DO NOT discuss the source material beyond this episode. If you want to discuss future events or theories, please use separate threads.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
| My favourite thing in each episode was no joke the opening sequences. I've never seen this method before where they provide some light exposition behind the opening credits. The OP is such relaxing music. And best of all is how the show logo appears in the opening. It's got so much aesthetic, reminds me of vaporwave and a videogame logo. |
 |
Mormegil said: I came into this expecting a masterpiece, and it sadly didn't live up to my expectations. Not a bad anime at all, though. Lately, I've been fighting a bout of depression, so all the talk about the world being such a beautiful place to live in, and Akari's sappy lines had the adverse effect of pissing me off unfortunately. Maybe I picked a bad time to watch a relaxing anime like this? Speaking of which, everyone keeps on mentioning how Aria is relaxing, soothing, calming, etc. Uhh, that's great? It does have that feel, for sure, but it can be slow and - for lack of a better word - boring at times. That being said, the world-building has been great so far, and since it makes me want to learn more about the world these characters inhabit, I know it's doing something right. The setting is nice as well, being a pseudo-Venice and all. Episode 11, in particular, was the best(some personal resonance). I also liked the one with President Aria, even though I know most people hated it... The Natural and Origination seasons seem to have much higher scores than the first season, so maybe I'll finally get why Aria is critically acclaimed and loved by most. These are my thoughts exactly, right down to having the same favorite episode. I definitely agree the series does a good job at creating a soothing and peaceful atmosphere. And I would say each episode does have about 1 or 2 incredibly charming and heartwarming moments, but those moments are too few and far between, and it can be a drag to reach those moments. It's not really worth slogging through the rest of the episode to reach them. Maybe iyashikei anime just isn't for me. Still though. I do see the potential of the series, and I am certainly going to check out the sequels to find out if they're actually better. |
| It was a pretty chill anime. Hardly anything special, but served its purpose. That being said, it could have been better. Definitely had its moments but some of the episodes were a bit of a drag to sit through. Bartender was also a pretty relaxing experience, but a much better anime overall, imo. So there's definitely room for improvement. Will watch the 2nd series someday. Hopefully things get a bit more interesting. |
 |
| Man, this show is just perfect. It has the comfiness of Yuru Camp, and the messages and themes of Sora yori mo Tooi Basho, with just the right blend of both sci-fi and fantasy. Never before has an anime lingered with me for the whole day (and even sometime after that) after watching every episode. Hahi! I love it! Solid 10/10. Watching this episode was bittersweet for me. I was sad that it was the last episode of the season, but I knew that there's still more to come, more that's supposed to be even better than this one. I'm very excited to watch the sequels. |
 |
| Started Date: 2013-12-22 Finished Date: 2019-05-24 Days: 1980 I may well be the person who took the longest in finishing this series by far. I don't even quite remember what happened during the first couple episodes nor the day that I picked this up lol. I usually really like comfy slice of life anime but this one kind of bored me at the beginning, though it wasn't bad by any means. The news that there was going to be a BD release also made me stall which proved to be a mistake since the BDs turned out garbage :/ I give this season a solid 8/10 and hope that the next seasons will be superior as indicated by their MAL scores. |
| One of the most relaxing animes I've ever seen. Felt warm and chill throughout. Loved this series despite there being no conflict or serious plot whatsoever! It feels like my soul has been healed. They don't call it "iyashikei" for nothing. Wonderful, nice ending to a wonderful, nice series. Will definitely pick up the next season and also rewatch the entire thing at times I'm down and need some relaxation ^^ |
 |
| Very good anime, it was peaceful and heartwarming, they celebrated new year in this one. The three last episodes had a different feeling, even better than the previous ones |
 |
| Wonderful anime and it's perfect for sleeping I watched before bed and I kinda feel warm and fuzzy with this show. now I'm forcing my eyelids not to close. 8/10 |
| It was fucking boring but I somehow managed to survive. I was thinking about continuation but now after watching this I don't know if I should because it's boring for me and I don't wanna. 4/10 Is the next season any better than this? Because I think it's great but the problem is it's hella boarding for me. Guess I'm gonna check em out anyways :/ |
| What an heartwarming finale to such an heartwarming show ! I binged through the last four episodes and I don't regret it, it really helped me being in the right mindset to enjoy this last episode to the fullest. I really understand why people find this show to be so relaxing. And it has such beautiful messages. Plus, the characters are incredibly endearing (while I have a slight preference for Aika and her "hatred" for embarrassing remarks, everyone is truly adorable). And as someone who loves Venice, the setting was a real treat, I really felt like being there. I give this show a good 7/10, not more because some episodes weren't all that great and it's missing the little something that makes shows worthy of an 8 in my heart, but since the two other seasons have an higher rating, I have some pretty high exceptations ! |
 |
| Very nice finale. Overall, a very good first season, although some episodes were a bit boring. Episodes 4, 8, 11, and 12 were my favorites. |
SerafosMay 2, 12:54 PM
 |
| My 36th completed (only the first season for now) series chronologically. For the record, I extended it a 7/10 rating. |
| Well, this series proved to be a big disappointment in the end. Besides the excellent episode 4, everything else fell flat at best for me, and the less said about the insulting episode 8 the better. There were some aspects of the show I did like throughout, such as the music and background art, but not much. Overall, I'd say this show just feels dated by slice-of-life standards in terms of its approach to characters. The character personalities are incredibly flat and one-note, and unlike better, more recent slice-of-life there is no character development to speak of at all. Take Alicia as by far the most egregious example: saying "ara ara " in every line of dialogue is not a substitute for having an actual personality or any character whatsoever, and it's especially insulting when she's constantly talked about as this legendarily famous Undine but never does anything to show that. That aside, the excessive use of chibi/super-deformed faces to try and derive comedy from every scene is not only a pretty cheap way of generating comedy (it's basically the visual equivalent of a laugh track, used to make people feel like something's funny when it isn't really) but also just constantly looks really weird when there's constant shots with some characters going chibi and some staying in the normal artstyle. This is another way in which this show feels somewhat dated compared to its more modern counterparts in the genre. And then there's the reliance on mascot characters, culminating in that god-awful episode 8. Aria is not only an incredibly ugly mascot to begin with, all it does is make some of the most annoying noises ever used in a piece of media and completely disrupt the relaxing mood the show is trying to build. One other thing I want to mention, and in truth this is more of a nitpick than anything else: this show casually introduces fantasy elements in quite a few places - most notably twice using time travel to give us some worldbuilding we'd otherwise never get - without any context or explanation at all: it's as if they just exist for the convenience of the plot and it just kind of muddies the otherwise-strong world-building this show has. 5/10. I wouldn't say I regret watching this show despite my complaints, but I'm not going to go any further with it. |
| I really liked it, i usually dont see slice-of-life anime, but this one is so relaxing it got me from episode 1. There are weaker episodes than others but overall i like how honest the anime is, i say 8/10 for me and i will continue with the sequel. |
QuasarAfterLifeNov 7, 2021 6:20 PM
| Aack. Too many mysteries. Looking forward to 2nd season. Wish i could travel back in 2005 when the series first aired. Really loved it! Ara ara Alicia-san. 💙 |
| Everyone meeting together.. Sweet.. ;P Auguri, bon anno! Overall anime had things I liked.. It tried to do in some episodes with the life lessons.. It was quite interesting.. I feel I didn't catch all of them, but some of them were nice.. I liked some of the girls, didn't like some of other ones.. Overall I feel like anime maybe has to give more time until I feel about some things more, to be honest.. But still for now - I saw more enjoyable things.. |
| Was wonderful that everyone was in this episode (including Grandma). I'm curious about the gnomes and the other jobs on Aqua! |
| This was relaxing to watch with a lot of cuteness and ara aras |
| The closer you get to the light,the greater your shadow becomes. |
| If years are two times longer new years must take forever |
| Inhales oxygen |
| Well that was a lovely time. While it was kinda slow and not particularly remarkable in the animation department I gotta give props first to that chill acoustic soundtrack. It kinda reminds me of those playlists with morning music that you may find on streaming sites with a steaming coffee on loop. My favorite single track has to go to Rainbow, the ending song and the heartwarming feeling it leaves me after listening to it-oh, so sorry, embarrassing remarks are not allowed. Regarding the characters, I feel like we got to see a bit of everyone and their quirks. I don't have a particularly favorite one but I didn't really care for Akatsuki. Why is he so mean to Akari? The rest were fine. Thinking back to their names though, I wonder why so many of them have "A" as their initial letter. You know, Aria, Akari, Akira, Alice, Alicia, Athena, Aika, and even the side characters like Ai, Aqua, Akiko and so on. What I can say for sure is that this anime is best to make yourself comfortable after a high day of stress and work. If slices of life aren't of your taste, then that's ok. I personally really needed something like this as of late. |
| ⠓⠥⠍⠁⠝⠊⠞⠽ ⠞⠓⠗⠕⠥⠛⠓ ⠎⠕⠍⠑ ⠎⠞⠥⠏⠊⠙⠊⠞⠽⠂ ⠎⠕⠍⠑ ⠺⠊⠇⠇ ⠎⠅⠊⠏ ⠺⠁⠎⠓⠊⠝⠛ ⠞⠓⠑⠊⠗ ⠓⠁⠝⠙⠎ ⠁⠝⠙ ⠑⠝⠙ ⠥⠏ ⠗⠥⠊⠝⠊⠝⠛ ⠊ ⠞ ⠋⠕⠗ ⠑⠧⠑⠗⠽⠕⠝⠑ ⠎⠓⠊⠊⠅⠕ ⠁⠕⠎⠕⠊⠂ ⠼⠃⠼⠚⠼⠁⠼⠓ |
| After taking nearly one year, i finally managed to finish this anime. While there are some part that i did enjoy,but overall i find this anime to be boring,the first half didnt manage to catch my interest,while second half did (most of the part). I planned to watch the other season later, maybe i'll like it more. |
 |
| Good series, gonna continue watching. Is this episode anime only though? |
| Man, what a ride! This was a fantastic way to end the series. Watching an episode after work for the past 2 weeks or so really lifted my spirit. So relaxing and healing, while still learning valuable life lessons On to the sequel! |
| One of the main reasons I rewatched this was to see if my thoughts on this season had changed. They have not, I still think The Animation is by far the weakest link of the Aria franchise 6/10. It has a few good eps here and there (especially towards the end) but I feel it lacks the more personal touches, character work and more magical elements that makes The Natural and The Origination so much more memorable and endearing. I don't hate or even dislike The Animation, I just feel very indifferent towards it overall. I feel Aria really sets itself apart and comes to its own in The Natural where its quality sky rockets and becomes a near masterpiece iyashikei (one of my top 5 fav anime of all time). If anyone sees this and is on edge as to whether or not continue the franchise I highly implore they do so. The quality jump in storytelling in The Natural really does outclasse anything The Animation did. Being more similar in tone to the stuff from the last 3 eps of this season. |
VarendantsDec 25, 2022 12:09 AM
| I enjoyed the letter delivery episodes where they introduced a mystery element. I lost interest after that as it was mainly SoL with characters I didn't particularly like. Kudos to the atmosphere however 6/10 |
| @Threyja Ah, the brother-sister relationship maybe makes a bit more sense. Never thought about it like that. |
| ⠓⠥⠍⠁⠝⠊⠞⠽ ⠞⠓⠗⠕⠥⠛⠓ ⠎⠕⠍⠑ ⠎⠞⠥⠏⠊⠙⠊⠞⠽⠂ ⠎⠕⠍⠑ ⠺⠊⠇⠇ ⠎⠅⠊⠏ ⠺⠁⠎⠓⠊⠝⠛ ⠞⠓⠑⠊⠗ ⠓⠁⠝⠙⠎ ⠁⠝⠙ ⠑⠝⠙ ⠥⠏ ⠗⠥⠊⠝⠊⠝⠛ ⠊ ⠞ ⠋⠕⠗ ⠑⠧⠑⠗⠽⠕⠝⠑ ⠎⠓⠊⠊⠅⠕ ⠁⠕⠎⠕⠊⠂ ⠼⠃⠼⠚⠼⠁⠼⠓ |
| This anime is very beautiful, this anime shows every little detail that we don't notice in our busy and difficult lives, some scenes made me feel nostalgic even though I didn't live in that era, this shows that the anime has a connection with the person watching it, very good. 8/10 |
  |
| This season finale's art direction is superb and far better than usual that it's magical. Every episode of Aria: The Animation is magical but this is especially so. I know people have been warning that season 1 is the weakest and it improves along the way, but by itself, it's very good. An 8 out of 10. |
More topics from this board
Poll: » Aria the Animation Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )WTFwasThat - Sep 18, 2008 |
138 |
by Ba-Cii10
»»
Nov 14, 1:25 PM |
|
Poll: » Aria Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 )running_lemon - Apr 6, 2007 |
81 |
by patkarunungan
»»
Oct 28, 4:46 AM |
|
Poll: » Aria Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )running_lemon - Apr 6, 2007 |
131 |
by patkarunungan
»»
Oct 14, 4:49 AM |
|
Poll: » Aria the Animation Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 )Klarerwind - Oct 5, 2008 |
63 |
by patkarunungan
»»
Sep 28, 4:37 AM |
|
Poll: » Aria Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 )running_lemon - Apr 3, 2007 |
71 |
by Matheus050
»»
Sep 27, 7:49 PM |