show was that some of the supporting characters would sometimes create situations that were more then just a little distasteful to me. Tina probably was the main problem for me in this respect with her greeting.
In general I like the interplay between the characters that is shown even with Tina. There is a strong comedic influence in circumstances. While there is very little character growth shown in the story, the growth of the different relationships is really fun and sometimes emotional to watch.
I have watched the opening sequence over and over again because I love it so much. The way the music and the video goes together in the sequence is the best that I have seen. In addition the opening sequence essentially tells the entire story of the show in my favorite 15 seconds of the show ending with the shattered flower. Just for that sequence I almost decided to give this a 10.
Overall this anime for me at least is definitely the number one anime for rewatch value.
Posted by : AnimeAnime
Posted on : 2006-11-04
Ai Yori Aoshi is a romance/comedy anime, with a nice storyline which is not very predictable and progresses in a steady pace, and does not makes you feel tired of watching it. The ecchi content is very slight, so anyone can watch it.
Story: Hanabishi Kaoru and Sakuraba Aoi have their marriage pre-arranged by their familes, but Kaoru left his clan due to some reason, so the marriage became invalid. However, Aoi who was determined to have Kaoru as her husband, left her home to find Kaoru disregarding her family's objection. Kaoru and Aoi met and managed to live in a large house with Miyabi's help, and soon, Kaoru's friend began to live in the house and changed the life which Kaoru and Aoi initially wanted.
Animation: Ai Yori Aoshi is one of the few anime which have their characters' clothes changed. Even Aoi, who wore a blue kimono most of the time, changed her costume one in a while. Other characters' have their clothings changed according in the situation they are in. The characters are well drawn and animated, typicial of a modern Japanese anime.
Characters: Each characters have their stories told, unlike other romance animes where the story usually concentrate on the couple, Ai Yori Aoshi allows other supporting roles to "shine". The characters are developed and serves not only as a supporting role, but makes it seems like without them, the anime would be lack of something which created holes in the plot.
Music: The music is catchy and are really fitting and suits a romance/comedy anime. Both opening and ending songs are smoothing, and the BGM in the anime enhances the event, making the sounds vital to the show.
In summary, Ai Yori Aoshi is a mid-length anime which clearly tells the story of almost all the main characters without making the viewer feel bored or irritated by the repeated jokes or predicatable events. A highly recommaned anime for all romance/comedy anime lovers.
Posted by : Nada_Zero
Posted on : 2006-10-24
Story
Different from all other harem type animes I have seen so far. The main character (Kaoru) has already picked the girl he loves. The creators play off of that and introduce situations that they face that will really test their love. The love is a forbidden one so they also keep it a secret from others. I didn't like the story quite personally. I found the situations where it "tested" their love too slow and it lacked something that would really captivate the viewer. It did well in the Romance section of the anime but i found it very boring at times.
6/10
Characters
The characters I loved! they were all unique in their own little way Tina, the American that lived in Japan all her life, was my favorite because she was full of surprises and she was totally differen't from any other character I have seen before. Same goes for most of the other characters too. They were pretty well drawn and portrayed.
10/10
Music
Loved it! Suited the anime perfectly and I wouldn't choose any other songs over it.
10/10
Overall
I kind of forced myself to watch the rest of the anime in the middle of the series because I don't like to leave things hanging. It was fun at times but it was dragged and the plot moved terribly slow. The characters were great but I wish they all played a larger role to help the plot move faster and have a bigger scheme in things. Everything else was great so that means that the plot and story was the only thing dragging things down.
Story: 6/10
Characters: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Overall: 7/10
Posted by : ap2
Posted on : 2006-10-15
---Overview---
First of all, i'm not so sure about this anime when i bought this... Moreover, some first episodes make me dissappointed. The story really straight forward. I think it would end at episode 3 or 5 or so. But it have to be goes on. After few episode i realized that the conflict is get much more interesting. For those who enjoys watching romance drama anime, this is one of the must have!
Score : 8.333/10
---Story---
Just as most of the romance story, it tells us about a girl and boy. They marriage already pre-arranged when they still a child, but they separated somehow. This anime is about how they can meet each other again, and how they manage to survive their rough path of love awaits for them.
As i've say before, the story in the early episodes really straight forward. It's really obvious that Aoi loves Kaoru and vice versa. It's get me bored at first. But this is not a story about how you make somebody falling in love for you. This about how to survive the rough path of... what to say... forbidden love.
Score : 9/10
---Animation---
Not musch to say about the animation. It's just another standard, good, you've always looking at it, animation. Nothing special, really.
But, the way they drawn cars it's pretty much not good. Why those cool mercedes sports cars look like that?
Score : 7/10
---Music---
About the same as the animation quality. Really nothing special. But it's not bad anyway.
Score : 8/10
Posted by : Den8383
Posted on : 2006-09-30
Summary
Basically a girl meets boy scenario, Aoi Sakuraba meeting Kaoru Hanabishi while the former was looking for her long lost fiance.
Story - 9/10
I think the story revealed the delicate relationship between the 2 main characters and since this is a romantic/comedy/fan-service style anime, it included a large number of female characters to complement the story while in the meantime strengthening the 2 characters' mutual love.
Characters - 9/10
Well described. Beside Kaoru and Aoi, Tina is the other most well described character in the show followed by Mayu.
Animation - 10/10
JC Stuff has done it again, another beautifully designed anime, no doubt about that.
Music/songs - 9/10
Both opening and endings for this anime is soft and subtle but soothes ones heart, the BGM is really nice.
Overall - 37/40 (92.5%)
I would recommend this anime to those who like the genre of anime, like me. I think that this one is much better than Love Hina in terms of story and character development.
Posted by : salah
Posted on : 2006-08-17
The reason I gave some points for this anime was because of the drawing , other than that there was nothing creative at all, nothing special. I don't even remember the reason I watch it.
The Animation: Ok - I admit the drawing was good, easy going, nice, watchable and pretty simple. nothing too much. Yet I hate to say I didn't enjoy it because of the story.
The Story: Bad - Nothing special about it, alot of points that doesn't make a sense, Aoi was not supposed to marry the man she loves so somehow she is in a mansion with the man she loves and out from no where other people come to live with them just like that .. and many of them are already in love with him. Now to mention his love for Aoi that I don't understand how it appeared !
The Music: Bad - Nothing was special about it, not say it was bad and not saying it was good, but in general I think its not that kind that touch your heart deeply as the OST of ex. Hikaru no Go or Detective Conan. I think the audio was ordinary with no unique qualities.
Characters: Bad - As I mentioned above the relationship between the characters is not really clear, basing on love ? desire ? friendship ? sometimes it was not clear, even though they are sharing a good relationship as a friends I still think there were alot of points that doesn't make any sense.
Posted by : mangaddict
Posted on : 2006-07-07
I'm not a schizoid, but this anime has me split. As a viewer, this anime is a treasure to be cherished. As a critic, I found this anime to be disappointing and predictable.
Aoi sets out to find her planned fiancé. She finds him and learns that they are no longer engaged due to family problems. She decides that she will give up everything in order to be with him. She then becomes a tenant of the household. The first episodes really raised my expectations only to be shattered by disappointments as the story goes downhill.
Two teenagers of the opposite sex live in a large house together, unsupervised. Soon more teenagers live in the house. Competitions flare for the affections of one meek and unrealistically lucky boy. Drama builds. Boy's indecisiveness leads to damage relationships. Like we haven't seen this a thousand times before.
The characters fill their roles flawlessly. I'll give them credit for that. Also, the voice actors all happen to be my favorites. The music and artwork make this anime more beautiful than any I have seen so far.
As a critic, I take everything into account and I understand everyone's opinion. However I will make an exception. There are people who say that Aoi, as a character, is a disgrace to everything women have been fighting for. And to you I say (censored). There have also been people that have said that this anime is shallow. And to you I say (censored).
I give this anime a 7 out of 10 as a critic and 2 thumbs up as the audience.
Posted by : cheapet123
Posted on : 2006-02-01
Kinda a shallow anime. But still nice.
Art. Beautiful artwork. The different types of chracters are drawn nicely to have their own unique personality.
Sound. Very nice music and voice overs.
Story. It's kinda a shallow anime. The typical kids promising to get married when they meet again as grownups blah blah blah. Then a bunch of other girls come. Kinda like Love Hina eh?
Overall, solid anime. There's also a second season if you liked the first.
Posted by : party_Rikku
Posted on : 2005-10-23
This anime was absolutely beautiful. I loved how it was drawn. It was beautifully done and thought up. I laughed about Kaoru's luck with girls, I loved how faithful Aoi was, and how much she loved him. It was a wonderful story line.
I loved the drama in it and how it all came together. However that is where my adoration for it stops. The whole anime, while wonderfully done was just a drama, though there was a few funny parts it would not be a comedy.
The story line though wonderful, did not account for much. The characters did not seem to grow, they just suddenly changed in an instant and then went "Oh wow, look at how I've changed.". It got aggrevating after a while. I would only suggest this to people that enjoy a load of drama, only some laughs, and then characters that will get on your nerves, but I will say that it is beautifully drawn.
Posted by : MrSentimental
Posted on : 2005-09-10
After the first four episodes, I was totally captivated by Aoi's and Kaoru's relationship. I really wanted to see how things would develop between them. The devotion and caring between the two (that was already steadfast in Aoi's heart, and was surely developing in Kaoru) was irresistable! I craved for focus on this throughout the series, and some episodes had more focus on this than others. The more focus on their relationship, the more I'd find myself liking the couple.
The secrecy part of their relationship was VERY frustrating! But did cause for some comical situations. The supporting cast was OK. Aoi's mentor was probably my favorite, because she really cared for Aoi, and she began to approciate Kaoru. The unfortunate part was Kaoru's tendency to get caught up in the "harem" plot with the other girls that stayed with them. Sure he was being kind and all, but he really should have given as much time and attention as humanly possible to Aoi! Also, Tina's "Greeting" would probably be considered as some kind of sexual assault in most states in the U.S. It was actually funny with Aoi's mentor though, but otherwise, that just needed to stop.
The artwork is good. The characters are cute and appealing. The music was OK, but not anything I needed to buy.
This was my first experience with the real romantic Anime. The love and devotion here is just not something you can easily find on any regular TV show or in Hollywood movies. It was very appealing. 4 STARS. 8 out ot 10 rating. I very much recommend it. Just stick to hand-shakes and "How do you do" for greetings.
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