ARIA the Animation: Girls with Gondolas

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So Aria turned out to be the best show of last season. Why lie.

No need to lie. I would have done a Akari Mizunashi AV/sig combo but too bad Kusanagi wanted in so bad ;_;. The 1st season ended off with a little bit of a bang, but it does have a lot of potential for the second season. Come ARIA SA-CHOU. !!!

Also, CrystalNova all the way. They did take their time getting the last episode out, but I have no complaints with them. Why lie.


Damn, my journal banner makes her look fat. ;_;

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On the other side, I was quite addicted with ARIA (believe it or not) because it had one thing many other current animes lack, that is the lack of actual action. While this is quite a paradoxal statement, the sense of "not much happening" in the ARIA world was a beatiful thing to behold. Watching this series was a very peaceful experience that had bouts of comedy and witty dialogue to keep the story progressing.

The way that the animators portrayed the city of Neo-Venezia was filled with a very peaceful and happy populace. It would make a grand vacation spot for a couple's honeymoon, riding and enjoying the Udine's task of guiding around with the gondola's as a major transportation system.

Another note is that this is the first anime series that I've actually bothered to watch the opening credit sequence for every episode without skipping ahead. Mainly the reason is that they do part of the episode with the episodes dialogue simultaneously with the OP theme, but I think another reason is the OP Theme (Undine by Makino Yui) is beautiful to listen to and gets your mind to slow down from the daily hassles of life, allowing you to mentally change gears and match the slow pace of ARIA.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It would help to watch the first season (as with many other anime series) to get to understand each character and their respective personality. Watching the first season wouldn't be critical in understanding the second season provided:

1) The second season follows the same style of an easy going approach to life in each episode.

2) Few new characters are introduced from other Gondola companies. Actually this won't really hurt the understanding of the new season, however it will seem too convoluted with too many new characters to an audience who has not seen the first, again, this can be said for many other anime series with multiple seasons.

But of course it would help to see both seasons whenever you get a chance. I watched Rozen Maiden Traumend before I saw the first season, so seeing Jun react when first laying eyes (and hands) on Shinku wasn't as compelling as would I have seen the first season first. So in short, even if you did finish getting the second season, I highly recommend to start watching the first season first.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.