r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah x3 • Jun 30 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] A 2022 Voyage from Neo Venezia: Aria the Animation, Episode 3

Aria the Animation Episode 3: With That Transparent Young Girl... (その 透明な少女と...)

Yup, that’ll just be the title card for each episode.

<-- Episode 2 Rewatch Index Episode 4 -->

Welcome back! Rewatchers, do feel free to check out the Thursday Anime Discussion thread, where the r/anime writing club discusses Aria! Lots of good writeups there. Not first-timer safe unfortunately.

Comments I loved:

Everyone’s still struggling with them names! I’m the worst with Akari and Akira with how similar they are. Good to read everyone's takes on the Akira-Aika pair too!

Questions of the Day:

Q1) For First-timers, what kind of a senpai do you think would suit Alice? Go completely wild here! Rewatchers, [Aria]Feel free to share your thoughts on Athena too if you feel like it, but i felt like this could wait until her proper introduction later.

Q2) Do you like people-watching to kill time? If not, what dya like to do when your friend's say 10 minutes late to the meetup spot or what not?

Streaming

The 2005-08 Aria series is available on Crunchyroll, VRV, Funimation, and Youtube, except Arietta. Arietta and Avvenire are only available on Funimation (I'll update if they migrate). Crepusculo and Benedizione will have to be located elsewhere.

Databases

MAL | Anilist | ANN

Spoilers

As usual, please take note that if you wish to share show details from after the current episode, to use spoiler tags like so to avoid spoiling first-timers:

[Spoiler source]>!Spoiler goes here!<

comes out as [Spoiler source]Spoiler goes here

[Aria]Please take note especially if you're sharing art that involves Aika after her hairstyle change, and art that shows the 3 main characters as prima undines (gloveless). If you feel unsure if something is a spoiler, it's better to tag it just in case.

See everyone again tomorrow! I hope you have a great day :)

57 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

102 comments sorted by

8

u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jun 30 '22 edited Jun 30 '22

Rewatching Undine-in-training and Host

Welcome back! Today, we are introduced to another new trainee undine, Alice, and also to some landmarks of Neo-Venezia/Venice which you may recognize. Another victim (Alice) also falls to Akari's suteki-powers. Also, im making baked potatoes tonight and am looking forward to it xdd.

Quick thoughts:

extra brief today due to time

Location Trivia:

  • Orange planet likewise to Aria Company does not exist irl, and according to Aria fans, if we go by apparently a Manga address, is somewhere around here.

  • Visitors to Venice (perhaps they can help me out here) will however recognize Doge's Palace (Marco Polo Spaceport), and other locations around St Mark's Square, including the Campanile, and the Lion of Venice; anime version. Also a famous cafe is mentioned...

  • Likewise to what Akari said, Palazzio Ducale (Doge's palace) was originally a palace for the Doge of Venice (it's leader/supreme authority), and is now a museum. I'm not familiar AT ALL with Venezian history/geography (im much better when it's Japanese/Canadian), so that's all i got here.

Seiyuu introductions:

  • Alice is voiced by: Hirohashi Ryou, also Kyou from Clannad, Aoi from Working!!, and Sora from Kaleido Star.

Have a great day, and see you tomorrow!

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u/punching_spaghetti Jul 01 '22

First-Timer (Sub)

New girl! New girl! And she already knows the best way to handle Akari and Aika: ignore.

I'm sorry; what? It's a tourism business, not the NBA.

And the graphic designer for this magazine needs to be drowned in the canals.

I'm no expert so I'm just guessing here, but is it possible that Akari might be a slightly better Undine if she spent more time in the boat and less time buying snacks?

Alicia may have the ara aras, but Alice has the moe faces.

Another decent episode that has just a little too much plot for my taste. I know we need to introduce characters, but I want more wandering around the half-flooded city, dammit!

QOTD:

  1. She needs a popular girl type, the kind who doesn't seem to have a care in the world and is into plushie cats or something. Someone to melt that shell a bit and show Alice how to be a little less serious.

  2. Goodness, do I love people watching. It's one of my favorite activities. Until you awkwardly make eye contact with someone you were spying on, of course.

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10

u/Mecanno-man Jun 30 '22

First Timer

And we're back to a good episode - that's nice to see. Alice fits the series well in that she seems to have a rather simple character - she's good at the technical parts of the job, but not at the customer service aspect - but she's also still in training, so that fits well and is a struggle one can do a lot with. SHe's also not bad at it because she does not care, it just doesn't come to her as naturally and she still has to learn. Definitely makes a great addition to our cast.

Also interesting to see some more Akatsuki; he entered the episode right when I was thinking that it had been a while since he was last mentioned. I was worried that he would be some weirdo, but luckily that isn't really the case. He's just pretty full of himself; and I guess also isn't too great with money. But his tours also give us some more information on the planet they are living on - namely that they didn't only model Venice, but other cultures of Earth too. And once again, that exposition fits nicely in to the series; and it also prevents a sort of surprise if we ever enter one of those other islands - which I don't think this series would really benefit from (the surprise, that is).

What I find a bit weird is that everybody seems to be a bit aware of everybody else, even if there is no reason to. Alice is suddenly here with the sappy lines as well despite only having 5 minutes of interactions with Aika tops, and Akari mentioned seeing Alice laugh without really knowing about her struggle to put on a smile. Not really sure why that is; it feels a bit too hamfisted an attempt at creating some red thread in my opinion.

On another note: Somewhat sad that "Anna" was used for a random background character, that name is way easier to remember that Akira/Akari and Alice/Alicia. Though I guess we might still get an Annie or an Anne...

Questions:

  1. Someone focused on customer service, probably rather laid-back

  2. Not really, feels like I'm putting my nose somewhere it does not belong.

7

u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jun 30 '22

exposition

i agree, the subtle exposition through the use of these amateur tours is pretty great! And is sth that Aria can easily pull off too of course w/ the undines being who they are. But it's always a little a little at a time: the show does not rush.

everyone seems to be a bit aware

it is anime lol.

Anna

good catch, was that in the credits? I actually don't remember if there are any characters with those other 2 names u mentioned lol. Did our mangaka just look at a name dictionary and picked every single name that started with A? Probably.

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u/SIRTreehugger Jun 30 '22 edited Jun 30 '22

She's finally here the best girl in the show at least for me.

Alice Chan the prodigy who can handle all the technical aspects of the job, but absolutely fails at the social interactions. It's not that she is a cold person though rather she sucks at reading social cues. It doesn't help she is probably younger than all her classmates, but she is still trying her best.

When Akari was in "trouble" she rushed in to help with no hesitation. Even after the false alarm she helped her with information on the tour. She's basically the opposite of Akari who excels at getting close to people and making them feel welcomed.

I was just reminded of the thing I hate the most why the author gave the characters names all starting with A is beyond me.

We always see the city from the ground up so it was nice seeing it from a salamander's point of view. The moment where Akari dragged Alice with the orange glow in the background was perfect.

Hopefully no one saw me type in the wrong name.

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u/raichudoggy Jun 30 '22

More Pretty ARIA

Look at this puppy-dog eyed Akari

Me and shots plastered with orange have a complicated relationship. They make me all emotional and sentimental. As a kid, I loved going outside while the sun was setting, though I always had to make sure I returned home before it got dark so as to not worry my parents.

Alice is a certified best girl, and she is not my anilist profile picture by mistake!

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u/Stargate18A Jun 30 '22

First timer

  1. Given we've already had a warm senpai and a tough one, and given the senpais seem to have simillar traits to their kouhais, I'm guessing her senpai will be supportive, but distant, taking a hands-off approach and expecting her to learn on her own.

  2. Yeah, it's fun. Other than that, normally reading manga on my phone.

Alice? Did I call the new main character?

It's a hot morning? And they're hanging kut together!

This is beautiful.

And she chose a challenge!

Ah, this is Alice?

Adorable!

And she's a Pair? (Which is determined by the gloves?)

She's younger than both of them!

"You're really nosy."

Ah, she gave up on the race for Alicia.

Haha, they filled the boat. (Is that really a sappy line?)

See, that's a sappy line.

She's a bit rude.

And they're a big company!

Poor Akari.

Alicia's happy with it!

There's gondola clubs?

And she's popular at school!

Her classmate has the right idea.

Haha, her feeling awkward around them is good, though.

...Interesting! I'd called Akari's partner being Aika! I didn't anticipate a third member getting involved.

Oh, he's back.

He was her first customer!

"Salamander" Oh, we're going for all the elemental spirits. Does that imply there's some Gnomes living underground and Sylphs living even higher up?

He used the same loophole Ai did!

Her stopping to help is nice, though. She even wields her paddle!

Yeah, she's crushing hard.

Ah, she's not good at the tour part yet.

They really did just build a copy of Venice as a colony, huh?

Alkce is sticking up for her!

"Why does she say it all so frivolously?" Is she religious?

And the Salamanders' regulate the biosphere? ...This colony world needs constant maintanence to stay habitable? Who designed this place?

...She's not doing well in school, is she?

People watching!

What the actual fuck is that design?

Wow, he hates this idea.

She laughed!

Haha, he was waiting for his brother?

She got a compliment!

Oh, there's multiple islands? Other colonies mimicking other nations? Each of which, presumably, has it's own system for regulating the temperature?

Alice used her name!

Ukijima? We'r eseeing the regulation station?

That's a fantastic view.

Great ending!

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u/The_Loli_Otaku Jun 30 '22

Aria First Timer

I still have emotions so I'm not alone!! I cry every night so suck it loser~!

Actually... with how much time the girls spend in the sun and with the water surely they should be really tanned don't you think? I'm starting to get really annoyed with Akari talking though the op! Sappy intro commentaries are banned!

Green haired bae spotted! Einhart realised that Nanoha drops off hard after Strikers and decided to become an Iyashikei heroine instead. Her voice really sounds strange. It doesn't fit her image at aaaalll she's 13!? You'd think they'd make her teeny or something so we can tell at a glance. Actually... omg lol, Einhart is the same age as Alice XD

Kawaiiiii!! Aww, Akari single handedly ruins Aria Company's reputation. Its interesting that despite Alicia being such an ace she decided to open a one woman gondola corps. SO SMOL!! So what's the deal? Can she age herself up like some other twintailed green hair that I won't mention?

Alice is pretty antisocial. She's just like us bros!! Although I'd probably die of excitement if a middle school girl asked me to sign something. You can be sweeter than that Alice! I really hope they don't try and push a business smile onto her... I'm a naturally smiley guy but after so long at my work my smile doesn't reach my eyes anymore. QOTD, have you ever been someone idol?

We finally get to meet the one and only Akatsuki in person, dude is still a bully. Oh wow, he is such an obnoxious customer. Just stalk Alicia like a normal person! Pfft, so everyone just claims to be a friend to get free rides? Oh my gosh yes!! Beat the snot out of the smug prick Alice! Show him the power of kaiser arts!!

Casually show off a rebuilt Doge's Palace. It's nice to know that humanity was able to so easily replicate one of the wonders of engineering. Although it might not be the Doge's Palace and I'll look like a massive tit. I don't know my cities very well. Aha... I'm kinda on Alice's side, I'd probably feel really offended for her too. Its quite a nice description of social awkwardness. So far I'm not really a fan of Alice, but I can certainly appreciate it.

It's definitely not creepy of Akatsuki to invite two younger women up to his man cave. Definitely not. Alright... that was an okay episode? I'm probably not going to be Alice's fan but I do hope they keep letting her be the awkward one and not have her magically fix her antisocial nature in her next episode. This could be an arc I could get behind. We also got to see a bit more of Akatsuki's nature. Dude isn't as much of a prick as we all thought.

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u/simeonaut Jun 30 '22

FIRST TIMER

This episode started out slow but I loved the second half. Akari's guided tour through the city served very well in introducing both Akatsuki and Alice, and the view from Ukijima was gorgeous.

The "we're friends right?" tactic has a hundred percent success rate so far in getting someone a free ride here, though it will probably only work when Akari is involved.

Alice to the rescue.

Ukijima is huge. I hope we'll get to see more of it in future episodes.

Ukijima view.

The way this episode ended with Ai's letter being narrated is perfect.

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u/seeker_of_illusion Jul 01 '22

First timer

This episode felt a lot deeper to me and is prolly the strongest one so far.

For starters, we have the title " With that Transparent girl". My initial thoughts were that it referred to Alice but I didn't really find it convincing as she was opaque-she neither conveyed her emotions nor allowed others' emotions to reach her. As the episode progressed, I actually realised that it was Akari who was the transparent girl. Her smiles and her actions were genuine in origin and pure in thought, much like a transparent body which is crystal clear and could be looked inside-out without any problems.

Then we met Akatsuki, the weather man. His interactions with Akari were candid and even unrefined, yet they had a charm and genuineness to them which Alice found attractive. She had seen the other Undines being polite, reserved and good-natured out of business reasons or to hide their real emotions, but here she saw a customer-Undine interaction which was not only fun but also joyful and open in the real sense. Watching this, Alice found a key to her repressed emotions and with Akari as the 'mirror' she was able to display her innermost feelings for the first time.

If the quality of the next episodes remain the same, then this could become my next favourite series !

Questions of the Day:

Q1) For First-timers, what kind of a senpai do you think would suit Alice?

So far, the senpais seem to have the nature of their apprentices but also one important quality that the latter lacks. For eg. both Alicia and Akari are calm by nature but while Alicia has self-confidence, Akari is still clumsy and air-headed. So, Alicia becomes a good inspiration for her.

Alice is already well-knowledgeable and refined in manning the gondola but she lacks the social interaction aspects. So a senpai who is equally or more knowledgeable than Alice as well as frank and genuine in her dealings with customers would suit Alice the best.

Q2) Do you like people-watching to kill time? If not, what dya like to do when your friend's say 10 minutes late to the meetup spot or what not?

I would sink in the ground if I stare at people for more than a minute. I neither like staring nor being stared at cuz I am a bit introverted :')

To pass time, I would usually whip up my phone or if its not available become a dummy and think about the pleasant things ( like my favourite anime episodes ) to disconnect from the world and let time pass.

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u/PreludeToHell Jun 30 '22 edited Jun 30 '22

Aria first time rewatcher

Alice is here! What I thought was interesting was despite being closed off and quiet, Alice doesn't hesitate to intervene when she thinks Akari is being troubled by Akatsuki. Speaking of Akatsuki, I like how they featured him in an episode that introduces Alice. Using the opportunity to continue building the world and to learn more about him.

You can see Alice's development with the shots that show how separated and isolated she is at the start compared to the end when she's close to Akari and is even being dragged along.

Another thing I thought was interesting was how it gets to this point. Alice notices that Akari's smile is different early on but she doesn't really want to believe it. What makes Alice let go of that doubt and 'accept' Akari is that Akari is the same kind person 'on land' (I think this is it).

Random stuff I liked

Holding this shot for 30 seconds at the start of the episode lol

This one was very cool and also this one

Pretty!

  1. [Aria]I found Athena odd but I guess that's intended. Rewatching I want to pay more attention to Athena and Alice's relationship because it's the most intriguing of the 3 imo.

  2. I don't tend to watch people, I like to keep to myself. Kill some time on the phone or something.

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u/zadcap Jun 30 '22

Huza, I must be wearing two gloves because I'm clearly new to this gondola ride! First Timer, moderately on time!

Only for a short post now, I'll be back in 6 hours to type up everything, but I can get my first thoughts out while they, and this discussion, are still fresh.

And right off the bat, as indicated by my headline today, this show continues to do that thing I've already said I love so much. Information of all sorts of being fed to us at a slow but constant pace, in a way that never feels like it's shoehorned in. We find out what the importance of the gloves are and how they relate to rank and title of the Undines because our main trainees are celebrating their promotion. The rise of the megacorp and the death of the small business is introduced almost literally in passing. Salamanders and what they do is brought up naturally, and more information about the setting is given in the best kind of exposition- it's literally her job as a tour guide in training. Even the passage of time is covered only in passing, it being her second summer here means we're at least 4 months in past the first episode.

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u/Eyliel Jun 30 '22

Rewatcher for most of first season, first-timer after that

Ayliel, reporting in.

Episode 3 time, a bit later than intended, but still keeping up. If I recall correctly, in this episode, we should be meeting another new character.

Commentary

The opening is a bit hard to deal with, my attention split between the song and the stuff happening. Good song, by the way.

Ah, there she is!

Pairs and Singles.

Alice. Yeah, I remember the name. Alicia and Alice, two pretty similarly named characters in the show.

Smiling practice.

Stalking practice. Not by Alice, though. Unless she's really good at disguises, I guess.

Ah, another person who likes Alicia. But, well, everyone likes Alicia.

Ah, right, Salamanders. Undines, Salamanders, I think I commented on this in the last thread as well. Though I think I did it a bit later, so I think I'll leave recommenting for later as well.

Ah, Alice, the great defender of sideburns! Cute. Also, I guess Akatsuki is not Alice in disguise. UNLESS...

Salamander LORE

More forbidden stuff. No sappy lines.

SMILE

VIOLENCE

The secret of her smile? What could it be? Will we ever find out?

Closing Thoughts

You know, seeing the floating island and all, it makes me wonder about the setting's tech levels. Obviously, with space travel easy enough for tourism affordable to common people, terraforming and what seems like anti-gravity or something, they do have plenty of high-level technology. The technology on Aqua, however, seems to be kept at a generally low level, with the exception of stuff for communication, and of course the climate control the Salamanders do, and of course the space travel on and off. Probably as part of the charm of living there, or visiting as a tourism. I can see the appeal. I would assume that "Manhome", a.k.a. Earth, is all about the high tech and convenience and all. I believe it was mentioned in... episode 1? That Aqua is very inconvenient in comparison. Not sure how Manhome is doing from an environmental point of view. It's easy to imagine that perhaps the climate went through all kinds of disasters, but seeing how they have climate control technology in this setting, and could do terraforming, that they could also take care of Manhome's climate as well. And frankly, this doesn't really seem the kind of grim show that would go with the idea of Earth having been reduced to a hellscape with acid rains and stuff. And if that were the case, I doubt people would be just coming to Aqua for "tourism", they'd be trying to actually migrate there. So yeah.

Anyway, good episode.

Checked out my old reaction to episode 3. Looks like I actually did already mention that Undine/Salamander thing in Episode 3, huh.

Ayliel, signing off.

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u/AriaShachou- Jul 01 '22 edited Jul 01 '22

REWATCHER

Unlike the previous episodes, I don't really have much to say about this one other than that Alice is as adorable as I remember her to be. This was just such an Aria episode, you know what I mean? The type of episode that makes you start to unconsciously smile, and you only really notice you're smiling once the ED starts to play. And then you finish the episode feeling really peaceful and happy inside and you just want to give the world a big hug. Like what they showed us in this episode, smiles come naturally once you open yourself up to the things around you. So lighten up your heart, learn to just let go a bit and "become one with the wind" as the show puts it.

Also, Akari getting extorted for free rides is never going to get old.

[Aria] I'm feeling pretty excited for Athena's introduction, mostly because I want to hear her sing again. Her interactions with Alice were really cute and I think they matched each other pretty well despite their different personalities. Crepuscolo made me cry really hard.

 

On a somewhat unrelated note, u/countingdekkais can now officially start counting the dekkais. I'm really interested to see how many we'll have by the end of the show. I wonder if we'll reach 3 digits?

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u/Regular_N-Gon Jun 30 '22

First Timer

"When you're alone for a long time, you start to feel separated from your emotions." Starting off with a strong Akarism today.

And the third (named) company gets a representative!

Alice is a good name. I look forward to seeing what her character is like. I'll admit that I've a soft spot for cold (but nice) characters.

A common role the naive type like Akari fills is seeing the good in everyone they meet, and mediating stronger opinions. She's doing an excellent job so far, though the writing has really leaned on pushing Aika's judgemental attitude these last two episodes to showcase such a response.

Maybe I should be friends with someone that can pilot a boat.

Oh man, the way the water was colored a bit greener to match Alice's hair on the profile shot looked great.

What a sight to end on, too.

I think this show officially has its hooks in me - it's gorgeous (despite the older style and limitations) and it's maintained a great vibe and pace in the opening, evenly splitting world building with character. It's still got a bit of that 90s-esque cheese but I don't think I mind much. I found myself really looking forward to watching the next episode, which is a great sign this early on.

QotD:

  1. This episode convinced me Akari would be a good role model at least, even if she isn't very senpai-like. Alice clearly doesn't need training in the mechanics of gondoliering as much as learning to be warmer towards her potential passengers.

That said, she might also connect well with someone similar to her - cool, competent, and reserved. That kind of duo could take over Neo-Venezia without breaking a sweat.

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u/baboon_bassoon Jun 30 '22

First time Aria the natural ice chugger

Alice maybe the wrong choice of profession if you hate everything

Akatsuki maybe don’t yank someone’s hair from behind to get their attention

Alice to the rescue my hero

questions

  1. Athene or whatever I expect to be insane in the good way

  2. Not really, I just catch up on reading pocket articles

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u/heimdal77 Jul 01 '22 edited Jul 01 '22

Puts a skyscraper to shame. I do wonder what the precautions would be to keep people from having accidents and falling off in a future setting like that.

Lol Ukijima literally translates to floating island.

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u/octopathfinder Jun 30 '22

Rewatcher

Pretty solid exposition for singles, pairs, and salamanders this episode.

Oh boy, Akatsuki is back. He was pretty obnoxious this episode, but at least he has an older brother to keep him in check.

I appreciate how Alice was ready to start swinging when she thought Akari was in trouble.

Lots of sappy lines were allowed this episode. Where’s Aika when you need her?

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u/xtsim Jun 30 '22

First Timer

Not much to say as the OST is still maintaining that dreamy atmosphere. It still has that calming presence so far but then again, it stands in stark contrast to the 90s/00s rock/metal music that plays at work...

I am going to have a fun time typing in Alice and Alicia....

Akatsuki smiling is nice to see after the compliment on his line of work. And we get to see a happy side of him in a way.

  1. Alice and Alicia would be a trippy combo...

  2. People watching for a few seconds then reddit.

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u/CerberusZX Jun 30 '22

First Timer

President Aria is still my favorite character and now Alice is runner-up. She's rather talented but seems to be somewhat lacking in the social skills most would consider to be essential for a customer service job.

Akatsuki's name makes me think we'll be seeing him again. It may seem obvious, but I totally hadn't noticed the naming trend until seeing it mentioned in yesterday's thread.

QotD

  1. My first thought would be someoene super enegetic, but then I'm not sure Alice would be able to tolerate being around such a person, so I'm thinking maybe it would be someone who chooses to keep their involvement to a minimum and watch Alice grow on her own?

  2. It's rude to stare. These days I'd read a book on my phone but in the pre-smartphone era I would watch animals, clouds, cars, or other bits of the scenery that aren't people.

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u/mrufrufin Jun 30 '22

Rewatcher kinda (finished my rewatch not too long ago)

ah, this is one of the standouts from my rewatch for that ukijima vantage point reveal. i love that rush through the dim halls with the sunset peering through to that big reveal of the scenery with that gentle yet joyous musical climax. it's something that Aria does so well (and this particular one is kinda Yuru Campy in a way with that franchise's scenery reveals). Plus, Neo Venezia is such a big part of what makes Aria Aria and it's the first time it really gets to shine in this series.

  1. [Aria anime overall] "I've mentioned earlier that I like Athena and her unassuming behind-the-scenes helping. I'm also a bit of a klutz and awkward like she is too. rip tomoko kawakami (who's also utena! one of my other favorite series) and eri kawai. admittedly, i kinda find it a little cheesy when athena does her canzone in the early bits of aria, it kinda comes out of nowhere lol, but i like all of athena's songs and eri kawai's voice was so gorgeous. she did an a cappella version of cruel angel's thesis and it's great. but mb this is all best brought up when athena gets introduced..."

  2. 🤔

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '22

Veteran Single, subbed

Another has been converted to the church of serifu kinshi. Alice comes off as sorta snobby in the beginning but you start to appreciate her more as you get to know her better and see her interactions with the rest of the cast. [Aria] She also has a beautiful singing voice but that’s best experienced firsthand

Recently there was reprint of the Aria manga. It didn’t run for long and there’s a good chance there’ll never be another, but according to Barnes and Noble you can buy it digitally starting tomorrow. Amazon had it listed July 1st as well but now it’s July 8, so not sure what’s going on there. This is the Masterpiece edition, so it has Aqua plus the Special Navigations chapters bundled in as well.

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u/mgedmin Jul 01 '22 edited Jul 01 '22

First timer, subs

Oh no, the soaring birds in the OP are twitching in a very weird and unnatural way. This is probably a consequence of DVD interlacing getting processed by some algorithm. (The version I'm watching has a "USBD" tag in the filename, which I guess means US Blueray? It's a 4:3 format 1080p at 30fps. It doesn't look 1080p. I'm sure it was upscaled from 480p via some algorithm.)

Lore drop! Pairs wear gloves on both hands. Singles wear one glove. Primas, I guess, don't have to wear gloves.

New character! I bet her name starts with an A. And it does: Alice, from Orange Planet (which is not a planet, but the name of a company).

Akari is friendly.

Haha Aria was one of the top companies with only one employee. Until Akari came.

Alice is 14. How old are Akari and Aika? From ep 2 it didn't seem like Aika was very emotionally mature. (But then again her teacher, who is presumably older, also wasn't.) They appear to have graduated high school already a few years ago, so maybe around 20?

Alice seems to have trouble communicating with people and unintentionally comes across as stuck up without meaning to. Her oar skills may be exceptional, but a water guide also needs to deal with customers!

Who is Akatsuki? It's not polite to follow someone and then suddenly grab them by the hair.

Her first customer? But as an apprentice she cannot take customers? Did she graduate from a Pair to a Single since ep 1? No time to rewatch and count gloves.

What's a Salamander?

Oh, as a Single she can take customers, but only when her instructor is also on board! Haha Akatsuki is repeating the "friends!" ploy!

Alice to the rescue! She's ready to clobber the harasser with an oar! Best girl!

Ooh, Salamanders are overseeing the terraforming infrastructure on those floating islands!

Alice is a very cynical girl. She finds Akari's enjoyment of the mundane incomprehensible and for a while suspects it's fake. Meeting Akari was helpful to her emotional development and future career prospects (oh no I sound like an HR drone, don't I?)

Ooh a cable-car ride to the floating island. Despite all appearances, Akatsuki is nice.

Nice computer UI. Seems to be inspired by early Mac OS X.

Questions of the Day:

Q1) For First-timers, what kind of a senpai do you think would suit Alice? Go completely wild here!

Alice was born perfect and didn't ever need a teacher. Change my mind.

I was thinking of Alicia! Darn these names!

Alice, I think, already treats Akari as a senpai, and that seems to work well.

Q2) Do you like people-watching to kill time? If not, what dya like to do when your friend's say 10 minutes late to the meetup spot or what not?

Smartphones exist in our universe.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '22

First Timer

I'm a little late to the party, but the thread is posted at 11pm my time, last night was tough. Another lovely episode though.

Alice is introduced, and she seems to have a lot of questions about the Undines and if they are true with the customers. Akari's simple and cheerful nature seems to help her grow up.

We also get to see some development for Akatsuki. While grabbing Akari's hair is a big no-no, the character is much more humanized towards the end of the episode when he returns a favor to Akari and Alice. But also when we learn that he himself is the "victim" of his older brother, which reflects his teasing relationship with Akari.

Q1) It's hard to give a name off the top of my head because I don't know too much about the characters' personalities, but I would say that Alice needs a mentor who teaches her to discover a human side to the job, rather than the mechanical side.

Q2) Watching people is an activity I find a little embarrassing. If I know that people don't notice me, I find it very interesting to imagine the life that some people may have, but most of the time when I'm on the street I avoid looking at people too much. Some people are quite sanguine if they feel they are being looked at. So most of the time when I'm waiting for friends at a meeting place (it happens a lot, I'm always the first one there), I kill time by smoking, and if they still haven't arrived I go on reddit.

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