Akari a girl who comes across a bit useless in the Butei academy. She has a few secrets which explain the reason behind her. She wants to be the partner of Aria so much she is willing to do whatever is needed to achieve this. She has a nice group of friends who are pushing forwards with their roles and we see some old faces and new in various funny scenarios.
The show itself was a bit of a shock from watching the main series and the OVA because Aria has been a very difficult girl who has a very up tight personality. I mean she took ages to fully open up and be kind with Kinji. In this one however she has a completely different personality and is like a Tsundere older sister type. It didn't feel right to begin with in the first few episodes. It nearly made me drop the set but I held on. After a few episodes when you get used to the pace of the change it turns into a show as good as the original if not better.
The art is exactly the same as the main series and is a good standard with plenty of scenes to keep you satisfied that are done nicely.
The OP and ED are great. The action scenes and voices are also very well done. Gun shots are great for example and play nicely.
Characters are developed very well. You almost have to re learn some of the Aria facts due to her personality flip in this one. Of the old characters that we saw we get so much more of Hina Fuuma. For me she is the best character personally but that is because of her personality and how she is. She is a great example of someone that was barely mentioned before but gets a whole development more than I expected. Especially when you consider her relationship to Kinji.
We get nice new crossovers of characters with similar personalities as for example Shirayuki Hotogi (Himiko (real name) who is crazy for Kinji to a full on Yandere style is featured being very close to Shino Sasaki who is her reflection but for Akari. Both of them when they interact especially around the water park episode make for a fun pair.
The show as stated originally was a bit of a difficult one to enjoy initially. But if I am honest the Aria personality in this version is actually better overall. Akari is a character you can love very easily with her personality.
Even the villians have a nice development and they are likable. If Hidan no Aria AA had another season it would have been great to see yet more villians forced into being students like we saw in the first series. Letting them be normal people away from their evil intention. Momoko Suzuki (Kyouchikutou) is actually a nice girl who is just ruined by her family and their traditions. It would have been great to see her come as a love interest and/or a more normal character like Jeanne d'Arc who had a full 180 on her way. Her sister too would have been great to see. Can see her being pretty chilled out most of the time with potato chips.
This makes for the show to be good. It could have been great but it is so different from the main series that it is slightly tarnished. If it had continued it would be a solid 9 because it would have felt as a better story to play out with. Definitely worth a watch.
