If I had to sum up Aria the Animation in just a single word, it would be mood. It is a show that is all about setting a mood and inviting the viewer to allow him or herself to be swallowed up by it. It does this through a combination of soothing visuals, calming music, and vocal performances that rarely strike a discordant note. While this does not make it different from most “healing” (iyashikei) anime, Junichi Satou just does so much better a job of it than most others.
Adapting Kozue Amano’s manga ARIA (the manga was originally called AQUA, but when the serialization switched publishers, a new name had to be employed and it has since completely superseded the initial title), Satou chose to introduce a touch of vibrancy and a spark of surprise into the work by starting the anime in medias res, not following the timeline of the manga closely. Some events are slightly out of sequence, though for an anime-only viewer, there is no confusion. This movement back and forth in time strikes a deliberately contemplative note, as you can imagine this version being more a stream of conscious remembrance of past events by one of the main characters, unlike the chronologically straightforward telling of Akari Mizunashi’s story in Amano’s original. As I said, Aria is about mood and the mood most strongly in evidence is what the Japanese call natsukashii, that longing for something lost or a time that has passed, what is often rendered in English as “nostalgia.”
The great irony is that on purely technical grounds, Aria is a work of science fiction. For it takes place right at the start of the 24th Century, when humans have terraformed Mars (presumably without monstrous creatures or massive casualties being involved) and since the surface is now covered mostly with water, they have renamed the planet Aqua (thus the inspiration for the original title of the manga).
But what we see for the most part on this future Mars is Earth’s past, not its future. For in one section of the planet, they have literally recreated Venice, Italy, having moved actual buildings in the process. You might wonder why the Italians would allow that, but in this timeline, climate change has come to Venice and the old city was swallowed by rising sea levels. Eventually, it was decided to recreate it on Aqua. So, while this may be Mars…er…Aqua and people do fly around in hovercraft of various sorts, most people in Neo-Venezia (New Venice) get around the old fashioned way: by boat.
Of course, Venice is famous for its gondolas, though the ones in Neo-Venezia work slightly differently. While you’ll be hard pressed to find a female gondolier in the real Venice, in the future Neo-Venezia, gondolas are mainly used as touring vessels and all of the tour guides are female. This is what brought young Akari Mizunashi from Manhome (the new name for Earth), as she seeks to become an Undine, the name used for female gondolier tour guides on Aqua (the name derives from an elemental water spirit; other occupational names derived from elemental mythology are also used on Aqua). In order to achieve that goal, she joins the Aria Company and apprentices under one of the most exceptional Prima Undines in all of Neo-Venezia (undines are divided into three ranks: Prima–a fully-qualified undine capable of accepting customers without supervision; Single-a journeyman, able to take customers under the supervision of a Prima and able to operate independently under certain conditions; Pair-a trainee who had just started and cannot take any passengers until she has qualified as a Single by passing a “road test” examination).
That’s really all there is in terms of plot and world-building. If you are looking for an expansive and intriguing world with complex political machinations and conflict ever-abounding…you are in the wrong place. Conflict is often deliberately avoided in the world of Aria, obviously since it is intended as a relaxing and soothing time. Even when it happens (no work of fiction can avoid conflict entirely), it is often just a setup in order to bring the characters closer together.
So, what is the appeal? The lush visuals (Satou brought members of the staff at Hal Film Maker to the real Venice in order to bring as much reality as possible into their rendering of the “new” Venice), the wonderfully atmospheric and soothing melodies of Choro Club (composed with Takeshi Senoo), and the characters. Nothing particularly stressful ever happens in Neo-Venezia, but that doesn’t make Aria boring. There is plenty to see and do as we follow the rambling adventures of Akari in her adopted home. [In a future season, they begin to verge on psychotropic…but that’s a discussion for another time].
We see Akari befriend fellow Single Aika S. Granzchesta, the spoiled, crybaby heir of another gondola company, Himeya (I don’t say “rival” since Himeya is a large operation with scores of Primas and trainees while Aria Company consists of Akari, her mentor Alicia Florence, and…one very strange cat); make friends with a shy and withdrawn, but incredibly talented, Pair from yet another company, Orange Planet: Alice Carroll; and interact with her boss/teacher Alicia along with two other Prima Undines, the supervisors of Aika and Alice: the fiery Akira Ferrari and the space-cadet Athena Glory. It just so happens that these three Primas are the undisputed top tour guides at this point in time, called collectively the Three Water Fairies.
It took quite a while for Aria to make it Stateside (and it’s a pity it was not dubbed, since the visual splendor is a great part of the appeal, so as little distraction or covering up of the screen as possible would have been for the best), but this was a show on my radar well before it was licensed, one I first saw raw on Japanese DVDs (with only a bare understanding of what was going on at times). The beauty of the landscape and the soothing nature of the music makes it a work that can escape the bonds of plot, appealing to a viewer on a much more direct and simple level. It helps that the Japanese vocal performances are fantastic even if you have little idea what they’re saying (while there are certainly rivals, Sayaka Ohara is on the shortlist for the sweetest-sounding voice in anime; it’s hard to top the infectious enthusiasm of Erino Hazuki’s Akari or the soft center wrapped with a hard edge that Chiwa Saito gives to Aika; the whole cast is great. Now, we are sadly robbed of Athena’s voice as Tomoko Kawakami passed away in 2011).
Even after all these years, Aria remains a show I can go back to, even just dropping into a random episode, without any worry that I’ll soon be at ease and relaxing to the lush scenery and gentle soundtrack. Embarrassing thoughts might ensue.
And fortunately the world just keeps on getting better, as we all know that Aria will be getting a new OVA series, Aria the Avvenire, that will be released with the new bluray boxsets coming out in Japan starting with Aria the Animation in December. So, the 10th anniversary brings something new to go along with the wonderful things we already have.
