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Aoi Hana impressions (eps 1-3)
27 JUL
2009
There's no mistaking that Aoi Hana is exceptionally drop dead gorgeous. With watercolored backgrounds that appear to have been taken straight out of Iblard Jikan and a flawless mix of CG and regular animation, Aoi Hana would seem to be a must-see.
Except that it's so, so incredibly boring that I almost cried alongside the characters in Aoi Hana, who also incessantly cry.
To be clear, I like slow anime; Kino no Tabi, Haibane Renmei and Piano are three slice of life titles that I love to death. But Aoi Hana is easily in my top 5 (or maybe even 3) most boring titles of all time. It's soul crushingly slow and uninteresting to the point that I had to watch the last episode in pieces to remain coherent.
Preliminary reviews of Aoi Hana seem polarized - at least on the surface - between those who are avid readers/watchers of shoujo-ai, and those who aren't. Those who are have heralded Aoi Hana to be rich in character development, especially compared to other titles in the genre. I fully admit that it could be I'm not a conniseur of shoujo-ai; I don't mind it, as I watch romance/drama anime for the romance/drama, and not the sex of the couples. Regardless, I have no desire to compare Aoi Hana to other shoujo-ai titles - compared to other titles period, it's flat out uninteresting and slow to a fault.
Character-wise, it's difficult for me to understand the argument that Aoi Hana is filled with fantastic beings. From the get-go I was put off by Fumi's obnoxious, inappropriate crying, and the rest of the characters don't have nearly the amount of depth I'd expect from such a well-lauded show.
Romance-wise, by the end of episode three at least one relationship has begun to flourish - but frankly I didn't care at all. There's nothing three dimensional or deep here - same-sex aside, I found much more value and impact from a series like Paradise Kiss.
Maybe I'm just missing something, but I could barely get through three episodes of Aoi Hana, and I definitely won't be watching the rest. It's beautiful, but ultimately was a huge waste of my time.
comments
Caboose19
I will have to avoid this title then. A friend has been prasing this anime a lot recently and i was thinking of giving it a shot, but she is a shoujo-ai fan and...well i'm not. I'm not a fan of slow animes so i'm glad i saw this.
ThePatches
I'm sticking it out, but yeah, it's sloooooowwwww....
Incidentally have you seen any of Taishou Yaykuu Musume? Looks kinda similar, right (though not as nice)? Here's what I think happened:
*JC Staff Offices*
Director: What's our animation budget look like for Summer 2009?
Manager: A little thin. We blew out our 'modern' background animators with Toradora! and Hayate no Gotoku!!
Director: Hmm... What do we have for summer?
Manager: Aoi Hana and Taishou Yaykuu Musume.
Director: A gentle shojou-ai and a laid back drama set in the Taishou era? Well, then redirect all the budget into watercolors and understated animation. We just need to hang on until Shakugan no Shana 3...
*In the home of ThePatches*
ThePatches: HEY! These shows look alike. Sonova...
gleipnir
I think a lot of the people who are coming in and hailing it as being one of the top works of shoujo-ai are also people who have read the manga (which, by the way, is infinitely better than this anime adaptation) and thus already know the characters, how things are turning out, etc.
If I hadn't read the manga, I probably would have dropped it myself, though as it is, I'm pretty much sticking through it for the visuals, because they're, as you said, gorgeous.
Canas
Lol, I have to say Aoi Hana was very boring to me too. I only saw the first two episodes though. Not many shoujo ai impress me. The ones I really liked are Maria-sama ga miteru and if you count Noir as one. But thanks for the heads up in saying episodes 3 and 4 are boring as well. By the way, I really liked Kino no Tabi and Haibane Renmei as well.
don't give up!!! you can do it!