Friends, Lovers, and Flowers

 After the hilarity that was Maria Holic, I tried to keep my eyes open for more shoujo-ai based series, perhaps ones a wee bit more serious in regards to the issue at hand than Kanako, Mariya, and co. Thanks to my CLAMP fandom, I have plenty of shounen-ai fodder hanging around my house (BromanceHolic, Tsubasa Bromance Chronicle, Tokyo Bromance, and x/Bromance as a friend of mine calls it), but other than a few side stories in bigger series, very few anime I have watched contain a serious dose of shoujo-ai. After some sniffing around, I heard of a slice-of-life shoujo-ai drama called Aoi Hana that supposedly addressed lesbianism seriously, so I decided to give it a try. The series is only 11 episodes long, which makes for short viewing, although the manga is ongoing and extends further into the storyline.

Aoi Hana's Akira and Fuma shake things up by not starting as the main couple

Aoi Hana focuses on a group of four school girls, but in particular the shy, quick to tears Fumi Manjoume. Fumi is a lesbian, but hasn't had the best luck when it comes to love. Her recent crush, her cousin Chizu, humored her feelings for a time and then settled down to get married as if nothing had happened. Fumi has insecurity issues as a result, also magnified by the fact that she isn't sure how she can talk about her sexual identity with other people, and it is in this mindset that she reunites with childhood friend Akira.

Akira is an energetic and easy going girl, one who also helped Fumi work past her tears and doubts when growing up together as children. The two girls go to different high schools from one another, but determine to meet on a regular basis while walking to and from school, and slowly but surely they feel fully comfortable confiding in each other again. Think our Fumi is headed for romance? Wrong! At least not with Akira, as the opening credits suggest. At this stage, Akira is a bit ambivalent to the idea of romance in regards to herself, She just isn't ready, no matter which gender we're talking.

Instead, Fumi meets the lovely and androgynous Yasuko, a beautiful, tall, and short-haired upperclassman who everyone at school simply swoons over. Yasuko is strong, confident, and charming, and Fumi begins to feel comfortable and to a certain degree sheltered in her company. Yasuko is acting as the Wuthering Heights male lead Heathcliff for a drama performance at Akira's high school, so the two girls frequently pay visits to Akira and Akira's own new friend Kyouko.

Yasuko receives quite a bit of attention for her masculine style looks

And what would a romance be without a love triangle? Kyouko once confessed to Yasuko in the past, but Yasuko turned her down and then has continued to rebuff her attempts to get closer. The fact that Yasuko is constantly coming over to her high school makes things complicated for her, especially when she realizes how much attention Yasuko is receiving from the other girls, as well as how much attention Yasuko's giving to Fumi.

Unfortunately for her, Yasuko goes ahead and asks Fumi out, and Fumi happily accepts. However, Fumi still isn't quite sure how to share her relationship with Akira, who is still extremely important to her and close to her rival Kyouko. Deciding to be brave, she admits to her feelings for Yasuko, and though Akira is shocked and a bit confused at first, she realizes the best thing she can do for her friend is support her and wish her well. What a sweet best friend!

But then, naturally, trouble arises. As Yasuko works on her role as Heathcliff, all the girls around her are so focused on her allure as a male that they overwhelm her with affection even when Fumi is around. Yasuko also the habit of being equally kind and encouraging to everyone around her, which only increases Fumi's insecurities and makes Akira worried and annoyed on her friend's behalf. Yasuko and Fumi do have have a handful of adorable moments, but there's no helping the sense that Yasuko isn't entirely invested in her relationship with Fumi. There seems to be a multi-layered relationship between her and one of the teachers at Akira's high school, but even as time goes by, what the relationship exactly is doesn't become clear.

At the same time, Kyouko is struggling with her own emotions. She is engaged in name to a childhood friend name Kou, and though Kou is undoubtedly in love with her, Kyouko just can't seem to get over her feelings for Yasuko. Although I felt sorry for Kou, I once again enjoyed the emphasis on the idea that just because a love is unrequited doesn't automatically mean you can quickly erase that person from your heart. It takes a bit more work than that, and I definitely think Kyouko has an idea of just how much she's invested in a person probably not worth that much of her time.

Even though she's stuck in a one-sided love, Kyouko just can't seem to change the way she feels

The Wuthering Heights drama goes on, and after Yasuko delivers an excellent performance as Heathcliff, the sensei with an odd relationship with her shows up to congratulate her. When the normally cool headed Yasuko bursts into tears at this, Fumi is certain something is up. She presses Yasuko for more information, but Yasuko dismisses her worries and tells her to come home with her. Fumi tries to take the fact that Yasuko wants to introduce her family to her as a good sign, but as those of us who've been in relationship know, it's never a good idea to meet someone's family in the middle of going through relationship issues.

Sure enough, the family meeting doesn't go well. Everyone loves Fumi, but as soon as Yasuko tries to tell her sisters and mother that she's in love with her, no one is buying it. The truth of the matter is that the sensei who made Yasuko cry was her sister's fiance as well as Yasuko's unrequited crush, and Yasuko has been moody and withdrawn ever since the wedding was announced. Whatever she feels for Fumi is more of a mode of escapism than genuine love, and as long as she continues to cherish feelings for someone else, she'll only end up hurting the person she claimed to be in love with. After fighting with her sisters, Yasuko tells Fumi that they should break up since nothing good could come of anything going on like this.

Fumi had seen this break up coming to a certain degree, but she is still crushed when it happens. Akira is plain furious. She'd witnessed from the beginning that Yasuko wasn't completely invested in the relationship, and wonders why Yasuko even bothered toying with her friend while in love with someone else. She and Kyouko stand up in support of the broken hearted Fumi and try to encourage her in realizing that the relationship's failure wasn't her fault and that she should take as much time as she needs before moving on.

Sometimes a hug is the best medicine for a friend who's hurting 

Time passes, and Fumi and Akira grow closer as they work through Fumi's grief together. After Yasuko's sister and the sensei get married, Yasuko infringes on some of Akira and Fumi's time together, seeming to want to mend fences with Fumi, and Akira does a beautiful job of letting her friend know that she doesn't have to handle this challenge alone if she isn't ready to. But for once, Fumi has made up her mind. She tells Yasuko clearly that she has moved on and doesn't want to rebuild where they left off, and that if Yasuko continues to seek a relationship while still refusing to get over her sister's husband, she's simply being childish. Fumi's little speech to her earned her a fist pump from me, especially since she had very rarely stood up for herself during the series. The childish comment was also a much needed slap in the face for Yasuko, who has thus far been truly careless in dealing with Fumi and Kyouko as individuals rather than as stand-ins for the love she wanted but never got.

The anime concludes with Fumi flashing-back to her childhood with Akira and realizing that when she was younger, she had considered Akira to be her first love. There are also signs that these feelings are beginning to return, but the anime leaves things where they are for now. The manga is currently working on that particular storyline, but things are going in that direction as Akira realizes that maybe she could be happy being together with someone she has always seen as her closest and most beloved person.

And for those looking for some action, the Aoi Hana credit sequence is the closest you'll get

All-in-all, the Aoi Hana is a great short anime, if a bit light on the romance. If I have any complaint, it would have to be that I was never once all that convinced with the relationship between Fumi and Yasuko and was entirely indifferent when it ended, even when I knew I should be upset for Fumi's sake. Fumi and Yasuko are lacking in chemistry, and there was a never a moment when I believed Yasuko was actually in love with Fumi, especially when I paid close attention to Yasuko's interactions with her sensei. The purpose for me was waiting to see Fumi work towards her feelings for Akira, but as an 11 episode show, it didn't fully flesh out to where I was satisfied.

What I did value was Fumi's journey to maturity and finding a sense of peace with herself and her own identity. After Chizu got her hopes up and Yasuko used her as an emotional substitute, it would have been all too easy for her to give up and begin questioning her identity all over again, but Fumi does us proud by realizing her ability to move on, as well as being unafraid to turn to others for support when she can't handle everything on her own. Akira's friendship with her was also quite special, and I admired how much Akira was willing to fight for her, even after her initial confusion at learning Fumi's sexual orientation. Even without the romance element between them, Fumi is definitely lucky to have Akira on her side as she works to come into her own.

This is also a series where I would love to see a season two. I don't know if they have enough material yet, but I would love to see this relationship pursued further and to see more serious, thought-provoking shoujo-ai.