Ani-Manga Extravaganza: Aoi Hana

Aoi Hana (also known as Sweet Blue Flowers) is the delicate, dream-like tale of a high school student navigating her secret crushes at an all-girls school and discovering her true identity as a lesbian woman. With the help of an estranged childhood friend, our protagonist learns to accept herself and her desire even while she finds the courage to let go of the women who have hurt her in the past.

The manga series was originally written and illustrated by Takako Shimura. It began serialization in November 2004 in Ohta's Publishing, Manga Erotics F. As of April 2009, four bound volumes of the manga have been released.

From July to September 2009, an 11-episode animated series of the yuri manga aired on Fuji TV in Japan. The light, subdued watercolours of the manga's illustrations gave way to a more realistic style under Kenichi Kasai's direction and under the directives of the J.C. Staff. However, the sweet melodrama and the epic amount of hushed blushing and shy glances survived the leap between manga to anime, making for an excellent starting point for new yuri fans.

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Akira Okudaira

At the start of Aoi Hana, Akira Okudaira is entering high school at Fujigaya Girls Academy in Kamakura. On her commute, she encounters her old childhood friend, Fumi Manjōme, whom she has not seen for ten years. Fumi is attending Matsuoka Girl's High School where she meets and subsequently falls in love with the handsome third-year heartthrob, Yasuko Sugimoto. Fumi and Yasuko strike up a short-term love affair that ignites the gossip circles of both girls' schools considering Yasuko is the star of her school's drama club and basketball team.

Meanwhile, Akira joins the drama club at her school and befriends Kyōko Ikumi, another budding queer girl who was turned down by the charismatic Yasuko. At the moment, Kyōko has been promised to Kō Sawanoi and is set to marry him once she graduates. However, both sides of the relationship understand the unspoken reality that Kyōko is a lesbian and does not want to wed.

Kyōko Ikumi

Once Fumi and Yasuko are dating, Fumi comes out to Akira who is at first unsure how to react. Akira dedicates herself to cultivating happiness in the lives of those around her and she struggles at first to ease Fumi's worries.

Yasuko Sugimoto and Fumi Manjōme

Akira's drama club organizes an adaptation of Wuthering Heights in which the dashing Yasuko dominates as Heathcliff. Following the performance, Yasuko and Fumi reach an insurmountable obstacle in their new relationship -- it is revealed that Yasuko harbours deep-seated feelings for her older sister's finace and her former teacher, Masanori Kagami. With the heartbreaking understanding that she can never be with Masanori, Yasuko decides to leave Kamakura in order to study abroad in London.

In the wake of her shattered relationship and after a great deal of soul searching, Fumi realizes her first and only love has always been Akira, despite the fact that Akira is not interested in women. At this point, the manga and anime diverge -- while the anime ends with Fumi's epiphany, the manga continues on into the girls' second year of high school where Akira and Fumi's friendship is complicated after Fumi reveals her true feelings.

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To check out the first episode of Aoi Hana, click over to AnimeWoot.com. All eleven episodes are up and running with English subtitles for all you ladies who A) Can't speak Japanese and B) Like to read your television shows. I hope you find this post when you have ample free time as I'm sure you will get sucked in to watching the entire series.

Serious, I love the shyness and the blushing that goes on in Japanese yuri manga/anime. It's like the creators sat there and watched me stumble through high school and then animated it for fans across the globe. Oh, and you're going to notice fairly fast that there is a definite trend in the anime I will be showcasing this week:

• The energetic, gorgeous, shorter, social butterflies tend to be the young objects of affection.
• The reserved, tall, awkward, intelligent girls with long, dark hair and glasses tend to be the older, closeted queers who struggle to come to terms with their budding sexual identity. Oh, and you can bet your buttons that they will pine for the unattainable girls.

I love it for its accuracy. Perhaps you, dear reader, will find some commonalities between your own high school days (or present circumstances) and the characters from Aoi Hana. Oh, the quiet drama -- how I miss thee.