Aoi Hana

Shy and soft-spoken Fumi Manjoume and upfront and caring Akira Okudaira were best friends in elementary school, but this changed when Fumi and her family moved away. Years later, Fumi moves back to her hometown after being accepted at Matsuoka Girls’ High School. She finally reunites with Akira, who is going to attend Fujigatani Girls’ Academy. Despite their reunion, their relationship isn't the same as it was years ago.

As soon as Fumi starts attending school, popular senior Yasuko Sugimoto takes notice of her and flatters her more than any other underclassmen. After running to Akira for help so many times before, Fumi must figure out who she is as a person instead of standing in someone else’s shadow. However, that doesn’t stop Akira from wanting her friendship with Fumi to be as it once was. Will the girls be able to conquer the high school stage of growing up before it pulls them apart?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Manjoume, Fumi Main

Takabe, Ai Japanese

Okudaira, Akira Main

Gibu, Yuuko Japanese

Sugimoto, Yasuko Main

Ishimatsu, Chiemi Japanese

Ikumi, Kyouko Main

Horie, Yui Japanese

Fumi-san Supporting

Kobayashi, Mina Japanese

Okudaira, Yoshimichi Supporting

Densaka, Tsutomu Japanese

Sugimoto, Kuri Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Sugimoto, Chie Supporting

Tsuda, Shouko Japanese

Le Petit Prince Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Motegi, Miwa Supporting

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Yamamoto, Kouji Producer

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Oohashi, Masao Producer

Saitou, Aya Producer

Reviews

Apr 6, 2025

Sakura131

Recommended

I do not believe the Aoi Hana anime and manga receive the credit they are due. I feel too many are into the classic GL love story with a hidden crush, blushing, a confession, kiss, and perhaps maybe happily ever after.

Takako Shimura is probably the most prolific LGBT+ mangaka in all of Japan and this anime is an adaptation of her manga work. The manga should be read before the anime and I recommend experiencing both. Being as prolific as she is in the LGBT+ genre, I believe she is best skilled in truly capturing the social awkwardness and internal conflict of being a ... teenager in love - especially when in love with the same gender. She depicts teenagers coming to terms with defining love, questioning whether they truly feel it, whether to reciprocate, and having no idea what to do with the new sexual feelings they are experiencing.

It also shows what it’s like to straddle the line between friendship and romance, as so many people in life ended up falling romantically in love with their friends even though it could potentially be a bad idea that may ruin a perfectly good friendship. It’s all a part of growing up.

I recommend the Aoi Hana manga and anime on the basis of Takako Shimura being the most artful at depicting puberty. Sorry “Bloom Into You” fans, but Aoi Hana is my top recommendation for the genre.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 17, 2024

_DOLOS_

Mixed Feelings

The characters are new for me as GL is an uncharted territory for me.
The artstyle was what drew me towards the anime and the settings such as school combined with church, city on the seaside, local trains and the nostalgic railway crossing. If you have seen makoto shinkai's and Ghibli movies vibe BUT with a acquired taste. you would find these same background settings but only one in each they have combined them all to get this romantic-melancholic nostalgic vibe.
The story is not about love is more of a unrequited love path
The characters didn't develop much and were all over the place. It's like the ... director was given so many good options, he couldn't decide and ultimately deciding to take all.
After watching it, none of characters really put feelings behind their choices, it was like watching them play a drama about a third party.
The choices and acting felt as if "if that's how it's supposed to go, so be it" none of them had a thought of their own

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Dec 18, 2013

billybob300c

Not Recommended

i felt like i got robbed watching this series. overall i give it a 3/10 and here's why:

SPOILERS AHEAD...

1). Fumi x Akira NEVER HAPPENED AT ALL. I fell in love with the opening song, especially the parts where Fumi x Akira are dancing with the flowers & both are bare-skin. It was so dazzling and mesmerizing to watch them dance inside that flower garden & flower tornado. And when Akira drops those flowers gently on Fumi's cheeks...the way they looked at each other (especially how Akira looked at Fumi)... it was so mature and beautiful to watch that it made me wish I could look ... at someone the same way and have someone return those feelings. You can easily tell that they're really in love.

This feeling is what I got from having watched the opening of Episode 1. Around episode 5, I could tell that Fumi x Akira doesn't even look like it will happen because the series kept focusing too much on the other characters. At episode 8, my heart sank even further because there were only 3 episodes left and there's no way a deep bond can be formed with Fumi x Akira in that time span.
& in the final minutes of episode 11, we see a glimpse of Fumi x Akira starting to form but then the series just ends right there. I was left saddened and angry that I couldn't get to see the deep bond that was portrayed between the Fumi x Akira in the opening.

2). Felt like Yasuko x Kyouko were the main characters in this series. It was obvious from the opening that Fumi x Yasuko would end so I didn't care much for Yasuko so much. But it seemed like Yasuko and Kyouko were shown more often than the 2 main leads Fumi and Akira. I started caring more about how Kyouko can't receive the love of Yasuko. & Yasuko who can't receive the love of her teacher. Yasuko x Kyouko weren't even the 'main main' characters. Because of this, Fumi x Akira never got to fully take form.

3. The pace was agonizingly slow. It took forever for something significant to happen. It was like watching baseball, hockey or soccer. Each of those games last like 3-4 hours and you have to wait like 1 hour before a goal is scored. sometimes the games end in a draw of 0-0, which means like u wasted 4 hours watching a 'no-score-nothing-happened' game.

Anyways, I think about around episode 7, where Yasuko introduces Fumi to her family, was when I finally got hooked on the show because Yasuko reveals that she's going out with Fumi; thus declaring her sexual orientation. It was sad to finally get attached to the series starting around the 2nd half. but i knew coming into the series that the genre revolved around Yuri, drama and romance and that the opening was good. Those 4 aspects are what helped me endure.

-----------------------------

well, all in all, i did enjoy the series somewhat despite the reasons stated above. I wanted to know the bond of Fumi x Akira that was shown in the opening. I could never feel the closeness of those 2 anywhere in the episodes. & the fact that this didn't happen at all in the series... that just left me empty inside.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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