Story: Much like it previous two seasons, Aria the Animation and Aria the Natural, Aria the Origination puts us, the audience, back onto the world of Aqua and into the city of Neo-Venezia where we once again meet Akari and the rest of her friends whose names also start with the letter A (with a few exceptions) and continue along with their daily lives to become Prima Undines.
Even with the basic setting and the style of storytelling staying relatively the same, Aria the Origination actually differs quite a lot with the previous two seasons of the series. Putting aside Animation's casual day to day storytelling, as well as Natural's more "mystical" feel, Origination puts the series towards the idea of goals and achieving the original plot point of the series, which is for our title character, Akari, to achieve the status of Prima Undine, the highest status that an Undine could ever achieve. With this, the season feels a lot different tone-wise as it did in previous iterations of the series.
As I have mentioned before, the series puts a lot of emphasis on the girls' goals and the accomplishment of those goals. The progress of the show feels a lot different because of this tone shift and as a result of this, gives the characters we see a little more of depth to their already relatively well-rounded attributes. Alice, Akari, and Aika all progress through this season with additional traits to their personalities and development, as well as their respective senpais Athena, Alicia, and Akira who gain quite a few as well.
The only issues I find with the story is the fact that the latter half of the series experiences some pacing problems. The final accomplishments that the three main characters finally get don't feel as climactic as what I anticipated. Putting my opinion aside, it just didn't look like it was all that grand. Granted, this is coming from a series that in and of itself doesn't have many over the top moments, if any, but personally, I would've liked to see those moments where the girls finally get what they want be a little more...splendid, I guess is one way to put it.
In the end, Origination as the third iteration of the main Aria series in animated format, ties up the series in a very, very, very nice manner. There's honestly not much to say about the series textually because it is basically the same series as it's always been. Is that a bad thing? Of course not. In fact, it's better because, since the show is so much more focused, the previous rule where I stated to only watch a few episodes at once for risk of getting bored, is shattered because of the way the story is told in this final cor of the series. They connect a lot of what happened in the entirety of the Aria series together and really bring about a spectacular end to the series. Because when one chapter of life ends, a new one always begins.
Overview:
+ Same basic storyline (Deviating from the base story is a bad thing)
+ Further character development
+ Fantastic ending
- Some pacing issues (yes, there is something wrong with the Aria series)
Characters: The cast for the Aria series hasn't really changed at all since the start of Animation, and all the way up to Origination, has seen at most a couple new characters to the series even though they're minor by comparison to the established few at the start.
As far as changes go from Natural to Origination, the show puts basically all of the other characters aside from our main three, Akari, Alice, and Aika in the backseat, with Akari taking the brunt of the screentime since she is the supposed main character of the entire series. Because of the series giving these three the spotlight to shine in, these three girls are given more time to establish themselves and because Origination deals with the prospect of moving on to the next chapter of life, shows us the progressive change that these three deal with as the paths that the float down drift ever so slightly away from one another.
As for new introductions to the series, Origination brings in different perspectives of life via different girls from other companies, as well as a few others like an old Aria company member. Complimenting the theme of change and goals in life that Origination cements itself into, these new characters create several episodes where the show brings new perspectives of life progression, adding into the overall feel of the show and as a result, add to it.
The only real downside I can see of this cast is the disappearance or lack of screentime for certain characters. Al, Woody, and Akatsuki, the three established male characters in the show, don't really get much screentime as they did before, essentially disappearing for most of the entire 13 episode run and only coming into the frame just a few times to remind you, "Hey, we exist." It's a bit of a shame considering the show is honestly not the same without them.
Overview:
+ Focused development on main characters
+ Decent new introductions in cast
- Old cast members sort of faded away
Art: The art for Aria is the same as it always has been, just with a bit of a more quality look to it. Being made in the late 2000's, Origination doesn't possess the same kind of color or shine that the shows 2010 forward have, but because Aria has that simple charm to its animation, there really is nothing to complain about.
The quality of the show is only heightened with the gradual age of the series, and from Animation, you can see some slight changes in its art style and quality that make it look nice. The characters still look the same, the backgrounds are nice with wonderful detail, and the whole atmosphere of the series is just calm and relaxing.
In addition, just to drive the series home, Origination brings back the comical part of the series that I've dubbed "second faces". Much like the other two seasons, every character in the show has a less detailed, more comedy-related facial expression that persists throughout the whole series. It's a signature styling that the series has that to me, makes the show's comedy unique in that sense, since every character has their own unique facial expression and it really adds to the characters' personalities themselves.
Overview:
+ Nice, simple artwork (Iconic too, at this point.)
+ Second faces make their return!
Sound: The soundtrack for Aria has always been a very calming and peaceful styling of music that reflects the peacefulness that the series exudes. Like its predecessors, the OP of the series, "Spirale", is very similar to the other two openings of the series, "Undine" and "Euphoria", giving off a very nice and peaceful start to the series which immediately tells the viewer that you are in for a wonderful and peaceful ride.
In contrast, the ED, "Kin no Nami Sen no Nami", is a very different styling of music for the ending song of Aria. It doesn't create the peaceful and gentle sounds of ripples in a pond like its predecessors "Rainbow" or "Natsumachi" make. Instead, Origination goes for a more tidal wave kind of sound that to me, really doesn't fit. It's not peaceful, but sounds more like yearning, and it doesn't feel like a good song for the Aria. It's good, but to me, it's not a good fit for the series.
In addition, all of the background tracks of the series make their return. Memorizing their tunes isn't an easy feat, as they're nothing like the main songs of the series, but when you hear them, you'll know them.
Overview:
+ Good new tracks
+ Old tracks make their triumphant return
- New ED doesn't...really fit with the series (Doesn't feel like Aria IMO)
Personal Enjoyment: When I first learned about the Aria series, all I heard about it were praises that it was one of the best slice of life animes, that it had a simple story that was so beautiful and elegant that it was one of the best experiences anyone who watches anime could experience. And so, after watching every part of the main Aria series with Avverine on the way at the time of this review, I can safely say that those sings of praises for Aria were definitely well earned.
Did I like this series?
There is no reason why I say I didn't like this series. (Ok, maybe 1 or 2, but I'll get to those later.) Origination brought this wonderful series to an end, a conclusion that is admittedly one that I prayed for to never end. It really tied up what we knew about the Aria series and brought everything to a gentle end. My favorite part was the fact that the show brought up a lot of things that the series did before, a lot of old plot points and characters in order to show us the journey that we were on, and how far we've come. It really brought the idea that we should enjoy every little moment of life and showed how precious every second that we have really could be.
What didn't I like about this series?
It ended. To be fair, this is the only real complaint because any other issues can be ignored by the sheer beauty of this series.
Would I recommend this series?
YES. If you haven't watched the Aria series period, go and watch it now. (Start with Animation, of course.) If I haven't driven the point how great and revered this series is, then I'll say it again. This is a series that everyone should watch. It's peacefulness and calming nature is only one aspect of this show. It presents us the progression of life and how we should treasure every moment we have, how important the people around us are, and that the future is always something filled with new experiences and journeys to embark upon.
