ARIA

[Kraco]

Yeah, #22 was certainly interesting. The parallel work was surely freaky, like you said. When Akatsuki-chan appeared for the first time, I though I didn't see it quite correctly, and even after his... her second appearance I had real troubles accepting her. Man, that was gross.

The second part was interesting, for sure. It was just like what you could imagine for Akatsuki. Funny fellow, and no wonder he's still somewhat twisted. They surely keep drawing amusement from the source called Akatsuki, much to his embarrassment...

[Kraco]

Long did we wait, but finally it's here:

Episode 24 - CrystalNova

Only a couple of episodes left after this, though... Grief.

[Ryllharu]

Not quite. Browsing Anidb for the total number of episodes in -the Natural-, I stumbled upon this.

ARIA The OVA: Arietta

No idea when it's coming out, but more Aria always makes me happy.

[Kraco]

Yeah. It should be coming out later this year, according to CrystalNova.

[Kraco]

It seems almost unbelievable, but Aria is finished (apart from the ova):

Episode 25 - CrystalNova
Episode 26 Final - CrystalNova

Aria The Natural 1-26 batch

[Ryllharu]

What a perfect way to end a truly wonderful series. I haven't been this completely satisfied with a series in a long time.

[Kraco]

Aye. It was a wonderful ending. These two last episodes formed a good combination for the end, in my opinion. It was a good decision from CrystalNova to release them both at once and not far apart.

I was somehow expecting Aika and Akari to leave their remaining glove behind before the end, but in the end I don't think that was any great point in the story, even though their daily life was aiming for that, on the surface. Well, these last episodes for sure reminded what their daily life was for, deep down.

[Ryllharu]

I was waiting for that too, but the epilogue turned out to be enough for me. It indicated that Alice will become a Single once it gets warm, and that perhaps sooner than Aika, Akari will become a Prima.

Alicia really got to shine in the last episode. She just ignored Akari's question and happily showed her instead.

[Ryllharu]

Bump with info on the OVA.

It has a definitive release date according to the official site. 9/21/07
Not too long a wait, and it also appears to give a story synopsis and a couple of screen shots. I can't read it, but that's fine with me. The animation looks really good though.

Even if Kraco and I are the only ones who care.

[Kraco]

Well, well:

Aria TV Anime's 3rd Season Greenlit for Production
The October issue (on sale August 30) of Mag Garden's Comic Blade magazine will announce that a third animated television season based on Kozue Amano's Aria surreal slice-of-life manga was greenlit. Director Junichi Sato (Gate Keepers, Pretear, Princess Tutu) will return after overseeing both of the previous Aria television seasons and the OVA. The staff will largely be the same as the OVA version's. The broadcast date has not been set yet, but the third season has been in production since this past spring. Source: Moon Phase

Quite a news item. And one I certainly wasn't expecting for some unexplained reason. I blame CrystalNova: They gave me the feeling it was all over with the OVA...

[Ryllharu]

That's fantastic news. I'm a bit wary of a third series installments. I haven't seen many good ones in the past, since production values tends to plummet (see Nanoha StrikerS, Dragonball GT). Aria isn't an action series though, so I don't see a problem.

I also thought the series would end with the OVA, as the website shows what looks to be a rather telling image. Perhaps it's intentionally deceptive, but then again, I didn't know about a third season.
Left as a url for spoiler prevention.
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/1525/zzakasa8.jpg

The anidb description changed since I last checked. The OVA is a flashback of the Aria Company before Akari joined.

[Kraco]

The anidb description changed since I last checked. The OVA is a flashback of the Aria Company before Akari joined.

Oh, that's interesting. I never expected the OVA to conclude the story, so in that sense a flashback would make sense as it would have allowed them to use material freely for the third season and not ponder what arcs to use in the ova or what kind of (filler) material invent for it. A history lesson, however, gives them somewhat free reign. I just hope Akatsuki will make an appearance.

[Ryllharu]

Akatsuki already had his flashbacks. The crying to mama, the Hero of Aqua. He didn't even recognize that Alicia was one of the girls he met then. She really hadn't changed in appearance at all (unlike someone else).

I'm hoping for an Athena filled flashback. It'd mostly be her being as Alice puts it, "totally spaced-out," but still fun none the less. Then again, perhaps my earlier guess isn't so far off, Alicia did become a Prima fairly young.

[Kraco]

Aye. I didn't mean the whole thing would be about Akatsuki. I just meant he would make an appearance, no matter how short. He's a funny character, after all.

[Kraco]

I finally had to admit to myself that CrystalNova is dead, and so I went and downloaded the OVA from Hochuuami. The torrent already had one leg in a grave and the remaining fast slipping, but in hours it finally downloaded.

It was a very nice OVA. Filled with Aria feeling for sure (and embarrassing remarks). Pretty much everybody made an appearance as well, and it even managed to include a good length of Athena's singing. Some parts of the ova were also quite moving...

No complaints whatsoever.

[Ryllharu]

That's why you shouldn't be impatient. Good things come to those who wait.

[CrystalNova]ARIA​ The​ OVA​ ~Arietta~​ (H264​ Vorbis)

Not that I hadn't watched the other version long ago when it first came out. Now we wait for Origination to start. Who knows when that will be.

[Kraco]

It figures I wait two months and when I finally give up, they release it a few days later.

They must have done it on purpose... >_>

[Kraco]

Behold you heretics of little faith!

Origination Episode 1 - CrystalNova

[Ryllharu]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I prefer HnK's translation and I always have. "totally" instead of "really" for Alice's trademark phrase flows a lot better, and it also has the proper feeling and emphasis. But, CrystalNova always has better visual quality from non-dvd releases.

Do I sense a little bit more confidence in Alice's voice? Could it be character development, or is Clannad's Kyou seeping into my Alice-chan?

All in all, I'm very happy to have my ARIA back.

[Ryllharu]

[HnK] Aria -The Origination- Eps 4

Now, you and I are both quite fond of ARIA. There are many episodes I like more than others, particularly ones where Alice and Aika follow Akari by some means of transportation in the city. Then they always try to be stealthy and fail.

However, this episode floored me. Not just in terms of its always-gentle feel, or how much I needed ARIA after a really shitty commute today. Even visually, this episode was also superior in many ways.

[comment containing spoilers follows below]


No, this episode was probably the most advancing in terms of overall plot...in all of ARIA. In the past, we've only been exposed to Aika, Alice, and Akari. They also happen to be direct pupils of the three Water Fairies. So, unbeknownst to the viewers, we've been given a fairly skewed version of where the three of them stand. Akari has frequently mentioned in the Arietta OVA, the end of -the Natural- and the first few episodes of Origination that she's nowhere near ready to become a Prima. Everyone around her disagrees (except Alicia, patiently teaching her) and the viewers sort of leave it to Akari's lack of confidence, and believe her for the most part.

However, in this episode, we get a much better look at where Akari stands in the overall community of Undines. Three new Undines are introduced to us, Atora, Ayumi, and Anzu. We find out early on that Anzu has recently failed her test, again. Later, Atora also failed at once. Ayumi really doesn't care, and that's just fine.

So what does this mean? Akari is finally compared to two Undines who are apparently right below the level of being Prima. These two Undines are very skilled with the traghetto, since they have spent their time since failing the Prima exam practicing or running the traghetto. We finally have a baseline that we can compare Akari to.

The result? Akari masters the traghetto almost instantly. It's reportedly harder to row, and requires more skill, so two people row it. On her very first time, Anzu doesn't even need to help Akari. At all. You can even watch the scene and see that Anzu's oar never dips into the water.

This tells us only one thing. Akari is either being held to a very high standard (as expected by someone taught by Akira-sama), or the only thing holding her back is her own lack of self-confidence. Akari is already at the level of a Prima for both Orange Planet and possibly Himeya. Maybe even beyond.

That leaves me with only one conclusion. Not that it wasn't too obvious from early on, but this all but confirms it to me. If Aika and Akari are the same level, and Alice is rapidly catching up to them (she just hasn't taken the Single promotion test that she will easily pass at this point), the three of them are purposefully and specifically being trained up to the level of succeeding or surpassing their three teachers.

[spoiler content ends]



That, and the art was really phenomenal in this episode. When they focussed on any of the faces of three Undines introduced, it really looked better than we've ever seen in ARIA. Often better than many other series. Atora especially.

EDIT: Four screencaps of what I'm referring to.
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4167/zatorarn7.png
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5084/zayumimu1.png
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/8535/zatora2kf4.png
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7...ndatorafa7.png