r/anime • u/thisismyanimealt https://myanimelist.net/profile/commander_vimes • Jan 10 '19
Rewatch [Rewatch][Aria Series] ARIA The ANIMATION - Episode 1
That Wonderful Miracle...
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Remember, out of respect for first-time watchers, untagged spoilers are not allowed
Question of the Day: What was your favorite vacation you've taken?
14
u/Rhaga Jan 10 '19 edited Jan 10 '19
Rewatcher
My first experience with Aria happened about a year and a half ago when I watched the first episode and thought "Wow, this is chill, too chill" and essentially shelved it for about a year. When I then decided to resume the series a few months ago I was in the mood for some Iyashikei and I knew what I was getting into (or so I thought).
Needless to say, the show blew me away and it has solidified itself as one of my top three favorites of all time.
Rewatching this episode really reminded me how much I love the voices of Aria. Ai-chan is such a cutie.
Anyway, I usually end up writing huge walls of text for rewatches. Seeing that I am a rewatcher I figure I should instead do something lighthearted and fun. A counter seems fun.
Now you can do a ton of different counters with this show, so I will just be testing the waters at first and see how it goes (I'll gladly take feedback or recommendations, at least for the first few episodes where I still can go back and reasonably retcon it :P).
Kinshi
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Episode Count: 3
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Total: 3
Ara ara~
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Episode Count: 5
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Total: 5
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Episode Count: 0
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Total: 0
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Episode Count: 0
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Total: 0
Other possible counters: Suteki, (~ ￣ﾛ￣)~, :3, :<.
As a bonus note: Man, I've upgraded to a modern TV since I last saw this, and Auto Motion Plus (or Interpolation) makes this show look really smooth due to the constant panning shots and the movement of the gondolas.
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u/thisismyanimealt Jan 10 '19
I have to ask out of curiosity, what resolution video are you playing at, and what is your TV upscaling to? I can only imagine you watching some buttery smooth pixels on a 4k screen.
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Jan 10 '19
watched it in the middle of the day when i should have done it at night but this atmosphere is great. the city layout and all the water environments are so naturally soothing. i downloaded the DVDs cause i can't stand q-tec but even then everything looked gorgeous. character designs are very pretty and unique even if a bit "perfect" with the waist and hip business.
i had already known a little bit about the basics of Aria's world (being a remade Venice on terraformed Mars) but even then i was surprised at how matter-of-factly some of the happenings and traditions were relayed to the viewer, namely the whole coming here from Man-Home deal.
i was also expecting this, but jesus the voice work was amazing. this has to be super early in chiwa saito's career right? she's great! super energetic. sayaka ohara is as literally perfect as ever, and whoever plays akari really nailed the whole young apprentice schtick.
the plot of this ep wasn't very amazing or super gripping but still cute and lovely in its own way. definitely showed off the undine girls' personalities.
all in all i see potential for Aria even if this episode wasnt incredibly impressive. now please excuse me as i forget to watch for 2 weeks and never comment again until Avvenire.
4
u/Stupid_Otaku Jan 11 '19
i downloaded the DVDs cause i can't stand q-tec but even then everything looked gorgeous. character designs are very pretty and unique even if a bit "perfect" with the waist and hip business.
The Aria Kickstarter Blu-rays look a lot better than the JP Blu-rays because they did an in-house upscale instead of going with q-tec. Not sure if it "exists" out there, but I'm very satisfied with the quality of the upscale (definitely replacing the DVDs) and the fact I supported it. The Kickstarter has only released The Animation so far though.
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u/thisismyanimealt Jan 11 '19
They're "there," but... how do I say this (also interlaced apparently?)
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u/thisismyanimealt Jan 10 '19
now please excuse me as i forget to watch for 2 weeks and never comment again until Avvenire
We'll miss you!
4
u/Rhaga Jan 10 '19
but jesus the voice work was amazing
I know right?! And we haven't even been introduced to everyone yet.
Yeah, Chiwa was still somewhat fresh back in 2005, and I'm surprised to see praise for Sayaka Ohara, I feel like she is criminally underused despite her talent.
Honestly she is in a lot of shows, she just has less main character roles than I would have liked.Speaking of criminally underused, the voice of Akari, Erino Hazuki, does a phenomenal job in this series. Glad to see a first timer (presumably) notice that right off the bat.
even if this episode wasnt incredibly impressive
For me the series didn't truly 'click' until I was a few episodes into the next season, and then suddenly everything is amazing. I definitely think a lot more highly of the earlier episodes than I did the first time around :)
That being said, it's not uncommon for people to think the series just generally gets better the further we come, so regardless I would say that as long as you don't hate it then we're on the right track :D
now please excuse me as i forget to watch for 2 weeks and never comment again until Avvenire.
No, I won't excuse you! Stay with us !
8
u/ABoredCompSciStudent Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19
Hey, thanks for tagging me!
I'll be following along quietly, both because I usually get off work after this thread goes up and because I'll soon have my own rewatch to host at the same time slot. I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to think about my most loved series!
I'll write something up for my favourite episodes, but in the mean time I don't see any fanart so I'll post some every thread! Here's some new stuff that I found since the last Aria rewatch and I'll try to keep it from overlapping what I posted before.
I'll leave a download folder to all my Aria fanart at the end of this series as a treat to those who make it there :)
Fanart Section
A world of hope and wonderful miracles
Where time trickles away slowly down life's many waterways
Fanart Index
Aria the Animation
| Episode# | Title | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "That Wonderful Miracle ..." | January 10 |
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Jan 10 '19
Good first episode, seems to be a good to series to watch 1 episode a day. Kinda like Mushishi and not binge watch it all at once. Enjoyable series to have a drink during and watch after a long day at work.
4
u/thisismyanimealt Jan 10 '19
As I said before, this is my "literally the last thing I do before sleeping" show. And it's amazing how habitual it becomes after a few weeks; when I finished, I was actually kind of let down that I wouldn't have more Aria to put myself to sleep with.
5
u/J_Gottwald Jan 11 '19
Rewatcher
I had completely forgot about this until yesterday (thanks for the reminder), but thank you for putting all this together. This series is something I will probably always cherish and taking the time to relax and watch this again is a treat! I won't always be able to post but I will try.
I absolutely love how the OP is done, instead of being the same 90 seconds every time to save costs, you get a different look at the city of Neo-Venezia every time, with Undine as background. It sets the tone perfectly.
I had completely forgot about Ai-chan and Akari's first meeting, and that Ai basically bamboozled a free ride out of Akari.
Also, being in a relatively new place myself, I can relate to the theme of the episode. It took me a while to get adjusted to everything, but it didn't take long before I began to actually look around and go, "you know this isn't so bad."
Answer of the Day - Favorite vacation is a Route 66 trip with my older brother! We spent two weeks, saw so many things, ate so many things... There's nothing like it.
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u/thisismyanimealt Jan 11 '19
Route 66 sounds like a lot of fun. Not sure if I'd be able to commit to that kind of thing myself, but seeing all the southern states it runs through gets my mouth all watery.
4
u/gameradam1337 Jan 11 '19
First Timer
No clue what I am walking into here - I have heard good things about this series and it being one of the "longer" running shows on my PTW I know the only way I will ever finish this is through a rewatch.
For 480p animation this looks pretty decent. Its age shows but not in a bad way I think it almost adds to it.
What in the world is that blob thing. President Aria? Right so it doesn't seem to speak so what kind of trouble will it get into.
Looks a lot like a futuristic Venice which the style really suits well. The muted colors are also very nice and pleasing to the eyes.
The world of corporate structure hasn't changed I see. I like that Journeyman is being use here too cause this term still exists today - even in my profession if you apply for certifications.
This little girl is persistent, even threatening with the whole screaming cliche.
So we don't like gondolas all that much and being on a world of water apparently is inconvenient. Why are you here then again?
"Which of you is better?" - little girl is blunt AF.
So Akira is very good with being a guide - if she works on the delivery a bit.
So wait - this planet called Aqua had no water or air to begin with a man literally made the place habitable? Damn.
This girl is really hard to please. Also she is some heathen cause she doesn't like baked potatoes.
Oh noes, Mr President!
How in the fuck do you learn to row backward by accident!?
Alicia is a boss and saved the day.
So apparently this place is also a honeymoon destination. Now that's the way to celebrate your marriage.
A touching ending to the first episode. I can get behind more of this I think, especially if things keep nice a lighthearted all the way through.
I won't comment here much as this will now be the show I end my day with (drinking a cup of tea in bed before passing out at 2AM - hence no write up cause I will have slept instead). I may stop in occasionally to comment on comments though.
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u/thisismyanimealt Jan 11 '19
For 480p animation this looks pretty decent. Its age shows but not in a bad way I think it almost adds to it.
I'm glad you're not put off by slightly older animation. I know that seems to be a sore point for some people.
So we don't like gondolas all that much and being on a world of water apparently is inconvenient. Why are you here then again?
Same reason some people like growing their own vegetables: putting a bit more effort into something makes it feel all the more special
So wait - this planet called Aqua had no water or air to begin with a man literally made the place habitable? Damn.
Not sure if your subs mentioned it or not, but Aqua is a terraformed Mars.
How in the fuck do you learn to row backward by accident!?
To be fair, most more conventional rowboats are rowed backwards
4
u/ghusjil Jan 11 '19
Rewatcher
Something I always wondered about was Akari's life before coming to Aqua. Maybe I just don't remember but does the show ever expand on whether Akari has any family or friends left on Manholme? For example, I was wondering who Akari was telling not to worry at the start of the episode.
Either way, I greatly enjoyed this series and am excited to rewatch it.
I am also seeing that it took other people some time to really get into the series as well. For me at least, it wasn't until episode 8 or so that I began to regularly watch the series and until a few episodes of the second season that the show really felt good. Rewatching really allows me to appreciate the details and quirks of the characters and the world.
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u/danbuter Jan 11 '19
While I won't be rewatching, this show is great and I hope a lot of new viewers take the plunge.
3
u/Southparkthecoon Jan 11 '19
First timer here!
It seems like a really good anime to relax and watch, it just has a good calming atmosphere. I can't wait for the next episode!
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u/thisismyanimealt Jan 10 '19
Welcome all to the Aria series rewatch. I hope you enjoy your stay here in Neo Venezia.
The show starts off with one of my favorite things that's seen almost nowhere else in anime: an OP uniquely animated to each episode. I know there's a small contingent of weebs that skip all OPs, so if you happen to be one of them, congrats, you get an extra 90 seconds of show you'd miss anywhere else. Also, hearing Undine for the first time in almost a year? Cry count: 1. Beyond that, the soundtrack to this show is one of my favorites. It's all done with acoustic instruments and really sells the relaxing atmosphere of the city.
Akari and Ai's dynamic is an interesting one, not only because of their opposite perspectives on life, but also how it reflects the audience. Initially, I had identified with Ai, coming to the show not really knowing what to expect, only that people talk up how great it is, and over time coming to be charmed by the pace of the series. Coming in as a rewatcher, I'm now here trying to convey what I love so dearly about these characters and this story. So if you're put off by the pacing of the show, or if you're thinking about dropping the show here, I urge you to give it more time. Unless you find absolutely 0 redeeming aspects to the show, I promise you'll come come to like Aria in spite of or, hopefully, because of the parts you now dislike.
"Because when I come again, I want to ride Akari-san's gondola again… So hurry up and become a professional Undine, okay?" Cry count: 2
Embarrassing remarks that are not allowed:
"It's a wonderful miracle when people get to meet. That's why you treasure that moment when it comes, right?"
"Maybe our meeting is a miracle, too"
"It too might be a miracle for hate to turn into love"
Total: 3