Rating: 
Summary: Excruciating
Review: This is one of those harem shows, like Tenchi or Love Hina. The difference is that, more than most, this is a barely disguised male-domination fantasy. All of the characters are basically clichés designed to fulfill fetishes .... Unlike the confident and fully realized characters of the aforementioned Tenchi and Hina, these are broken records that exist to inexplicably fall in love with the alpha male .... The male is a nice guy who gets nosebleeds and feels marginally bad about it. That's it really. His "tragic past" is revealed and then ignored,... Now, all of this can be dismissed as some sort of cultural study (as many reviewers have), and I guess I can accept that. Indeed, it could be the only excuse for this being imported in the first place. What I cannot accept is the total lack of actual humor. ... It's all horribly predicable. If you want to study Japanese culture through anime, there is NOTHING here that cannot be found in FAR MORE entertaining shows. In fact, EVERY OTHER show (even the deplorable "Kanon") that deals with teenage male/female relationships in Japan is a better watch, as far as I can think (and I've seen pretty much everything that's made it to America and some that hasn't). The animation isn't even anything special, although it isn't poor. In conclusion: This is probably one of the worst anime series that I have ever had the misfortune of paying money for, not for poor quality but merely for being an offensive waste of time. ... Perhaps it'll get better in the future, but I'll never know since they've already lost me with this first volume....
Rating: 
Summary: Exactly what I thought it would be
Review: This is taken straight from the manga, word for word. This made it boring to watch because I knew what was going to happen. The animation is beautiful, and the voice acting is fairly well-done in both versions. But I found the story to be rather cliched.
Rating:
Summary: Great series! Wonderful romantic story. Starts off right..
Review: This is the first disc of Ai Yori Aoshi. A very heartfelt series with some great romantic storylines. The only fault I have with this disc is that the last episode seems so out of place. In one swoop the show degenerates into a complete fan-service mish-mash. But aside from that out-of-place "breast" episode ending the disc the rest are absolutely wonderful. Definitely worth picking up even though the last episode brought down the whole IMHO. 5 stars out of 5 for the first episodes and only 3 stars for the last. It isn't a completely horrible episode, but just seems that way because of those previous.
Rating: 
Summary: A must own for serious anime fans...
Review: This is the most beautifully drawn, written, and produced anime I've seen. As I am more of an action/comedy anime fan (Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Akira, Excel Saga) I was surprised at how quickly I fell in love with the story. Set in modern Japan, the first few episodes are very serious, indroducing a love story that began in childhood, but was interupted when Kaoru left his clan and the arranged marriage to Aoi due to his abusive grandfather, and is attending college in Tokyo. Devastated by the news that Kaoru's departure from his clan has also ended their arranged marriage, Aoi, a beautiful tradtionally raised girl, sneaks away from home to find Kaoru, who she hasn't seen since they were children, in the hope that he will still accept her as his wife. As though it is fate, Kaoru finds Aoi lost and frightened in the Tokyo subway, and unwittingly guides her to the address she seeks... his own apartment. The story progresses through Kaoru's and Aoi's daily lives as thier love for each other develops and grows, with both touching scenes mixed with some outrageous slapstic comedy (due to the fact that thier newly renewed engagement must be kept secret from everyone). Combined with the spectacular animation, well developed characters, excellent music, and touching storyline, Ai Yori Aoshi has become my favorite anime series and I recommend it wholeheartedly. This is not for young children, however. There are breif scenes of watered-down nudity, and some adult humor.
Rating:
Summary: The best love story I've ever seen
Review: This series has a heart and soul. It is so kind and sweet you would think it would be syrupy, but somehow ai yori aoshi manages to balance the underlying story of two soulmates growing together with conflict that is far from earth-shaking but somehow reads more true for it's trivial, day-to-day nature. Along the way you get an intriguing glimpse at the last remains of feudal/traditional japan through the two protagonists, particularly the character Aoi. The interest is greater because of the setting, a modern day Tokyo where Aoi's traditional mannerisims and garb are just unusual enough to generate interest. Aoi's "I exist for my man" attitude suprisingly failed to offend my more feminist-minded friends, perhaps because of her traditional background, or maybe because it's clear that Aoi has made a concious choice to live that way... I don't know, but it works and isn't offensive. And none of what I'm saying does Ai Yori Aoshi justice. Let me put it this way. If you watch this series you will feel happy. And the feeling grows as you get further into it. You can watch trusting that in the end, things will be ok. Unless you have a heart of flint, ai yori aoshi will reach you. And you will feel better having seen it. It's simply the most satisfying story of two people in love I think I will ever see. I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Rating:
Summary: Very promising romantic comedy in the beginning
Review: This series is good couples Anime. These first episodes bring the relationship of Karu Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba to the forefront. It seems that long ago, when they were children, their families had arranged them to be married. But, someting went wrong and Aoi wants to find out why... The character Aoi might not be popualr to the modern American audience. All appearances say that she has grown and developed in a very protective environment only to become the perfect traditional Japanese wife. Some people may be quickly annoyed by her inherant subservience and overly apologetic nature. Yet, she has an assertiveness that helps her overcome the bias of her character and helps to round out a very powerful role in the story. Sadly the story falls into some way-too-easy comedic trappings with the 5th episode by introducing the harem aspect of the series with Tina, the "American". Don't worry though, she will behave herself later. Aside from the culture-shock and boobie-humor that this series contains, there is a good strong beginning to a heart warming and against-all-odds love affair between the main characters. Also: Look out for the nudity. It's not detailed, but there are quite a bit of bathtime body pans. And beware the English dub. The translated voice acting sounds as if it's being read from a book with little to no attention to the emotion in the scene.
Rating:
Summary: Very promising romantic comedy in the beginning
Review: This series is good couples Anime. These first episodes bring the relationship of Karu Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba to the forefront. It seems that long ago, when they were children, their families had arranged them to be married. But, someting went wrong and Aoi wants to find out why... The character Aoi might not be popualr to the modern American audience. All appearances say that she has grown and developed in a very protective environment only to become the perfect traditional Japanese wife. Some people may be quickly annoyed by her inherant subservience and overly apologetic nature. Yet, she has an assertiveness that helps her overcome the bias of her character and helps to round out a very powerful role in the story. Sadly the story falls into some way-too-easy comedic trappings with the 5th episode by introducing the harem aspect of the series with Tina, the "American". Don't worry though, she will behave herself later. Aside from the culture-shock and boobie-humor that this series contains, there is a good strong beginning to a heart warming and against-all-odds love affair between the main characters. Also: Look out for the nudity. It's not detailed, but there are quite a bit of bathtime body pans. And beware the English dub. The translated voice acting sounds as if it's being read from a book with little to no attention to the emotion in the scene.
Rating:
Summary: A tragedy hiding in comedy
Review: This was recommended to me by my friend about a year or two ago. She said it was cute and sad and all the stuff that are almost always abundant in anime like this, so of course I check it out. All 26 episodes.
The reviews have said that it was a more adult version of Love Hina. I can honestly say that they got that right and though Love Hina isn't exactly a great anime, I'll prefer that crazy story line than this one because Love Hina at least is funny in the parts that are supposed to be funny. This story may or may not try to be Love Hina but it certainly tries to be funny with all kinds of kinky-ness that occur between the girls and Kaoru. And it isn't funny because it's so predictable and so FORCED. This anime has serious themes to it one being child abuse and because of these themes the whole harem of girls and all the incidents is just done in bad taste and like I said done in such a FORCED manner that it left me feeling sick.
Not only that, Aoi is just a stereotypical Japanese female. Perfect for males but being female and seeing a female like this is disturbing. Maybe it's because I'm used to my American ways but being a doormat, submissive female who does nothing but cook and clean and have absolutely no ambitions other than to be the perfect wife is just sickening. She is so out there, so clingy, so dependent, so extemely submissive, so much like a doormat. They try to make this comedic but it made me feel disturbed. Why throw away a story of "adult" themes, with typical female characters, the stereotypical doormat female, and the stereotypical "incidents" that involve said typical females.
Were the animators afraid that if they didn't do the typical "accidental nudity" they would lose its male viewers?
On a good note: (at least something I found worthwhile watching this farce) The beginning and ending songs are great.
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