Aoi Hana

Finally had the time to catch up...at least until episode 7. Which I knew it would make me laugh =D

Why the heck did she had to come out? It's not like they were super serious. Anyway, her sisters and mother and damn hilarious! After all that "are you lesbian? oh you're bisexual" and clearly making Fumi uncomfortable Kuri asks "sorry, do you mind if I smoke?" xD
Aah and the mother's comment about next level lol precious.
Let's see how they wrap up this up until episode 11. But I bet they'll make a second season or leave it to the manga. No way it fits u.u
 
Episode 8

I have absolutely no idea how I feel about this show. I'll probably have to marathon Maria-sama in order to get some perspective before considering a review (grrrr!). Achan is one of my favorite characters ever, but Fumi continues to frustrate... On the other hand, this episode had plenty of nifty foreshadowing/emotional damage/tears, so I dunno.

The Sugimoto-Kyoko confrontation and the final scene in the cafe were GOOD, but not as powerful as I would have liked. The montage scene kind of blew (it might be in comparison to Popotan's episode 3 montage, which was full of win), but the sentiment was there. Everyone's hearts are breaking and love growing soooo subtly that there's little room for real fanfare. I felt a little let down by this episode, even though it delivered a fair amount of plot and (what should have been) drama.

How can something so pretty move me so little? Am I missing something? Noir? Anyone?
 
Episode 9

I actually didn't want to set everyone on fire and even laughed a few times. The series seems to do a little better when it's not really about anything than when it attempts drama--at least to my eyes.
 
Episode 11

... ... ... If there's anyone listening you have one week to convince me that wasn't a COMPLETE waste of my time.
 
... ... ... If there's anyone listening you have one week to convince me that wasn't a COMPLETE waste of my time.

I don't think I can convince you otherwise; different strokes for different folks. While not the most engaging anime, I enjoyed it quite a bit (but then again I tend to like the slower paced slice of life stuff). I haven't read the manga, so I don't know if the story continues (which I'm sure it does) but how it ended was fine with me.
 
Just watched the final two episodes and I've got to admit that they were pretty darn good. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but it the end it stayed true to itself. This ISN'T your conventional yuri series. In fact, at its very core Aoi Hana isn't a show about girl-on-girl relationships, though I only realized it at the very end. Much like Hatsukoi Limited, Aoi Hana is a story about first loves, moving on and... not much else, really. I did hate Yasuko's character with a passion, but Fumi more than made up for it. Loved the hand-painted backgrounds, loved the music, and really liked the show in general.

4 / 5
 
This anime seems to be met with mixed reviews so I'll just toss out my experience.

I'd first like to point out that this is my first anime in the genre. I've watched many romance/drama anime before, but this was my first shoujo-ai. I didn't watch it because I wanted to see girl on girl action, I watched it for the romance aspect. I found this anime while quite randomly wondering around the website and decided I'd give it a try.

It has been about 24 hours since I started watching the anime and I finished it about a half hour ago. The show sucked me in instantly. I found that I liked the characters (at least the 2 main characters Akira and Fumi) and that I identified with them (especially Fumi.)

I will say the show was rather slow, but in my opinion, it wasn't so slow to the fact that I'd drop or stall watching it. If this show was longer, I probably would have found it to be boring, but considering it was the length it was, I think it achieved it's primary goal.

My one and only complaint is the ending. I feel it ended fairly abruptly and I was hoping more would develop.
I was especially looking forward to seeing a relationship form between Achan and Fumi in the end, but we don't always get what we want.

That being said. All around I was happy with the series and I think I'm going to give it a 4/5.
 
...
My one and only complaint is the ending. I feel it ended fairly abruptly and I was hoping more would develop.
I was especially looking forward to seeing a relationship form between Achan and Fumi in the end, but we don't always get what we want.

That being said. All around I was happy with the series and I think I'm going to give it a 4/5.
Well, the manga isn't completed yet so
an ending such as the one they chose was pretty much their only option.
 
whoa lot's of hate up in here.
I'm glad I didn't look at this before I finished the series :)

I watched this over the course of last week. My biggest complaints are Fumi's horrible voice actress and the sluggish pace of the first half of this 11 episode series. That said my overall experience was good.
If you look at what happened as a whole it was a well constructed story.
I don't care about the manga.
Using the high school play as a metaphor and a central theme that tied all the main players together.... I thought that was just brilliant. I think they managed to capture quite a few genuine moments of teen drama that I haven't really seen done well before in anime. Yasuko was by far the most interesting character but based on the what OP implies I wasn't expecting her to be a main character.

I kept thinking A-chan and Yumi were going to hook up. false advertising I say.

A-chan was just awesome. She was easily the most likable character here and the only one developed who wasn't a total wack job imo.
It wasn't the most fun show to watch, and I probably will never watch this again but I still thought it was pretty good. 4/5

the music was really, really nice. I especially like the OP and the melodramatic instrumental used throughout with the flute.
 
As mentioned by Anime News Network

Kōji Yamamoto, Fuji TV's producer for many of the anime in the late-night Noitamina timeslot, confirmed in an interview that a second anime season of Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) is not being produced.

Writer Kumao Ōyama interviewed Yamamoto along with ASMIK Ace publicity producer Fumie Takeuchi on the Tokyo pop culture site Luvits.

In the interview, Yamamoto said, "We made an extremely high-quality anime called Aoi Hana, but the DVDs didn't sell so a second season hasn't been made.

Which sucks because it really was a great show. It's a pity it didnt catch on.
 
Bumping for the buddy group.

Episode 1

Quick warning for everyone, I'm up to date with the manga, so if it follows that closely, I'll be pretty clued up on everything that happens. Having said that, I don't want to compare the story to the manga all that much, only that the atmosphere is the same. And judging from this first episode, they've got it right.

Fumi-chan and Chizu-chan, Fumi is in love with her cousin, problem is Chizu is getting married yet she didn't tell Fumi, which is quite cruel imo. Ah-chan meets Kyouko too and starts at Fujigaya which seems to be a proper 'young lady' school. Ah-chan and Fumi-chan reunite after 10 years.

They nailed Ah-chan's voice perfectly, I was apprehensive of Fumi's at first, but by the end of the episode it seemed about right, I like how the backgrounds are all done in watercolour, almost as if drawn by the mangaka herself. All in, a strong start.
 
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Episode 1:

General vibes I get from this is it'll be a slower paced show than what I'm used to but tbh I think it does very well here. The water colored backgrounds are a nice aesthetic choice for the art style and the atmosphere felt calm and peaceful. I could really just sit back and relax while watching which is a sign it's definitely keeping my attention.

Fumi and Akira with their personalities of one being shy and reserved while the other was more assertive I honestly found likable. There wasn't anything that felt overplayed and exaggerated with most romances I see, everything flowed pretty naturally. Overall the beginning has got me interested and I'm looking forward to how there relationship develops from here on out.
 
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Episode 1:

Well, this is insanely pretty to look at, just like that other Takako Shimura manga that became an anime. I've already watched this once but I forgot that Fumi and her cousin were in love. Maybe it's just one-sided, but Chizu seemed to know about Fumi's feelings at the very least, so her keeping mum about the wedding plans just seemed insanely cruel.
 
Episode 1
I was expecting a narration from the main girl but instead I got a sepia-toned little girl bawling her eyes out and it felt so depressing, yet stylish. Damn it looked good.
And then the slow-paced, non-depressing (Because I just know the lyrics would be like that and be all heartwarming and sweet) OP starts, which also looks good. Not judging it solely on the naked chicks at the end.

Man I love the style. And I want some toast.

Woah, a bus station. I only expected a gorgeous train station.

Holy shit this is gorgeous. I cannot mention it's beauty enough because holy crap it's gorgeous. The gorgeous- THOSE WIDDLE GIRLS IN THEIR WIDDLE OUTFITS ARE SO ADORABLE
Someone drew and painted a series of pictures and called it an anime.

This is totally irrelevant but Manjoume, that guy from 20th Century Boys, aide to Friend shares the same name as Tall Girl Fumi. That just sort of popped into my head.
Now Wisteria, think that's from some pansy game I was playing or like it. Magical Diary maybe.

I heard sexiness, must be Tall Girl Red Head is thinking about.

The music is beautiful as well. The entire thing is beautiful.

The meeting on the train and the meeting in the afternoon was quite serendipitous.

I totally get the implications and all that jazz near the ending. It has penetrated the density of my psyche and pierced my heart.

It was pretty gorgeous, and then the EP happened.
 
Episode 2

Ah poor Fumi, she really does cry a lot, but not without reason, not only is the person she loves (and perhaps lost her virginity to?) getting married, but she then parades the husband in front of her, and then expects her to go to her wedding, while only springing the marriage on her a matter of days before it all happens.

Ah-chan joins the drama club with Kyouko, and we get introduced to Sugimoto-san, Fumi's sempai, who is being cast as Heathcliffe in Fujigaya's culture festival.

I like the relationship between Fumi and Ah-chan, they kind of cancel each other out in a good way, and both seem to get a lot from their friendship which is really nice to see. I look forward to seeing how the anime portrays the relationships between all the characters as the show progresses as there's a lot of underlying feelings that I can already see developing between a few of the characters.
 
Episode 2:

Ho hum. Chizu kind of reeks of douche. She gets a new partner without telling Fumi, and the scene where it's implied that they had sex made it look like the question of willing and freely given consent was less than settled. Heebeejeebee. That face Fumi made when she heard Chizu and her husband-to-be enter the house made me feel less than happy. Nice that this show can evoke such emotions just from one expression.

Akira and Fumi are catching up and rejuvenating their friendship, and their social circles are starting to overlap now, thanks to Yasuko being into acting. It's pretty obvious that Kyouko was in love with Yasuko, and it did not turn out all that well.

Looking forward to the next purdy episode tomorrow.
 
Episode 2:

This tugged on some of my heart strings when Fumi started crying about hearing that Chizu and her husband were visiting. Way to rub salt on the wounds there, ouch. When Akira was thinking about Fumi's relationship with Chizu I could feel possibly a small hint of jealously and I'm thinking Akira could harbor deeper feelings for her friend but I'm not 100% sure. Also hmm looks like Kyouko's love isn't turning out so well wonder if Sugimoto is interested in someone else.

It's nicely subtle about how it goes about developing each character's relationships and it's working pretty well so far.
 
Episode 3

Sugimoto is so cruel, after rejecting Kyouko she immediately puts the moves on Fumi-chan. Even kisses her at the end! And Ah-chans brother is a douche, in the manga he actually joins the group rather than spies on them, which is still weird but not as creepy, I hope they don't play that up too much.

Man, there are some great characters in this show, I can't wait to see Kyouko and Kou's relationship come more to the forefront, as well as watch the relationship between Sugimoto and Fumi bloom.
 
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