Ai Yori Aoshi or Bluer than Indigo is adapted from a manga with the same name and back then it was a actually a pretty popular manga for older guys. The story revolves around Kaoru Hanabishi, a college student with a traumatic childhood. Kaoru is from the wealthy Hanabishi clan, albeit an illegitimate child. His grandfather hated him resulting in very abusive treatments, until one day he finally decides to cut off all his ties with the Hanabishi clan and start living on his own. Kaoru has been living peacefully on his own but that will all change when a person from his past appears again. Who is it? well it's none other than his ex-fiancé Ai. Sounds cheesy and cliché? it is.
The story and characters of Ai Yori Aoshi is pretty much a rip-off of Love Hina, only without the tsundere bitch and the wimpy main protagonist instantly making it a hundred times better. I found Ai yori Aoshi's characters more likeable especially Ai who's basically the perfect wife that doesn't exist in real life. I really like how the series shows how Kaoru and Ai grew their relationship together. They really are perfect for each other. This is something I always look for when watching romance - a brilliant chemistry between the main couple.
I like watching harem anime, it's just one of my guilty pleasures. However, this is a harem anime I would have much preferred if it's just a standard love triangle because I only really cared about the relationship between the two main characters Ai and Kaoru and the other characters were pretty much non-existent to me.
The biggest flaw of this anime is the pacing which is generally slow. Being a slice-of-life romance anime it was kind of expected. There weren't much conflict in the series but the little drama that it has was pretty well done in my opinion. The animation and art style is okay, it's something you would expect from a series that aired in 2002. There's nothing noteworthy in the music department maybe except for ending theme song which I really liked.
Overall I would say I really enjoyed watching this anime but I will understand if the majority of viewers will find this to be one boring shit. If you like slow-paced romance anime where it focuses more in growing the relationship of the main couple rather than throwing conflicts and drama left and right then you might want check out this one.
