Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers)
Aoi Hana AKA Sweet Blue Flowers was short but sweet. It lasted eleven episodes, ending on an emotional note that almost brought a tear to mine eye. Overall, Aoi Hana was quite the pleasant anime. It exuded an atmosphere of peace and tranquility with an enriching story line and beautiful visuals. This anime revolved around two childhood friends, Fumi Manjome and Akira Okudaira (of course, when doesn’t a yuri anime not involve childhood friends). After ten years of separation, the two reunite once again. As the story progresses, Fumi and Akira begin to develop feelings for one another. Despite their attraction, other love interests step onto the stage. This becomes the basis for the rest of the anime, leaving one to wonder if Fumi and Akira will ever find their way into each other’s arms.
The one thing about yuri anime is that, at least from the ones I’ve seen, the story lines are always fantastic and the romantic aspects leave the viewer with that warm fuzzy feeling inside. Aoi Hana does not disappoint in that regard. I feel obligated to note that there was nothing sexual about this anime. The romance was purely that for romance with no sort of sexual connotations, and you know what, I can respect that.
Randomness is a theme that usually rears its head in romantic/school genre anime. The randomness in Aoi Hana, however, was painted a different color then the norm (if one could claim that there is a norm when it comes to being random). When one of the main protagonists hooks up with a girl that she barely even knows and begins seeing her on a regular basis no less, I was thrown through a loop. I had been led to believe, before watching the anime, that Fumi and Akira would end up seeing one another. I mean, they were childhood friends, a recurring cliché in romantically themed anime that makes me grind my teeth every time I encounter it, and everyone knows that childhood friends in the anime universe are destined to be with one another. I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say that Fumi and Akira end up with a… unresolved relationship. Yeah, let’s just keep it at that.
In continuation, perhaps the biggest hook that really reeled me to this anime was the artwork. It was unique, simplistic, yet calming. The background had a freshly done sketched feel that, despite the movement of the characters, did not move an inch. The trees, the buildings, the sky; everything in the background was done in still life, which was something I’ve never seen in an anime before, making Aoi Hana unique in its own special way.
As I mentioned before I liked the story line. Some episodes were kind of random, though the anime as a whole followed a loose theme about finding out ones true feelings through trial and error. Yuri anime are always awesome to watch, and Aoi Hana proves that sex does not always have to be the deciding factor in making a great one. I give this anime a 7 out of 10. I recommend Aoi Hana to the yuri lovers who like cute romance stories.
