AnimeVision

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?

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...