I first saw Aria when I was in elementary school, so when Avvenire came out when I got to highschool, I was like ‘hurray more Aria, I’ll watch it if I have time’. But then I got around to watch it eight years later lol. Thank you Muse Asia for bringing it to Youtube.
Anyway, I think it’s good that I watched it when I did. Aria strikes a different cord when I watched it as an adult. When I watched Aria the Animation, Natural, and Origination when I was about 9-10 years old, I remember being fascinated by the beautiful scenery and fantasy world, and just enjoying the ride with the cast. You could say that I was like the singles training to become primas, a kid studying hard to become an adult. Now that I’m an adult, it’s less about Neo-Venezia’s fantastical world and more about the people and wonders in it.
I got myself stuck in a productivity trap, which gave me a really bad burnout that progressed into depression. I started doubting all my life choices and why I’m even here. I started questioning why I was not happy despite having wonderful parents, a house to live in, a bunch of lovely dogs, and great friends that I can always talk to, and that questioning made me feel even worse. What I forgot was the lesson that Aria taught me since elementary school: appreciate the small ‘miracles’ in life. The little things, the little wonders that fill your days.
I keep learning from Aria even as an adult. When you keep looking forward, you may not see how beautiful the scenery behind you is. We live in a busy world where everything progresses so fast, that we may forget how far we’ve come and how much we’ve grown.
A lot of Aria’s three new movies is about how life catches up and you don’t get as much time with your friends anymore, which makes you appreciate those good days, and how your loneliness is a sign of how much they matter to you. I’ve never related so much with Aria. My friends are out living their own life, and we don’t see or talk as much, but we’re still there for each other when anyone needs it. That’s just part of life and part of growing up.
I got teary-eyed so many times. I was that way when I was 10, and I’m still that way now.
Okay, onto the more technical aspects of the show.
Avvenire keeps the old art style, and they could even use previous footage from Origination. However, Crepuscolo and Benedizione moved studios (I think?) to the same people that made Amanchu, an adaptation of another manga by the same author as Aria (Amano-sensei), so the art style was adjusted to match that of Amanchu. So, people are saying that Aria has been Amanchu’d. I personally don’t hate it. The style matches with Amano-sensei’s more recent works, and I got used to it after a few minutes. I think these new movies are the most beautiful animation work Aria ever got so far. Every scene is just stunning.
Another amazing aspect is hearing Athena sing again. I am aware that both her seiyuu and her singing seiyuu have passed away, so hearing Athena in a duet with Alice is like a tribute to them. The duo with Alice was just amazing, it was so, so beautiful.
Oh, and they finally gave us Aika’s graduation exam! I remember going like ‘what why didn’t they show it’ while watching the original show, and I was really happy to get to see the whole thing animated, and very beautifully, too.
What I hoped was to see more of the new Undines. These are supposed to be their movie, but the focus is more on expanding the previous cast members. It’s good for nostalgia, and I feel all fluffy inside. However, I wish they would do more with the three new girls aside from having them support their respective senpai.
I know ARIA is not heavy on romance, and Al x Aika being cannon is as far as the story goes, but man I wished we got more Akatsuki x Akari content. I’m not the only one that ships these two, right? They’re just so cute together. The movies made him from the tsundere into a loser dad lol.
I don’t have much else to say other than I really enjoyed these ARIA movies, so I’ll end this post with a gallery. Thanks for reading.
bonutzuu 