Around 1995, Japanese animation (anime) began pouring into North America, Europe and across the globe in video form. Most of these titles were unknown outside of Japan and never covered by animation journals. Whether a title is highly popular or very obscure, a high quality theatrical feature or a cheap and unimaginative direct-to-video release, they all look the same on a store shelf. Therefore, Animation World Magazine will regularly review several new releases (including re-releases not previously covered) that have merit.

Ai Yori Aoshi, or Bluer than Indigo, brings true heart and humor to this first love tale.

Ai Yori Aoshi. V.1, Faithfully Yours. V.2, My Dearest. V.3, Hugs and Kisses. V.4, Truly Yours. V.5, With All My Heart.
TV series (24 episodes), 2002. Director: Masami Shimoda. V.1-4, five episodes/120 minutes; v.5, four episodes/100 minutes. Price & format: DVD bilingual $29.98. Distributor: Geneon/Pioneer Entertainment.

Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi. V.1, Fate. V.2, Bond. V.3, Destiny.
TV series (12 episodes), 2003. Director: Masami Shimoda. V.1-3, four episodes/100 minutes. Price & format: DVD bilingual $29.98. Distributor: Geneon/Pioneer Entertainment.

Ai Yori Aoshi (Bluer Than Indigo; for some reason the American distributors have retained the untranslated title) is an adolescent first love comedy (24 episodes, broadcast April 10 to September 26, 2002; animated by J.C. Staff) that emphasizes tender romance over wacky fantasy, although there is plenty of humor. Kaoru Hanabishi is a college student living alone who is dumbfounded to have a playmate from his infancy visit him. Kaoru was the heir of an ancient noble family who rejected its haughty arrogance years earlier, and has been living on his own merits since then. He only dimly remembers Aoi Sakuraba as a playground companion. But she is the heir of a powerful business dynasty, and their parents had planned their marriage from their birth. Kaoru never knew this, but Aoi has grown up expecting to wed him some day.

The news that the Hanabishis have finally given up expecting Kaoru to return and have disinherited him, and that the arranged marriage has been cancelled, has shocked Aoi into determining to meet Kaoru for the first time in their adult lives and decide for herself how she feels about him. Kaoru is equally shocked to find a nervous girl who is practically a stranger proclaiming herself his fiancée, but he can appreciate her desire to break free from the arbitrary life that her family has planned for her.

Thanks to the machinations of romantic comedies, the Sakurabas devise a plan to let Aoi “get her romantic foolishness out of her system.” One of their “minor estates” is turned into a college rooming house with Kaoru as the main tenant, Aoi as the titular landlord, and attractive but stern Miyabi Kagurazaki as a combination manager/duenna/housemother to make sure nothing improper goes on. Some of Kaoru’s college classmates (all girls) also move in, and Ai Yori Aoshi soon has the requisite anime love comedy cast of one well-mannered, shy guy living in a household of attractive, free-spirited girls (Tina Foster, a Japanese parody of American big-breasted, sexually-uninhibited blondes; Taeko Minazuki, the well-meaning klutz who is always accidentally breaking things; a new girl every few episodes to provide more variety).

All the formula situations are here: Kaoru trying to study for the big exam despite frustrating interruptions by his rowdy pals; the summer beach party; which girl is the best cook; the visit to the hot springs; Kaoru innocently stumbling upon one girl or another in embarrassing circumstances; and, of course, developing romances among the supporting cast.

In the three-episode dramatic finale, Aoi’s parents realize that their plan is not working and call her home for a new arranged marriage designed to increase the Sakurabi financial empire. Kaoru and Aoi must decide whether they truly love each other enough to defy her father. The series was popular enough that a 12-episode sequel, Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi (Bluer Than Indigo: Fate), appeared a year later on Japanese TV (October 5 to December 28, 2003). It is scheduled for an American three-volume DVD release in July, September and November.