Aria the Natural

Akari Mizunashi continues her training to become a Prima Undine (a professional tour guide gondolier) along with her friends Aika and Alice in the peaceful city of Neo Venezia. Despite the fact that these three girls are from competing companies, they are constantly together, learning more about how to become better tour guides and more about the mysteries of Neo Venezia.

As the group continues to meet interesting and unforgettable people through their daily routines, they will also come closer to the secrets that make the enigmatic and ever beautiful city of Neo Venezia so warm and alive.

Welcome back to Neo Venezia: the city where miracles can be created by hand.

[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

Cat Sith Supporting

Aino, Ai Supporting

Mizuhashi, Kaori Japanese

Maa Supporting

Watanabe, Akeno Japanese

Iizuka, Toshio Producer

Hatta, Shinsaku Producer

Hyuuga, Yasutaka Assistant Producer

Satou, Junichi Director, Sound Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Mar 17, 2009

Archaeon

Recommended

The problem with sequels is that they're rarely as good as the original, any show that actually achieves the feat of surpassing the original appears only once in a blue moon. Given that fact, I will freely admit that I approached Aria: the Natural with a certain degree of trepidation, especially as the original series is a favourite of mine.

Thankfully, all of my fears were removed in the gentlest manner possible.

Aria: the Natural continues the tale of Neo Venezia in very much the same manner as the original, except for the fact that this series is twice as long. The story, once more, revolves around ... Akari, Aika and Alice as they go through their daily lives in their "quest" to become undines. The episodic format of the original series is maintained throughout this one, and the show generally manages to achieve the same relaxed feeling of the original. However, Aria: The Natural has some moments that purists would define as "off-kilter" - a view I tend to disagree with.

Let me explain. The first series was very much an introductory show, allowing the audience to familiarise themselves with Akari, Aika and Alice, as well as the other residents of Neo Venezia. The Natural, on the other hand, is an introduction to the world of Aqua itself, something which was alluded to in the final episode of the first series. Indeed, the role of cats in this series is much greater than before, and the quasi-supernatural element of the show, which was only lightly touched upon previously, is very much in force here.

Because of this though, many people view The Natural as inferior to the original series, basing such judgement solely on the fact that this show has some genuinely creepy moments, as well as the fact that several episodes are based purely on supernatural events. In Aria: The Animation, the effect of the supernatural was toned down to maintain the relaxed feeling of the show, however The Natural pushes this aspect of Aqua firmly to the fore with the introduction of several elements - Cait Sith being the primary one.

Art and animation for The Natural remains as superlative as the original, with some improvement given to some of the more "fantastic" plot elements. Character designs remain unchanged though (which will come as a relief to many fans), with each of the leads and the supporting roles being as visually charming as ever - even in Super Deformed mode. The panoramic views of the Neo Venezia remain very much in force, however these have been enhanced more because of the attention given to other areas of Aqua. The level of detail is actually better in The Natural because of the show's focus on the world of Aqua, and with that attention to detail comes a degree of personality (yes, I know it sounds weird saying that a world has personality - watch the show and see for yourself).

Sound and music continue to be excellent, with the voice actors doing sterling work with their respective characters. The thematic music used throughout the series is very much in keeping with the style of the original series, and retains the same "continental" feeling as well. The sound effects are again, excellent and well choreographed, with nothing too overwhelming or too subtle. The OP and ED are calm and melodic, keeping the fluidly relaxed theme of both the original and this series.

The characters are, again, a joy to watch, however some people may not follow this train of thought because of the supposed "flaws" in the show (i.e. the supernatural elements I mentioned earlier). Akari, Aika and Alice continue to be as charming and as innocent as ever, and while there may be a distinct lack of major development in this series, I didn't find this factor to hinder my appreciation of the characters in any way.

The supporting characters continue to be by turns witty, soothing, stern, downright hilarious, etc, very much in keeping with the original series. However, many of the supporting cast tend to take more of a back seat in this series, with a greater amount of focus being given to Akari especially.

Fans of the original series may not find that The Natural sits too well with them, especially given the fact that this show is less about the characters and more about the world they live in. That said, it continues to be a truly enjoyable series overall, and a truly relaxing one at that.

Aria: The Natural, whilst maintaining everything that made the original series great, is actually a very different show, and I would judge it at least equal to The Animation in every aspect. Given the basis of The Natural, and its intorductory perspective on the world of Aqua, it's no surprise that fans recommend watching both series before watching Aria: The Origination.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 26, 2007

Faust721

Recommended

This is the first time that I have ever felt an anime deserves full marks in all categories. Aria the Natural had everything I could want in an anime. Here\'s the breakdown...

Story: The reason why the plot is so good is that each episode has a unique story and it never gets tiring despite not having a running story. Neo-Venezia is a place meant to be explored and that is what we get thorugh the series as Akari and Co. meat new people and grow. Watching something like this is relaxig and just puts a smile on your face.

Animation: The world of Aria is absolutely ... beautiful. The town of Neo-Venezia is presented in such detail that it makes me wish that I was there. And the sceneries are a sight to see and in an anime like Aria, we get to see them in many aspects, whether it is in the morning, evening, night etc. The only thing i wish for is a HD version of Aria, but still gets full marks none the less.

Sound: OP, ED, BGM, it\'s absolutely incredible. The music fits in so well and is something that just relaxes you. Words alone cant describe how much i love this kind of music. It\'s pure bliss~

Character: This is perhaps the best aspect of Aria. Each character is not only unique but is extremely likable. There is a wide range of personalities yet they go so well together. And their chibi face form is hilarious. Each have there own style and goes well with their personality.

Overall, to me, not only is this the best slice of life, it is the best anime out there. It is just perfect. While this type of anime is not for everyone, Aria the Natural was everything i could ask for. Hopefully you can see the magic of Aria like I did if you ever check this out and become a fan too.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jan 17, 2018

Dionkeykong

Not Recommended

So....Aria the Natural..Is it me or does it sound like a cheesy title taken straight outta Pornhub?Like Pink haired natural titties etc etc?

But unlike the porn movie this has...Not so many things going for it i'm afraid.In fact after i saw the 1st season i was so bored out of my mind and pissed off at myself for watching something as lifeless as Kim Kardashian that i stopped watching anime off all kinds for 1 month or so.But i have a finishing fetish so i was bound to come back and see the rest of the series..And sure enough here i am trying to decipher ... that phenomenon called Aria.

If you're not too bored check my 1st season review..I really couldn't understand the appeal of this anime.I was dumpfounded by the fact that this was such a big hit that it continued on and on for 2 more fucking seasons.It wasn't anything special,the story wasn't something written by the goddess of poetry..So what in the name of all that's holy possesed Japan to make this a success..Wwwwweeeeeellllll it's the moe disease.If any anime has moe in it that's it as far as some fellow anime fans are concerned.Has it got moe girls making cute noises and stupid as fuck things?It's a great anime..Has it got moe animals that make stupid noises and act like someone fed them 2 bags of LSD?It's a great anime and deserves a religion of its' own.

Cause other than the fact that it's moe i cannot possibly find a reason for this being such a big hit.Sure many people say that it's a slice of life so what did i expect?SOME SIGNS OF LIFE DAMN IT.Something to make me go wow this is the shit.Moe isn't the be all end all.

So what did they do with this 2nd installment?Did they improve it?Yes and no.You see the first one was some kind of intro for us to learn about Neo-Venezia and who the characters are.I want this to sink in before i go on..13 eps of intro..So they made a 2nd one to explore the rest of this world...So let me get this right..They couldn't do that in,say,the 1st one?Was it so jammed packed with many many things that exploring a fraction of this world was out of the question?No...Not even slightly..Anime is a bussiness after all they saw the hordes of moe lovers coming and wanted to rob them of their money and dignity.If i were them i'd do the same thing.It's easy money after all.

Anywho,like i said this season is more..26 eps more to be exact.But as far as i can tell this could easily be half the bulk because half the eps are spent making you watch the same things again and again.Many things that you saw in the 1st season or even things that you see in this season are being recycled.But at least some of the eps have some good things going on as well.We get some development from the characters and some nice-ish moments.Then again we have some supernatural shit going on which make no sense at all and aren't being explained..Nobody is even bothered by the fact that a huge cat is capable of using magic to exclude humans from their cat meetings..And sure enough Alicia is still going "My my my" all the time which makes me want to punch a hole through my pc's screen and Aika going "no sappy lines allowed" all the time..Recycling is a good thing..If we're talking garbage but when talking anime..No sorry i won't have that.That there is a prime example of how shitty this anime is.Recycled ideas,characters that know how to say one line only and the same "comedic" moments they show us for the entirety of this show.

Sticking with the characters..Once again there are 4 of them.1 pinked hair gal who is is the new employee with dreams,the blonde hair who is the kind boss and says mymymy like ALOT,the blue haired gal who is the friend of the pinked haired who works for another company and last but least the green haired girl is some kind of wonder gal.The cat is like Pikachu but fatter.

Animation was the same as the 1st season's.Very nice depiction of the world of Neo-Venezia and still some weird CG moments that clash with the rest of the traditional animation.

Soundwise it's pink and fluffy and VAs are good and deliver their parts.

So aside from some new and fresh ideas that were very good indeed the rest of the show is more or less the same stagnant crap we got from the 1st season.And i'm sorry but 7 good eps from the 26 in total is not floating my goat.When i watch an anime i want it to amaze me.This made me bored and sleepy which kind of defeats the purpose of entertainment.Unless you count sleep as entertaining.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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