Aria may be a series set centuries in the future, but its heart is very much in the past, be it in its setting, its customs, its outlook or its characters. But before we get into that, a quick summary of the show.
Aria the Animation is the first season of the highly acclaimed Aria series, the setting is a terraformed mars, renamed Aqua due to the now abundance of water. Here mankind has settled into a quieter existence, more reminiscent of the early 19th century than one would expect of a space colony. The main city is Neo-Venezia, a complete reconstruction of the ancient city of Venice, it is here that our main character, Akari Mizunashi, arrives to fulfil her dream of becoming an Undine (female gondolier). She soon falls in the love with the city, its people and their quiet way of life…
From this point on the show for the most part drops its sci-fi shawl and becomes much more fantastical and archaic, to the point that it becomes easy to forget that your on mars or even watching a sci-fi show at all. Instead a slow but steady atmosphere is built up and a tangible world appears before your eyes, it becomes not a story but an experience, and a truly unique and beautiful one at that.
Upon hearing this synopsis it would be perfectly within reason to assume this series will be nothing more than a lighthearted fluffy sci-fi show with some hippy free spirited tendencies, nothing could be further from the truth.
I take issue with people who label, or worse, accuse this series of being "just episodic", granted the series can indeed give this impression and the record of the episodic genre is not a particularly clean one, but there are many things that set this series apart from that taboo genre. One is the excellent characters which help to tie everything together while conveying the feeling that your watching real people living their lives and not just acting out a plot or random adventures. And the other is the recurring themes present in the series, in particular the theme of the past and of manmade miracles...
With it slow pace, longing for the past and love of beauty, Aria manages to convey a feeling thats hard to describe, but is best summed up with the face you make while watching it, a sort of sad smile, a sardonic grin, a longing to be there but a desire to be distant, to keep from tainting its peace and beauty. From its canals and streets flooded with moonlight, its rustic buildings, the different Undine companies and traditions to the simple mailman, a world is quickly built up that soaks you in its cooling imaginative water. The show itself becomes a celebration of mankind and it ability to create beauty, but also destroy (more later). I mentioned earlier the theme of manmade miracles, this idea that man can create wondrously beautiful things if he really wants to is extremely prevalent, after all the whole planet is essentially of human construct, the cities, the air, the water, the atmosphere, the temperature is all man and woman made. A point the show is constantly reminding us of, "No Gods or Kings only man" seems an extremely fitting quote to apply to this spirt, here mankind and individuals came together to create something incredibly beautiful with the result being that people's feelings and desires have actually allowed for an atmosphere where more conventional miracles can occur.
This atmosphere is unique among anime, or any series I know of for that matter, few come close to achieving its healing and peaceful aurora, only certain episodes of Natsume Yanijico or the manga Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou can touch it. But do not get the wrong impression of what i mean, this is no frosted cake of sugary sweetness, superficially perhaps, but under it all there is a distinct bitter after taste, oh its subtle all right but make no mistake its there. From Akari's occasional references to the state of Manhome (a.k.a Earth, I know its a stupid name) and how "you can't swim in the sea's of Manhome anymore" give earth a distinct dystopian feeling, and her fascination with all the simple wonders of utopian Neo-Venezia make one wonder just what her childhood was really like back on earth, which seems to have been all but ruined by man and woman. On top of that we have episodes dealing with letters to dead men, journeys to the past and worrying about the future. Again seeing this fascination with the past tinged with sombre nostalgia which sees to permeate throughout the whole show, creating this mix of feelings, happiness tinged with remorse, joy mixed with regret, jocoseness juxtapositional with a realisation that this bliss cannot last forever...
But enough with themes, on to the shows central pillar upon which everything else is able to rest comfortably, the characters. And do not let first impressions sway you to believe that they are going to be moe fools splashing water on each other as the picture M.A.L has chosen to encapsulate the series would seem to suggest...
Instead the characters, like the show are quite subdued and not in any rush to explain to the viewer who they are. One must also take into account that this is only the first season, and the real character development doesn't come until really the late second and third seasons, all the more aesthetically so for it, but here the ground work is set for the future masterpiece, every great work of art had to begin with a few basic sketches, a few simple outlines and in a similar way that is what is happening here. At first it may appear a bit jarring and one dimensional to see Akari's simple minded fascination with everything and her close friend Aika's constant scolding of her wonder and "embarrassing remarks" or to see Alicia's (her senior) ever-present smile and gracefulness, but before long they become like reassuring kisses to your soul. Besides the show quickly makes it clear that these people are far deeper than a quick glance would suppose. I have already alluded to Akari's past and the possible reasons for her fascination and wonder at Neo-Venzia but there is also Aika and her struggles with her confidence and Alice their other undine friend who struggles with the stigma of being a child prodigy.
But one thing all of the three main girls Akari, Aika and Alice have in common, besides their frustratingly similar names, its that they each have a senior who mirrors them in some shape or form, the original three "water fairies" as they are known, who guides them in their own unique way and whose friendships and past is similar, reminding one of what Mark Twain once remarked, "History may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme"...
To talk about the visuals and the music of this series is to do it a disservice, not only are the visuals stunning and the music divinely/hauntingly unforgettable, but everything fits so well with the atmosphere that you'd hardly even notice that music is playing or animation happening. I hate to beat a tired drum but i must stress that this atmosphere, is the show, this strange mix of feelings and wondrous healing aurora is only possible thanks to the perfect tone setting music, while portraying the themes of the series so vividly is only possible thanks to the exceptional art, showing us this man made miracle, this rusty but alive city… Speaking of the city, you might be wondering why even bother to set this series on Mars if your just going to have a quiet little character driven series with little to no sci-fi. Well I suspect that the extravagant setting was to allow for two things, more creative freedom without the constraints of being set in a factual Venice, and to allow the introduction of certain characters and idea's such as Akatsuki Izumo a character who lives high above Neo-Venezia in a floating city and works to control the temperature to make it habitual for humans, all in all it was a paramount decision that helped to create a masterpiece.
To culminate, as with the past itself, Aria only gets better with age. Like some great golden tower it seems to rise out of its genre and set the bar for all utopian works. Making no attempt to disguise what it is or be what its not it sets its own pace and like a gentle breeze we are carried along with it. The challenges its characters face are not of a life threatening disposition and all the better for it, its love of the past and of man-made miracles provide a look into something we all feel but rarely discuss or think about. Like the beating of the tide against the buildings of venice or the rhythms of a poem, Aria seems to subtly ebb and flow between joy and sadness, future and past, the miracles of man and moments of magic, without ever losing focus of its characters or their hopes and feelings. And while Animation may be the weakest of the three seasons, it is only so because it must be, all that would eventually become a masterpiece is set-up here and the foundations of greatness firmly laid upon which its tower is built.
Like the golden past we long for so much, Aria the animation isn't perfect, but it does open the door to future seasons, which damn well come pretty close…
