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So after watching this season (which I skipped for god knows why), I thought I would write a review based on what I think of it.

ARIA the Animation

Synopsis

On the planet Aqua lies the watery city of Neo Venezia, a tourist hub in which people travel around in gondolas. Professional gondoliers known as Undines are well-revered as they act as tour guides for the people. Akari Mizunashi is a gondolier in training and also an employee of Aria Company. She gets to meet all sorts of people as she takes them on the gondola rides, from friendly mentors to special individuals, all this admidst the beautiful scenic backdrop of the entire city.

Graphics 4.5/5

This isn’t a show with explosions, mecha or giant laser beams flying around the screen, and the art palette shows. Utilizing soft colours it shows off its peaceful mood. The art is particularly detailed, reflections in the flowing water, a detailed world, colour gradients in the sky, fine details such as these make this show look like a work of art.

Even the characters themselves are spectacularly detailed, with the use of flowing hair to represent blowing wind, chibi characters to show comedic moments, it really helps to enjoy the show. The character designs are unique with each of the many characters being instantly distinguishable from each other even though they may look similar.  Through all this it really does help to present a peaceful atmosphere, although there are times where the chibi characters aren’t really needed and sometimes the finer details of characters are a bit odd looking at times, these things are at most, minor and really dont have any impact on enjoyment.

Audio 5/5

While the soundtrack itself isn’t something to write about, the use of it within the show is just amazing. The soundtrack is unique utilizing string instruments it creates a peaceful atmosphere while also being able to add tension when needed. The music is never over-dramatic and is kept on the low so it doesnt impede on the show. The OP and the ED aren’t very catchy but they’re so peaceful they could put you to sleep while listening to it which really fits with the mood of the show. Minor details such as the sound of water flowing, birds chirping, wind blowing, these all help to engross you into the show.  Each of the characters present a unique voice in the story, whether its Aria’s “punyu” or Alicia’s “ara ara” or even Akari’s optimistic voice, they are all distinguishable. Whether showing a caring moment or stress the voice acting is done beautifully that you can feel the mood in their voices. Either way the audio is done so well you could almost feel you’re there.

Story 4.5/5

While the show follows a seperate story per episode format, they all tell such a complete story that you almost can’t tell whether you’re watching it in order. The story itself is nothing to write home about though, as there’s nothing major that ever happens, instead this show rather likes to focus on the day to day activities of the undines. Even compared to harem anime standards, the story is fairly simple, which usually spells a recipe for disaster but for ARIA, this is why the show is so great. Although simple, they’re all very simple and peaceful letting you watch it one episode at a time at your own rate without thinking that you’re missing out on anything. With no villian nor any continuing storyline, there isn’t much of a buildup to other episodes so it should be taken pretty slowly.

Overall 4.75/5

This show is definately not for somebody who wants a bit of action between characters, or who like giant epic fights. The peaceful mood in this show will infuriate those who just want something big to happen, nothing big ever does. Cynicism should be thrown far far away when watching this show. If anything I recommend that everybody should at least try out the first episode of this show. It’s definately a hit or miss title, meaning you’ll either like it or hate it, either way its a beautiful anime thats great at what it does, relaxing entertainment.

And I leave you with Moe-Alice~