Aoi House
Story by Adam Arnold, art by Shiei
Seven Seas
Adam Arnold refers to Aoi House as a “harem comedy,” which is a polite way of saying it’s heavy on the fanservice. The setup is simple: Two college students get kicked out of their dorm, and the only place they can find to live is a residential anime club. When the boys go to the door, they don’t notice that the place is called “Yaoi House” because the Y has fallen off the sign. Yes, the residents of Aoi House are all yaoi fans, all female, and all inclined to run around in the scantiest of outfits.
So why don’t I hate this book? Because it’s good-natured and funny. Yes, there is the inevitable walking-in-on-the-girl-in-the-shower scene, and a big part of the plot involves strapping a camera to the boys’ pet hamster and turning him loose in locker rooms and underwear drawers, but the girls drive the action as much as the boys. The five female residents of Aoi House all have distinct, three-dimensional personalities, and they generally have the upper hand. The most prominent is the hyperactive Morgan; the hamster-cam is actually her idea, and there is a hint of a more serious plot when we learn that she is guided by the mysterious Oniisan. (Morgan also raises giant sea monkeys in the bathtub, a fact the boys learn the hard way.) There are a handful of insider anime jokes, but anyone who reads manga will get them.
Shiei manages to convey lots of action without letting the page degenerate into chaos; the comic moves fast but stays readable. She’s not breaking any new ground, but her clean-lined style works well with the voluptuous subject matter.
Aoi House is a webcomic, and it also appears in Newtype USA. So why buy the book? Because it’s more attractive and easier to read. The cover is bright and colorful, and the art is fully toned, which makes a huge difference to both the look and the readability. Furthermore, Aoi House is a comic that you read fast. The plot pushes right along, with plenty of slapstick, and unless you have a much faster computer than I do, clicking on each page slows the experience down too much.
As a female reader, I’ll admit I’m a bit frustrated with this book. Arnold and Shiei are a talented pair, and they have created a nice set of characters who interact well with one another. In the next volume, I’d like to see them leave the underpants behind and go for a more mature storyline. I’m not sure how that would fly with the target audience, though. In the meantime, Aoi House is a light, funny read that’s just right for summer vacation.
This review is based on a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher.
