Ai Yori Aoshi (藍より青し) is a manga by Kou Fumizuki released in 1998 on Hakusensha's Young Animal, a magazine for young men. The original manga series ended its run in 2005.
The literal translation of the title is "Bluer Than Indigo," however the title is a play on words, where the word "Ai" means love even though the kanji used for "Ai" does not. Thus, the title is also translated as "True Blue Love."
Ai Yori Aoshi was made into an anime on 2002 and a video game was released for PlayStation 2. The title is taken from a Xun Zi's quote, Ao ha Ai yori Idete Ai yori Aoshi (青は藍より出でて藍より青し). The anime series was completed when its second season under the title Ai Yori Aoshi -Enishi- was completed in 2003 (藍より青し ～縁～). The anime was released in North America by Geneon and in Singapore by Odex. The manga was released in English by TokyoPop.
The series is sometimes referred to as a halfway point between a harem anime and a magical girlfriend story.
Story
Kaoru Hanabishi appears to be an average university student but he is really the eldest son of Yuji Hanabishi, the head of Hanabishi Zaibatsu, and is to take over the zaibatsu after his father retires. His mother, Hisami Honjo and his father never married and this had made the life difficult for both him and his mother. Kaoru's father died when Kaoru was five years old. Since then, Yuji's father, the grandfather to Kaoru, took Kaoru under his wing and began educating him for the eventual succession. Yet Kaoru never was at home in the Hanabishi family and left to live by himself after his mother died.
There is, however, someone who loved Kaoru so much that she would do whatever necessary to be with him.
Her name is Aoi Sakuraba. Aoi is the only daughter of the owner of Sakuraba Kimono Store (later renamed to Sakuraba Department Store). Kaoru's family and Sakuraba's family had agreed for Kaoru to wed Aoi but after Kaoru walked out, the marriage had been cancelled. Both families had a friendly relationship and Aoi had been in love with Kaoru from the start, which Kaoru never knew. The Sakuraba family had already been looking out for someone suitable but Aoi unwilling to marry someone else and walked out, chasing Kaoru.
Both were freed from their families affair but did not know how to make their living. Miyabi Kagurazaki, who had been looking out for Aoi, offered the two a way. Aoi and Miyabi would live together in a grand western style summer house of Sakuraba family and Kaoru would live in a house for servants next to it. This would prevent a scandal, much like the one that had made Kaoru's life difficult, as two would be living separately. But soon, Kaoru's friends who just happen to be attractive females, took residence in the house and it quickly became a dormitory. Very soon, Aoi became a landlady of the dormitory.
Major Characters and Seiyuu
Names are in Western order, with the given name before the surname.
- Kaoru Hanabishi (花菱薫 Hanabishi Kaoru) by Soichiro Hoshi
The main male protagonist of the series. He is a fairly average person and he does not fit the mould of the stereotypical male hero in most harem anime series. For the most part, he is shown to be a fairly good student, and is not prone to emotional outbursts unlike other leading males in harem anime. He is generally well liked and is a member of the photography club at his college. He harbours a deep dislike for the Hanabishi clan due to their inhumane treatment of himself and his mother, due to the clan's disapproval of his parents' relationship. Kaoru's mother and father never married, and he was an illegitimate child. His back is scarred from when he was beaten with a bamboo cane for trying to prevent his grandfather from burning mementos of his dead mother.
- Aoi Sakuraba (桜庭葵 Sakuraba Aoi) by Ayako Kawasumi
The main female protagonist of the series. She is generally very shy and demure. She is almost always portrayed wearing a kimono and specifically, a blue kimono. Because she is a very good cook and keeps her house in a very clean state, she is seen as a traditional Japanese beauty. Unlike other female leads in harem anime, she is not prone to jealousy. She is very devoted to Kaoru, however, and will do all in her power to prevent being separated from him. When Kaoru moved into the Sakuraba summer house, she was appointed to be the landlord by Miyabi. Aoi has a quiet but strong willfulness. Many viewers mistake this for meekness or subservience due to her mild temperment.
Aoi's given name (Aoi) means "blue," and her surname (Sakuraba) means "cherryblosom."
- Tina Foster (ティナ・フォスター) by Satsuki Yukino
Tina was born in the United States, but spent the majority of her life in Hakata, a ward in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. She attends the same school as Kaoru, and was the one to get him to join the photography club, which she is also a member of. She moves into the servant house that Kaoru is staying in because she had no place to stay after returning to Japan from a trip around the world. She has a habit of grabbing and rubbing female's breasts, which most people find very uncouth. She is loud and outspoken and very protective of Kaoru when it comes to Mayu. She is also very fond of drinking. She has a white pet ferret, named Uzume, which most of the cast finds very cute, except for Miyabi.
In many respects, Tina is one of the more deeply developed characters of the show, despite her ditzy behavior. Being an American, and yet having been raised in Japan, she is constantly haunted by the fact that she can never truly fit in in either country. When she left Japan to attend high school in America, she explained that she was unable to fit in there because she was culturally Japanese. But she also realizes that she can never truly fit in Japan either, because of her apprearance. Tina wishes that she had been born Japanese, so that perhaps she would have a better chance at winning Kaoru's heart.
Tina is very deeply in love with Kaoru, but pains her heart with efforts to hide her feelings, because she thinks that he could never feel the same way about her.
- Miyabi Kagurazaki (神楽崎雅 Kagurazaki Miyabi) by Akiko Hiramatsu
Aoi's appointed guardian, she spent most of her life looking after Aoi and helping in her upbringing. She is also very active in the running of the Sakuraba department store. She is generally very strict and enforces the rules of the Sakuraba summer house as the manager. Although she initially disliked Kaoru (and all of his friends), she learns to accept him because of the feelings that Aoi and Kaoru have for each other. She is also very fond of breaking watermelons in the summer.
- Taeko Minazuki (水無月妙子 Minazuki Taeko) by Kaori Mizuhashi
Taeko is a new member of the photography club and eventually moves into the Sakuraba summer house as the housekeeper after being fired from her previous housekeeping job. Her most prominent features are her very large breasts and her clumsiness. She was so clumsy that Aoi had to convince Miyabi to hire her, as she had a tendency to break a lot of valuable objects. Taeko explains that the reason she wants to be a housekeeper so badly is because when she was very young, her father died and her mother had to raise her as a single parent. Taeko's mother was very proficient at keeping house, and Taeko wishes to achieve the same proficiency that her mother had. She also develops feelings for Kaoru as the series progresses.
Taeko's given name (Taeko) means "delicate child" in Japanese, reflecting her clumsy personality.
- Mayu Miyuki (美幸繭 Miyuki Mayu) by Sayaka Narita
Something of a prodigy, Mayu applies to Kaoru's college after finding out where he attended. She is in love with him because he cheered her up at a party when she was 12 years old. At that time, Mayu's parents informed her that they would be missing her 12th birthday because of business overseas. They gave her a stuffed rabbit that she had been asking for as a gift to make up for it. Mayu's parents had been holding a party for their business partners, and no matter what Mayu said or did, her parents simply did not have the time for her. Dismayed, Mayu ran off into the woods, bumping into Kaoru and dropping her rabbit as she fled. Kaoru followed her and tried to cheer her up, but she exclaimed that her parents did not take care of her at all, and that they also did not love her. Kaoru then uses the rabbit (which he named "Ussa") as a puppet to cheer up Mayu, telling her that her parents do love her very much, and that even if they do not pay as much attention to her as they should, it's better than having no parents at all, like himself. This left a significant impact on Mayu, and she kept and cherished Ussa to the current day.
Mayu is still very lonely, because her parents are always busy working. She does not let others know this though, and hides behind an air of superiority. She thinks that Tina is especially uncouth and cannot stand her presence. She tries as hard as she can to do things that would make Kaoru happy, such as learning how to cook from Aoi so she could make lunch for him.
Mayu's given name (Mayu) means "cocoon," a reference to her family owning a silk company. The material from the cocoons of silkworms are used to make silk.
- Chika Minazuka (水無月ちか Minazuka Chika) by Haruko Momoi
Taeko's younger cousin. During the summer she spends most of her time working in a cafe down by the beach. Because of this, she is very tanned. She notices that Taeko has a crush on Kaoru and spends a lot of time trying to fix the two of them up. She is generally upbeat and energetic, and due to her appearance was frequently compared to Kaolla Suu from Love Hina. She occasionally has mild feelings for Kaoru as the series progresses, but for the most part, looks up to him as an older brother.
- Uzume (ウズメ) by Yuka Inokuchi - Tina's pet ferret. He seems to prefer the company of Miyabi, much to Tina's chagrin.