Ai Yori Aoshi #2: My Dearest (DVD)
APPROX. 120 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 0 - MPA RATING: MA13
" The single most frustrating thing about “Ai Yori Aoshi” is that it can’t seem to really decide what it wants to be.
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Video:
The video aspect ratio is 1.33:1 (full-screen on 4:3 monitors). The colors and shading came out well in the transfer, and the animation quality is top notch for a television show. The backgrounds especially are gorgeous. The animation is never jerky. Some of the girls have unlikely hair colors, but that´s not too out of the norm for anime.
Audio:
You can watch the show in either Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Japanese or DD 2.0 stereo English. There is an option for English subtitles. I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles. I didn´t hear any problems with the audio quality. The music, both in the background and opening and closings, is a little above average.
Extras:
There are three main extras on the disc. The first is the "opening (Clean and Japanese)". This is pretty much what it sounds like. The opening is played twice, once without any credits and once with the original Japanese credits.
The second extra is a "Conceptual Art Gallery", which consists mainly of various sketches of Tina and Miyabi. In all, there are twenty-six pictures, most of which focus on Tina.
The last extra is the Unofficial Trailer. I don´t know in what context this is unofficial, seeing as how it is on the official DVD. It wasn´t all that great either. Perhaps the winner of a music video contest earned the right to have his video added to the disc.
--Miscellaneous--
The DVD comes with a two page insert. On the cover is a chapter listing. The inside is a two page picture of Aoi looking very happy. The back page has an explanation of why the Sakuraba mansion looks so western.
The cover is reversible, but there are more pictures on the default side, so I left it alone. Plus, the other cover is just a little too risqué for my taste to just have lying out in the open.
Film Value:
I´m not ready to give up on "Ai Yori Aoshi" yet. Although I expected this volume to tip the scales of my opinion one way or the other, it didn´t happen. I´m not sure if I would rate this series as a strong buy, but it´s at least a good watch. There´s just enough meat on the plot to keep me from walking away. I´ll put things another way: if they were playing this show at the local anime club, I´d go ahead and watch it. I don´t think I´d personally buy it, though.
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