Watercolour chaser
Aoi Hana is the first instance where I've read the source material before the anime aired. It's impossible for me to set the manga aside and not compare, in the same way that it would be silly to consider a theme and variations as several isolated works.
I'll reserve my opinions about the manga for later. It's not even halfway through the second arc, and there's enough fuel in the tank to get to a third, at least. I don't see any point in speculation, but I will offer one: I hope that it doesn't become a revolving door of incoming and outgoing characters.
Here's a brief bit of context:
- The anime ends, roughly, at the intersection of Volume 3 and Volume 4
- The manga is in the early stages of Volume 5
- The anime has generally followed the manga closely
- The manga is 5 years old
The obvious exception is the final episode. As noted elsewhere, the last episode deviates significantly from the manga (see Appendix), leaving the ending with a sense of finality, yet offering the possibility to pursue a second season without too much of a break in continuity. That could be at least 2 years away at the current rate of output.
But there is a case to be made for there being no second season, ever, and it's not because the source material is a long time coming. Many have praised the idyllic and pastoral nature of the anime, from the backgrounds to the soundtrack. The series concludes with Fumi's transformation into someone happier and more assertive. The only notable rough stretches are those scenes that establish the parallels between Fumi and Yasuko (rejection, rebounds, and pending weddings).
I don't seem to be helping my case at all, but bear with me. The "Sugimoto Arc" (Vols 1-3) is also idyllic and pastoral, but less so. Yet it has all those things mentioned above, and more. Certainly the anime has added some scenes, but it's not about the additions; it's the subtractions.
As a result of a couple dodges, the series and manga have diverged in tone, and things could not continue tracking the source without a contrast change that could be alienating in its suddenness.
Some will argue that this is in fact immaterial, because things get interesting regardless. I don't think being interesting was ever the point. Or rather, being interesting in that sense will shatter the idyllic setting that everyone has come to love.
If I were in the business of recommending anime titles to people, I would start by maintaining three lists: unconditional recommend, unconditional dismiss, and uncomfortable.
Uncomfortable is a union of guilty pleasures and border cases that I might recommend, but never with a straight face. Or without immediately trying to justify myself. Either way, these require careful sizing up of the subject, specifically whether or not they will judge me after reading up a bit on what those series are all about, and even then it's hard to muster any conviction.
Into that third list would go Kannazuki no Miko and Strawberry Panic, but not Aoi Hana. Yet I would be leery about recommending Aoi Hana had you not seen at least Strawberry Panic. I think I need a fourth hypothetical list, called prerequisites.
Maybe it's because the smallness of the community concentrates opinion, but I perceive a bias towards the "ordinary" that is rarely not strident. Seeing people fawn over something like Rica 'tte Kanji!? or more recently, Aoi Hana, is akin to making a daily toast, in praise of toast.
It's perfectly acceptable to curse your alarm clock, every single darn day. I could get behind that.
Maybe those seemingly ordinary depictions of life are realistic, maybe they're not; I don't know. I do know that they're inoffensive, and that people have a tendency to point at inoffensiveness and scream "realism" at the top of their lungs.
It's an easy trap to fall into — the two are not mutually exclusive. Plus, "realistic" packs a bit more punch than "plain potato," which is what the boosters really are after. There are those out there who have been burned out (or just burnt) by the existence of shoujo-ai/yuri as a bullet point on many a series' marketing document. They're sick of histrionics, or the snide danglings of subtext. Who can blame them for jumping all over something that is none of that?
In the early days of Aoi Hana's anime run, I got the sense that this was a watershed moment, a show that could be proudly held up as some counter-example to all the exploitation that came before, and will inevitably come after. I suspect, however, that they can do this only amongst each other, or to those kind non-judgemental friends who will politely entertain their soapboxing.
Appendix: Notable dodges
- Family tension between Kou's and Kyouko's, although this thread remains undeveloped
- Yasuko and Kyouko reconcile in a sense, in person (not by text message)
- Akira and Kou's shopping trip exposes not just Fumi's insecurities, but her jealous streak
- Fumi's internalized epiphany in the finale is given voice in the manga, a jealous outburst prompted by Akira recounting a childhood crush