Aria The Animation

I don’t know how comfortable I feel starting off the anime reviews with a show in a genre that I don’t normally watch, but then again I wouldn’t be talking about it if I didn’t think it was pretty good.

I have a long and every growing list of anime that I’m interested in checking out. If it sounds interesting, it gets added to the list, much like a band gets added to my Bandcamp bookmarks folder and God knows I’m never going to get through all that but it’s the thought that counts! Aria The Animation is one of those shows that floated haplessly on “The List” but didn’t spend as much time there as I thought it would. I think for something so slice-of-life, it actually had an interesting premise with a good bit of sci-fi and even mythology dashed on top for some flavor. Aria is about the passing days of Mizunashi Akari, a girl who’s dream is to come to the planet Aqua (formerly known as Mars) and become an undine, a sort of guide who shows people around the city of Neo-Venezia, the central city of Aqua which, as you might have guessed, is modeled around the city of Venice. There is no hard, overarching story through the series and you’ll follow Akari around as she trains to be a full-time undine, meeting her friends and exploring the city and planet in the process.