Search - Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi, Volume 1: Fate (Limited Edition) on DVD

Overall, as Good as the First

Robin Gingras | Hell's Handbasket, FL | 07/25/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi is a very well-written love story, continued from the first season. Although some of the translations are a bit literal, the story is very well-written (I would suggest watching it with Japanese audio and English subtitles). Overall, a very good Anime for the die-hard Anime fan. There are quite a few sexual innuendos, but what would be the fun without them?"

Enishi rocks! Aoi shines bright

Fishy | Fairyland | 12/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 2nd season of Ai Yori Aoshi started out good! Actually, so good in fact that it gives you that feeling of reuniting all the fun you had with the first season. Aoi's ukeness is still there. Chika's cuteness is still there. Miyabi's nagginess is still there. Hell, even Tina's booze drinking is still there! ^o^

This 13 episode season has some of the cutest moments, and I love seeing Aoi and Kaoru share intimate moments. It shows how strong love can be, even in the modern world of angst. Though is it just me, or does Enishi have lots more fan service than before? Very Love Hina like, well sorta! Tina Foster is so freaking hilarious, and hearing her in the dub is a treat. Who doesn't love a hyper american fondling boobs *o* She's my idol! LOL

The dubbing isint that bad either! They perfected Aoi's submissive tone, Taeko's clumsy tone and Tina's southern USA tone convinced me. Though some of the secondary characters sounded whacked. Both Pioneer(Geneon) ADV Films, etc. never had a perfect cast of VAs, but rarely get close.

I truely recommend it to those who loved the original season "

Hopefull!

Amanda | stafford, virginia United States | 07/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I absolutely adore the ai yori yoshi series with its sappy mushy storyline of two starcrossed fiances (kaoru&aoi)and a houseful of hopeful girls wanting to catch kaoru's eye. i personally have never seen the enshi series but from what i get from the review above i think it will be an awsome sequel to the great fanservicing series ai yori aoshi!"

The bonds that tie people to one another...

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 07/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I accidentally saw the first eight episodes of Enishi, the second season of Ai Yori Aoshi, before backtracking to the first season. I was so enchanted with Aoi Sakuraba, the kindly soft-spoken landlady in the indigo kimono, I felt I made a new friend that day. Enishi lasted for twelve episodes. The second season's subtitle "enishi" harkens back to the first season, as the first episode was titled "Enishi."

Aoi tells the precocious and cute Chika Minazuki "Enishi means the bonds that tie people to one another. Everyone here is tied to one another by Enishi. That's why we all met, tied to each other by Enishi." There is a mystical and deterministic spiritual sense there, of how the various lines of fate intertwine to form those bonds, and yet it was meant to happen. Anyway, two years have passed since Kaoru Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba were united. The romantic mood is set by Aoi gazing at the cherry blossom petals drifting with the gentle breeze, highlighted by her savouring the mood, eyes closed, arms outstretched, remembering the anniversary.

We meet Chika Minazuki's two best friends at Fujimino High School for Girls, the lively Natsuki Komiya and shy but gentle Chizuru Aizawa, all three the most serious members of the swim team. When Natsuki discovers a photo of Chika and Kaoru, and the former says that they live together, Natsuki and Chizuru freak out big time, thinking she's gone to third base with Kaoru at so young an age. That demands a visit to the Sakuraba mansion on Sunday. However, Chika's nervousness at trying to keep her friends away from Kaoru so they won't ask him questions leads to all sorts of comedy, including a fight between Natsuki and Mayu.

When Chika needs help practicing tennis at high school, it turns into a tennis outing for the gang, with Miyabi-san being their coach. Aoi turns up with a very fetching outfit, a change from her usual kimono. But there's lots of mischief and ginger from Tina, who flips up tennis skirts, and in the showers, gets to fondle the other girls, all of which is overheard by Kaoru.

There are some salacious moments involving Aoi in a pink apron and nothing else. When Kaoru says he wants dinner first, she removes her kimono and says, "Please eat up." Yeah boy!

When Tina is freaked out on some strange noises from the attic at night, it's up to Taeko, who's a bit of an occult freak, to lead the gang to exorcise the ghost. Tina's a cowardly lion here, so clearly monsters are her Achilles heel. However, this is a throwaway episode, an excuse for all of them to cosplay in the Shinto priest robes a la Kikyo in Inuyasha.

The special Christmas episode, "Miyuki,"--beautiful snow in Japanese, is set before the first season. Kaoru is rewarded with a day with Santa when he finds the pendant without which she cannot return home. Santa suspiciously looks like a certain cute woman who habitually wears a blue kimono. A more preferable secular role for Santa is demonstrated. Santa Aoi says "The presents we give to children are not objects. We let them see pleasant and happy times in their dreams. ... Their joy, even if it's only an instant, is our joy." Less materialistic for sure. This was featured in the sixth manga, in which it was confirmed that some time after this, Kaoru and Aoi were reunited. However, a continuity question arises. Chika and Taeko clearly see Kaoru when he's with Santa Aoi, so why don't they remember him when they first meet? And why doesn't Mayu recognize Kaoru, having met him previously?

Finally, there is some idea of where Kaoru and friends live. Chika meets and later sees off her friends at Shiki Station. They are near Fujimi City in Saitama Prefecture, about 30 km away from Tokyo. Shiki and Fujimino, four stations away, are served by the Tobu Tojo line which runs from Ikebukuro in Tokyo to Yorii in Saitama.

Good start to the second season, let down by the silly poltergeist episode. Overall rating: 4.4, rounded down to 4. The limited edition of this comes with an Aoi Sakuraba capsule toy."