| Title: | Ai Yori Aoshi |
| Episode: | 20: Cure |
| Synopsis | |
| All the girls of the western style house are posing in cute dresses [image1] as the photo club is going to do an Animal Cosplay Cafe for the three days 63th Meiritu University Festival. When Kaoru presents his bunny costume to advertise for their stall, everyone is laughing aloud - including Aoi.
Both Aoi and Miyabi visit the festival, and even Mayu is lending a hand by washing dishes. Their cafe has a lot of customers, and things seem to go well - until Tina announces a 'special service'... the Animal Cosplay Cafe is empty shortly after, except for the animals. Everyone is depressed, but Aoi serves a cup of tea for everyone - and photo club president Suzuki has an idea: A traditional Japanese tea ceremony stall, serving Aoi's tea! Their preparations take the whole second day of the festival, and the kimonos everyone will have to wear revive painful memories of his Hanabishi days for Kaoru who had promised himself to never wear a kimono again. In the evening Aoi tries to teach everyone the how-to of a tea ceremony... [image2] all of a sudden, Kaoru leaves the room and walks out into the night [image3] . On the next day, the "Aoi Japanese Style Tea House" is a great success. Kaoru is carrying the advertisement sign; even Chika turns up and helps out (Taeko had sent her an invitation). As everything works perfectly, Suzuki and Sato suggest Aoi should make a break from work, which the girl uses to look after Kaoru... but right when they are about to have a takoyaki lunch together [image4] Tina calls Aoi back: Tina has spilt the tea once again. When Aoi returns from delivering an order she watches a hungry Chika-rin dragging Kaoru along with her... Aoi is searching for Kaoru but cannot find him on the festival. And then the festival committee wants her to participate in the "Miss Meiritu contest"! Not quite what we would expect from the shy Aoi, but she sees Kaoru's sign wavering in the crowd, so she must get through... [image5] | |
| Comments | |
| (2004-03-09, Devil Doll:)
Right at the start we see Miyabi watching the relaxed Aoi, wondering how much this girl has changed - and she instantly supports Kaoru-dono in this scene: "Not everyone can do this", Miyabi tells him. But the real test about wearing clothes is still to come for Kaoru. The tea ceremony scene is a symbol of the bond between Aoi and Kaoru: Only these two are familiar with Japanese tradition (which had led to their prearranged marriage). Mayu has been raised in a wealthy family as well but her parents live and work in Europe most of the time. While the first part of this episode is rather silly, that tea ceremony changes the mood drastically. Kaoru tries to hide his pain but Aoi desperately begs him to let her share his grief... one of the most touching scenes of the whole series, possibly because it came so out of nowhere, in the middle of an episode. Note how even at the moment of his greatest pain Kaoru cares about Aoi who might catch a cold! Then again, this is exactly what will happen in the subsequent episode... Once again we are shown how difficult it is for Aoi and Kaoru to spend some time together alone. When their lunch is interrupted, not only is Aoi recalled to the tea stall but even the takoyaki are lost as well without her presence! Kaoru falls from happiness to disappointment within a few seconds. Later, Aoi tries hard to be together with Kaoru but fate is not on her side this time. She has just found Kaoru again when that little boy is falling on the ground right before her; after Aoi has taken care of him Kaoru has vanished. (There is a similar scene of that 'parallel movement' in episode 5 of Video Girl Ai.) And the closing scene is typical for Aoi: Kaoru had intended to eat takoyaki with her, so she will do just that, no matter what! Another important idea of this episode is how Aoi copes with life outside her home - dealing with customers, walking around alone on 'unknown territory' and even participating in the "Miss Meiritu Contest" [image6] . Chika's third appearance was without any flaws this time - and Tina made her 'win' over Mayu in terms of walking the festival with Kaoru. Bad luck for Aoi this time. | |
