Aria ~ The Peaceful Paradise
Those who read this blog from the beginning might notice its writer’s preference to peaceful, down-to-earth anime about ordinary characters - and this 13-episode masterpiece deserves its own spot on my favorite list.
The first thing noticeable is the Venetian-esque background - Neo-Venezia, the city in the watery planet Aqua where Aria’s story takes place, borrows heavily from Venice, replete with canals and gondolas. In fact, the settings plays heavily in the heart of the story - Aria is the story of four (Aquan) months in the life of Mizunashi Akari, a young Undine (gondola rower/tourist guide combined) trainee in Neo-Venezia.
Aria adds much to the peculiarity of its own settings and make a unique story and world of its own - Akari’s friends and fellow Undines with their own lively characters (all bijin! Gokuraku gokuraku… ^___^), the various perks and habits of Undines and its companies, the history and growth of Neo-Venezia, the way Aqua is being maintained and the people responsible, all revolving around ordinary - but never dull - stories about Akari and friends’ daily life around the seasons of Aqua.
All in all, the series’ creator deserves a big kudos in bringing to focus a story about a job that looks boring on the surface - and transform it in an impressive, memorable warm story. All that without bringing any kind of violence or pornography into the picture!
There is a dark side to Aria, although so little that only observant viewers would notice - Man-Home, the original planet of Mankind Aqua’s inhabitants had migrated from, has become so polluted that its seas are no longer swimmable and its dangerous to even play with the earth… But who the heck will remember that with all the beautiful sceneries of Aqua throughout the anime? ^_^;
