Anime Banzai ! - アニメ万歳！- For Fans, By Fans

さあ。。。お手をどうぞ！
Saa… o-te-o douzo!

Abit on the slow side I know, but ARIA is just not a show meant to be rushed. =D

The story comes full circle as we return back to the beginning, this time with a new generation of Primas at the helm; Alice the “Orange Princess”, Aika the “Rozen Queen” and of course, Akari the “Aquamarine”.

ARIA The ORIGINATION brings us to the end (most probably) of the ARIA series spanning 52 episodes and 1 OVA and it has been an extremely enjoyable ride. This is one of the few shows where you can just sit back and let the slow gentle pace of the show draw you in. Not to mention the beautifully drawn scenery artwork which is one of the charms of watching this series. I can almost randomly click on any part of the timeline of any episode and chances are I’ll get a beautiful screenshot-able (is there such a word?) scene.

Also, we have the very cute facial expressions of all the characters as well as their mannerisms. Who can forget Akari’s “ha-hi”, Aika’s “Hazukashii serifu kinshi!”, Alice’s never ending usage of “dekkai”, Allicia’s “Ara ara”, Akira’s “Zuwa!” and Athena’s dojikko-ness.

Watching Akari, Aika and Alice become Primas has been a very exciting yet oddly calming experience. Alice’s double promotion no doubt came as a surprise. We were all expecting a promotion when Alice and Athena reached the water elevator but I sure wasn’t expecting a double promotion. Aika’s promotion was a relatively short affair but nevertheless well done with the flashback style.

Akari, being the main character, obviously gets the best treatment. We all know she’ll become a Prima, but how she attains the title is what we want to see. And this is masterfully done with her meeting her friends throughout the city one by one as she undergoes her exam. It may have taken the better half of one episode, but Akari surely deserves no less.

The last episode wraps up everything nicely with Allicia’s sudden retirement and Akari taking over the reins of ARIA Company. Snapshots of the lives of everyone is shown as the show closes up suitably to the music of the song “Undine” by Makino Yui which the the OP song for the first season ARIA The ANIMATION.

Finally at the end, we get to see Akari a few years down the road, this time with a new apprentice who is none other than Ai-chan, Akari’s correspondent from since ARIA The ANIMATION. We get a screenshot of Akari looking at Ai-chan, which is an exact duplicate of Allica looking at Akari on her first day. Indeed, all this reinforces the whole theme of the final episode; the start of a new beginning.

sleepless Akari is cute

ARIA Company にようこそ！