Otakuism

I’m finding it hard to say something new about ARIA that I haven’t said before. It is impossible for my opinion of the series to go any higher, and I have praised it every opportunity I have had to talk about it. It is the epitome of the slice-of-life anime, healing anime. Such is ARIA’s greatness that you might as well just replace both those terms with its name. This is suppose to be a review, but it didn’t quite turn out that way, so just think of it as my fan favings on ARIA.

ARIA the NATURAL is not so much a sequel than a continuation of the first series. It excelled at what the first season introduced: heart warming self-contained stories. I’ve always marveled at the ability of ARIA to tell self-contained yet meaningful stories, whether they be regional folktales, legends, the supernatural, exploring the character’s lives, or just about Neo-Venezia itself. You really feel like you’ve learned something special after watching the show. The characters are all great; pure, yet filled with their own individual quarks. I honestly love all these characters, even the crazy old mailman guy.

The last two episodes were great. 25 was adapted from a manga story I remember, except with Athena and Ai added in. I love how obsessed Alice is with Grandma, and the Ai/President/Athena dance was hilarious. 26 was pretty much just an Akari episode, but it had a nice feeling, like the circle is complete now. Also one of those episodes where you want to go “why the hell can’t I live in Neo-Venezia?” A good ending to the series proper.

So, basically ARIA is one of the greatest “slow” anime ever, and NATURAL is a great continuation of that. Now go watch it you heathens. Now it’s just time to wait for the OVA and marvel at how beautiful and heart-warming it is. One thing I want to see: Alice being promoted to prima. That’d be perfect.