Aoi House is a harem original English-language manga series written by Adam Arnold, with art by Shiei, and published by Seven Seas Entertainment. The story follows the misadventures of two down-on-their-luck college guys named Alexis "Alex" Roberts and Sandy Grayson who are thrown out of their college dorm and join an anime club dominated by crazed yaoi fangirls.
Plot
College roommates Alexis "Alex" Roberts and Sandy Grayson have been evicted from their dorm after a series of infractions, the latest involving showing lewdanime, and the antics of Sandy's pet hamster, Echiboo. After seeing a flyer for the anime clubhouse AOI House, the two men believed they found the perfect place. However, the two boys soon learn that the clubhouse consists of five crazed yaoi fangirls who have mistaken Alex and Sandy for a gay couple—the flyer having neglected to mention that only girls and gay guys were permitted and the clubhouse's original name was "Yaoi House", but the "Y" fell off of the clubhouse's sign. Once the truth is revealed that Sandy and Alex are two straight males, the two boys are allowed to stay because the housing committee has been on AOI House's case to get more members. The girls have some fun with Sandy and Alex in an attempt to turn them into yaoi-lovers, or at least make them the lodge's token gay couple.
Characters
Major characters
; Alexis "Alex" Roberts ; Sandy Grayson ; Echiboo ; Elle Mathers ; Nina Parker ; Morgan McKnight ; Jessica Kim ; Maria Ortega
Minor characters
; Oniisan ; Carlo ; Mr. Perkins ; Ms. Addison ; David, Daniel and Danny ; Uri House Mason Blue – The de facto leader of the club. While he does not actually have a definite ending in the epilogue, a man with his earrings greets Jessica at Seattle Grace Hospital with a stethoscope around his neck. A hooded boy named Kevin Cardenas – In charge of their AMVs and has a thing for Morgan as well as any girl he sees. Moves to Tokyo in the epilogue just for the girls A boy with glasses named Dale Stevens – The club's artist. He gets roped into moving to Tokyo along with Kevin in the epilogue. A girl named Kimberly Ann and her pet pig named Luna-P. She goes on to win American Idol numerous time in the epilogue. The open lesbian Sanae – Has a crush on Nina, as well as calling out that Maria's breasts were bigger than Kimberly Ann's. She kissed Nina at one point during the Con Caper, and somehow got both her and Elle into bed after the epilogue.
Publication
Aoi House first began as a webcomic written by Adam Arnold and illustrated by Jim Jimenez and initially ran from January 24, 2005 through April 15, 2005. The webcomic was picked up by Seven Seas and was republished with new artwork by Shiei on Seven Seas' Gomanga.com beginning on May 23, 2005. The comic was later serialized in Newtype USA starting with the January 2006 issue. Four graphic novels were published by Seven Seas between May 15, 2006 and June 10, 2008.
Release history
Related media
Music video
On December 4, 2006, Seven Seas Entertainment released a Flash animatedmusic video dedicated to Aoi House to YouTube, Newgrounds, and Gomanga.com. Aoi House: The Music Video was animated by Jonathan Talas and set to the Aoi House Theme Song – "Itsumo Futaride" by The J Brothers. The music video received 150,000 views during its first week and was listed on YouTube's "Top Favorites in Arts & Animation". It was also awarded Newgrounds's "Daily 2nd Place" award in December 2006. The music video was featured on the bonus DVD of April 2007 issue of Newtype USA.
Spin-offs
On March 17, 2010, Seven Seas announced the creation of the comedy manga Paranormal Mystery Squad, an Aoi House spin-off featuring Stephanie and Katie Kane, which will be written by Arnold Arnold and illustrated by Comipa, and will appear as a double-feature with the comedy Vampire Cheerleaders as Vampire Cheerleaders: Vol. 1.
Reception
Carlo Santos of Anime News Network stated that Aoi House was a "fun, fast reading, much like the comedies it borrows from." However, he criticized the work for " in its search for parody." IGNs A. E. Sparrow praised the comic as a must read for anyone who is a fan of harem manga and included Aoi House in the top ten manga of 2006. Matthew Alexander, writing for The Fandom Post, stated that while the artwork was passable, the writing really shines. He enjoyed the humor of having two straight guys living with hot girls who only enjoys anime featuring male homosexuality. PopCultureShock gave Aoi House a positive review, stating that the crazy and perverse female house members is what makes the series so much fun.
