52 Episodes | 2002 | G
A trailer to start! (I think it does a good job of showing the serenity of the show, but not necessarily the story...
So, I think that this anime is absolutely adorable! I mean, not that it is a little kids show with kindergardeners running around (it's not), it's just that this is basically one of the first animes I've ever seen that doesn't have anything remotely perverted or hentai about it. It's just about these girls on a planet who want to become an undine (a gondolier). I'll give it a quick once-over:
It starts off with this girl named Akari who is training to become an undine, or gondolier, ever since she moved to the planet Aqua (which supposedly used to be Mars, but then humans terraformed it to become a water planet). Now, she lives in a city called Neo-Venezia (that's supposed to be a take on Venice, Italy, if you hadn't figured it out already).
She works hard and along the way meets some friends, who happen to be from the different competing undine companies (she works for the Aria company). If you haven't noticed it yet, one interesting thing about this series is that every name starts with the letter "A", Aria, Akari, Aqua, Alicia, Ai, Aiko... everything! I think it's cute, but I don't know how many names exist that start with the letter "A". It makes it a little hard to distinguish who is who, but the characters are very recognizable.
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Voice Actors: (10/10) I watched this in Japanese, and so I don't know if I am really qualified to judge the voices because I am not quite yet at that stage where I can really distinguish them, but if I had to say something, I think that that Japanese cast did a beautiful job. Of course, the voices are still the high pitch squeal that we're all accustomed to in anime, but then again, it is kind of fitting for the characters (especially Akari).
Story: (10/10) I really really like the story of Aria because it is original. No more teen drama over which boy she should pick, or crude fan-service cookie cutterness. This is the first time that I have ever seen a story like this. A new planet, a water-filled city, a determined girl. It's not as predictable as some of the other shows I've seen, probably because I am not used to the subject matter. Nor have I ever seen a show about gondoliers! Also, one thing that I felt really set Aria apart was because of that fact of how calming it feels to watch. Everything is a beautiful blue color and there is not a lot of screaming and splashing around. It goes at its own pace and is very refreshing to watch. Definitely a unique story-line.
Art: (9/10) I don't think this anime will ever be known for its unique style of art... its not. It's like every other anime out there with the cartoony characters. However, when it comes to the ocean scenes and sunsets, I must admit that they are very beautiful. The scenery looks hand painted. I guess what I mean to say is that there is nothing really special about the art, but everything is very pleasant to look at nonetheless. It's a good mixture between realistic and... well... animation.
Music: (10/10) I really like the music in Aria, especially the opening and closing songs. They are done by Yui Makino (the beginning) and Round Table ft. Nino (the ending) and are both very pleasant to listen to. The music is gentle and very fitting to the anime, mostly piano, the songs are very relaxing to listen to.
Overall: (9/10) Overall, I guess I'd say that this anime is for anyone; young or old, girl or boy. It is a very refreshing series because of how unique the storyline is and quite nice to watch while winding down from a busy day of school. The only reason why I am giving Aria 9 out of 10 is because the show moves kind of slowly and is sometimes hard to keep my attention, so for those of you who want something fast-paced, I suggest that you go elsewhere. For those of you looking for something calm and different, I could not suggest a better thing to start with!
Click Here If You Want to Start Watching the Show!
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