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 5 more episodes of AYA goodness. Mmmm, Aoi-chan...
Anyway. There's a common criticism of AYA that it strays too
far from its love-story roots & into harem-land after the first
batch of episodes. Does this volume prove the point?
It's the arrival of another girl to the harem - 16-year-old Mayu
Mizuki, who just happens to have a crush on Kaoru after he was
particularly kind to her when she was younger. Her arrival is purely by
coincidence - with Mayu having been living in England for a while, it's
been a long time since she last saw Kaoru. Now she's back in Japan for
university, and just happens to end up at the same school as the rest
of the gang.
First reaction: Great. An annoying brat... In the majority of her
scenes, Mayu has to rate as one the the most selfish &
self-centered characters in the history of anime - but fortunately
that's not all there is to her. She's a creation of her upbringing
& a lonely girl at heart - and there are a few scenes played out
over the course of the disc that help the audience to see glimpses of
the person under the hard exterior & feel some sympathy for her.
There are also a good comedy moments - her personality clash with Tina,
and trips into her imagination about her & Kaoru's 'future' raised
a smile. I grew to like her, but if you're the sort that doesn't like
outwardly annoying characters, then skip eps 11, 12 & 14 (Debutante, Kiss and Servant)
as they're all heavy-duty Mayu eps. As an aside, Aoi deserves an award
for putting up with Mayu's antics, but that's another matter...
Getting back to the heart of the show, eps 13 (Star Festival) and 15 (Feelings of the Heart) both give us some more of AYA's reason for being - the relationship between Aoi and Kaoru. In Star Festival,
it's Aoi's birthday, and Kaoru's determined to make it one worth
remembering for her. Unfortunately, that also means he's got to work
very long hours before he can afford the gift he wants for her, leaving
Aoi wandering if he's trying to avoid her, but as you'd expect it all
works out well in the end. It's a story that's been done many times in
many shows, so don't be expecting anything original, but you can't help
but love the all-to-brief moments when Kaoru & Aoi can be alone
together & not worry about hiding their relationship - and there's
a really good one of those at the end of this episode. Worth watching
for that alone.
The final episode on the disc, Feelings of the Heart, gets
right back to the style of the first few episodes, before the harem
arrived... While out with Aoi on a shopping trip, Kaoru gets nostalgic
and goes back to his old apartment, which is still empty. The trip
prompts a number of memories for both of them, and also leads them to
look at their feelings for each other. Now, I love any scene with Aoi
& Kaoru together, so this episode was like manna from heaven for
me, but even then there were 1 or 2 scenes near the end of the episode
that nearly brought tears to my eyes. A great example of AYA at it's best & why I love this show...
Overall, then, volume 3 is a mixed bag. 3 episodes of typical harem
stuff, which is still fun to watch in its own right, but you can't help
but have a nagging feeling that it's not what Ai Yori Aoshi is
really all about. Then you have 2 episodes that get back to the core of
the show & give the fans what they really want - the relationship
between Kaoru & Aoi - and it's worth picking up the disc for those 2 |
