I don't like Aria the Animation!
Just to make one thing perfectly clear, I'm not above of SoL-shows or even a shows that have no over-branching story to give! As long as the premise and the characters are enjoyable, I can pretty much swallow any kind of SoL-experiences there is... mostly! When I was adviced to pick the Aria up, I was spectical, yes, but still optimistic enough to give it atry, and after the experience that I would describe at best as a "4 hour nap-time", I'm greatly dissapointed!
First of, what is good? Or "good", if you will. Well... the art is decent, often times quite pretty, actually! The Aqua as a location is pretty to look at, but not very innovative nor interesting to look at. I mean... when you have a Mars turned into "secon Earth", there should be imo something much more interesting to invest into, than snowflies and bizarre cats for crying out loud! The sounds of the characters are really mellow and soft - read; I hate them! - but the music is really beautiful, expecially the opening songs and endings, with their lovely animations - I just adore those "brush-painted" endings so much! Is there anything else to praise about?
Well... not really.
The story is really bare-boned, shallow, and completely lacking any kind of conflict, or suspence. Which is to be expected, I quess, when the story revolves around these three clones... I mean "truly individual and/or unique" girls, dreaming to someday "row, row, row the boat, gently down the canal of this not-at-all-copy-pasted-image-of-an-Venice-that-comes-to-mind-to-every-japanese-animator-that-hear-the-word-of-condola-and-ask-if-it's-some-kind-of-musical-instrument", because apparently, the profession of the condoliers is in this world pretty much at the same level, as the supermodels and popstars... before they hit the meth.
The show is very linear - despite it taking a place in a city, that's covered in water! - and can often times feel either quite draggy, or rushed, which is very easy to pin-point on the fact that it's a short show. I for one refuce to accept that as an excuse! I know, that if the story is good, the amount of episodes has nothing to do with it! The story told in under a 13-episodes can be amazing, if the story is good, just as the show with 50-episodes or more can be jut as afwul, if the story is bad! Aria the Animation has a bad story, and no amount of episoded couldn't have saved it from it's predicament.
Okay, so, the story didn't obviously win me over. So, how about the characters then?
What characters?! There are none!
Atleast... not anyone that I would whole-heartedly think of as a character! They're all the same - you're typical "nice-girls" with their sweet expressions and "cute" quirks, with no actual dilemmas, or flaws to speak of. They all even have the exact same goals, and what ever little personality they all have, leaves them just bland, boring, and one-dimensional. The humor is also really dry, and wears off really quickly, but it's actually not that visible, so my brain was pretty save from that one.
But let me swear... if I hear that "my, my, my" even one more time I'll...!
That being said... did I hate it?
Not really!
It's mellow and soft atmosphere was actually quite pleasant, and a nice breather from my more common, action-oriented and plot-heavy shows with multi-dimensional characters, that I seem to favor over more light-hearted shows.
That being said, I wouldn't watch it agains, since it didn't have that same SoL-hook, that so many other shows tend to have over me. It doesn't invite me to come back and pick it up againd, which leaves me quite cold towards it.
But, would I still recommend this?
Sure... if you happen to ride condola for a living!
No, seriously!
I would recommend Aria the Animation for those, who like mellow atmosphere, aren't really into action or heavy plots, and just want something relaxing and comforting to watch, without any conflicts, drama, or villains. Those who enjoy their animes with a little bit more content, and more fleshed-out characters, this is a easy skip!
I can only hope, that the Natural is better than this, because I really wanted to like Aria! Sadly, this isn't an promising start.
"My, my, my!"
Aaaargh!!!
STORY: 2
ART: 7
SOUND: 8
CHARACTER: 2
ENJOYMENT : 6
OVERALL: 5
