First off, let me confess to my bias. The writer, Adam Arnold, is an online friend of mine, and I’m an admirer of Shiei’s artwork in Aoi House, as well as Amazing Agent Luna. However, judging from the popularity of the manga online and in Newtype USA, I’m not the only one.
Aoi House revolves around an all-female (*ahem* including the now-graduated transsexual club founder) college club named Yaoi House, whose members are really into yaoi (boy with boy). However, the “Y” fell off of their club house’s sign, hence... Aoi House. While recruiting for new members as to keep their official club status on campus, the girls acquire three new members: the buxom, yet shy Maria, the mega-fan Sandy, and the more-centered Alex. Oh, and the last two names are male, and they have no clue of the twisted world that they are entering.
If I could label Aoi House under a genre, it would be a situational harem comedy. The girls put the boys into a situation and watch the results, which never end up as planned by the ladies, from rich bitch Elle to childish and fun-loving Morgan. This is a manga that you can relax with; it doesn’t require too much thinking (something that I enjoy doing at the end of the day).
Shiei's artwork has a bouncy feel to it, exaggerated to give it the look of an anime. For most manga, this look would feel out of place, but it works perfectly here in illustrating the wild antics of the characters. Each of the girls has her own look and personality (after all, this is a harem comedy/parody), and Shiei manages to capture this well in her designs.
The story runs the gamet of geekdom, from Star Wars to Utena references. Be aware, this manga isn't for newcomers to anime; for the whole experience, you need to have some familiarity to get all of the in-jokes. There is an entire side-story based off of the Final Fantasy games, and the next volume will be centered on the club attending and helping to run an anime convention. Additionally, this volume opens with the fallout from the Dance Dance Revolution competition from the previous volume, so I’d recommend reading the first volume before picking this one up.
Although the manga is being shown online at the rate of three pages a week, Aoi House reads much better as a collected volume and I'd recommend reading it in paperback over online; there's just too much distance between the pages and the screen to really connect with the characters. However, if you can't find it on the shelves, or if you're lacking in the green, by all means read it online.
This volume includes many extras, which makes it work the slightly-higher price. We get an extra short story, chibi pin-ups of the characters, notes on the flash animation, the Final Fantasy chapter, and the four-panel version of the comic that runs in Newtype USA. This volume also contains a collection of fanart that has been submitted to Arnold and Shiei over the last year or so, which is really nice to see for those artists.
I do have one complaint, although it’s not much of one. The last chapter takes an unexpected twist, and fans will be left groaning and moaning for more pages. Sadly, we will have to wait under March or April for the website to catch up with the end of volume two and start showing new content. This book will leave you wanting more, so prepare yourself for the long wait!
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