 Nice to see Aoi's as well-clothed in this season's OP as she was in season one. Ahem. ^^; Expect more of the same from Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~...
1 - Spring Blossom
It's been two years since Kaoru and Aoi were almost torn apart by Aoi's
father, but the gang are very much together... Chika's asking awkward
questions - like 'which ones of you girls are in love with Kaoru?'
Seems someone else is developing an interest - but since their
relationship is still a secret, Aoi's unable to answer honestly, and it
seems to be beginning to bug her. Chika's persistent in her questioning
of the other girls, though...
2 - Friends
Another Chika episode, this time along with her school-friends Chizuru
and Natsuki. After Natsuki finds a photo of Chika & Kaoru, the
girls suddenly become interested in this man their friend seems to be
living with (a bit of jumping to conclusions going on there...), and
announce their intention to come visit. Cue mad panic by Chika, who
isn't sure how best to explain the relationship between everyone who
lives in the house, and is desperate to keep her friends away from
Kaoru, in case anyone misunderstands anything...
3 - Tennis
Chika's need to get some tennis practice in for school, and manages to
talk the rest of the gang into helping her out with her practising - so
it's short tennis outfits all around, and lessons from Miyabi, as
Chika's not the only one in need of training... Meanwhile, Kaoru and
Aoi are having trouble getting any sort of quality time together,
despite their best efforts, with Miyabi warning them that their
relationship must still be kept secret, at least until it gets the full
blessing of Aoi's family...
4 - Phantoms
Tina's been hearing strange sounds at night, and they've been keeping
her awake - not that she wants to admit that to anyone, even though
they're beginning to notice how tired she's getting. She eventually
buckles, though, and tells the rest of the gang, and it turns out she's
not the only one to have heard strange noises coming from the attic.
More surprising is Taeko's eagerness to go on a monster-exterminating
mission (any excuse to get everyone into miko outfits, I guess...).
With everyone prepared, it's up into the attic to find out what's been
causing the noises...
Miyuki Special
15-minute short Christmas episode, with Santa looking suspiciously like
Aoi... When Kaoru does Santa a favour, she naturally wants to return
it. Looking into Kaoru's heart to see what he truly wants, she finds
he's quite keen on the idea of spending Christmas with her.. Not being
too keen on that idea, she offers to allow Kaoru to see any person he
wishes to see - giving him a chance to finally see his mother again...
Next day, though, Santa's still around, and somehow ends up on a date
with Kaoru...
When I talk about "more of the same", I'm referring to the comedy / harem aspect of AYA
- the love story / romance aspect between Aoi and Kaoru is sadly
missing here. Fingers crossed for at least one or two mushy episodes
before the end of the season, as that's where the shows strengths lie,
and I've never quite figured why they don't play to them more...
Apart from that, you get 4 episodes of typically harem-esque fun,
meaning this is a good disc for vegging out to, and that you shouldn't
expect anything too taking or unpredictable. There's nothing here that
hasn't been done in several other harem shows, but AYA does manage to pull it of with a certain amount of flair. Fun, but nothing deep. |
