Aug 28, 2022
I never wrote a review before, but as a fan of the franchise I want to give my thoughts on this one.
Aria the Benedizione it's supposedly the last animated piece of the franchise. Unfortunately the movie does not star Akari as the main protagonist, something that I found really odd considering the fact that she is the main protagonist of Aria. And don't get me wrong, I say this as a big Aika and Akira enjoyer. I love these two and their dynamic. But having Akari as a side character and only appearing for a couple of minutes doesn't give as much closure as it
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should be for a final installment. You could stare at the main poster as long as you want and you wouldn't guess that the movie would focus on Aika.
For the soundtrack Choro Club makes a comeback, adding a couple of songs and reciting some old ones. So does Yui Makino with a new version of the original opening for the credits song, which was a nice touch. On the animation level, it's J.C. Staff. You can't expect too much for these guys, but this is by far the best Aria has looked in ages.
The plot does not differ too much from a regular Aria episode. It centers on a gondola that Aika refuses to inherit (which I guess it could be seen as some sort of allegory of the series coming to an end?). It has the trio of Ai-chan, Azusa, and Anya running around trying to resolve the drama, which I didn't really liked because I'm not too fond with these new characters. The film closes with Akira reminiscing about the moment Aika became a Prima Undine, retelling a moment that felt underwhelming in Aria the Origination, a monologue and a quick montage of everyone living their daily life. Again, I have no problem with Aika bein the main focus, but it gave me no closure on the franchise. Aria the Crepusculo has Alice as the main focus and it ends with the main characters enjoying the sunrise and talking about old times. It would've been a perfect ending so it makes you wonder why wouldn't they do the same here or made that movie the final installment.
I am a very big fan of the series so I ended up enjoying it. It's good and of course if you're watching it it would mean that you've watched the other installments an that you're a fan, but I can see a lot of people being disappointed in this movie for the reasons mentioned above.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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