What is the worth of Aoi Hana?
It is made of excellence and deserves to be on our Enlightenment list.
40.0%
6
It is too unremarkable to be on on either of our lists.
26.7%
4
It is vastly overrated and deserves to be on our Relations list.
0.0%
0
I have not watched this series because love is silly for all genders! I would much rather be a starfish.
33.3%
5
15 votes
| Aoi Hana is now up for vote. Decide if it will yuri-kiss Enlightenment or if it will fail to bloom into a wonderful flower in the Relations. RULES: 1. You can only vote for a title if you've finished watching/reading it. You must’ve read or watched at least 60% of the published content for unfinished titles. There might be exceptions for very long finished titles – they are decided on a case by case basis, but usually amount to more than half of the published content. 2. Write your vote at the very top of your comment. 3. Below your vote, give a substantial explanation to back it up. It doesn't have to be lengthy; it just needs to cover the points you want to make. 4. If you have only read/watched the adaption/source material of the respective nominee, please state so in your post. 5. It will take a minimum of 5 votes for either Enlightenment or Relations to make it into any of the lists as an anime (3 votes for manga). If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. 6. The votes for Enlightenment will have to outnumber the votes for Unremarkable and Relations for it to be included in our list; the same goes for Relations. If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. 7. Behave yourself. We accept discussions and debate, not flaming and incoherent fanboy/fangirl behavior. 8. The fate of the poll will lie in the hands of the officers if it turns out that there are more first time voters than regulars or the series cannot be gauged by both voting and discussions. This polling process will last 7 days. BEGIN!!!!!!!! |
Ducat_RevelAug 18, 2013 7:09 PM
| 2 - Unremarkable As a renewed approach on the classic yuri genre the series accomplishes too little for it to be considered something more than just that. The nearly all-female cast and the plentiful amount of senpai-kouhai relationships between them don't develop beyond the cliche that they are built upon. Despite giving a deeper emotional value to the girls' troubles it's hard to completely rid it from the idea that they're still just childish romances, brought into existence simply for a story filled with a load of yuri and drama. The fact that the series doesn't develop into maturity, but consists mostly of an introduction to something that's recognisable but not quite improved upon, makes the series' intent questionable to the end. It is an open-ended series and because of that it never shows whether it's being revolutionary or simply generic but good. This was something I concluded before reading the manga, but upon committing the crime of comparison the manga only seems to reinforce the previous things. Whereas the manga sets itself apart towards the end, the anime never manages to reach such a compelling conclusion. Not to mention the voice acting for the anime is not an improvement over the written dialogue, in my opinion harming quite some emotional scenes. |
| "The view from the bottom of a well may not be much, but you can see the sky and the stars really well. My world is small, but since I'm looking up at space night after night, you could say I'm a frog on a universal scale. When you gaze up at space all alone like that, the back of your mind goes quiet, and you feel as though you've gained an extraordinary amount of wisdom." |
| Option 1 First, can I say that the ending to the anime is one of my favorite anime endings of all time? Not the ending theme song- But the actual ending. Some people were enraged by it but I thought it was absolutely perfect. It captured the feel and mood of the series so perfectly and was very realistic. It was unexpected and really wonderful. Just... God. That ending. That ending is what really solidifies Aoi Hana as option 1 for me. It's SO EASY to screw up an ending, or to jump ahead and force an ending when your source material isn't complete, but Aoi Hana did none of these things. As for the series itself- It's soft watercolor pallette as others have said is really wonderful to look at and it's slice of life atmosphere feels more realistic than most in the genre, if still a bit ethereal. The characters and their interactions are great as well- They provide just enough insight into the characters in these 11 short episodes to get you attatched to them without forcing any melodrama down your throat. Of course this being said, it is one of those series that is not for everyone as, if you think about it, not a lot happens. Yet it feels natural. @JohnDavis- I'm glad you changed your vote, only because I read through it and wondered why you were saying option 2 for something you seemed to have nothing but praise for, haha. It just seemed like an option 1 vote from the get-go =) |
| Enlightening How refreshing it is to finally watch a shoujo ai piece that actually takes itself seriously. I was very irritated by things I had seen in the past that manage to completely avoid the difficulties of coming out. As if falling in love with someone of your own gender is completely accepted in modern society. It's not, and that's extremely depressing! Sure, it's nice to create a romance in which two teenagers of the same gender fall in love without having any judgements from their peers, families, or even the personal complications, but it's just not real. On that subject, I did find it weird that almost every girl is in love with Sugimoto... As if it's a condition that comes with going to an all girls' school. That is probably one of the main problems I had, but this is a small thing compared to how much this series does right! The art. Ohhhh, praise Cthulhu, that's some beautiful art. The setting, the animation, and the soundtrack all flow perfectly together. The production values are definitely top notch. I sorta didn't like the ending too much, but I still thought it was great. I am perfectly fine with an ending that doesn't go the way I expect, but the inevitable romance between our two protagonists was so subtle and downplayed. It was odd to not see them get together by the end, but that's fine. It shows some realistic teen heartbreak. Nothing melodramatic and unbelievable, although many real relationships are quite melodramatic, it shows unrequited love and feelings of confusion. Trying to figure out what exactly one ones, and how someone who one never considered as a romantic option can really appear out of nowhere. The whole series is just gorgeous in every way. Some things may not go the way one would expect or think logical, but it's great the way it is. |
| Option 1 - It is made of excellence and deserves to be on our Enlightenment list. It just wouldn't be right to call this show unremarkable. It did have its shortcomings, yes, but they were few and far between everything else that made it stand out as an excellent show. Aoi Hana had this permeating theme of "life goes on", we deal with our drama and we grow from it. It is not what defines these characters, it's what stabilizes them as real humans. Aoi Hana is very down to earth, and surrounds the viewer in a hand crafted shawl. You can still feel the harshness of the winds, but you're warmed by the thought that someone cares for you enough to sew it. That's as best I can describe the atmosphere of this show. It isn't all fluff, it isn't all tragic, and it's certainly not melodramatic. It works wonderfully as a mixture of Romance and Slice of Life. Now, there are minor problems that arise in this show. The developments and relationships were sometimes sped up, more than what suited the natural tempo. Each individual episode had a perfect pace, and it felt wonderfully timed in each scene. But put them all together, and the short episode count does become noticeable. Also, this felt more suited to college life than highschool, but wasn't totally improbable. Certainly not enough to bother me. From a technical side, the show was beautifully drawn, and had noticeably good animation for a SoL show. It gave off a glow remarkably similar to Koi Kaze, which is only a good thing in my book. The music was nice and did it's job, and the voice acting was quite good in most cases. Fumi's VA could be a little stiff at times, but it wasn't enough to dampen the show. Up till now, I haven't mentioned the fact that it's a Shoujo Ai, and that's because honestly, I don't need to. It holds up very well simply as a Romance/SoL show. But take into consideration that it was in a genre usually trampled upon by the anime community, and it becomes a whole new level of quality. Aoi Hana is a finely crafted story that takes a usually butchered subject and displays a great piece of art, with characters too good to talk about here, because I would be typing for far too long. This is exactly the type of shows that should represent this club, and I think it only right to include it on the Enlightenment list. |
| With 6 votes for Enlightenment and 1 vote for Unremarkable, I draw this poll to a close. Thank you for voting. |
More topics from this board
Sticky: » The New Manga Enlightenment Camp - All plebes and Untermenschen MUST attendExinqt - Aug 21, 2015 |
32 |
by Ducat_Revel
»»
Jul 17, 2024 5:02 AM |
|
» Anime/Manga Recommendation Thread Based on Your List ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page )removed-user - Jan 25, 2013 |
1162 |
by LeonhartAugust
»»
May 13, 2024 11:17 PM |
|
» 10 Steps to Becoming an Anime ElitistDeago - Jun 2, 2023 |
2 |
by AaronRRedfield
»»
Jan 11, 2024 3:52 PM |
|
» Winter 2024 OverviewDeago - Dec 20, 2023 |
0 |
by Deago
»»
Dec 20, 2023 8:24 AM |
|
» Summer 2023 OverviewDeago - Jun 14, 2023 |
0 |
by Deago
»»
Jun 14, 2023 7:48 PM |