Reviews

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 seasons 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 (rounded up to a 9 on MAL)