Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Miyuki

Title:Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Miyuki
Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Beautiful Snow
Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ (OAV)
Beautiful Snow
藍より青し ~縁~ 深雪
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: HIRAMATSU Akiko
HOSHI Souichiro
KAWASUMI Ayako
MIZUHASHI Kaori
MOMOI Haruko
NARITA Sayaka
R1 License - Pioneer (Defunct)
YUKINO Satsuki
It is the days prior to Ai Yori Aoshi when Kaoru is a new student in college. It is Christmas time and who should pay him a visit but Santa, looking very much like Aoi. Since she plans to spend the next 24 hours with Kaoru and he feels weird calling her Santa, she allows him to call her Aoi-chan after the girl he knew as a boy. Over the next 24 hours, the couple eat a Christmas meal, spend time at an amusement park, go ice skating, and take a late night walk. As they spend time together, they happen upon the girls from the original series in humorous moments. Also, Kaoru gets to experience some TLC while Santa-Aoi learns something more about humanity.

[OAV, 2003, 1 episode, 15 minutes. Taken from a 2-chapter story in the "Ai Yori Aoshi" manga (volume 5, chapters 43 & 44).]

Originally released on a DVD named "Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ - Saiai (Hoso Kaishi Kinen Ban)", bundled there with a set of five music video clips for Aoi (?), Chika ("Fun Fun Fun"), Mayu (?), Taeko ("Look Forward") and Tina ("I'll Be Home") respectively of about 2 minutes playing time each.

For the R1 DVD, it is in the "Extra" section of Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Volume 1.
[edit] The ↗Ai Yori Aoshi franchise:
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy Xenoknight [series:660#2967]
review coming after I rewatch the anime...

Check out my award list to see some of the best anime titles in the world!

Never forget Xenosaga.

Last updated Friday, December 05 2008. Created Friday, December 05 2008.
Rent 9 8 8 7 6 Ggultra2764 [series:660#1552]
This OAV made before Enishi makes for a nifty treat for Aoi/ Kaoru coupling fans. This OAV features what I would have wanted for the series the entire time: more focus on the coupling and less time on the pointless fan service and harem elements brought along by the other cast members.

Despite the fact this OAV was established as a prequel to Ai Yori Aoshi, Aoi still makes her presence felt as Santa Claus and incorporating "Santa" Aoi in this way was quite effective for both humor and touching elements of romance between her and Kaoru. Fan service is kept to a minimum and the other cast members are reduced to cameo roles for Miyuki thus keeping things entirely focused between Kaoru and "Santa" Aoi.

Overall, Miyuki is worth a look to feature the purity of Aoi and Kaoru's relationship and a "what if" for how Ai Yori Aoshi could be without being infested with harem comedy elements.

Last updated Sunday, March 16 2008. Created Sunday, March 16 2008.
Buy 9 9 9 7 8 10 Devil Doll [series:660#752]
[Score: 85% = maximum "Buy-"; episode reviews]
  • Drama: Med (it's actually more serious than it looks at first)
  • Comedy: Low/Med (you'll be smiling rather than ROTFL)
  • Action: None (it's a Christmas special after all)
  • SciFi: Med/High (Santa being a key character with special abilities)
  • Ecchi: Low (some Taeko clumsiness but that's about it)
Basically, AstroNerdBoy said it all: A nice little Special Episode whose fun is mainly based on knowing the original series but which has enough storyline of its own to be worth looking. I like this one very much - the most impressive moment to me being when "Santa" learns that humans cry when they are happy (wasn't there some scene like that with Rei and Shinji in the EVA entry plug, eh?).
If you like this one then watch out for Ai Yori Aoshi - Dream Story which is a similar 'teaser' episode for Ai Yori Aoshi.

Last updated Wednesday, August 10 2011. Created Sunday, October 19 2003.
Buy 9 8 10 9 8 AstroNerdBoy [series:660#436]

This is such a clever little special and pure fan service, not the sexual kind, but a title done strictly for fans of the original series. When I heard that it was taking place prior to Ai Yori Aoshi, I wondered how they could do this since this would obviously be before Aoi and Kaoru got together. Making Santa Claus look like Aoi was funny, cute, and a nifty way to bring her character in. And the writers cleverly devise a way for Kaoru to call this Santa "Aoi-chan". For her part, she doesn't address Kaoru as "Kaoru-sama" but "Kaoru-san" instead, which was a humorous difference.

Another clever item was the way all of the girls in Kaoru's life, including his mother, were included. All are given speaking cameo roles and except for Tina and his mother, these are humorous moments. Missing are Kaoru's two male friends from the photo club, but that's OK. While the story isn't anything massive, the fact that the writers were able to incorporate all of the elements that made the original so good within 15 mintues makes it special.

Bottom line: Fans of Ai Yori Aoshi will want this hands down, especially to give them a fix before Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~. If you've not seen the series, you can enjoy this just the same, however I would watch the original first before watching this.

Last updated Wednesday, November 17 2004. Created Thursday, October 02 2003.


Other Sites
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Ai Yori Aoshi - Enishi - Saiai: Hoso Kaishi Kinen Ban http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=PIBA-1447
Product page of the "Saiai" release that contains this video

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