When I was a small girl, slowly inching my way into the foray of watching anime avidly, a lot of things were popular. There was this new series, Mahou Sensei Negima!?, which had just come out with its first volume, and everyone was excited about it. Curious about the author's other works, I innocently thought to myself "let me check out this anime called Love Hina," and well...Love Hina put me
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When I was a small girl, slowly inching my way into the foray of watching anime avidly, a lot of things were popular. There was this new series, Mahou Sensei Negima!?, which had just come out with its first volume, and everyone was excited about it. Curious about the author's other works, I innocently thought to myself "let me check out this anime called Love Hina," and well...Love Hina put me off. If there's one good thing Love Hina did for me, it was introduce me to this anime.
Ai Yori Aoshi saved the romance genre for me in 2008, though it came out in 2002. The main characters, Kaoru Hanabishi and Sakuraba Aoi, have a dynamic that is both heartwarming and dynamic; they grow as people, and they grow as lovers over the entirety of the show. The non-main couple characters are also well fleshed out (I had the biggest little gay crush on Tina Foster), but the spotlight is always on the hidden love between Kaoru and Aoi. This anime is tagged as a harem, but the essence of the show is anything but that; where Love Hina's harem was punctuated by Keitaro's accidental antics and characters falling for him because of his moments of clarity, Ai Yori Aoshi's harem is more of a "everyone realizes they have no chance because he's so in love with Aoi" kind of harem. It's about love found, then lost; and the resilience of two people despite (admittedly sometimes comical) obstacles. It's truly one of the best romances of the 2000's.
Ai Yori Aoshi's visuals have aged decently well (you just gotta get over the early 2000's face, and most everything else is fine), and its background art still manages to stun me even 15 years after its release. It looks really good. Solid visuals combined with a really good opening and ending (Towa no Hana is the opening for both AyA and AyA: Enishi; Enishi's ED is just a later part of the 5 minute song, if memory serves), and a fulfilling romance with a host of other, wonderful characters lands this anime at a solid to-watch for any fan of hetero romance.
Postnote: This also has (or should have, if it doesn't) the ecchi tag for a good reason. Little xx year old me was afraid her mom would kick me off the laptop if she found out I was watching this at some points.
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