I've mentioned before that romance isn't really a genre I find myself drawn to. Granted, that's not to say every piece of romance media is bad. I've never been in a relationship myself, so I never find myself relating to any characters that partake in romantic relations. While a lot of romance media tends to rehash the same cliches over and over again, I have found some genuinely good ones. Some of my favorites include the following: Ride Your Wave, a movie about a girl moving on from the death of her boyfriend that's brought to life with Masaaki Yuasa's sublime, lively animation; Snow White With The Red Hair, a low key fantasy romance with a couple that has great chemistry with one another; the Haikara-san ga Tooru movies, a fairly polished reboot of the old 70s manga, even if its second movie falls into heavy melodrama (I still need to get around to watching that); Insomniacs After School, a down-to-earth slice-of-life about two high schoolers who bond over their struggles with insomnia. I'd add Skip and Loafer to this list too, and don't get me wrong, I do like it, but I felt like it was missing something. I recently revisited one romance series that I had watched when it first aired, Aoi Hana, aka Sweet Blue Flowers, and I liked it back then, but then I put it on the back burner. Since I own the DVD, and I ran out of stuff to watch, I figured now would be a good time to revisit it, especially since I did read the entirety of the manga. Honestly, Aoi Hana the anime holds up a lot better than I expected it to...and would anyone kill me if I say I prefer it to the manga?

The series' story is as follows: Shy crybaby Fumi Manjoume and happy-go-lucky Akira Okudaira were best friends who spent all their time together back in elementary school. But one day, Fumi moved away, and they lost contact. Years later, Fumi and her family move back into town, and through happenstance, she and Akira reunite and rekindle their friendship, so they have a lot to catch up on. But a lot's happened since they've been apart, and they go to different schools, so they don't spend as much time together as they used to. Things get complicated when Fumi gets asked out by a popular student, Yasuko Sugimoto. 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, finding herself balancing her feelings towards Akira and her new desire for Sugimoto. Will the girls be able to conquer the high school stage of growing up before it pulls them apart?

Aoi Hana was animated by JC Staff, and their output tends to be pretty inconsistent. Some of their shows can look amazing, while others look like they were strung together with pocket lint. Luckily, Aoi Hana is one of their better animated projects, and for a show that was made in 2009, it still looks stunning even today. The backgrounds are all lush, pastel watercolors that really make the series feel lively, though the actual animation is no slouch either. Aoi Hana as a series thrives on subtlety and body language, and there's lots of attention paid to the way the characters interact with one another through body language, whether it be playing with each other's hair or holding hands. Even when the character models are messy when in motion, that messiness gives them a sense of fluidity and liveliness, conveying more than static still images could ever do. The music also holds up pretty well, with elegant piano tunes and violins that really sell the subtle nature of the story. Both the opening and ending songs are subdued, low key ballads that add onto Aoi Hana's themes and are beautifully sung. I have to admit, I'm kinda sad Ceui hasn't done any new anime theme songs since 2013, because she has an amazing voice that's very easy on the ears, and I've always liked every single song she sang. It's a shame she doesn't do anime songs anymore.

The series' penchant for subtlety and nuance also extends to its cast of characters. Aoi Hana manages to do a lot with the cast in eleven episodes that most longer series struggle with. None of the characters' personalities can simply be summed up in just one sentence, and all of them have believable, down-to-earth motivations for what they do, even if you may not agree with them, and the anime doesn't rely on overblown melodrama or forced angst to make you feel for them. Granted, as good as the characters by themselves are, the anime chose to only adapt the first 18 chapters, so later developments that flesh them out further don't get to happen in the anime's short run time, which is reflected in the rather open-ended finale. To be honest, I'm kinda glad the anime didn't go further, because having read the manga, the manga makes some rather...questionable decisions in regards to how it resolves certain characters' arcs. Hell, there are two scenes in the manga that really grossed me out, with one of them having no explanation behind it whatsoever. The anime doesn't adapt those, thankfully, and even leaves out a lot of the sordid details behind Fumi's romance with her cousin.

Other than leaving out some more sordid details, Aoi Hana adapts the manga fairly faithfully, even elevating the source material with the subtlety of its animation and the masterful craftsmanship behind it. Some people may not like the deliberately slow pacing or the series' laid-back nature, but I didn't have an issue with those considering they fit the series' ethos. Anyone who hates slow paced series or realistic depictions of romance aren't gonna like this series, but Aoi Hana is a must watch for any yuri/shoujo-ai fan who wants realistic portrayals of both romance and LGBT people that doesn't rely on fetishization and sensationalism. Plus, with both the anime and manga readily available in the US, it's more accessible than ever, so give it a shot if you want a sweet, low key LGBT romance to chew on.