Aria the OVA: Arietta

Before reading the rest of this review, please note that Aria is my number one favourite long-lasting series, and Aria the Origination is second in my favourite anime of all time. Yet, I gave this a rather average grading. It should also be noted this was written on my second viewing of the series.

Aria the OVA ~Arietta~ focus on a point of time when Akari begin fear that she isn't good enough for Alicia, and so decides to ask her why she selected her as her apprentice. Upon hearing this, Alicia decides to tell her about her past, before Akari joins the company.

STORY
The overall storyline ... in this episode is just as usual. Shall not mention more than I already did to prevent spoilers.

ART
Art is marvelous, as compared to its 2 prequels, the Animation and Natural. The chibi faces look better, and the overall colouring is just great.

SOUND
The first part of this OVA that really sickened me. I LOVED the soundtrack of the 3 other seasons. Then came the opening song of Arietta. It was just doggone awful. Why they chose not to get Yui Makino's work is beyond me. However, the ending song by Akari's seiyuu just manage to redeem the sound score by a bit raising it to a 5.

CHARACTER
Characters are great, as they always are, but one thing I didn't get is the fact that the ever cheerful and optimistic Akari suddenly turning emo, and feeling sad for herself. Thus, I can't raise it any higher than a 7 here.

ENJOYMENT
Overall, it just lacks the charm that made me fall in love with the series i nthe first place. I can't really explain it, since it has better storyline than many other episodes, yet, I just can't make myself like it.

Also, the ending kinda turned me off abit. There was no Akari's usual conclusion, as well as a yuri pairing fan girl's dream come true.

OVERALL
For all my fanboy mode over the rest of the series, I just can't bring myself to ever like this OVA. It's needed to watch this, as there is a huge reference to this episode in the following season, Origination, but if you are looking for the usual Aria charm, look elsewhere. You won't find it here.