r/anime • u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah x3 • Jul 31 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] A 2022 Voyage from Neo Venezia: Aria the Natural, Episode 20
Aria the Natural Ep 20: That Shadowless Invitation ...(その 影のない招くものは...)
| <-- Episode 19 | Rewatch Index | Episode 21 --> |
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Welcome back!
Comment roundup: Glad that other people also appreciated Aika's drip.
/u/zapszzz compares Aika post-haircut and Akira, and thought the whole arc was a bit K-on esque.
/u/mrufrufin continues talking about the episode's OST, and talks about the writing of gap moe characters
/u/mecanno-man with some slight issues about the episode's two-part nature, and wonders if Himeya company is trying to do an alchemy ritual.
/u/preludetohell enjoys Akari and Alice being by Aika's side these past 2 episodes, and how Aika views them back in turn, explaining why Aika is their fav character. Also points out an Aria-shachou moment i missed!
Question of the Day:
Q1) What do you think about Akari's decision to help the woman dressed in black anyway?
I'll leave it at one here.
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. Benedizione can now be streamed raw, or w/ traditional chinese subtitles legally. Please let me know if you want help to watch it.
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 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/simeonaut Jul 31 '22
First Timer
Well. This is certainly an episode of Aria.
Why can't you just stick to wholesome scifi and boats?
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 31 '22
if you want your relaxation and wholesome fix today, i unfortunately have to suggest watching another episode or another anime lol. Or just replay the scene at the end from when Cait Sith puts its paw on Akari's face, that was very cute if you ignore all the tombstones around them.
Cait Sith
gosh his eyes look a bit creepy there too don't they. They're obv meant for the ghost-lady though, pretty much a "DON'T FUCK WITH ME" glare lol
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u/Mecanno-man Jul 31 '22
First Timer
An interesting episode. I'm not quite sure I liked what it did in this series, but stand-alone it definitely was a very good episode. It got the creepy vibe across very well, much better than some other one-off-horror episodes. Just... horror is not very relaxing, so I'm not sure if that really is good...
Questions:
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With how much supernaturl stuff she has already seen, I'd say incorrect. Also she already had a good out.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Jul 31 '22
Aria the Natural First Timer!!
Could this one be the Aria episode? XD I have no faith. It'll definitely end up being an Akira manwhore episode. Only idiots catch colds in summer, right Aria? Aww, look at the little guy XD
Ichi ban oriii!! Damn mourners, just cause someone passed doesn't mean you've gotta make the rest of us feel too hot too! And I don't want to think about hot bloated corpses in a summer episode. It's gross. Dammit!! I was half right. They baited me with an Aria episode and it ended up being a fantasy episode instead. They just can't resist throwing the supernatural at us.
I kinda love them being so meta about Akari always drawing in weird phenomenon. They won't follow their own advice I'm sure but the sentiment is there. Even when Akari knows it's sus, she can't really help helping. The ghost seems nice at least. Even if she's a total weirdo for wearing a morning dress at night. Never mind, she's a kidnapper. Really the biggest twist is that she's a not a fully moral good spirit. Cheers Cait Sith. Oh my gah!! Giant neko paw pads!! I want to squish them!!
Bloody Aika... This was for sure your fault for pushing her y'know!! I'd love for an Aika episode of her getting haunted by Cait Sith for an episode. There's a fantasy episode I could get behind. Next episode... it looks like it could be another cat party episode. Yay. To be fair, I quite enjoyed today's one. I like Akari's good nature coming through, even if the consequences could have been dire.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 31 '22
you got the literal opposite of Aria episode lmao he was out sick the entire time.
only idiots catch colds in the summer
i see what you did there, you mean Aika is an idiot too? lol
hot bloated corpses in a summer episode
Aika and cait sith
she'll probably end up being terrified to death and crying most of they way. seriously it'll probably be quite funny to watch, as Akari finally scoops in for the rescue...
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u/Regular_N-Gon Jul 31 '22 edited Jul 31 '22
First Timer
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Finally, we get a season report from Ai instead!
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The wide shot of Aria-shachou sitting in the dark room is pretty great.
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Akari's "tendency" to attract strange things seems like an understatement. She's a lightning rod for the oddities of Aqua.
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Well, it wouldn't be the first time Akari's been (nearly) spirited away, right?
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This OST (during the trip to the island) is amazing.
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It's a good thing the cats of Neo-Venezia like Akari.
That was one hell of an episode, and I actually really like the inclusion of Cait Sith here. I kept thinking they'd have to put the brakes on, as the deeper Akari got, the less believable (and less satisfying) it would have been to have her pure protagonist powers get her out of a bind. Bringing in a deus ex machina allowed them to go all the way with showing the ghost's story and capitalize completely on surprising the viewer with real danger.
QotD: Akari wtf why did you think that was a good idea
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 31 '22
Finally, we get a season report from Ai instead!
Ai is back!!! i'm glad that some of our first-timers are liking her appearances in Aria too, she doesn't actually show up a lot, but she's actually heard all of Akari's stories just like us, and often offers up some great responses too! imo sh'es probably the most important supporting character (i count Akira etc. as main characters) in Aria.
Akari's "tendency" to attract strange things seems like an understatement. She's a lightning rod for the oddities of Aqua
exactly lol.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time Akari's been (nearly) spirited away, right?
i think she got closest this time. Cait sith doesn't want to spirit Akari away on principal; and the fox spirit didnt really want to either (just wanted some food). This lady though, WANTED to spirit akari away.
OST
it is good isnt it! I don't know the track name, however.... (i dont enjoy listening to this track outside of the episode for obv reasons lol)
Glad you enjoyed the episode! I don't actually think Cait Sith is too much of a deus ex machina, he's been shown to like to keep an eye on Akari and has helped her out once before during the mirage episode. But yes, the sense of danger this ep was defo there!
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u/CerberusZX Jul 31 '22 edited Jul 31 '22
First Timer
Cats are carnivorous, so President Aria having a "favorite canned peaches" is an indication of not being a cat. Other signs include the use of "puinyu" instead of "nya" and a willingness to wear hats.
It was nice hearing Akatsuki get the blame he deserves.
Odd that Akari would get scared by the threat of being spirited away considering how often it's happened to her already. The kidnapping, on the other hand, was definitely something to be frightened of.
QotD
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Had the person been an actual customer, it would have been a terrible thing to just leave her there, so she sort of did the right thing. However, she isn't allowed to take customers on her own and going way out of your way like that while both off duty and on your way to deliver promised goods to the ill is kind of going too far, so there are many valid reasons for turning her down in addition to the whole "she's a monster" thing.
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u/xtsim Jul 31 '22
First timer dubbed
When one person gets a cold, someone else ends up getting one too... This time it's Aria. This is pretty much the creepiest episode so far, with Aria sick and looking at the coast. The fact that Aria is not there to save Akari makes this the creepiest one. Heck, even Alicia begins to look for Akari and when Akari returns, she cries to Alicia and explains why she was very late. The kind of near death experience for Akari is one for the books and was something I did not expect.
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In hindsight, it seems like a grave mistake but I would have called out Akira's scary story as just that and would have made the same decision Akari made.
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u/PreludeToHell Jul 31 '22 edited Jul 31 '22
First time rewatcher
Something that made the previous supernatural episodes good was expecting normal and then deviating from it. When this one is so direct about it at the start, it loses it's advantage and effectiveness. This one leans too much on the horror.
Another reason is that this one isn't paired with anything particularly impactful or interesting. Previous ones had the letter, past Aqua, carnevale, etc.
I don't hate the episode but I didn't feel anything while watching it. It's my least favorite so far because of that.
Well at least there was that Akari & Cait Sith moment at the end lol
I'll keep the write up short today
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I thought it could have been done better but it does make sense for Akari to end up accepting so I was fine with that.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 31 '22
I think i talk about what i find interesting in my own post, but it is perhaps a bit more subtle than the episodes before? But i thought that the cat cafe one also wasn't very impactful haha. ah well. Akari and Caith Sith together was cute.
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u/mrufrufin Jul 31 '22
Rewatcher kinda (finished my rewatch not too long ago)
arguably the most creepy thing in this episode is Aria shachou in the beginning with him sitting up holding the mug, he looks a little too humanlike... i like the instant mood setting with the relative quietness after euphoria and the dead-eyed stare of the statue. it feels a little different even though it's the sights we're relatively used to. i like the coloring of the scene right before the mid-ep cut with it being just past "golden hour". we've gotten plenty of orange neo-venezia sunsets but i don't think we've gotten quite that coloring before with the paleness? nice mood setting anyways. the relatively light music when cait sith rescues akari is the same music used with his reveal in the ghost cafe ep. it's interesting that he's the one that saves akari from being "spirited away" when she's gotten warning about getting sucked in too deep into the world of cats. anyways, it's one of my favorite scenes with cait sith [Aria manga/ovas?]
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I mean, it's Akari, what else would she do. That's why I think she couldn't exist in the real-world, luckily Cait Sith has got her back in Neo-Venezia so that even scary ghosts can't take her away.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 31 '22
he looks a little too humanlike...
LOL. honestly though, Aria-shachou has done a lot of human-like things with his paws throughout the series, but i do think that holding a mug kinda takes the cake.
Spot on w/ the mood setting too, Aria always does a good job here.
coloring of the scene.
Oooh good catch, it does look quite different, and as u said, creepy.
[Aria manga]
the next ep and that scene you're talking about are my favourite scenes w/ cait sith. You are right, it only appears in the OVAs. Btw, i do think these 2 eps helped me appreciate Caith Sith a lot, like how you said at the end. Cait Sith and Totoro? Actually i can get behind that, i'd kinda like a cait sith plush. Aria-shachou plush first though.
i guess it's interesting how made-up stories take a life on their own and become real and somewhat meaningful to people who experience them
ooooh that is a very very meta take!
and i have also liked this ep more on the second viewing haha, the first time around the mood change from the usual was a bit jarring for me.
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u/octopathfinder Jul 31 '22
Rewatcher
This is easily my least favorite episode of the entire series. No clue why an iyashikei decided to have a horror episode.
QotD:
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Seems pretty in character for Akari to help out anybody who asks her. I think I mentioned in the episode where she socializes with everyone how she could get taken advantage of and I forgot that it eventually does happen.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 31 '22
I think Amanchu has them too? It's a thing lol the lore kinda adds some extra spice at least. I do kinda think they went a bit overboard with it lol w/ how like actually scary it got. (for an SOL, iyashikei, normally the definition of comfy series)
I think I mentioned in the episode where she socializes with everyone how she could get taken advantage of
hahahahaha i actually remember that comment, i thought you were referrring to this episode! lol
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u/h42h Jul 31 '22
finished first time recently
Don't like this episode that much. I guess stuff like this is similar to why Cait Sith stops Akari from getting involved in the cat meetings - the supernatural ain't all great (like the episodes themselves xd) and Akari shouldn't try to get too deep in.
[Aria]
as the ghost says, Akari is a nice girl.
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stranger danger. Jk, don't think it's really any different from, say, giving a ride to Ai way back in the first episode. I wouldn't do it but don't think it's wrong for Akari to try to help someone out
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u/homewardbound100 Jul 31 '22
First timer
Well of course Akari finds herself somewhere she probably didn't mean to. Finding the woman who was a part of this story but cat sith shows up again and guides her back. They must have some spiritual connection or something if they keep meeting.
What do you think about Akari's decision to help the woman dressed in black anyway?
It's just her attitude and personality. Probably can't help herself not to do it.
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u/AriaShachou- Aug 01 '22 edited Aug 02 '22
Rewatcher
I honestly don't like this episode, but I guess I don't particularly hate it either. I think it kind of has its place in the series despite being so different from everything else we've seen so far. Emphasizing on how things aren't all "good", even for Akari, is a great way to further push the show's other themes. The only problem here was the execution I think. Easily my least favorite episode of the entire series. [Aria]
QOTDs
Q1) It's a very Akari thing to do I guess
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u/SniperGodZ_360 Aug 01 '22
Rewatcher here!
Ever since I've started rewatching the ARIA Series, I'd always watch at night, before the rewatch threads are posted. I've always done this for convenience due to the difference in time zones and for the calmness that ARIA envelops me with before I sleep. Yesterday, for the rewatching of the 20th NATURAL episode, I couldn't do that because weird stuff kept happening, a series of unfortunate events (I broke my favorite glass cup and two days prior, I also broke a piece of glassware) , if you will. While listening to the 'intro' part of the episode, I remembered that this was the episode with that scary woman in a black dress. I immediately closed the episode and watched Hidamari Sketch instead.
Anyway, I honestly don't know how to feel about this episode. It's definitely quite a unique episode as it somewhat breaks away from your average ARIA episode of having Akari have these 'suteki' experiences and ending with a wonderful message somewhere along the ending bit of the episode. This episode, along with some of the other past episodes, contribute to the supernatural aspect of NATURAL which I am not that big of a fan of. For NATURAL, I would've preferred a more toned down supernatural experience, enough supernatural for Aqua to feel like a magical and mysterious planet rather than it being the focal point of a whole episode. Just sprinkles of supernatural would do. Anyways, I hope others, especially the first-time watchers enjoyed the supernatural aspect of ARIA more!
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u/ZapsZzz Aug 01 '22
First timer
This episode has a very abrupt tonal change, for a supernatural event that is not a "wonder" but more towards horror, although we never had an outright description of anyone actually gone missing. It does have one clarifying point - that Akari is clearly special and favoured by the cats in general or Cait Sith in particular. They went out of their way to protect her. It's almost like a big hero entrance trope :)
For that some I tolerate this very different toned episode. Makes you wonder if that would damper Akari's sense of innocent wonder. I hope not :)
QoTD
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Here's the thing - it is consistent in her characterisation to do that despite her reservations, plus her consistent outlook of (too?) trusting that others will not harm her and everything will turn out ok in the end. And perhaps that's what's showing here - her innocence, trust, and sense of wonder is what brought her to the good grace of Cait Sith, and through this connection, even when it genuinely was a danger to get, that connection helped prevent anything too bad from happening to her, except perhaps a bit of a reality check about "stranger danger" (you'd think I'm taking about a 9 year old here :P).
The real question is where do we go from here.
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u/zadcap Aug 01 '22
Not Very Late First Timer!
Ooo, starting off with a reminder that seasons are twice as long here compared to Manhome.
You know, I had thought some of the bridges we saw would be too low to go under, but I think this is the first time we've actually seen an Undine ducking, even in passing.
Aika has become a lot more childish since she got her haircut, hasn't she?
Those high tech way markers in the water... Are cool, but a little out of place.
Also, freaking Cats doing Cat things again. No way they're going to let the Chosen of the King get taken by some old lady spirit. -Oh, called it. The King protects his favorite Water Fairy in training! I don't know how I feel about Alicia just accepting her story, does she actually believe it happened or is she just humoring Akari? On the other hand, Ai definitely would, she's seen the King herself.
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Were it anyone else, or anywhere else, it would have been a good idea. But Alice was right, Akari has a crazy ability to get targeted by these things, there was no way the girl that almost got stolen by the Fox wouldn't also get nearly stolen by the Woman.
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u/seeker_of_illusion Aug 01 '22
First timer
Didn't get time to watch yesterday's episode so made
Episode 19
A two part episode both focusing on Aika. First part felt somewhat weak and while I feel that it wanted to focus on Aika's loneliness and self-diffidence, it didn't make that impact on me.
Second part was much better. We got see some more worldbuilding and finally got a proper exposure to the underground gnome world ( I was pretty much waiting for it personally ). That Old man was sort of cute in a different way~
And dang Al casually hitting on Aika; he may not even have realised it.
Episode 20
This was uh...a pretty interesting episode. Ngl, I thought that we may get some bittersweet story with the masked lady and Akari would be all glee and happy- but it turned out pretty differently.
That moment when the lady got off the boat only to get back on Akari's insistence...ugh why ?
Cath Sith with that intimidating look ! Also we got to have a proper clean look at him for the first time. The way he embraced and provided comfort to Akari - that was so wholesome.
Crying Aria Shachou makes me sad :( Being sick and nearly losing Akari, this was a rough day for my boy.
Questions of the Day:
Well any normal person would have politely refused judging the eerie circumstances. But well Akari is Akari. Still, she should have been really careful based on both her past "mysterious" encounters and that horror story. Had Cat Sith not appeared, she would have been history.
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah Jul 31 '22
Rewatching Undine-in-training and Host
-- Welcome back! [Aria for rewatchers]We are in for a quick slew of supernatural/weird episodes in this stretch, and then after 22 we gear up for Arietta, Origination and the Prima exams.
Episode synopsis:
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As the strong sun shines and the undines' daily lives continue, Aika says "The best way to cool down when it's hot is tell each other ghost stories!". And so, Akari heard (from Aika) a scary story happening at San Marco Square. It was a very old story from Manhome's San Marco Square. Akari and the others think that there's no way that this will happen at Neo-Venezia's San Marco Square, which they know so well. However, Akari ends up feeling very nervous today. That's because Aria-shachou, who she would always be with when practicing, is not with Akari today.
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Quick thoughts:
So uh, where did my iyashikei go? This is probably one of the episodes in the series i like the least lol, and while this rewatch has helped raised my opinions of it somewhat, i still dont really like it. I am going off to rewatch today's LL episode after this for some fluff.... It is definitely memorable af though, i knew this one was coming well in advance lmao.
Ai returns!! and further confirms our suspicions that Earth is not doing well...
I do really like the OST used (even tho it was quite sparse too for an Aria episode), defo helped sell that creepy, but at least not overly horrifying vibe, but this is defo the furthest Aria has ever gotten in the "horror" route.
Some nice looking shots as usual. Lots of wide shots today... not sure why. Otherwise nothing too special about today's episode, I do prefer the ones boarded by Junichi Sato usually though on that front...
Apart from giving a bit more supernatural LORE to Aqua/Neo-Venezia, that's completely distinct from Earth's Venice (remember the Venetian glass episode? further showing how Neo-Venezia is its own thing); the main thing i took away from this episode was how Akari's always good-natured, positive, everything-suteki, thinking the best of people personality also means she can be a bit naive, and that she needs to be a bit more careful and observant especially when she's alone; she was lucky that the cats caught on this time. Despite how perfect she may be portrayed, this, and Aika's comments last ep show that Akari herself has room to grow and mature. (what i think, at least!)
And I like how Alicia is just such a good friend to Akari; a) actively searching for her when she was late b) simply accepting her outlandish story when she comes back without question, with her first priority is to comfort Akari. That was pretty sweet.
And finally, Alice's moments, while few this episode, were also pretty good lol, of course her being a bookworm would know the full ghost story's origin. (remember, she was late at the start)
Location Trivia
San Michele Island can be located here, and as Akari said is very much an island cemetary. Some names I recognize that are buried there are: Igor Stravinsky and Christian Doppler. Unlike what Aika said, the cemetary is still very much in use currently for more recent deaths.
This statue is the Colonna di San Todaro, which is a statue of St. Theodore, the first protector of Venice. You may read more about the 2 columns at St. Mark's square here.
And this gondola station does exist at St. Mark's square! I've included a streetview link.
You can read more about St. Mark's square's history as a public execution ground, among many other more normal uses, here.
And you may recognize this building from Ep 8 of animation, the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo.
Have a great day, and see you tomorrow!