Ai Yori Aoshi Miyabi

Ai Yori Aoshi is one of my All-Time Top Favorites♥ virtually unique in how pure-hearted in is well-meaning nature, straight to it's Core.

the side-arc of Aoi and family breaking through Miyabi's rigid professional shell is already touching enough...
yet this Beautiful Series has so very much more still to offer.

Simply Stated... Ai Yori Aoshi is Love♥

My favorite girl was the American one (Tina).

I remember watching it in the mid 2000s when I was like 14-15. I liked the opening/ending songs a lot. I also liked the first few episodes, since it were pretty much the only episodes where their romantic relationship progressed. And then the anime took a nosedive into the typical forced drama + cockblocking + pointless comedy to distract the viewer from the fact that there's no romance development between the main duo. I'm gonna re-watch the series eventually since I have it on my hard drive, so I can give it a more objective rating. Back when I was a teenager, I would rate most stuff between 6-10. Yes, I used to be like most people on MAL who for some reason refuse to use the full 1-10 scale when rating anime. Good thing I wisened up, unlike most of the watchers here.

@BigBoyAdvance Well cockblocking is thing that bothers me as well, but if I understand the situation in 23th episode well, I think they actually made love at last. Situation that practically prevents their relationship to grow properly is living with another 4-5 girls, but yeah theme is Harem so such thing was obvious. On the other hand in terms of average harem qualities it’s like heaven and hell.

It’s solid heart-warming romance which is easy to like, if you turn a blind eye to a few mistakes. It’s deffinitely not some kind of masterpiece in my opinion, but no doubt it’s show of certain qualities. As I said there is something about these older romance animes.

I would recommend to you to give it a shot again.
7/10 for me

No way it's a 7/10 considering all the pointless shit it has going on for 20 episodes. 5/10 is already too generous.

I watched both S1 and S2 back in October last year and quite liked the romance in S1, it was an adult setting, the main couple were set up from the beginning, no will they, won't they, and they even spend the night together the end of S1, which was arranged by Miyabi if memory serves. Yes Miyabi was a bit stuck up, but she saw how happy Kaoru made Aoi so ended up supporting them, against the wishes of the family.

The person who annoyed me most was Aoi herself. Her whole personality was wanting to serve Kaoru and make him happy, there was nothing else to her, and her entire being was devoted to his happiness. She had no personality or interests beyond Kaoru, which is just a bit extreme, almost bordering on yandere, but without the physical violent tendencies.

And S2 was pretty crap. For some reason, despite getting engaged, Kaoru and Aoi have to keep the relationship a secret because the family company haven't approved. One of the poorest excuses to keep the harem status quo I've ever seen. Why on earth would the family company have a say in a marriage. I'd say give S2 a miss, it was pretty rubbish.

I remember seeing Ai Yori Aoshi in the 2000s. The main thing that irked me with the series was that the harem element felt largely unnecessary, as you could have just mainly focused on Aoi and Kaoru's relationship and the two dealing with their families having issue with the relationship. The series still dabbles into that at points, especially later in the manga. But the harem element just feels largely shoehorned in.

As for Miyabi, I didn't mind her character. One vital element in the series that worked for me was her gradual acceptance of Kaoru potentially being Aoi's husband when she came to realize the genuine feelings both had for one another.

I think you're assigning a motive to Miyabi -- that isn't ever stated in the anime or the manga -- based on your personal dislike of her. Yeah, it's unfortunate that she gets in the way. But as a personal assistant/guardian to Aoi, it's her job to look out for the family's interests, and when it comes to old/rich families, that means keeping teenage daughters from hooking up with no-name losers. Maintaining the family's wealth and status means making sure that daughters marry sons of similarly-rich families, a status that Kaoru abdicated. And from a narrative standpoint, Miyabi is a "necessary obstacle" to keep things from moving too far too quickly, in order to keep the tension and harem shenanigans going for as long as the manga remained popular and commercially viable. So even though I might not like her actions, I can understand why she takes them.


I don't believe so -- they don't get around to it until very late in the manga, well beyond what even the second season of the anime covered.

Yeah, Enishi does feel very much like a "filler season," but it's entertaining enough. Just get ready to pick up the manga afterwards if you want more.

I last watched the series in it's entirety back in 2021 [what's weird is 2021 feels both like a year ago and eons ago at the same time].. I personally found it pleasing to watch. For me it was an anime about teenagers who are suddenly thrust into a household life. It achieved something in between household romance and school-romance.. I rarely find anime to that tune, if ever. Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon provided a similar taste [yet distinct as MCs are no youngsters].
As for Miyabi, and the points you make about her personality/character, I think that was the point of her. The annoying supervisor to the young couple. There are many Miyabi alternates in numerous titles [and for the majority they are from the girl's side]. And most of them are annoying, and at times helpful in a unthinkable way. I think she was a good character to vent on for her antics.

[Also, out of context, but I never found a user that rated Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari a 10. You might be the first other than myself.]