Aria the Animation

Drift peacefully into Neo Venezia, a city on the planet Aqua (formerly known as Mars). By the 24th century, humans have found a way to colonize the previously uninhabitable planet. As futuristic as that sounds, Neo Venezia is still teeming with rustic beauty; gondolas on wide canals and waterways are the main mode of transportation. The city itself is a faithful replication of Manhome's (the planet formerly known as Earth) Venice.

To make sure that residents and tourists alike get the most from Neo Venezia's many wonders, companies offering guided tours via gondola were formed, one of which is named Aria Company.

This is the workplace of Akari Mizunashi, a free spirited teenager from Manhome who is now a novice Undine (the title given to tour guides). Join Akari as she becomes intimately acquainted with other Undine, tourists, Neo Venezia's residents, and even the city itself, learning many valuable life lessons along the way, such as the wonderful truth that there are such things as manmade miracles.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mizunashi, Akari Main

Hazuki, Erino Japanese

Carroll, Alice Main

Hirohashi, Ryou Japanese

Florence, Alicia Main

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Granzchesta, Aika S. Main

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Pokoteng, Aria Main

Nishimura, Chinami Japanese

Glory, Athena Main

Kawakami, Tomoko Japanese

Ferrari, Akira E. Main

Minagawa, Junko Japanese

Aino, Ai Supporting

Mizuhashi, Kaori Japanese

Maa Supporting

Watanabe, Akeno Japanese

Izumo, Akatsuki Supporting

Nojima, Hirofumi Japanese

Hyuuga, Yasutaka Producer

Uchida, Tetsuo Producer

Tateishi, Shigeru Producer

Ichii, Miho Assistant Producer

Reviews

Nov 3, 2025

Trospher

Recommended

Aria The Animation is a good start to a wonderful laid back series that is not only comforting is also amazing towards it's original end.

The strongest aspects of the series is it's character chemistry, while the main 3 fills the typical roles of an airhead, strict, and loud type the trio also has other unique characteristics alongside great voice work that make them very distinct as characters alongside their mentors and other side characters.

The pacing of the show might be it's make or break for a lot of people, the Aria series is very slow moving and incredibly laid back while also being very character ... and dialogue driven. The nature of Iyashikei tend to be slow paced but the series really takes it time in delving into the atmosphere of a very beautifully designed and colorful world of Aqua and Neo Venezia.

The series in general has a both comforting and melancholic feel to it, the soundtrack from this up until the 2021 movies are made by Choro Club and they did really well in presenting casual and fun music on it's tracks (namely AQUA) while also presenting ones that are more moody and melancholic for the scene.

The only thing that I dislike about this series is that giant cat Cat Saith(?) that makes characters such as President Aria and the other cats look like a total jerk and made Akari into this helpless damsel every time the thing appears and it keeps up until Avvenire, the anime is faithful to the source material so I can't exactly point fingers at the studio but without that thing the series would've been easily perfect from start to finish (Animation to Origination covers the manga's original run)

In conclusion the series is simply wonderful, the fact that it had a lifespan of 16 years with over 50+ episodes and 2 well made movies is a miracle, a lot of love was put into making Aria and it's sequels with that love easily felt on Origination. It has its flaws but regardless this is easily a series worth investing to that also has Picture Books and Sound Novels that are voiced with the same quality as the show.

I'm giving this season an 8.0/10, its a decent start to a great series that pays off massively towards Origination alongside extra content for the epilogue of the series to really conclude the series in general very well.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 17, 2023

RESOLVING_POWER

Mixed Feelings

I watched Aria the Animation, also known as season 1 of the Aria anime series. Here are my thoughts:

I like how sci-fi elements were mixed into a comfy SoL show, although this aspect could have been made more prominent. I think I would have found a stronger sci-fi theme more interesting than the generic SoL episodic plots I've seen many iterations of before.

A lot of the characters have catchphrases that don't take long to become annoying, and result in a lot of seemingly repetitive dialogue. The script in general is mediocre and, although there are occasional sentimental moments, it's nothing beyond what I'd ... expect from a typical SoL show.

If nothing else, this anime is fairly relaxing. The setting is unique, and the atmosphere is relaxing and otherworldly in some ways.

I don't value visuals too much, but there is room for improvement in this regard. The lack of visual detail is truly a missed opportunity. I would have been fine with just a powerpoint presentation if there were more care put into the backgrounds and visual environment.

Aside from its unique setting and atmosphere, this is a mediocre SoL show. The characters are completely forgettable, the writing is not particularly creative, the visuals are poor, the OST is nothing special; there's just not a lot here to appreciate. On one hand, this anime is relaxing. However, framed another way, it is fairly dull, even by my SoL-loving standards. I pretty much had to watch it before bedtime because it would inevitably lull me to sleep — this could be a desirable feature, depending on the viewer's expectations.

This anime started airing before SoL really took off as a genre, so it may have received more praise at its time of origination than a theoretical contemporary equivalent might have. This anime is not exceptional by contemporary standards of the genre, aside from its setting.


My overall rating for Aria the Animation (first season): 5/10
It was an adequate show to lull me to sleep at the end of the day, but nothing about it particularly impressed me.

It's unlikely that I'll be watching the sequels any time in the near future. Maybe I'll revisit it in a few years to see if my viewpoint changes.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 10, 2020

Batena

Not Recommended

Preliminary (3/13 eps)

When i saw that this show has sequels and good ratings I thought it something deserve to be watched but it wasn't
First episode was boring and slowwww, funny i thought that my life is boring!
I said to myself it's just the first one give it a chance but... the other ones were slow and boring as well
Any conversation in the world would be more interesting than watching these female characters being nice, gentle and kind while having tea with cakes 😩
Character design is beautiful but i am ready to watch stick figures doing interesting things more than them

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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