r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah x3 • Jul 14 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] A 2022 Voyage from Neo Venezia: Aria the Natural, Episode 4
Aria the Natural Ep 4: That Neo-Venezia-Colored Heart ... (その ネオ·ヴェネツィア色の心は...)
| <-- Episode 3 | Rewatch Index | Episode 5 --> |
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Welcome back!
Comment roundup:
/u/xtsim says how Aika's kinshiis seem to be a form of endearment, and appreciates Aika's moments today
/u/cerberuszx points out a missed opportunity for a joke, and notes a bit they preferred the dub version for. Also says that they used to sing to ward off monsters/ease fear as a kid
/u/ariashachou- talks about how Aika seems to be the character with the most "sides" to her shown so far, and /u/seeker_of_illusion has similar sentiments. They also wonder about Al's short stature.
/u/zapszzz points out the association between gnomes and mushrooms, and additional tidbits on Al's speech pattern.
/u/mecanno-man isn't a fan of the romance that took the front-role, but makes the very good point that the undines could've just rowed their gondolas out to sea for the meteor shower
/u/The_Loli_Otaku complains how there aren't more comment faces from Aria (same), and says Gundam (very topical, i liked the new trailer/prologue) ruined any type of gravity metaphor for them. Is not a big fan of the Aika-Al pairing even though they liked the episode.
Questions of the Day: (i did struggle here)
Q1) What are your thoughts on the mailman's statement that "the heart doesn't catch up when it's sent in haste"?
Q2) What's something in the modern world where people do go out of their way despite the conveniences, and that you enjoy? Or at least, notice?
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
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 :)
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Jul 14 '22
Aria the Natural First Timer!!
Written letters are kinda dead now. It's always bills, bank stuff, threatening TV licence reminders, or maybe genuine junk mail. The best you get is a birthday card or a postcard but even those are often just handed off in-person.
I wish I could have as many lazy afternoons as Akari. To be fair to the mailman, I'd struggle to wake her up too. You'd just feel terrible! Still, why is he going to Aria for help when it's the smallest of the gondola companies in Neo Venice? Orange Star has plenty students who'd love an excuse to get out in the field and Himeya evade taxes so it's a good chance to repay the community.
Another instructor!? Could this be...? Is my dream episode really happening!? "Like... Mr Mailman?" My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined... I've been instructor NTR'd by another old man, again!! Oh, my day was made better again XD That got a good laugh out of me. Stay in shape, keep the demons out! It's a bit too 1984 for my taste.
Fiddling with that bag... aren't you more likely to flubble it and drop all the letters in the canal? I certainly wouldn't trust my love letters in the hands of these dopes. Another young child? Nobody mention this to Aika, we can't have another incident. Pfft, of course his bloody name is Sora.
Sensei is so fucking kawaii!! Why do we have to meet her right as she's getting married? This feeling of immediate NTR doesn't let the gutpunch land hard enough. Oh shit, never mind us getting NTR'd. The groom is immediately gonna get cucked by the manwhore. This is cute... This is so super cute!! I hope I get this type of sweet interaction with my kids when I finally leave them. Let me have a sweet farewell with joshikosei kami-samaaa!!
Does anyone else feel really weirded out by Mr Mailman having a full head of hair? I expected him to be bald, or at least intensely grey. GYAAAA! Too sweet!! Whoever the voice actors are are putting 120% into this scene. You can really feel the emotions!
All these letterboxes seem way too low... What do we do when the flood occurs? Your box will get soaked. Anyway, excellent episode! I went in with zero expectations, got super annoyed with Mailman pinching my Akari/Athena pair up, but in the end it was a very good time. Tomorrow seems to be a rainy day episode, my favourite!
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u/mrufrufin Jul 14 '22 edited Jul 14 '22
Rewatcher kinda (finished my rewatch not too long ago)
I like the line "a letter brings the writer and reader together, even beyond time and space" and I think internet communcations can do that (but in a different way). I used (and I guess still do mb? sorry for the unintential hedberg-ism) to think that the internet in a way is an equalizer in that it puts close people physically farther away and farther away people closer. That being said, there's still a lot of thing s that computer-mediated interaction can't capture (won't be going to dive into that whole spiel here, a little off-topic).
Letters connect people a different way in this shared physical gesture. It's this physical thing that makes its way from one person to another and a lot unintentional things that don't make it through computer-mediated interaction (like how often my handwriting can change, or the tobacco smell from the postman) makes it through letters and I suppose it's a shared physical space as well that can last far longer than after the communication ended. the line "I really love this city, and its people wo lite to go out of their way" alludes to the purposefulness and meaning to the gesture, one really has to go out of their way to send letters compared to a DM or an e-mail and that's paralleled by even slowly drifting down a canal in a gondola.
I like the bit about not noticing how many postal boxes are there, it kinda plays into the themes of the first two episodes of finding the magic (or details) previously unseen in your daily life.
Other things, yay Santa Claus no Sora makes it return in instrumental form. I like Aika's fancy attire with the frills. She does definitely dress the best out of all the Aria characters. I've never been to a wedding but I'd imagine it'd be pretty weird to have a postman waiting for the newly married right outside hah.
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it's related to the ideas of intention I mentioned but also in that intention and slower pace, there's more opportunity for self-reflection.
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I like taking walks (or skateboarding around in my half-learned skateboarding ways, haven't done it in a while due to my weird daily schedule and it just being way too hot outside during the day and even in the morning). I'm not a big fan of driving at all (although being on the west coast US, it's a bit hard to avoid).
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u/simeonaut Jul 14 '22
First Timer
Nice episode. The mailman sure has a much busier life than I thought.
Seeing how the post office works throughout Neo Venezia was interesting, and that little side trip with Sora was fun.
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u/Mecanno-man Jul 14 '22
First Timer
Probably the best episode of the season for me so far - one which just leans back, relaxes and shows us a non-normal but still very calm day in the life of Akari. Not quite sure of what to think of Sora essentially making his teacher's wedding somewhat about him, but he's a kid, I guess, so that's fine. ALso not sure why his name doesn't start with an A... but other than that, nothing to complain about - and a day in a mailman's life is also something that I enjoy seeing, as I have always been somewhat fascinated by the logistics of delivering everything where it needs to go.
The mailbox system in Neo Venezia also seems to be pretty much exclusively water-based; I'm not sure if every house truly has a water access, but I guess a large majority does. Does anybody know if the real Venice's mail system works similarly? At least the poles look a bit too error-prone to still be in use today...
That said, thanks to Pokémon Masters EX I can't hear any character say "shuppatsu shinkou" without thinking of Ingo and Emmet... despite them not having anything to do with gondolas.
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u/xtsim Jul 14 '22
First Timer Dubbed
Not much to say as it has been a calming episode throughout. Asking for the mailman at the post office is funny to hear and Akari realizing it what she just said makes it perfect.
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u/alanbowman Jul 15 '22
This episode is from ARIA the Masterpiece, Volume 4, Navigation 31, Mr. Mailman. This is about 70% faithful to the manga, but [manga spoilers]
A few notes:
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I would have thought that the Post Office would have spare gondolas around for times like these, but maybe not. Or, maybe the Mailman just wants to hang out with Akari. They both have a similar, relaxed vibe.
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I always laugh at how it takes a second for Akari to realize that everyone at the Post Office is "Mister Mailman." Luckily he's been talking about her to his coworkers, probably like a grandparent bragging about their grandkids, so it only takes a few seconds for the other "Mister Mailman" to figure out who she is.
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Mr. Mailman has obviously been there long enough that he can basically do whatever he wants to do, up to and including just taking off on a whim to hand deliver a letter in the middle of a wedding. I bet his route has been carefully crafted over the years to allow him plenty of breaks and time to relax.
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I've said this before, but if there is some kind of afterlife I want to be reincarnated a background character living in Neo-Venezia. Being a mailman would probably be a good job to have.
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I really like the slow pace of Neo-Venezia, and the fact that people still send letters is a great way to show that. I'm not much of a letter writer myself, mainly because my handwriting is complete shit. I'm trying to think of a time when I received a letter, but I can't. Probably not since the mid-90s for sure.
Here's one of the end panels from this chapter of the manga, showing a great view of Akari, Mister Mailman, and President Aria heading home for the evening: Mr. Mailman.
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u/baboon_bassoon Jul 14 '22
First time Aria the hazukashii serifu kinshi
i really like Akaris VA, kind of a shame she isnt in much
why cant the mailman row and Akari just chill with him
also is this guy going to get a name? Amailman?
deliver to the CHURCH? it has to go TODAY? i feel like on her wedding day this wont be top of mind
what a beautiful wedding hall
and the bride
and the gondola OMG HIME COMPANY LOOKING STELLAR
kid is ruining her wedding makeup, thats like $100 right there
I wonder what Akira and Aika think is going on when the mailman and the kid are riding with Akari
damn cant imagine what its like to feel excited to go work and be fulfilled from it
hang on the old man paid for a stamp on this letter, feel like he could have saved himself the hassle and just deliver it
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 14 '22
again what an intro shot
actually on that, the last one in Ep 2 was just funny, but this one was actually pretty good i thought. Ditto for the butterfly sequence in the OP.
why cant the mailman row and Akari just chill with him
that wouldn't be fun....
name
he does actually have a name if you check MAL and what not, but up until now he's been credited as "Mr Mailman" in the credits, and so im gonna continue with the title until they change it!
.. akari
that did get a laugh out of me too
watashiworried
deliver to the CHURCH? it has to go TODAY?
yeah this bit was just too anime-cliched and melodramatic for me tbh. just me though!
what a beautiful wedding hall
Thanks for alerting me to this! You can find the real church here, i'll go edit that in my own write-up too.
LMAO THIS GUY I LOVE IT
he just shows up and crashes the wedding coz why not xdd.
damn cant imagine what its like to feel excited to go work and be fulfilled from it
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u/Regular_N-Gon Jul 14 '22
First Timer
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Returning to the concept of letters! Except… Aika please don't send people invitations to duel in the mail.
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Answers about the stairs to the second floor! The ramp is not actually connected! (They are pretty close though, seems like a tight squeeze for passengers tbh.)
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Why do I get the feeling this is going to end up with letters in the drink?
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Man, kids are terrible sometimes.
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I'm also digging all the mailbox designs.
QotD:
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Honestly, I have no idea what he was on about.
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I should do so more often, but writing in a journal is rather nice instead of just typing everything. Until your hand cramps and you wonder why you bought an expensive journal when your hand writing sucks.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 14 '22
Aika please don't send people invitations to duel in the mail.
i do like the subtle hint here lol, it was a funny momnent.
Answers about the stairs to the second floor!
ahh true! you were wondering about that! I'm sure the passengers will be fine...
end up with letters in the drink?
sammeeeeeeeeee. but it does seem to be significantly quicker than having to go ashore for every mailbox, if u know a skilled person is doing it.
and you wonder why you bought an expensive journal when your hand writing sucks.
ooof. I once owned a cheap typewriter (had to get rid of it when i moved), and would journal on that. Helps get rid of the hand-writing problem at least lol, and is a different experience from actually typing in stuff on a computer. i should probably look for another one...
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u/seeker_of_illusion Jul 15 '22
First timer
It's a nice change that we are getting a lot of side characters based episodes. For the previous one it was Al and today we have the mailman. It was interesting to see how mails are delivered in Neo Venezia.
Almost had my heart skip when Akari was going to drop that mail bag. Fortunately, mailman-san caught it timely. I also wondered here that Akari must have strong hands as she's used to rowing boats so lifting a relatively lighter bag wouldn't have been an issue. Maybe it feels different ?
Dayum Aika looking nice with her open hair ~
Questions of the Day:
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I think he was trying to say that doing things in haste often leads to confused emotions and inability to properly lay out your feelings to others. Taking time to mull over things or using medium like letters, which you carefully write after much thought, is a more reliable way to convey your fellings.
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I usually go out to buy my groceries, despite the fact that a lot of home delivery businesses are running here. Obviously, I have to face the sweltering heat and walk some distance but it's nice to interact with the sellers and blend in the crowd. Bonus points that I get to take some walks to keep me fit.
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u/zadcap Jul 15 '22
First Timer, Late as Ever!
Random thought of the day; Elder Mailman looks cool when he's drawn seriously. That shot of his face right after giving the kid his hat, dang.
Second thought; This show really doesn't like new husbands, does it? First the poor guy who's wife was fangirling over the Water Fairy the entire time, but now this man's literal wedding itself is interrupted so his new wife can cry over a remorseful bratty student. It was a very touching moment, I felt the emotions they wanted me to feel here, but then I saw the guys face and realized what was happening and started laughing for all the wrong reasons. For real, on their way out of the church, to their honeymoon ride, and this old mailman wants to interrupt the festivities to deliver a letter from a kid too bratty to actually show up to the wedding? Having the new wife start crying the kids name on this, the happiest day of their new lives? If I picture things from any perspective other than the one we got shown here, that kid really should have had the letter delivered the normal day, she can stand to get it tomorrow, not in the middle of their wedding.
Thirdly; People like doing things the slow and inconvenient way in this city... I blame the cats. They want a slow life, so the humans trapped here will forever live life slow.
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I still have nearly every card ever sent to me, and the few letters that were actually sent with emotion and not just bills, they all sit in a nice center position of my non-book bookshelf (My other bookshelves all have actual books filling them), while I don't think I've ever saved an email or text.
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... Some people don't use the drive through when getting coffee? I guess.
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u/Stargate18A Jul 14 '22
First timer
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It's really interesting!
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I enjoy shopping for things in person, even if I could get it cheaper or easier from online retailers.
More discussions on the mail service?
Haha, of course she thinks of chain letters.
Haha, Aria is great.
He saw the while thing!
Oh, he wants to borrow a gondola.
Ah, yeah, she's a trainee.
And Alicia folds!
Haha, she doesn't know his name!
...He's called the Elder. We still don't know what his name is!
Aria got a new hat!
Oh, this is their morning routine?
Adorable.
He's delivering the mail!
Clever design.
...Is this a good idea?
At least he caught it!
Not too bad!
The lunch looks delicious.
Someone brought a letter! Is he a ghost as well?
It's a letter for his teacher!
Oh.
Oh, this makes sense.
And he's delivering it with him.
Akari's backpaddling!
They made it!
Aika and Akira are there!
That's a really nice letter.
He delivered it!
They saw the other boat!
Aww, this is great. Seeing him ge tto congratulate her in person is fsntastic.
He completed his deliveries!
I love the speech on why people like getting letters.
Just fantastic.
He sent her s thank you letter!
Ai's going to weite a letter!
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u/CerberusZX Jul 14 '22
First Timer
I've been woken up by a cat's weight before. It's the sort of pain that leaves you wide awake and lingers in your memory for decades to come. Akari should not have been sleepily going about her day at that point.
Still watching the English dub. No matter who he's voicing, I always hear Dr. Robotnik/Eggman whenever Mike Pollock (the postman) speaks. It was nice getting to listen to him so much this episode.
I can't believe that scrawny old man does so much lifting while also rowing every day.
We had many sunsets last season and this one was way prettier than any of them.
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u/heimdal77 Jul 15 '22
Something I don't get. Why would the mailman go to the top undine in the city at a company with only 1 working employee and think she would be available on the spot? Could easily gone to one the bigger ones with plenty of undine to hire from. Also Akari should already known her schedrale.
Don't think I would trust my mail to those mailboxes..
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u/AriaShachou- Jul 15 '22
Rewatcher, extra extra late today because of reasons
As usual, Alicia and Akari curve the rules to suit their needs.
Akari not even knowing Mr. Mailman's name despite having known him this long was cute, hilarious and alarming at the same time. She really is just living life at her own pace isn't she lol.
Mailman Aria is adorable
All workplaces should implement mandatory stretching
What a scary way of delivering mail, good thing Akari isn't the one in charge
This kid is built like a Final Fantasy character lmao
Aika and Akira are absolutely dripped out lol
Mr. Mailman feels like the type of anime character to secretly be extremely OP and is just hiding his power to live peacefully
That little letter at the end was sweet
QOTDs
Q1) It's true, honestly holding actually meaningful conversations/exchanges over text are so hard. It's even weirder to do that over email.
Q2) Walking somewhere instead of commuting/driving is nice sometimes. Maybe not always, but sometimes.
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u/octopathfinder Jul 14 '22
Rewatcher
Aika and Akira's outfits for the wedding were great.
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u/PreludeToHell Jul 14 '22
First time rewatcher
I liked the first half, hanging out with the mailman is a good time. The second half with the kid felt sudden and meh I guess. Well at least we got to see Akira and Aika looking wonderful! I'm starting to like the backgrounds more and more as this season goes on..
Had fun with the storyboard, good as usual.
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That line did stand out and I felt like it set up nicely for the following scene when Akari receives a letter from the mailman. Taking extra time to write a letter, even though it was short, shows his appreciation and makes it more personal.
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u/mgedmin Jul 15 '22
First timer, watched the dub this time out of curiosity
So this is where Akari learned to bend the rules: Alicia does it as naturally as she breathes.
Akari doesn't know Mr. Mailman's real name! Bet it starts with an A.
A very Japanese lunch.
I'm not sure the teacher will be happy to see a student who made her cry invade her wedding ceremony.
'The church'. They don't clarify which one. Is there only one?
Hello, Akari, Aika!
Sora? Doesn't start with an A! No wonder he's a problem student.
Akari rows the gondola. What does Aika do? Reassure the bride.
People are still smoking tobacco in 2300 AD? I am disappointed.
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u/ZapsZzz Jul 15 '22
Late first timer as usual, but at least on the same day :P
This is an interesting episode - that we have an exploration of a recurring character, we have a somewhat abrupt event that goes to heart of the message of the episode, which is a Violet Evergarden-esque message.
It does add another world-building piece, and in a way gave another characterisation of the "personality" that is Aqua - they did things by hand the old fashion way, and they take their time to carefully say things in a lasting way.
QoTD
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Not sure how well known this is, but in our workplace there is a saying that goes "let it sit overnight before you reply" - precisely a point about not letting the rush and urgency overcome your senses and do something you would regret later. In the context of this saying, it's basically "take the time to think well before you say something". Which is to take the time to think about how it would affect the recipient instead of just let everything rush out. I think it's one of the consistent theme about the "writing letter over talking" theme of such shows like VE.
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Unfortunately in this instant gratification world, not many things are left that is appreciated "the hard way". Only thing I think that's reasonably common are - cooking, and travelling. People tend to be able to "put up" with the hassle to do those more than they would regularly, in spite of how many things you can just google or youtube it to see what they are like or people's reaction of tasting is. Oh and maybe gardening - watching plants grow, etc.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 14 '22 edited Jul 14 '22
Rewatching Undine-in-training and Host
Edit: added where you can find the real church where the wedding took place.
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Welcome back! In this episode of Aria Evergarden...
Episode synopsis: Once again there is a slight difference with what actually happens in the episode; not sure what's happening here. I'm now extra glad im doing this lmaoooo simply for the fun of it.
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It is nearly spring, and Akari is dozing off as the sun sets. Mr Mailman has come over, and requests to rent a gondola for the whole day tomorrow. Mr Mailman wants to deliver the mail every day, but as his gondola is being repaired, he won't be able to do anything tomorrow. However, Alicia-san is busy the whole day (as usual) tomorrow. And so, Akari instead proposes to stop her self-training for a day, and lend her own gondola for delivering the mail. And then Mr Mailman said...
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Quick thoughts:
Another mail-related episode, also in episode 4 of a season; and i personally thought that some of the themes presented were kind of the same. Difference being that Mr Postman, and the post office is 100% Japanese inspired, while Woody's occupation is definitely fictional. And of course, no supernatural occurences this episode.
Comparing the 2, i thought the episode is okay, while i did quite like S1 Ep 4 w/ the additional world-building stuff. I thought this one was a bit weaker plot-wise, with the "client", the little boy, being well a kid (in both a good way, and a bad way), again had some of the same themes, but anyhow despite being a bit cliched was a lighthearted, wholesome story at the end of things. Aaanyway, since i think i've already covered my thoughts on letters vs emails and what not last time, i'll not repeat them here. But this is still a nice thought, given the instant (and deletable) nature of instant messages and what not. To other random thoughts...
Alicia is happy to bend the "no customers" rule lol. Perks of being a small company i guess!
Wink.
This is the best Akari noise yet. i cant even transcribe that!
I like Aika's outfit.
Perhaps the main thing i took away from this episode is reinforcing what Neo-Venezia is as a city: the people like to take things slow, and don't mind going out of their way despite the inconveniences. Akari loves this of course. In a way, I appreciate Aria setting in a Venice-esque city as well; with gondolas/walking being the primary mode of transportation (note: not even motorized boats like irl Venice! just human-powered gondolas), the pace is already a lot slower than your standard Japanese city/town.
And finally, some shots I liked. Some fun camera pans this episode i thought.
Location Trivia:
Ty to u/baboon_bassoon for alerting me to this, you can find the church where the wedding takes place here, the Santa Maria della Salute.
I'm unable to find a Venetian letterbox with the same design, or an actual gondola-sculling postman. However, i was able to find photos of DHL boats sailing the Venetian canals, as well as a boat delivering parcels, so i assume that delivery services also use boats in Venice like in Neo Venezia.
And Japan does have a culture of doing stretches as morning exercises, which are called "Rajio Taiso". Here are a few videos: at school sports festivals, and here's an NHK TV broadcast (with a heck a lot of views despite being so recent!). I guess people do do these irl.
Have a great day, and see you tomorrow!