Forum - View topicREVIEW: Aria The Animation Sub.DVD
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I received this a few weeks ago, and I can not be more happy with a recent purchase.
This series is filled with so many wonderful moments. I was left soothed and uplifted, with my usual cynicism firmly kicked to the curb. There was an Answerman question awhile back about which anime world would you like to live in, at the time I could not think of one, but now I have an answer. |
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avatarl
Posts: 4 |
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This has to be THE most boring anime series I ever came across. I can sit through most slice of life and usually enjoy them, but this one takes the cake. I think I managed to watch one or two episodes before I just forgot about it. No, I don't mind the happy or laid back atmosphere, it's just plain boring. The setting is uninteresting to me, I don't care about the gondolas either, the characters don't feel interesting enough and even if they are, I can't bring myself to actually watch even one full season of this to find out.
It probably has its merits, but captivating the viewers... eh... right... There are trash that can at least keep your attention and there are jewels that can keep your attention. I don't know what this one really is, but it completely failed at keeping my attention. I'll probably watch it if I'm paralyzed in bed and wish for death or something, but as it is, I think my mind will come out of my ears and start snooping around the room to find something interesting enough instead of watching ARIA. And I hardly ever drop anime I started. And another vote for licensing Sketchbook. |
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Who Is This Guy!?
Posts: 183 |
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Cynicism is my friend. Aria is poison to my blood.
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Enner
 Posts: 91 |
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Hurrah for Nozomi and Right Stuff for bringing the DVDs over! The collector's postcards that came with the box set are a welcome extra on top of the neat guidebook, interviews, and travelouge.
It can't be underestimated how perfectly nice and pleasant ARIA is. While other slice-of-life series like YKK, Sketchbook, Hidamari Sketch, and Azu Manga Daioh all exude such pleasantness, they also have conflicts, problems, or eccentricties that are absent for the most part in ARIA (especially in the first series). To expand on Fronzel's words, in ARIA, everything is pleasant or eventually will be pleasant. YKK: A lot of things are pleasant now, but they came at the cost of a great and terrible event. (In ARIA, Earth is hinted to be some what tech infested ["You can't swim in the oceans of Man Home"], but the details end there.) Sketchbook: Things are pleasant, but there are some eccentricities to deal with (A teacher's chicken love! The broken Japanese of Kate!) as well as the daily school and club work. (While the three juniors are training hard to advance in their vocation, there never is much tension over it. Add that one is a prodigy, the other two are pretty good in their own right, and their seniors are the three best on Aqua, them being successful seems guaranteed.) Hidamari: Like Sketchbook, but a bit less pleasant, a lot more eccentric, and WIDEly cute. Azu: Like Hidamari, but less eccentric and frantic. Also, more than one trip in to the surreal. The characters, as much as I love them, have flat personalities with mild quirks that aren't as amusing as some of the oddities in Sketchbook, Hidamari, or Azu. Akari is the sappy sentimentalist, Aika is the slightly haughty girl, and Alice is the quiet & reserved prodigy. Their seniors can be summed up as the kind & caring mom, the bossy mom, and the klutzy mom. spoiler[Though, ORIGINATION turns one of them on their head in a twist that might feel contrived to some. (She was faking it the whole time?!)] In true ARIA fashion, the personalities hardly ever rub in the wrong way, and their interactions add to the pleasentness. Well, except for President Aria. The buffonery of the pudgy cat might not be as cute as intended and can break the mood of some scenes. Other than being pleasant and wonderful, ARIA doesn't have much to offer. There are some trips in to the surreal and mysterious (more frequent and odd in the NATURAL, less so in the ORIGINATION), but those are few in the first series. Some, if not all, of the melodramatic moments are saved for the later two series and OVA. More than any slice-of-life series, anime, or show, ARIA threatens to drown you in a utopia that is perfectly pleasent and nice. spoiler[Well, unless you find sticking points in that almost the only rowing jobs for females are being an Undine and that Manhome might not be nearly as well as Aqua.] If you find yourself with the need to hold on to cynicism, even if it is just a finger, if you need to define reality (even a fictional one) with at least a little persistant misery, sadness, conflict, or not-right weirdness, then it would be right for you to stay away from ARIA. However, if you are still interested but think you won't be able to stand 52+ episodes on AQUA, then I recommend waiting until the ARIETTA OVA and ARIA the ORIGINATION are brought to R1. The same pleasantness is framed with story about career and career progression that wonderfully drive the final series of ARIA. Gone are the supernatural incidents of the NATURAL that might not be some people's cup of tea at all. In its place is backstory on some characters and tears shed on more easily tangible things spoiler[rather than the lost of a first gondola]. Well, I eagerly await the first box set of the NATURAL. Hurrah once more for Nozomi and Right Stuff bringing this and many other shows over.[/u] |
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gatotsu911
Posts: 457 Location: US of East Coast |
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Sounds like something I'd watch willingly, but then urgently douse with a viewing of A Clockwork Orange.
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The Ramblin' Wreck
 Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
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ARIA is escapism defined. A world where you can try and forget about about your troubles for a half hour and enjoy Aqua and its pleasant denizens.
It could have easily become a Pepperidge Farm commercial parody, but I thought it pulled it off masterfully. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14808 |
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Heh, it's a lack of confidence picking up 3 season's worth just to release sub-only. Reminds me of AnimEigo. 
As people say: "Eh, s'kay. It's still just about rowers on boats. There's a reason Venetian rowers don't have Divos, y'know." 
(Talking about last week's Answerman's anime cliches, wassup with anime always putting Divas on everything. They could make an anime about toilet cleaners and still have Divas in it!  )
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Furudanuki
 Posts: 1874 |
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People may say that, but there certainly are "divos" among those male "Venetian rowers". In addition to being skilled oarsmen and knowledgeable guides, professional gondoliers in Venice (the ones most in demand at any rate) are expected to be able to serenade their customers with canzoni. And though the bulk of them perform at what is essentially a journeyman level, some are incredibly talented. |
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GrimaH
Posts: 22 |
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I'm a born cynic. And I marathoned Aria, and found it to be the most delightful viewing experience I ever had in my life. I guess its charm just soothed my cynicism away. Have a go at it. The series, not the marathoning. edit: I hadn't seen the second page. It's pathetic how some people can simply dismiss a series because it doesn't fit their preference of "All stories must have fighting and exciting things happening to keep me awake and rate it good". Way to miss the point of a story. Especially this one. You wouldn't be able to tell meaningful if it was thrown in your face. |
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Dardre
 Posts: 166 |
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This has to be the most pleasantly peaceful series I've ever watched. This series doesn't 'pull' or 'yank' you into the story, it lets you relax and 'slip' into the story. Something I found to be extremely enjoyable.
I highly recommend this series as an ideal anime to watch just before going to bed, or after a long and stressful day; this show will wash that stress away and leave you pleasantly relaxed. This show has a great mix of cheerfulness, gentle humor (and some pretty funny slap stick whenever Athena is around), and sincerity. I do feel the need to point out that there is no serious conflicts in this show; none at all. So if that's what you want to watch, stay away 'cause you ain't gonna find it here. There are no explosions, no violence, no fanservice, no melodrama, and no angst; if those are the things you want to see, I'd again recommend you look elsewhere. |
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tcdelaney
Posts: 169 Location: Mittagong, NSW, Australia |
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I'm a cynic.
I also pretty much marathoned Aria. And I don't just mean "Aria the Animation", but also "Aria the Natural", "Arietta" (OVA) and "Aria the Origination". Absolutely adored it. There were only 2 things in Aria that annoyed me: 1. spoiler[the Cait Sith episodes] - they just didn't fit with the rest of the show. There was no need to add spoiler[supernatural elements]; 2. Al spoiler[growing] later in the series (or was it in Arietta?). He was the oldest, spoiler[yet suddenly had a growth spurt?] spoiler[The fact that Aika liked him with no consideration for his height] was one of the most endearing things about her. |
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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Ah, my DVD set, along with ORIGINATION, has been taking it easy on my bookshelf for some time now... nice to see a review finally!
And another vote for licensing Sketchbook.
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