Aoi Hana
Encyclopedia
, also known as Sweet Blue Flowers, is a Japanese yuri manga
series written and illustrated by Takako Shimura
. It began serialization in November 2004 in Ohta Publishing's Manga Erotics F manga magazine. The first bound volume
was released in December 2005 in Japan; as of May 2011, six volumes have been released. The story focuses on Fumi Manjōme, a lesbian
high school girl, and her close childhood friend Akira Okudaira, who tries to keep her friends happy through difficult times. When Shimura was writing her manga Dōnika Naru Hibi, she became interested in a story between girls, leading her to create Aoi Hana. While she felt that the story focus should be on girls for yuri works, Shimura also wanted to introduce some males since she thought it would add an interesting aspect to the series.
An 11-episode anime
television series produced by J.C.Staff
and directed by Ken'ichi Kasai
aired in Japan between July and September 2009 on Fuji TV
. An Internet radio
show to promote the anime was produced between June and October 2009 on HiBiKi Radio Station hosted by Ai Takabe and Yūko Gibu, who voiced Fumi and Akira in the anime, respectively.
to Akira who is at first unsure on how to act, but still tries to support Fumi's new relationship.
Akira's drama club does an adaptation of Wuthering Heights
for a drama festival; Fumi helps out with her friends Yōko Honatsugi, Misako Yasuda, and Miwa Motegi. Yasuko breaks up with Fumi, who learns that Yasuko's older sister Kazusa is marrying a teacher at Fujigaya named Masanori Kagami whom Yasuko had fallen in love with. Time passes after the wedding, and Yasuko decides to study abroad in London after graduating. Miwa and Akira's older brother Shinobu start going out, and Fumi tells Akira that she was her first love, much to Akira's embarrassment.
When Akira and her friends enter their second year of high school, an energetic first-year student named Haruka Ōno joins the Fujigaya drama club. Akira and Kyōko are split into different classrooms, and Akira meets a tall girl in her new class named Ryōko Ueda. The high school division of Fujigaya does the play Rokumeikan
with Akira, Kyōko and Ryōko playing lead roles, though Ryōko only agrees to act because Akira also agrees to act alongside her. Fumi and Haruka become friends, and Haruka confides in Fumi that she suspects her older sister Orie may like women. Not knowing how to respond, Fumi seeks advice from Akira, but ends up confessing her love for her instead. Kyōko does not want Kō to break off the engagement, but he ends up finally breaking up with her. The play goes well and everyone praises the actress' performances. Over summer vacation, Akira suggests to Fumi that they go out together after thinking deeply about it.
. When starting to write Aoi Hana, Shimura noticed that she was like a person depicting sexual perversion for writing about yuri relationships.
Before starting to write Aoi Hana, Shimura went with her editor to Kamakura, Kanagawa
with the main objective of visiting the Kamakura Museum of Literature
. Shimura took many pictures during their trip, and thought Kamakura felt like a great place to set the story. With a guide book
of Kamakura in hand, Shimura thought of various locations that would later appear in Aoi Hana, such as the café that the characters frequent. Many of the pictures taken turned out unusable, though there were some she used as references for the setting, such as modeling the exterior of Fujigaya after the Kamakura Museum of Literature. Shimura also used the Komaba Park estate in Meguro, Tokyo
for the interior of Fujigaya, such as with the staircase featured in chapter eleven. A large Japanese-style house on the same property as the Kamakura Museum of Literature was used as a model for the Sugimoto residence. The Enoshima Electric Railway
is also featured in the series.
was meeting at Ohta Publishing for an unrelated anime project and told the editor-in-chief of Manga Erotics F, "U-mura", that he liked the Aoi Hana manga and would like to produce it into an anime in the future. Shortly after the first manga volume was released in December 2005, Matsukura went to a Media Factory
producer, who also agreed to collaborating on an Aoi Hana anime. Matsukura went on to say that J.C.Staff is not the type of company to usually go out and make suggestions for anime projects and it was only because he liked Aoi Hana and later met U-mura by chance that an anime eventually became possible. Matsukura was in charge of choosing much of the staff. Ken'ichi Kasai
was chosen as the director, because of his intuitiveness to make good-feeling anime according to Matsukura. For the series composition, Matsukura thought it would appear unexpected to pick Fumihiko Takayama, though he was asked to participate, because he likes shōjo manga. Takayama, who has experience as an animation director, would often make suggestions during the production of the animation, enough for Matsukura to joke that Takayama should have been staffed as the director instead, though Takayama flatly refused. Neither Kasai nor Takayama initially knew of the manga, but were approached by Matsukura, because he thought they would enjoy working on the project. This was the same case for the character designer and chief animation director Masayuki Onji.
Takayama initially suggested to not produce an anime, because of the difficulty in maintaining the feeling of the original work, and wanted to let someone else deal with it. Further difficulty was cited in Aoi Hana not being a plot driven story, but rather character driven. After accepting and beginning work on the scenario, Takayama happened to read a poem titled by Bin Ueda which had the phrase , and remarked that this was like the world was telling him he should write the scenario. At first, Kasai thought the entire work was going to be about yuri, but felt that an important point of the story was that Yasuko Sugimoto initially likes her teacher Masanori Kagami, rather than it being a complete yuri story if Yasuko had liked a female teacher. When writing the scenario for the first episode, Takayama found the length to be insufficient, and even after handing it over to Kasai, the episode was still about two minutes short. The missing material was filled in with various scenes of Fumi and Akira when they were younger, and Akira going to school. Where and how to end the anime was also an issue when writing the scenario, and it took a long time to decide.
series written and illustrated by Takako Shimura
, which began serialization in Ohta Publishing's Manga Erotics F manga magazine in the thirtieth volume sold on November 17, 2004. The first tankōbon
was released on December 15, 2005, and as of May 12, 2011, six volumes have been published in Japan. The manga has been licensed for release in French by Asuka
under the title Fleurs Bleues.
show to promote the anime series called was broadcast between June 26 and October 30, 2009 on HiBiKi Radio Station in nineteen episodes, and aired between July 3 and November 6, 2009 on Media Factory Net Radio
. The show, which aired every Friday, was hosted by Ai Takabe and Yūko Gibu, who voiced Fumi and Akira in the anime, respectively. Chiemi Ishimatsu, the voice of Yasuko, also joined the show for three broadcasts in late August 2009. A CD containing a couple of parts from some episodes as well as newly recorded material was released on December 22, 2009.
TV series adaptation was produced by the animation studio J.C.Staff
and directed by Ken'ichi Kasai
. The anime aired in Japan between July 2 and September 10, 2009 on Fuji TV
as the third series in Fuji TV's Noise
timeslot. It was also streamed online on Crunchyroll
. The series has two pieces of theme music
; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is by Kukikodan, and the ending theme is by Ceui
. The single for "Aoi Hana" was released on July 22, 2009, followed by the single for "Centifolia" on August 5, 2009. The anime's original soundtrack was released on August 26, 2009 by Lantis
. Fuji TV producer Kōji Yamamoto revealed that a second season is not planned due to low DVD sales of the anime.
and ALC Publishing, reviewed the Aoi Hana anime and manga, praising Takako Shimura's original cover and interior art from the manga, and how that art style is "captured in the anime through crisp, realistic art." The story is also lauded for "far surpassing most Yuri in general" by its strength in a "character-driven" story, which is described as being both "aesthetically appealing" and "simple". Friedman cites that Aoi Hana could easily be compared to a Jane Austen
story, and feels that the story is not "a melodrama or a parody, like Strawberry Panic!
." Friedman later called Aoi Hana the best yuri anime of 2009, where she wrote how the series was one of the "most realistic portrayals of a young woman in love with another woman ever seen in an anime." Friedman also praised the faithful adaptation from manga to anime, including parts that she felt were done better animated.
Aoi Hana was featured as Anime News Network
's Import of the Month in May 2007 where it was described as "the best of its genre" that "makes stuff like MariMite
and Strawberry Panic! look like trashy dime-store romance by comparison." Takako Shimura's art was seen as "economical" with "clean layouts, sparse backgrounds, and everything that needs to be said contained within a single facial expression." However, the plot points are described as so calm that they are easy to gloss over. The relationships presented are seen as complex and the reviewer felt it was difficult to remember all the particulars in the story. G.B. Smith of Mania described the anime as presenting the story in a "sincere and open way...without any gimmicks," as opposed to other yuri-themed series that are "either heavily comedic in nature, or have disguised the relationship in one way or another." The replay value of the anime was questioned, because of situations that "lack a certain amount of compelling drama that makes for a truly memorable experience." The Aoi Hana anime was selected as a recommended work by the awards jury of the thirteenth Japan Media Arts Festival
in 2009.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Takako Shimura
Takako Shimura
is a female manga artist primarily known for her manga works published in Japan which feature LGBT topics. Originally from Kanagawa, she now resides in Tokyo. Her series Aoi Hana was adapted as an anime television series broadcast in 2009...
. It began serialization in November 2004 in Ohta Publishing's Manga Erotics F manga magazine. The first bound volume
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
was released in December 2005 in Japan; as of May 2011, six volumes have been released. The story focuses on Fumi Manjōme, a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
high school girl, and her close childhood friend Akira Okudaira, who tries to keep her friends happy through difficult times. When Shimura was writing her manga Dōnika Naru Hibi, she became interested in a story between girls, leading her to create Aoi Hana. While she felt that the story focus should be on girls for yuri works, Shimura also wanted to introduce some males since she thought it would add an interesting aspect to the series.
An 11-episode anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series produced by J.C.Staff
J.C.STAFF
, is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986. Their first release was the three episode OVA Sengoku Kidan Yōtōden, in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Excel Saga, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Shakugan no Shana, Toaru Majutsu no...
and directed by Ken'ichi Kasai
Ken'ichi Kasai
is a Japanese anime director, born on 12 April 1970 in Gifu Prefecture.He is amongst J.C.Staff's most noted directors, having directed the highly-rated Honey and Clover series. Beginning his career as a production manager, using his birth name, he moved onto direction with J.C. Staff...
aired in Japan between July and September 2009 on Fuji TV
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
. An Internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
show to promote the anime was produced between June and October 2009 on HiBiKi Radio Station hosted by Ai Takabe and Yūko Gibu, who voiced Fumi and Akira in the anime, respectively.
Plot
At the start of Aoi Hana, Akira Okudaira, who is an entering high school student into Fujigaya Girls Academy, becomes reacquainted with her childhood friend Fumi Manjōme whom she has not seen for ten years. Fumi is attending Matsuoka Girl's High School where she quickly becomes friends with a handsome third-year student named Yasuko Sugimoto. Akira joins her school's drama club with her friend and classmate Kyōko Ikumi, who is in love with Yasuko, though Yasuko turns her down. Akira meets Kyōko's fiance (in name only) Kō Sawanoi. Yasuko and Fumi become a couple, and Fumi comes outComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
to Akira who is at first unsure on how to act, but still tries to support Fumi's new relationship.
Akira's drama club does an adaptation of Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
for a drama festival; Fumi helps out with her friends Yōko Honatsugi, Misako Yasuda, and Miwa Motegi. Yasuko breaks up with Fumi, who learns that Yasuko's older sister Kazusa is marrying a teacher at Fujigaya named Masanori Kagami whom Yasuko had fallen in love with. Time passes after the wedding, and Yasuko decides to study abroad in London after graduating. Miwa and Akira's older brother Shinobu start going out, and Fumi tells Akira that she was her first love, much to Akira's embarrassment.
When Akira and her friends enter their second year of high school, an energetic first-year student named Haruka Ōno joins the Fujigaya drama club. Akira and Kyōko are split into different classrooms, and Akira meets a tall girl in her new class named Ryōko Ueda. The high school division of Fujigaya does the play Rokumeikan
Rokumeikan (play)
Rokumeikan is a four-act costume drama by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. It was commissioned by the Bungakuza group for its 20th anniversary, and its first run was from 27 November to 9 December 1956 at the Daiichi Seimei Hall, with Haruko Sugimura playing Asako and Nobuo Nakamura playing...
with Akira, Kyōko and Ryōko playing lead roles, though Ryōko only agrees to act because Akira also agrees to act alongside her. Fumi and Haruka become friends, and Haruka confides in Fumi that she suspects her older sister Orie may like women. Not knowing how to respond, Fumi seeks advice from Akira, but ends up confessing her love for her instead. Kyōko does not want Kō to break off the engagement, but he ends up finally breaking up with her. The play goes well and everyone praises the actress' performances. Over summer vacation, Akira suggests to Fumi that they go out together after thinking deeply about it.
Characters
- Fumi is a first-year student at Matsuoka Girl's High School, and is a tall, shy girl prone to crying. Fumi comes back to the town she grew up in and she meets, without realizing it, her childhood friend Akira Okudaira. When they were much younger, Akira had been Fumi's protector, keeping her out of harm and consoling her when she cried. Fumi is a lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and had her first romantic relationship with her older female cousin . Soon after Fumi moves back to Kamakura, she finds out Chizu will soon get married to a man she has never met. Not long after meeting Yasuko Sugimoto in the literature club, Fumi develops a crush on Yasuko, who later asks her out.
- Akira, known as Ah-chan to some of her friends, is an innocent and cheerful girl in her first-year at Fujigaya Girls Academy. She is the childhood friend of Fumi and after meeting her again after ten years is friends again. She acts as a main source of advice for Fumi. Akira joins the drama club because her friend Kyōko Ikumi is a member of it. She often talks about food as well as give advice. Akira is uncomfortable around scary stories or things that test her courage. Unexpectedly and unintentionally, Akira usually spills secrets about her friends to other people when they ask her questions about them. Her intentions though are pure without any vice, and only says so to help her friends out. Akira has an older brother, , who attends college. He is constantly worried about his sister, and often takes her places in his car, though Akira often gets very annoyed at how protective her brother is towards her.
- Yasuko is a popular third-year senior at Matsuoka Girl's High School. She is a cool upperclassman and the captain of the basketball team, though Fumi mistakes her for being in the literature club when they first meet. After visiting Fujigaya Girls Academy and rejecting Kyōko's confession, she asks Fumi out, who accepts. Yasuko developed romantic feelings for a teacher when she was attending Fujigaya, , who also acts as the adviser for the drama club.
- Yasuko has three older sisters who all attended Fujigaya. The eldest is who likes to joke and tease Yasuko; she attended Fujigaya at the same time as Hinako. The second eldest is who for a short time worked as an art teacher at Fujigaya after graduating. While there, she met her future husband Masanori Kagami, also a teacher. She has a kind personality. The third eldest sister is who, similar to Yasuko, was very popular when attending Fujigaya. Also like Yasuko, she too fell in love with Masanori Kagami, but never told him her feelings. She wields a blunt personality and smokes.
- Kyōko is a reckless girl who has eyes only for Yasuko. She is in the same class as Akira and is a member of the drama club. She has been dubbed as Princess for her charm, and is also skilled in sewing, art, tennis and acting. Kyōko is engaged (in name only) to who attends college. They have known each other since childhood and Kō has a great concern and disposition of Kyōko, but knows that she is in love with someone else.
- (Misako), Sayuri YahagiSayuri Yahagiis a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo, Japan. She has also been the narrator of Animax since October 2007.-Anime:*Asu no Yoichi! - Sakon Saginomiya*Asura Cryin - Ania Fortuna*Bakugan Battle Brawlers - Ai...
(Yōko), and Aki ToyosakiAki Toyosakiis a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. She had her first major voice acting roles in 2007, voicing Amuro Ninagawa in Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō and Su in Shugo Chara!...
(Miwa) - Misako, Yōko, and Miwa are three girls in Fumi's class who are close friends and the sole members of the drama club. Each has a nickname: Yassan for Misako, Pon for Yōko, and Mogii for Miwa. Misako has thick eyebrows and boyish-short, frizzy hair. She likes to test people's courage or scaring them by either participating in a game of "test of courage" or telling ghost stories. Yōko has a bright, frank personality and wears her hair in a shoulder-length bob cutBob cutA "bob cut" is a short haircut for women in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at about jaw-level, often with a fringe at the front.-The beginning:...
. She is a bit on the clumsy side and has a hard time competing against Kyōko in tennis. Miwa has a gentle personality and wear her hair in a shoulder-length wavy style. She is the only one of her friends to be put into a separate class in their second year. Miwa becomes interested in Akira's brother Shinobu and the two start dating around the end of her first year of high school.
- Haruka is a girl who joins Fujigaya as a student one year below Akira and becomes a new member of the drama club. She has an endearing personality that makes it easy for her to become friendly with anyone, though is prone to making silly mistakes. Haruka has an older sister, , who is in a romantic relationship with , a science teacher at Fujigaya, and the homeroom teacher of Akira's second year class. Orie and Hinako have known each other since high school, and Haruka refers to her as Hina.
- Ryōko is a tall girl in Akira's class in their second year. She has a gentle and quiet personality, and enjoys reading; she becomes a library aide at Fujigaya.
Production
Manga
When Takako Shimura was writing her manga Dōnika Naru Hibi, she became interested in a story between girls, leading her to create Aoi Hana. While she felt that the story focus should be on girls for yuri works, Shimura also wanted to introduce some males since she thought it would add an interesting aspect to the series. Shimura felt it difficult to balance the need for some males, but also not wanting to add too many. When depicting the characters, she did not want to write about them going through pubertyPuberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
. When starting to write Aoi Hana, Shimura noticed that she was like a person depicting sexual perversion for writing about yuri relationships.
Before starting to write Aoi Hana, Shimura went with her editor to Kamakura, Kanagawa
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
with the main objective of visiting the Kamakura Museum of Literature
Kamakura Museum of Literature
The is a small museum in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, that contains material about writers who have lived, died, or were active in the city of Kamakura itself. The museum displays personal effects, manuscripts, first editions, and documents owned by well over a hundred writers of Japanese...
. Shimura took many pictures during their trip, and thought Kamakura felt like a great place to set the story. With a guide book
Guide book
A guide book is a book for tourists or travelers that provides details about a geographic location, tourist destination, or itinerary. It is the written equivalent of a tour guide...
of Kamakura in hand, Shimura thought of various locations that would later appear in Aoi Hana, such as the café that the characters frequent. Many of the pictures taken turned out unusable, though there were some she used as references for the setting, such as modeling the exterior of Fujigaya after the Kamakura Museum of Literature. Shimura also used the Komaba Park estate in Meguro, Tokyo
Meguro, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It calls itself Meguro City in English.Meguro hosts fifteen foreign embassies and consulates. One of Tokyo's most exclusive residential neighborhoods is located in Meguro....
for the interior of Fujigaya, such as with the staircase featured in chapter eleven. A large Japanese-style house on the same property as the Kamakura Museum of Literature was used as a model for the Sugimoto residence. The Enoshima Electric Railway
Enoshima Electric Railway
The connects Kamakura Station in Kamakura, with Fujisawa Station in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Stations en route include Hase Station, the stop closest to Kōtoku-in, the temple with the colossal outdoor statue of Amida Buddha. It is fully owned by the Odakyu Group of companies.- Train...
is also featured in the series.
Anime
In 2005, anime producer Yūji Matsukura of J.C.StaffJ.C.STAFF
, is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986. Their first release was the three episode OVA Sengoku Kidan Yōtōden, in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Excel Saga, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Shakugan no Shana, Toaru Majutsu no...
was meeting at Ohta Publishing for an unrelated anime project and told the editor-in-chief of Manga Erotics F, "U-mura", that he liked the Aoi Hana manga and would like to produce it into an anime in the future. Shortly after the first manga volume was released in December 2005, Matsukura went to a Media Factory
Media Factory
is a Japanese publisher. It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd...
producer, who also agreed to collaborating on an Aoi Hana anime. Matsukura went on to say that J.C.Staff is not the type of company to usually go out and make suggestions for anime projects and it was only because he liked Aoi Hana and later met U-mura by chance that an anime eventually became possible. Matsukura was in charge of choosing much of the staff. Ken'ichi Kasai
Ken'ichi Kasai
is a Japanese anime director, born on 12 April 1970 in Gifu Prefecture.He is amongst J.C.Staff's most noted directors, having directed the highly-rated Honey and Clover series. Beginning his career as a production manager, using his birth name, he moved onto direction with J.C. Staff...
was chosen as the director, because of his intuitiveness to make good-feeling anime according to Matsukura. For the series composition, Matsukura thought it would appear unexpected to pick Fumihiko Takayama, though he was asked to participate, because he likes shōjo manga. Takayama, who has experience as an animation director, would often make suggestions during the production of the animation, enough for Matsukura to joke that Takayama should have been staffed as the director instead, though Takayama flatly refused. Neither Kasai nor Takayama initially knew of the manga, but were approached by Matsukura, because he thought they would enjoy working on the project. This was the same case for the character designer and chief animation director Masayuki Onji.
Takayama initially suggested to not produce an anime, because of the difficulty in maintaining the feeling of the original work, and wanted to let someone else deal with it. Further difficulty was cited in Aoi Hana not being a plot driven story, but rather character driven. After accepting and beginning work on the scenario, Takayama happened to read a poem titled by Bin Ueda which had the phrase , and remarked that this was like the world was telling him he should write the scenario. At first, Kasai thought the entire work was going to be about yuri, but felt that an important point of the story was that Yasuko Sugimoto initially likes her teacher Masanori Kagami, rather than it being a complete yuri story if Yasuko had liked a female teacher. When writing the scenario for the first episode, Takayama found the length to be insufficient, and even after handing it over to Kasai, the episode was still about two minutes short. The missing material was filled in with various scenes of Fumi and Akira when they were younger, and Akira going to school. Where and how to end the anime was also an issue when writing the scenario, and it took a long time to decide.
Manga
Aoi Hana began as a mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Takako Shimura
Takako Shimura
is a female manga artist primarily known for her manga works published in Japan which feature LGBT topics. Originally from Kanagawa, she now resides in Tokyo. Her series Aoi Hana was adapted as an anime television series broadcast in 2009...
, which began serialization in Ohta Publishing's Manga Erotics F manga magazine in the thirtieth volume sold on November 17, 2004. The first tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
was released on December 15, 2005, and as of May 12, 2011, six volumes have been published in Japan. The manga has been licensed for release in French by Asuka
Asuka (publisher)
Asuka is a French publisher of Japanese manga in translation. In 2009 its parent company, Kaze S.A.S., was purchased by the Japanese manga publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha. Prior to the purchase, the company's manga was published under the Asuka imprint...
under the title Fleurs Bleues.
Internet radio show
An Internet radioInternet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
show to promote the anime series called was broadcast between June 26 and October 30, 2009 on HiBiKi Radio Station in nineteen episodes, and aired between July 3 and November 6, 2009 on Media Factory Net Radio
Media Factory
is a Japanese publisher. It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd...
. The show, which aired every Friday, was hosted by Ai Takabe and Yūko Gibu, who voiced Fumi and Akira in the anime, respectively. Chiemi Ishimatsu, the voice of Yasuko, also joined the show for three broadcasts in late August 2009. A CD containing a couple of parts from some episodes as well as newly recorded material was released on December 22, 2009.
Anime
An 11-episode animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
TV series adaptation was produced by the animation studio J.C.Staff
J.C.STAFF
, is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986. Their first release was the three episode OVA Sengoku Kidan Yōtōden, in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Excel Saga, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Shakugan no Shana, Toaru Majutsu no...
and directed by Ken'ichi Kasai
Ken'ichi Kasai
is a Japanese anime director, born on 12 April 1970 in Gifu Prefecture.He is amongst J.C.Staff's most noted directors, having directed the highly-rated Honey and Clover series. Beginning his career as a production manager, using his birth name, he moved onto direction with J.C. Staff...
. The anime aired in Japan between July 2 and September 10, 2009 on Fuji TV
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
as the third series in Fuji TV's Noise
Noise (programming block)
is a Fuji TV late night anime programming block, broadcast each Wednesday night from 26:08 to 26:38. It is Fuji TV's second late night anime-themed time block, after noitaminA, which airs every Thursday night. It first began on October 15, 2008, with Michiko to Hatchin.-Programs:...
timeslot. It was also streamed online on Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...
. The series has two pieces of theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is by Kukikodan, and the ending theme is by Ceui
Ceui
Ceui is a Japanese singer–songwriter originally from Chiba, Japan, though she grew up in Fukuoka. Ceui's name is derived from the Portuguese word for sky, céu...
. The single for "Aoi Hana" was released on July 22, 2009, followed by the single for "Centifolia" on August 5, 2009. The anime's original soundtrack was released on August 26, 2009 by Lantis
Lantis (company)
is a Japanese company that specializes as a music publisher label for Japanese musicians, anime soundtracks and video game soundtracks. It was established on November 26, 1999, and in May 2006, it was bought by, and became a subsidiary of, Bandai Visual...
. Fuji TV producer Kōji Yamamoto revealed that a second season is not planned due to low DVD sales of the anime.
Reception
Erica Friedman, the president of YuriconYuricon
Yuricon is an anime convention geared toward fans of yuri anime and manga. The first Yuricon event was held in 2003 in Newark, New Jersey with about 200 attending, although Yuricon has existed as an online entity since 2000. The event was organized by Yuricon, LLC., which continues to run...
and ALC Publishing, reviewed the Aoi Hana anime and manga, praising Takako Shimura's original cover and interior art from the manga, and how that art style is "captured in the anime through crisp, realistic art." The story is also lauded for "far surpassing most Yuri in general" by its strength in a "character-driven" story, which is described as being both "aesthetically appealing" and "simple". Friedman cites that Aoi Hana could easily be compared to a Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
story, and feels that the story is not "a melodrama or a parody, like Strawberry Panic!
Strawberry Panic!
is a series of Japanese fictional illustrated short stories written by Sakurako Kimino, which focus on a group of teenage girls attending three affiliated all-girl schools on Astraea Hill. A common theme throughout the stories is the intimate lesbian relationships between the characters...
." Friedman later called Aoi Hana the best yuri anime of 2009, where she wrote how the series was one of the "most realistic portrayals of a young woman in love with another woman ever seen in an anime." Friedman also praised the faithful adaptation from manga to anime, including parts that she felt were done better animated.
Aoi Hana was featured as Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
's Import of the Month in May 2007 where it was described as "the best of its genre" that "makes stuff like MariMite
Maria-sama ga Miteru
, often shortened to , is a series of Japanese light novels written by Oyuki Konno and illustrated by Reine Hibiki. The series focuses on a group of teenage girls attending Lillian Catholic school for girls in Tokyo, Japan. Its storyline largely revolves around the lives and close relationships of...
and Strawberry Panic! look like trashy dime-store romance by comparison." Takako Shimura's art was seen as "economical" with "clean layouts, sparse backgrounds, and everything that needs to be said contained within a single facial expression." However, the plot points are described as so calm that they are easy to gloss over. The relationships presented are seen as complex and the reviewer felt it was difficult to remember all the particulars in the story. G.B. Smith of Mania described the anime as presenting the story in a "sincere and open way...without any gimmicks," as opposed to other yuri-themed series that are "either heavily comedic in nature, or have disguised the relationship in one way or another." The replay value of the anime was questioned, because of situations that "lack a certain amount of compelling drama that makes for a truly memorable experience." The Aoi Hana anime was selected as a recommended work by the awards jury of the thirteenth Japan Media Arts Festival
Japan Media Arts Festival
The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. The festival for a nominal year was usually held during February or March next year, rather than at the end of the nominal year. For instance, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, where...
in 2009.