Ai Yori Aoshi

Why do I rate this anime so highly? Why do I give a 10 in nearly every category? Well, it's simple. It's an awesome show! In my own personal taste, in what I liked to see in an anime, this was what hit the spot. I'll review this as I have a few others, by category then by my overall take on it. **Story** First of all, the story. In my opinion, one of the 2 most important aspects of any anime. You can have crazy action, you can have ecchi-ness and nudity, whatever, but without an actual story thatmakes sense and that is fun to follow, there's nothing to be had from watching it. When I first heard of this anime, I thought it sounded silly - a man who's had some girl devote herself to him since she was little who plans on marrying him and giving herself completely to him. Who does that? But as I watched more and more into the show, I began to realize that it was exactly that point that made this story so unique and fresh. Karou already has Aoi-chan. She's his, will be his wife one day. But then you've got a twist that they have to hide it. Suddenly Karou is surrounded by other girls, and you've got yourself what appears to be a typical harem anime. However (I won't spoil) there's so much more that happens here and much later into the anime that just makes you root for everyone; Karou and Aoi and all the other characters. **Art** What can I say? This one is beautiful. Attention to detail everywhere, from the outfits to the floorboards and walls. It would see that every scene is fully animated and given great care. There are several of those "awww" moments with the gorgeous backgrounds, the shading and texturing on the faces, all that jazz. I really can't say more here, as you just have to see it. **Sound** The only category I did not give a 10. It takes a lot for me to give an anime a 10 in sound. In this category I include the music as well as every little sound effect and noise and speech and everything else. The music was alright, nothing too special, nothing that blew me away. The sound quality, likewise. But it was the character's emotions in the voices that made me rate this as high as I did. You can feel true emotion pouring out. So well voice acted that at times, you want to cry right along with a character. **Character** The other most important aspect to an anime. Without a good set of characters and the way they interact, what's left? A narrative about the beautiful landscape? No, especially in this show, the characters are a major driving factor. I would even go so far as to say that characters are what determine, develop and drive a story. That being said, Ai yori Aoshi brings us some of the most interesting and lovable characters I've seen in an anime. You've got crazies, you've got adorable cuties, you've got sensitives, hard-asses, uptights, lowlives, and nearly every imaginable kind of character, all represented amazingly well. The only other thing I can say about this category is that when you have such high quality characters interacting with each other, you're bound to have an emotional response, be it laughter, crying, anger, frustration or something else. I experienced all these while watching. **Enjoyment** Well, as you can tell thus far, I enjoyed this anime. Like I mentioned before, I've watched it three times. There's just something about Aoi-chan that keeps bringing me back to watch this. Karou, likewise. He's a great guy. He genuinely cares for those around him, and especially Aoi-chan. The same parts that made me cry and laugh and get frustrated the first time had a similar effect the second and third time. I wouldn't doubt it if I watched it again, I had the same responses. Not much else to say, other than mentioning that the dialogue and story are what make this so enjoyable to me. **Overall** How do I feel about this anime overall? Well, obviously I loved it. One of my favorites. I rated it a 10 overall. Why? As I stated above, all these categories shine out. I truly enjoyed every aspect of this anime. I love watching the ending as it feels so resolved (even though they made a sequel, which is also good). I get such a good feeling after finishing this anime. If you at all enjoy romance and slice-of-life genres, then you must give this anime a try.

This IS the best ROMANTIC Seinen anime ever..... To me the story feels like Love Hina yet more Japanese, the main plot is that Kaoru is a student and by chance meets a girl who is lost at the Tokyo Station, he helps her and so have it she is going near where he lives, Kaoru helps the girl (Aoi) out to find the house but yet to find a empty plot, so the note she had was wrong, it starts to rain and Kaoru lets Aoi come to his place to keep dry then he finds out who he is and thats the person Aoiwas looking for. This is all in the 1st episode (which i have to say is one of best opening to an anime i have seen) then the rest of episodes are like Love Hina with the day to day life. I would put no more but with the great voice acting of all characters like Tina (whos voice is perfect for that character) and also Aoi and etc.... The animation skills are top notch and with a great story and music this is a perfect anime, unlike Love Hina there are a couple straight away but have to hide it from the world due to some reasons you will find out. The ending is quite good but was quite predictable, but i didnt see no wedding which is what i wanted to see but maybe its in the next season. A nice mix of how the girls all get to like Kaoru was nice development and also the way its portrayed and stuff was amazing overall a MUST for any romance fans.

This is so far my favorite anime that I have seen so far. Its the kind of anime you don't want to end, because you want to watch more of it lol. Its a great story of a guy and a girl who has pretty much been waiting her whole life to be with him. It is technically a "harem romance" but it is really close to just a pure romance, because even though the main character is surrounded by girls, it is very clear who his love is. Like i said earlier, the story is very good about a girl who has been waitingher whole life to be with the guy she loves and how they interact with each other and the things that they have to go through to be together. It has lots of fun and interesting characters. Unlike traditional harem romances, they main character knows who he loves and wants to be with, unlike the usual premise where he has to decide by the end of the show. The main female character has no doubt of who she wants to be with also. The other girls are also fun and likable, in as much as you don't really find yourself rooting against them, even though you know what the primary outcome is going to be. The art and music are also very well done. The art is drawn very well and is bright and colorful. There is a lot of good music in the anime, not just the opening and closing scores but also in the episodes themselves. basically I really enjoyed watching it, to the extent that i have re-watched it 3 times. I really believe that if you like romance animes, that you will love this one.