Author's note: If I write down any sappy lines, I'm sorry. It's just hard not to do that for this series.
Story (8.00/10): Aria the Animation takes place in the world known as Aqua, an alien planet settled and created by humans as a sort of "second planet" in order to satisfy the human population. It is here on this newly created blue planet where we have Akari, our protagonist in this series, settle down on the new planet in a city named Neo-Venezia, a city built based on the city of Venice in Italy. Here, she learns how to be a Prima Undine, a gondola driver, as she begins her life on this new and peaceful world.
The story of Aria is a very simplistic story, focusing more on the day to day lives of the characters here on the planet of Aqua, mainly the lives of three specific girls, as they train themselves to be Prima Undine. For any given episode, the characters in the series essentially live their lives on this planet, not really doing much else aside from dealing with the trials and tribulations that lives throw at us.
From the storyline of the series, it's quite clear that Aria is not really a series that deals with conflicts as heavily as many series these days do. The tone of the show is calming, serene, and overall, less dramatic than your average anime. With the whole of its runtime, the show never tries to deviate from its relaxing tone. As a result, the overall feel of the show is very unique because as you're watching it, you never really get the sense that anything dramatic will happen. Now, with zero conflicts, does that mean that this show is bad? Quite the opposite in fact.
The show tackles the smaller things in life. Throughout the whole show, we are presented with scenes of the characters doing what people generally do in life. Spend time with friends, doing chores, eating a meal, and even going on an outing; stuff that you would normally see in any given slice of life show. However, Aria takes this idea one sep further. Aside from just seeing that characters experience these moments in life, it also takes them into account, putting them in retrospect to one's own life, affirming how we as people can miss the finer details, the smaller experiences that we sometimes fail to see.
In addition to that, the show does a decent job at world building. Rather than just letting the setting of a different world be just a stated fact, Aria the Animation adds in to that by spending a good chunk of its runtime explaining the world's history, tying that into its life affirming story, making the two work in conjunction to make the story a lot more cohesive and adds to the experience.
With all these good points, what is there to be said badly about this series? Well, more or less, it's the calming atmosphere that the story has. Because this show is quite slow and doesn't possess any lingering conflicts, Aria can at times be rather boring. (I found this to be the case at times.) It's not that the show itself is bad, it's just that watching something so slow can leave someone to be desiring a little bit more. Of course, that's not true for everyone, but personally, I couldn't watch more than a couple episodes at a time simply because of how I sort of lost interest sometimes.
Regardless of that side effect of Aria's wonderfully calming atmosphere, the story of Aria is still very exceptional. It puts the things in life that we sometimes forget, forward, giving the audience a feeling of appreciation of things that we may often forget.
Overview:
+ Some World building
+ Very calming show
+ Fantastic themes
- Calming factor can leave some people bored (To combat this, I suggest watching 2-3 episodes at one time rather than marathoning.)
Characters (7.99/10): Similar to its story, Aria the Animation doesn't have very complicated characters, each of which really following their own certain characteristics and never really deviating from the traits that they were given at time.
First we have Akari Muzunashi, the "main protagonist" of this series. As the only apprentice in the Aria Company, Akari plays off as a very simple girl, wanting only to enjoy the time that she has on Aqua, frequently throwing out "sappy lines" in order to express her gratitude or overall enjoyment of the time that she spends with the people that she's grown to know in her time in Aqua. Akari also plays a very crucial role in this series by writing these letters at the end of every episode, essentially writing down any given episode's important takeaway, bolstering the things that the episode is talking about. It is because of this specifically that I think Aria excels at what it does, because the things that it talks about can really be an eye opener at times.
Then we have Aika Granzchesta, a Single from the Hime Company, a different gondola company that rivals the Aria Company. Being the girl that is somewhat more outgoing than the other two, being very proud of her own abilities, Aika is the second girl in the series you meet with her classic line of "No sappy lines" (or any other variation of that phrase.) In addition, to round out the trio of girls in this series, is Alice, a Pair from the Orange Planet company, (And no, she does not belong to a pest-control agency.) acting as the youngest of the trio, working to hone her abilities as well as spending time with her senpais from the other companies.
Apart from these main three girls in this series, we also have their instructors Alicia, Akira, and Athena, who serve similar roles to their apprentice counterparts, as well as the three feline company presidents. In addition, there are side characters that appear every once in a while, filling in the gaps to make the series feel more populated and overall more enjoyable as you see the personalities of all the characters come together and just live life.
Overall, the characters themselves aren't really that complicated. Like general slice of life, the traits that they are given at the start of their appearances persist with them throughout the whole of the series, with slight growth every now and then to show progression. Above all, what I think is most interesting is that these characters are very memorable. They're not very complicated, but even if they don't show up for a while, the characters that you meet aren't really that easily forgettable, which I find to be a plus for the series.
Overview:
+ Very simple characters that are easily memorable
+ Good character dynamics
+ Good side characters
- Mostly one note characters in a sense
Art and Sound (8.08/10 and 8.78/10): The art for Aria the Animation itself is honestly a surprise to me. Because of its age (being that it's a 2005 anime), I had originally thought that the artstyle wouldn't stack up and would be less graphically well done as the anime that we see as of now. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was rather well animated. T
The artstyle reflects the feeling you get from the anime of serenity and calmness. There are no horrendously bright colors, there isn't any dark brooding colors, and there is certainly no ecchi. Aria's artsyle itself is very classic, being an individual looking style of animation that is bother memorable and very well made for its time. (Like seriously. I saw things in 2014 that looked worse than Aria.) It's a very simple style of animation with enough detail to make the city of Neo-Venezia look beautiful, and it just simply...works.
In addition, for comedic feel, every one of the main characters has a "second face", where they all have a specific expression that they make whenever they want their audience to bust a funny. (Just a detail that I found to be quite amusing.)
As for the soundtrack, Aria boasts a very well made OST that reflects the feel of the series. In addition to having "Undine" and "Rainbow" as the OP and ED respectively, the series has a very calming and beautifully crafted soundtrack that adds to the calm feeling of this series. As for the OP and ED, Undine, its opening, is a very calm and serene peace that I bet can calm any spirit, sounding like flowing spring water as it wafts through your ears, cleansing you of any hardships that you may be experiencing. As for Rainbow, its ED, it showcases a very cheerful and bouncy feel that is very upbeat and enjoyable to listen to. Overall, this soundtrack is beautiful, a masterpiece that is timeless.
Overview:
+ Very good animation for its time period
+ Very classic looking artstyle
+ Exceptional soundtrack
Personal Enjoyment (9.00/10): When I first heard about Aria the animation, I was always puzzled why it was so popular, and why it was so revered as a classic. After some time, I decided to watch it, and boy, am I happy I did. The themes of the series were very well delivered, and I couldn't stop wearing a smile on my face when I was watching it. (Above all, I listened to the OP and ED every time. That doesn't happen very often.)
Did I like this anime?
Yes. A very big yes. Aria showcased something that anime for me has been lacking for a while; a simple story that is at the same time, very powerful. Coupled with the beautiful soundtrack, the great animation, and some pretty memorable characters, there was hardly anything about this series that I didn't enjoy.
What didn't I like about this anime?
The only thing I didn't like was how at times, I admit, I felt kind of bored watching this series. With its lack of conflict, Aria's peaceful tone can sometimes be overwhelming. As a result, marathoning this show can be difficult for some. Apart from that, I have no complaints.
Would I recommend this anime?
After finally watching the legendary Aria the Animation, yes, I would recommend people to watch this series. Contrary to anime today, there is no fanservice, it's deep without needing any drama/melodrama, it's a simple story that doesn't poke itself into any other genre aside from Slice-of-life, and above all, it is considered to be a classic. This show is an instant cheer-up, and to this day, is still a very revered series. So, if you haven't watched this series, I highly recommend you do. It's an experience that you won't want to forget.
Overall Score: 8.35/10 (I'm sorry if there were any sappy lines. I can't help it! :S )
