Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi Vol-1: Fate (2003)
Animation Production: J.C Staff
Released by: ADV Films
Official Website: Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi
Episodes: 1-4
Running Time: 110 minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Last evening after coming home from a Christmas party I was ready to sit down late at night and watch something different from the typical action oriented anime shows I tend to watch on weekends. I don’t know if it was the snow covered background and gentle snowfall by my window in the living room, but I thought the evening was perfect to begin my journey into the world of Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi.

This is a show I’ve been meaning to watch for a couple of months now, but something always came up. This time though, nothing would get in my way. So let’s go right into the first volume for this beautiful series.

Story

"How long can they keep a secret? Two exciting years have passed since the reunion of Kaoru and Aoi. The newest member of the Sakuraba household is Taeko's cousin, Chika, who just started high school. Her frank questions and surprising sexiness have Kaoru in a bind. Later, a tennis outing for everyone leaves Kaoru impressed with Aoi's grace as well as her charming outfit. Finally, the gang hears mysterious noises in the mansionand suspect that it's haunted. Leave it to Taeko, the resident occult specialist, to solve the mystery!"-- Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi Website

Review

The first volume Geneon's release of Ai Yori Aoshi features the first 4 episodes in the series, including:

Episode 1: Spring Blossom
2 years after they met again Kaoru and Aoi find themselves living together in a beautiful home with four other people. As Kaoru keeps busy with his graduate school studies, Chika, Taeko’s cousin, decides that she wants to find out who of the girls in the household love Kaoru. What will she end up finding out!?

Episode 2: Friends
After swim club Chika’s best friends accidentally stumble onto a photo of Chika and Kaoru. When questioned about it Chika decides to play up and pretend that he’s her boyfriend, however things backfire when her friends demand to see this man and her home in person so that they can see what this is all about. Will Chika be able to fool her friends?

Episode 3: Tennis
Chika needs to get some practice in to improve her tennis game. Thankfully the entire household is willing to pitch in and help her out. Looks like everyone is off for a fun day of exercising and tennis!

Episode 4: Phantom
A ghost!!! It looks like a phantom may be haunting our house! Will Taeko be able to save the day and get rid of the ghosts that are haunting the attic?

I come into Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi with a little of a handicap in that I have not seen the first season of the show as of the time of this writing. I was somewhat worried about that, but the way this sequel picks up on the story makes it easy to follow and catch up with where we are with the characters and their situation. I also made sure to read up on the previous series so that I had an idea of what happened prior to the events we see here. So that aside what was the consensus on the first volume of Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi?

This is without question one of the most gorgeous shows I have ever seen both visually and story-wise. Simply put, this show is like a beautiful poem that flows elegantly akin to a waterfall in the middle of a forest of Cherry Trees whose leaves are falling, painting the landscape with their beautiful pedals and sweetening the air with their soft fragrance. I’ve seen many shows of this kind before, but this one really stands out thanks to the way it flows and its overall gentle feel.

Typically when you have an anime about a young guy surrounded by girls who worship him the focus tends to be put on weird situations, hilarious rivalries, and overall wacky plots whose only goal is to entertain through the use of situational humor and visual gags. Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi is different in that it places a lot of emphasis on everyday things for the most part and does a surprising job in keeping its characters and situations from going overboard and making the show little more than a comedy. With the love between Kaoru and Aoi at the heart of the plot there really is no need for the story to have to depend on anything else, this relationship is what the series is all about and the way it handles it is magnificent to say the least.

Instead of your typical eccentric male lead or the possessive female lead what we have here are two people who are very much in love with each other and can’t wait to spend the rest of their lives together, openly. Yes, the other female characters are all very much in love with Kaoru, however it doesn’t develop into love triangles, which if you follow anime to any degree you know it’s a fairly common plot device used in shows like Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi. Instead the tension that exists in their relationship is more the result of their having to keep it a secret from everyone until Kaoru can prove to Aoi’s family that he is worthy of being her husband and the heir to the Sakuraba family’s business.

This was the common thread that linked these first four episodes together. Aside from that the stories were very much stand alone chapters in a bigger play. As such they serve mostly as a way to re-acquaint us with the cast, the relationships that they hold with each other and further develop Chika as the newest member of the household.

Probably the best episode here would have to be the first one as it had a lot of sweet moments between the characters and allowed us to make the rounds in the household and learn more about everyone as Chika interviews the girls to see who loves Kaoru. The fourth episode also provided a nice contrast to the other three in that it had more on the comedic-side of the equation helping to break the pace just enough to entertain us with a different side of the cast. The other two episodes were nice outlets for character exploration and further development of Aoi and Kaoru.

The production quality for this show reflects the beauty found in its story and characters, presenting us with an elegant animated rendition of the story originally found in Kou Fumizuki’s manga (which this anime is based on). The colors are vibrant and extremely colorful, the frame rate is very smooth, and visual effects are sprinkled throughout for atmospheric effects.

The music is as perfect a fit as the visuals with subtle instrumental pieces that enhance the already rich atmosphere that exists within the show. The opening and closing themes are nicely composed and fit in well with the show’s overall feel. The voice acting was particularly good as the actors were able to infuse their onscreen persona’s with a lot of feeling and liveliness.

The DVD as put together by Geneon perfectly captures the elegant beauty of this anime. It features amazing cover art on both sides of the box, including a reversible cover. Inside the box there's a small insert with several photos from the show on one side and a nice rendering of Aoi on the other. Other extras contained within the DVD itself include the special episode "Miyuki", which takes place before the beginning of the series and previews for other Geneon releases.

The quality of the transfer here is beyond words. The video is almost unbelievably sharp and colorful with no visible defects that I could detect. The audio comes through clear and free of any noises or problems. Both the English and Japanese audio tracks are encoded with Dolby Digital 2.0

Final Thoughts

Right after watching this DVD I proceeded to kick myself in the head for having taken so long to check it out. If you’re into romance anime or those shows where a guy always finds himself surrounded by girls that like him (Tenchi, Ranma, Kimagure Orange Road, etc) this might be a really good series for you to check out. I know it took me by surprise!

Can’t wait to get into volume 2 now!

Jeffrey Couto