Series Review – Aria the Origination

Aria – アリア

We finally get the season that brings all of the Aria series together. And oh boy, what a pleasant ride it has been. The characterization for the main casts continues to be superb in many ways, with some great character development by the end of the Origination. It’s probably all of the slow but steady fleshing out of the characters in the first two seasons of this series that contributed the most here. The Origination, because of the development in the first two seasons, could cut out all the excess (such as setting development, etc) and focus in on the characters much more. The Origination takes all the buildup from the past two season, and pulls it all together in a wondrous conclusion. As you may have noticed, watching the Origination without watching the first two will really have a huge impact on what you get out of the series. In other words, just don’t do it.

Admittingly, the first half to this series isn’t really any different from the first two seasons of the anime. I could honestly just call the first half of the Origination as the “second season, part two” because of the inherent similarities.

However, it’s really the latter half of this season that really hits it home and brings everything together. The character development in the second half is the culmination of everything this series has come to represent, with the final moments we have with Akari, Alice, and Aika all the more endearing.  Yet, at the same time, these endearing moments are saddening because you realize that the series is finally drawing to a close. In the end, though, the closure this season brings to the characters is just plain satisfying, and you truly do get the feeling that “life goes on” in the world of Aqua. The setting of Aqua has always felt very alive and vibrant, but this series also goes further to emphasize how this wondrous world lives on, no matter who may be the ones living there.

A great aspect to the character development here is that it isn’t limited to just the main trio of heroines. Almost every single significant side character, from Alicia to Akatsuki, from Akira to Athena, from Al to Grandma Akino, gets some rather well done proper closure. For a thirteen episode series, getting proper closure for a somewhat large cast of characters is a bit surprising, but I’m nevertheless glad it worked out so well.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the production values have improved here. The music remains a great complement to this series, with it’s rather vibrant, sometimes subtle, sometimes tainted in melancholy, musical pieces that adds a lot more feeling to the story. The animation really improved here as well, with quite a bit more detail added to the drawings and backdrops here. On a slightly unrelated side note, the added 16:9 widescreen aspect is a much welcomed change in my eyes.

Looking back, Aria as a franchise is a rather wonderful little slice of life series. Admittingly, the slow pacing is definitely not for everybody, but at the same time Aria is a great series to just sit down and relax to. I can easily see why people call Aria an “iyashiki-kei” (healing) anime. The atmospheric calmness to the setting, and the charms to the characters, all add together in a charming package that certainly took me by surprise. And finally, as a conclusion, I couldn’t have asked for the franchise to be closed off in any other way.

Animation/Art: 8.5/10

Music: 8.5/10

Characters: 9.0/10

Story/setting: 9.0/10

Overall Enjoyment: 8.7/10

Screenshots are later in the post.

Aria the OVA ~Arietta~ (OVA)

Aria the OVA ~Arietta~

Normally, one shot OVAs of a series tend to be rather lacking, and don’t really contribute to the overall story. This OVA proves to be one of those exceptions, providing the ambient calming atmosphere that the Aria series is known for, but also delves into the history of some of the characters themselves. The Aria series as a whole hasn’t really touched upon the history of some of the characters, so the focus of the story was a rather welcomed change. The dialogue was as cheesy and corny as the usual Aria episodes, but after watching the first and second seasons to this, embarrassing remarks aren’t really unexpected at all.

What first instantly stuck out was the actual animation for this OVA. Aria has always had some very calming scenery, but the production quality for this OVA was great, with some beautifully done scenery and animation. I guess it’s to be expected from an OVA, but the production values and art were both great. Not to mention, the change from the 4:3 to the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio is a much welcomed change. The music, as usual, complements the refreshingly peaceful and calm atmosphere to this show.

What I definitely came to appreciate was how this OVA didn’t have a random story, but rather, went into a bit of depth regarding both Alicia’s past, as well as the original arrival of Akari to the Aria company. We’ve been told very little about Akari’s arrival, as well as very little about Alicia’s reasoning behind recruiting Akari. This OVA both provided a bit of extra depth to each character in question, and not to mention, shows both the joyful and sad moments that encompass being an Undine, including an eventual farewell between a well loved mentor and student. I guess you could say that this episode was a stark reminder that there are always fun, and sad, moments in life, and the insight into Alicia’s past certainly reflected that rather well. While we did learn more about Akari’s past, the focus on Alicia was the main focal point here. I guess you could say there was little character development, but rather, some interesting insights into the character’s motivations and pasts.

Either ways, this OVA proves to be a rather nice complement to the actual TV series, and works surprisingly well as a standalone arc. That being said, I can see why people suggest that you should not watch this OVA without seeing the first and second seasons; this OVA does rely upon the idea that you’re already familiar with the very quirky cast of characters, as well as the setting of Neo Venezia. Without that background knowledge, this OVA does lose some of it’s impact, but overall it’s a pretty relaxing, and enlightening, little OVA.

Animation/Art: 8.5/10

Music: 8.5/10

Characters: 7.5/10

Story/setting: 7.5/10

Overall Enjoyment: 8.0/10

Screenshots are later in the post.

Series Review – Aria the Natural

Aria the NATURAL (アリア)

Right off the bat I’d like to note that this show is definitely not for everybody. The Aria series as a whole is extremely slow paced, and while it does a great job at creating an incredibly ambient, calming atmosphere, at the same time I can easily see people get bored of this series. Aria may not have the most compelling story out there, but in its stead it has a very detailed, well thought out setting, as well as a charming bunch of characters. The slow pace to this second season really does a great job with fleshing out setting little by little, and the main characters compliment this very well. There are a few issues I did have with the series (the unnecessarily large amount of episodes to Cait Sith would be one of them), and how character development didn’t really kick into high gear until towards the end of the series, but the charm this show exudes kept everything entertaining right until the end.

Production values for the Aria series have proven to be quite decent, and this season of Aria proves to be no different. While the animation itself was standard, the artwork really does this show justice with it’s very well drawn, beautiful scenic depictions of the city of Neo-Venezia. The music for this series is also notable for it’s very calm, melodic tones that keep the atmospheric calming feeling that this series is famous for. Aria’s ambient music is excellent, and does a great job in complementing the very heavily water-themed city. In fact, the large presence of water and waterways is probably one of the big factors that contributes to the calm, relaxing nature of this show.

While the first season served as a brief introduction to the world of Aqua in general, the second season goes into much more depth in exploring this very unique setting. The scenery may be great in this show, but it’s really the subtle details and stories that really make the setting come to life. There are those episodes involving solely the supernatural, which I’ve noticed are either hit or miss for me; there were too many Cait Sith episodes for my liking, but there were also supernatural-focused episodes that I found had their own unique charms. Overall, though, I felt that this season could have cut back a little on all the supernatural-heavy stuff.

However, where this show really left a lasting impression on me was not the supernatural episodes, but rather the ordinary everyday episodes that explore the ever growing and maturing city of Neo-Venezia. It’s really the small, little memories involving our main characters that makes the setting feel alive, and as the show progressed I came to appreciate that much, much more.

What I didn’t quite like about the first season to this show was the extremely slow pacing (which often put me to sleep), which this season did improve upon. That doesn’t mean the pacing for this season was fast by any means. Even so the pacing here really matches well with the characters in general, and helps flesh out our goofy cast of characters. We still have our goofy Akari, the too serious Alice, and the hardworking Aika, along with the quirky little cat President Aria, which I’ve come to like for their own little quirks and charming points.

It isn’t until towards the end of the season that the characters get a more significant amount of development, but everything along the way helped flesh things out little by little. In particular, the dialogue for this series is important, as the dialogue uses some very detailed and imaginative ideas (though also very cliche at times) to give us some deep insight into the history of our setting, the growth of our characters, and the community of Neo-Venezia as a whole.

The major flaw to Aria is how the characters stay relatively the same for the most part, with character development extremely slow (it only begins to pick up towards the end, which leads up to season three). For the most part, though, Aria has some unique points to it that should make it a compelling watch for anybody that likes the “kuuki-kei” ambience atmospheric (often called slice of life) anime. As I mentioned in my review of the first season, Aria is definitely not a show to expect a tremendous amount of action or drama from, but rather a simple, ordinary yet fascinating and charming tale of Neo-Venezia and it’s inhabitants.

Animation/Art: 8.0/10

Music: 8.5/10

Characters: 8.5/10

Story/setting: 9.0/10

Overall Enjoyment: 8.5/10

Screenshots are later in the post.

Series Review – Aria the Animation

This is probably the first series I’ve ever watched that seriously sucks all the energy out of you (in a good way, mind you). Aria is just so calm and soothing, that you can’t help but feel relaxed afterwards. Because of this tendency, though, this series also took me very long to complete, mainly because of me struggling against the forces of sleepiness (x.x). The calming atmosphere to this series is truly unique, which is probably why Aria has such a great reputation amongst those who like Kuuki-kei “atmosphere”/slice-of-life anime.

The story takes place on former planet Mars, which is now called Aqua in this series. Aqua is a terraformed Mars, which in itself is quite a unique setting. For those that don’t know what terraforming is, terraforming would be where a normally uninhabitable planet (without water, like Mars) is artificially made habitable by adding plants, water, and other basic necessities. This series is great at portraying the city of Neo Venezia, which is made into a truly charming and diverse setting. The scenery is great, with the all-encompassing presence of water reminiscent of the Italian city of Venice. Perhaps it’s that large presence of water that makes the setting feel so calm and peaceful, and personifies this series perfectly.

The most notable part to this show is definitely the characters; the characters are so goofy, yet have a nice charm to everything they do. The dialogue between all the characters feels strangely natural, which makes this show both easy to follow, as well as fun to watch. The everyday interactions between all the characters, such as our main character Akari or the company mascot President Aria, are quite innocent yet endearing. The characters’ every day lives aren’t exactly eventful, yet at the same time, are thought provoking and philosophical at times, which sends a often endearing message through it’s characters. Sometimes the characters fit into more generic stereotypes found in anime, but that doesn’t stop the main cast from being fun to watch. The characters are well thought out, and their interactions with their surroundings really produces some great stories that are well realized.

My only complaint about this show would be the cats that were found throughout the episode. Although I did like the idea of how cats connect everything together, at many points I found myself getting annoyed at the pointlessly cute antics of the cats. There were times when I found the cat’s antics funny, but in the end I found myself getting more annoyed than amused with the cats’ antics.

An oddity to this show would be how each episode’s plot is almost completely disconnected with each other. I often found myself clicking ahead one or two episodes by accident, only to realize I actually skipped some episodes later on. Since there is no solid continuing plot, it’s very difficult to get a concrete linear storyline set in mind. I will admit that there are benefits to the disconnected story format, which allows for the introduction of more side characters, and some very unique plots, so I guess it all depends on if you feel the format benefits the overall impressions of the show.

The music, and the sounds of the waves, really helps complement the soothing atmosphere to this show. Production quality wise, the animation is consistent most of the time, but the actual contents of each episode is great to see, with plenty of beautiful scenic panoramic shots throughout the show. There are many who will argue that the plot is too slow and boring, but that’s pretty much all dependent on what you expect from this show. If you’re expecting some sort of action packed, dramatic tear inducing show, Aria is definitely not for you. However, if you don’t mind trying out new types of anime, and could appreciate a more slow paced, well developed yet extremely calming and charming anime, Aria might just be for you.

Production Quality: 8.0/10

Characters: 8.5/10

Story: 8.5/10

Setting: 8.0/10

Overall Score: 8.3/10