Bluer Than Indigo (2002– )
"Ai yori aoshi" (original title)

A naive, traditional girl from the country goes to the city to find the boy she was engaged to as a young girl, and the two childhood friends fall in love.

Stars:

Tony Pope, Karen Strassman, Akiko Hiramatsu

Cast

Series cast summary:
Tony Pope	...	Fish Vendor (24 episodes, 2002)
Karen Strassman	...	Bus Intercom (24 episodes, 2002)

Storyline

Kaoru Hanabishi is a college student with a mysterious and painful past, involving his wealthy family whom he walked out on years ago. He encounters a young girl, newly arrived from the countryside, and takes her in to assist her in adjusting to urban life. He discovers to his shock that the girl is his childhood fiancée Aoi Sakuraba, whom he was engaged to before he left his family... and who has left her home and come a great distance to be with her betrothed. Can this couple manage to live and survive together in the cruel and harsh world?

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Plot Keywords:

love | hope | childhood sweetheart | anime | surrealism | 

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Taglines:

Do you remember your first love?

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 February 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bluer Than Indigo: Fate

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aoao Kikaku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 120 min (24 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The series title "Ai Yori Aoshi" ("Bluer Than Indigo") is based on an old Chinese proverb: blue dye is made from indigo-colored grass, yet the blue dye's color is much deeper than the color of its origin. In other words, the pupil has exceeded the master.

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Crazy Credits

The ending credits for each episode shows a sepia-colored image from that episode.

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Connections

Followed by Ai yori aoshi 'enishi' (2003)

User Reviews

sweet romantic-comedy about old-fashioned kimono-wearing girl

I understand Pioneer is going to be releasing the English-language version soon so I will give you a sneak peek based on the subtitled version I've seen.

Polite, traditional Japanese girl Aoi has come to the big city looking for her childhood sweetheart Kaoru with the intention of marrying him. Being naive she has run away from home without even knowing that the boy would accept her. As it turns out she is the daughter of a wealthy family the Sakurabas and he is from another wealthy family the Hanabishis. Kaoru ran away during his teens because the Hanabishis ostracized his mother and tried to erase her from the family history when she died. Since Aoi loves Kaoru with all her heart everything will turn out ok right? Wrong! Since Aoi is willing to give up everything to be with Kaoru the family governess Miyabi sets up a house for them to live in on condition that the two of them not cause a scandal by sleeping together. Their cover story is that Aoi is the owner of the building, Miyabi is the building superintendant and Kaoru is a tenant. Soon we are introduced to the rest of the large cast of characters who are there to provide the comedy. I've seen the first nine episodes (Destiny, Supper, Separation, Live-in, Friend, Housework, Mysterious Demon, Fondness, One Night) and it looks promising. Since this show depends on the cuteness of Aoi I think you will like the Japanese-language version best.