History Manga / AiYoriAoshi

-->'''--Aoi Sakuraba'''

''Ai Yori Aoshi'' ("Bluer than Indigo") began as a manga by Kou Fumizuki, which was serialized in ''Young Animal'' from 1998 to 2005. It received an anime adaptation in 2002 and a second season, ''Aoi Yori Aoshi: Enishi'', in 2003. A VisualNovel with an original story taking place in the anime's continuity was released for UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in Japan in 2003, and a special English-language version was released for PC in North America by Hirameki International Group Inc..

Sure enough, almost immediately a [[UnwantedHarem group of college girls move into the mansion, one by one -- and those who aren't already in love with Kaoru all quickly fall for him.]] HilarityEnsues, as Kaoru and Aoi (who pose as a tenant and landlady, respectively) try to keep their relationship a secret.

** Also, for a different reason, Kaoru and Aoi are unable to reveal their relationship to the other characters. HilarityEnsues, especially for {{T|earJerker}}ina.

* TheChewToy: Taeko. Which is not to say Taeko is never TheWoobie; [[TearJerker sometimes she is]], especially in regard to her [[TragicDream hopeless]] love for Kaoru. But as a combination of TheDitz and the CuteClumsyGirl, Taeko brings a lot of "{{hilarity|Ensues}}" down upon her own head (often [[CuteClumsyGirl literally]]), and this is nearly always played for laughs.

* PuniPlush: Only on occasion. Usually it's when a character has been humiliated in some way. Often accompanied by a FaceFault or similar slapstick.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: In the manga partially averted - there's not much to see down below, but the girls' nipples are always visible when they are topless (and sometimes visible through their blouses / swimsuits).

* CannotSpitItOut: With the notable exceptions of Mayu and {{Chi|ldrenAreInnocent}}ka, pretty much all the girls, in their feelings toward Kaoru. Especially {{T|earJerker}}ina, who's loved Kaoru for years.

* GratuitousEnglish: Tina and Mayu have both spent a lot of time in English-speaking countries, yet neither speak it very well. Mild LampshadeHanging when people keep asking Tina if she is really American.

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Tina, and to a lesser extent Taeko. Not ''much'' lesser, though.
** Tina is an interesting case. She's clearly a HardDrinkingPartyGirl, yet she's also clearly the [[FanPreferredCouple runner-up]], the closest thing the series has to an ChildhoodFriendRomance. (They were about seventeen or so when they met, so Tina's more JustFriends than anything.)

* InnocentInnuendo: When Kaoru is spending the night at Mayu's BigFancyHouse they have some very suggestive dialogue which turns out to be about a card game.

* LethalChef: Taeko (at first), and Mayu.
** Taeko may be more of a CordonBleughChef, or perhaps a combination of the tropes. (I don't recall which Mayu is.)

* NotWhatItLooksLike: Subverted, as Kaoru gets into improper situations, but the girls actually ''listen'' to his explanations and realize it's not his fault. Sometimes even realize that it's not his fault even without explanations. And Aoi ''always'' gives him the benefit of the doubt.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Most clearly paired off are ThoseTwoGirls Natsuki (tomboy) and her bff Chizuru (girly girl). The other examples are somewhat more mix-and-match. As the two youngest recurring characters in the original anime series, [[CheerfulChild Chika]] (tomboy) and [[{{Ojou}} Mayu]] (girly girl) could be paired off. One could make a case for [[FanPreferredCouple Tina]] and [[OfficialCouple Aoi]]. That would leave [[OfficeLady Miyabi]] (tomboy) and [[ExtremeDoormat Taeko]] (girly girl), although pairing them off is odd in that the two of them don't interact much.

* SenpaiKohai: Whenever addressing her elders, Taeko uses "sempai" either as a designation or as an [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics honorific]] suffix. That includes Kaoru, even though in her TragicDream the two of them are destined to fall in love. It even includes Aoi, who, according to back-of-the-envelope calculations, [[FridgeLogic ought to be younger than Taeko]]. But Aoi is of much higher caste than Taeko, and is also both her landlady and her [[{{Meido}} boss]], so in this case, "sempai" may nothing more than a sign of respect and esteem. See also TheNickNamer.

* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised : The anime adaptation was CutShort before the Kaoru/Aoi storyline is resolved. You'll have to read the last few issues of the manga to get a ''real'' ending.

* CantHoldHerLiquor: Aoi, who is near-unconscious after 3 beers. Kaoru as well, unless that GargleBlaster Tina brought back was a unique case. Taeko, on the other hand, tosses it back with no trouble. Might be that whole "body mass" thing.

* TheThingThatGoesDoink: At the BigFancyHouse where Aoi's parents live. And it really does go "doink."

* CantHoldHerLiquor: Aoi, who is near-unconscious after 3 beers. Kaoru as well, unless that GargleBlaster Tina brought back was a unique case. Taeko, on the other hand, tosses it back with no trouble. Might be that whole [[GagBoobs "body mass"]] thing.

Kaoru Hanabishi, an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ordinary college student]], [[MeetCute runs into a beautiful young woman]] dressed in an old-fashioned kimono, lost and flustered in the complicated Tokyo subway system. After taking great pains to escort the woman to her destination, he discovers that she is really his childhood friend, Aoi Sakuraba, whom he had [[ChildhoodMarriagePromise promised to marry almost two decades earlier]]...

[[RuleOfDrama Sure]] [[RuleOfFunny enough]], almost immediately a [[UnwantedHarem group of college girls move into the mansion, one by one -- and those who aren't already in love with Kaoru all quickly fall for him.]] HilarityEnsues, as Kaoru and Aoi (who pose as a tenant and landlady, respectively) try to keep their relationship a secret.

!!Provides examples of:

* CantHoldHerLiquor: Aoi, who is near-unconscious after 3 beers. Kaoru as well, unless that GargleBlaster Tina brought back was a unique case. Taeko, on the other hand, tosses it back with no trouble.
** Might be that whole [[GagBoobs "body mass"]] thing.

* GagBoobs: Nearly ''everyone'' within the show comments on Taeko's boobs. Repeatedly.

* ChristmasCake: Miyabi, seemingly. Given her devotion to Aoi and to the Sakuraba family business, it's not clear when she'd ever have time to date. On the other hand, given [[HoYay the intensity of her devotion to Aoi]], it's not entirely clear she'd even want to.

* BareYourMidriff: Tina, as often as not. Has to live up to her job as MsFanservice.

!!''Ai Yori Aoshi'' provides examples of:

* TwelveEpisodeAnime: The sequel, "[[OddlyNamedSequel Enishi]]".
* AccidentalPervert: What's Kaoru to do, with all these clumsy, often-half-dressed girls chasing after him every which way? Something of an inversion in that it's nearly always the fault of the girl in question. Also arguably subverted, in that everyone knows and admits that it's not Kaoru's fault.
** A couple of them, [[spoiler:Chika and Tina]], even attempt to use the situation to their advantage in their pursuit of Kaoru. One fairly innocently, the other... considerably less so.

* ApologisesALot: Excuse me, but it should be mentioned that there are '''lots''' of apologises from everyone to everyone in this {{Anime}}.
* ArtificialRiverbank: Tina's favorite place.

* BigFancyHouse: Lots of them.

* ButNotTooForeign: Tina.

* [[CantHoldHisLiquor Can't Hold Her Liquor]]: Aoi, who is near-unconscious after 3 beers. Kaoru as well, unless that GargleBlaster Tina brought back was a unique case. Taeko, on the other hand, tosses it back with no trouble.

* CatGirl: Aoi, in Kaoru's ImagineSpot. Mostly due to her HyperspaceEars.
* CatSmile: Tina.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Kaoru Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba. Not only does the {{First Girl Win|s}}, she was the only one with a shot of winning, even from the first episode.
* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: The key plot point: they want to ''keep'' it.
** Mix in TheUnwantedHarem who aren't aware of this key plot point, HilarityEnsues.

* ChristmasEpisode:
** Doubled as a ShoutOut to ''Manga/AhMyGoddess''.
** Was also an {{Omake}} and a BonusEpisode in that there are twelve other episodes in the season.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Mayu Miyuki. Tina shows this a bit too when Mayu gets a little too friendly with Kaoru.

* CovertPervert: Most of the cast (besides Tina).

* CuteLittleFangs:
** Tina.
** Miyabi, in a worried Aoi's ImagineSpot in an Enishi episode.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Miyabi.

* DisappearedDad: Kaoru's died when he was five.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Kaoru with "Santaoi" in the special episode "Miyuki".
* TheDitz: Oh, Taeko. (Especially in the early episodes, when she's the model in the photography club -- a case of ''reverse'' {{flanderization}}.) This, along with her role as the CuteClumsyGirl, can result in her being TheChewToy.
* {{Dogged Nice G|uy}}irl: Tina gives it her best. Except, you know, actually admitting anything. [[spoiler: Until "[[TearJerker Moonlight]]."]] Arguably Taeko, who, one episodes suggests, may have been a {{Dogged Nice G|uy}}irl toward Kaoru for [[IdenticalGrandson several generations]].

* [[DudeShesLikeInAComa Dudette, He's Like, In a Coma!]]: Tina and Kaoru are forced to spend a night in a love hotel (chaste, since they're [[JustFriends only friends]]), on account of rain and having missed the homebound trains. While Kaoru is asleep, Tina silently debates with herself about kissing him. Judging from her thoughts the next day, she went through with it several times -- and seemed alternately happy and regretful about taking advantage of him. Kaoru didn't notice.

* {{Everyman}}: Kaoru.
* ExtremeDoormat: Taeko. Later, Chizuru.
** Saionji might be an even ''more'' extreme example -- he doesn't even seem to have opinions of his own -- but it's difficult to know for certain, since he's [[{{Ojou}} Mayu]]'s butler / chauffeur and we never see him off duty. He seems not to resent it at all when she says, "Have I ever told you why I ''hate'' Japanese men? They're rude, filthy, and simple-minded." Shortly afterward, he asks Kaoru to "please be a friend to Mayu-sama."

* {{Fanservice}}: In many episodes of the anime, and much of the manga.
* FirstGirlWins: See also ChildhoodFriendRomance.
* ForgottenFirstMeeting: There's a broken ChildhoodMarriagePromise but she wants to find him. When she does he doesn't remember her at first. There are flashbacks, not to the first time they met but while the were friends as kids together.
* FreudianExcuse: Kaoru's abusive grandfather turned him into a recluse. Mayu's workaholic parents never paid her attention except when she accomplished something, so she's constantly craving attention, especially from Kaoru. ([[{{Squick}} Does that make Kaoru her father-substitute?]])
* GagBoobs: Taeko's. They don't look all ''that'' different from, say, Tina's, at least to the audience. But nearly ''everyone'' within the show comments on them. Repeatedly.

* GenkiGirl: Tina Foster and Chika. Later, Natsuki.
* GirlishPigtails: Chika's normal style.

* TheGlomp: Mayu, Tina, and Chika. Each of them, toward Kaoru.
** The one with which Tina introduces herself was particularly spectacular, with a flying leap from a bench.

* HadakaApron: Aoi, but only in Kaoru's {{Imagine Spot}}s.
* HappilyAdopted: Miyabi. [[spoiler:Officially in the ending of the manga]].

* HaremNanny: Miyabi.

* HopelessSuitor: Any girl who isn't Aoi.
* HotSpringsEpisode: Multiple instances.

* IntimateHealing: By Aoi to Kaoru, both when he gets a fever and her general impact on his psyche.
* {{Jerkass}}: Of the main characters, Mayu Miyuki comes closest.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mayu Miyuki.
* {{Joshikousei}}: Chika and her classmates.

* LoveHotels: Tina and Kaoru have to stay in one overnight when they get stuck in the city.
* LuminescentBlush: Lots of 'em.

* MeetCute: So very, very cute. Both in the first episode (when Kaoru and Aoi meet as adults) and in the flashbacks (when they first meet as toddlers).
* {{Meido}}: Taeko. Chika and Mayu get into the act, too.
* MsFanservice: At first, Taeko, as the fetish model for the photography club. Later, when that arc gets dropped, Tina.
** Or, you know, pretty much the entire female cast.

* NoblewomansLaugh: Mayu.

* NoEnding: The anime adaptation was CutShort before the Kaoru/Aoi storyline is resolved. You'll have to read the last few issues of the manga to get a [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised ''real'' ending]].
** It also [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot does nothing]] with Tina's learning about Kaoru and Aoi's OfficialCouple status, though one could say that the conversation Tina and Aoi have on the roof implies to the viewer that Tina's [[GracefulLoser cool with it]].

* {{Obake}}: One haunts the [[BigFancyHouse mansion]], terrorizing the girls (especially Tina) while they try to sleep. Well, except that [[spoiler: it turns out to be just Tina's ferret Uzume.]]

* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: ''Enishi''.

* OfficeLady: Miyabi.
* OfficialCouple: Kaoru and Aoi.
* {{Ojou}}: Mayu and Aoi. Aoi is the sweet-tempered lady of the house type.
* OlderThanTheyLook: [[TokenMiniMoe Chika]] and [[{{Ojou}} Mayu]]. In [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo Enishi]], also Natsuki.

* OnsenEpisode

* OrWasItADream: The ChristmasEpisode.
* ParentalAbandonment: Kaoru's are dead.

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Kaoru and Aoi love each other, but unfortunately, Kaoru's leaving the Hanabishi family broke the arrangement, thus causing the drama in the story.

%%* PrettyFreeloaders: Most of the female cast.
%%** [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Or perhaps not]]. While they're definitely pretty, they're not freeloaders; each pays rent and / or [[{{Meido}} helps out around the house]]. Moreover, they don't fit the parameters of the trope because what they're really after is ''Kaoru himself'', not what they can get out of him (i.e. room and board -- which, as mentioned, they're not getting anyway free, anyway). When first introduced, [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Tina Foster]] ''[[SubvertedTrope appears]]'' to fit this trope, but that's only [[CannotSpitItOut because she hides]] her [[JustFriends true motivations]].

* PuppyLove: When Kaoru and Aoi meet and fall in love as toddlers. In this case, after many a setback, [[OfficialCouple the ship]] did eventually set sail.
* TheRashomon: Tina exaggerates this trope in chapter 13. Just a little.

* RedStringOfFate: Shown in second season OP, and mentioned a few times.

* SayMyName: "Aoi-chan" and "Kaoru-sama".

* ScaryShinyGlasses: Taeko gets them in ep 4 of ''Enishi''.

* SecretRelationship: Kaoru and Aoi have an ArrangedMarriage from way back when and are very much in love, but Aoi's family, in order to avoid a scandal (the marriage had been called off when Kaoru left the Hanabishis due to the abuse from his grandfather), force them to keep it a secret.

* SexySantaDress: Not all that skimpy, but Aoi-Santa (Santaoi?) wears one in the ChristmasEpisode.

* ShoutOut:
** To ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'', in the ChristmasEpisode.
** Also, some of the in-universe video games, and the in-universe movie "Pretty Horse." See also TakeThat, below.

** Chizuru might still be something of a ShrinkingViolet.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Nearly every female in the cast, toward Kaoru -- at least three of them (Aoi, Tina, Mayu) from years before the opening of the series.

* SpoiledBrat: Mayu Miyuki.
* SproutingEars: Aoi. Tina also did this in ep5 (see Cat Girl above).
* {{Squee}}: Tina in manga chapter 39, "Azure".
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Miyabi.
* SupportingHarem: Made clear by the fact that the lead girl has already won within the first few episodes. (Just the rest of the Harem doesn't know, and for various reasons they feel they need to keep it a secret).

* TeamPet: Tina's ferret [[WeaselMascot Uzume]].

* ThirdPersonPerson: Mayu. Aoi and Chika in the manga.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Suzuki and Sato.
** In "[[OddlyNamedSequel Enishi]]," Natsuki and Chizuru are [[ThoseTwoGuys Those Two Girls]]. Also a case of TomboyAndGirlyGirl.
* TigerVersusDragon: Mayu and Tina when trying on swimsuits.
* TokenMiniMoe: Chika.

* {{Tsundere}}: Miyabi, especially at the beginning.
* UnluckyEverydude: Kaoru. Mostly in the past by the time the series begins. But [[TheWoobie he]] [[BreakTheCutie had a]] [[DisappearedDad really]] [[MissingMom tough]] [[GruesomeGrandparent childhood]].

%%* WeaselMascot: Tina's ferret [[TeamPet Uzume]].

* LoveYouAndEverybody: In one episode, Chika inverts this trope by cornering each of the girls and badgering them to find out if they "love" Kaoru, only to end the episode with the gleeful proclamation that ''everyone'' loves Kaoru. Since ChildrenAreInnocent, to her that counts as a happy resolution to the issue.

* SempaiKohai: Whenever addressing her elders, Taeko uses "sempai" either as a designation or as an [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics honorific]] suffix. That includes Kaoru, even though in her TragicDream the two of them are destined to fall in love. It even includes Aoi, who, according to back-of-the-envelope calculations, [[FridgeLogic ought to be younger than Taeko]]. But Aoi is of much higher caste than Taeko, and is also both her landlady and her [[{{Meido}} boss]], so in this case, "sempai" may nothing more than a sign of respect and esteem. See also TheNickNamer.

* {{Gainaxing}}: Taeko has that extra "bounce". But just a little. Really.

** Aoi also has an atypical relationship with this trope: whenever any member of TheUnwantedHarem inquires about her feelings for Kaoru, she gets flustered and denies them. The initial reason is to keep their betrothal secret so as not to create scandal for the Sakurabas, but as the series progresses it feels more and more like an outright IdiotPlot.

''Ai Yori Aoshi'' ("''Bluer than Indigo''") ran from 1998 to 2005, with an anime adaptation in 2002 (and a follow-up, ''Enishi'', in 2003). A VisualNovel with an original story taking place in the anime's continuity was released for UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in Japan in 2003, and a special English-language version was released for PC in North America by Hirameki International Group Inc..

* [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary College Student]]: Kaoru. Or so it seems, until TheReveal that he's the (self-renounced) heir to the powerful Hanabishi clan.

* PantyShot: A frequent source of {{Fanservice}}. Chapter 73 of the manga features a PantyShot on almost every page - the cast goes to play tennis and all the girls are wearing short tennis skirts.