Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
badabass
Aria, The Natural. Simple series, as its hardwork trying to portray the beautiful landscape of the fictional world planetary called Aqua, on the city full of water, Neo-Venezia. Its magical began to encounters by young girls act as an apprentice Undine Akari, and her friend, and Senior. Start from the appearance of huge cat named Cait Sith, the leader of the Kingdom of Martisian Cats on the Aqua. Founding the treasure of the hearts of the Neo-Venezia civilization. A romance appearance for Akari's friend, kinda embarased, but hell that was good to watch. A beautiful magic landscapes appear there, on there. The mystery of the Kingdom of the cats, and its magic path of labyrinth. Bars of the cat at the summer. Good bye scenes for the Gondola, Ghost appearance, Galaxy train, much events and fe…
Read at the sourcealgoshuffler
Aria: The Animation was a slice-of-life anime where the characters were introduced, the music was introduced, and the setting of Neo-Venezia was introduced. The writing for the first season was not particularly good, with the dialogue being somewhat lackluster and the stories being very simple. That first season would get a 7-8/10 from me.
Aria The Natural is a clear step up from the first season. The art, animation, and sound/music don't improve at all, but that's alright: it's easy to fall in love with the music in Aria. The simplistic dialogue does not improve much either. But the writing overall in season 2 is clearly better than that of season 1. No, it's not perfect in the sense that everything the episode does contributes to the underlying message, but the storytelling through eve…
Read at the sourceSerendipity
Dear customers, allow me, your Undine, to guide you down the many waterways of Neo-Venezia. It is a beautiful town with many sincere people and beautiful sights. While simple and honest, I hope that the sentiments of this town touch your hearts.
Often labeled as ‘relaxing’ and ‘cute’, Aria is definitely a soothing experience that you can kick back to after any day. However, to write Aria off as just that would be imprudent. While it can be watched solely for those reasons, I believe it is truly a heartfelt and down-to-earth journey down life’s avenues. With a multitude of gently suggested morals and life stories, it is a franchise that will grow on you with time, as you discover Neo-Venezia episode by episode. It wasn’t until Aria the Natural (Natural) that I fell for the Aria franchise,…
Read at the sourceNervin
With this title audiences are presented with the continuation of the Aria series, the sequel's title being Aria: The Natural. Aria: The Animation was mainly focused upon introducing the different characters of Neo Venezia and touching lightly on its setting, whereas the Natural is centered around developing its cast, in addition to the world of Aqua itself. I believe the sequel lives up to the expectations considering the prequel's success, although it could be said that there were some significant changes which could bother some viewers.
The story of Aria: the Natural is once again focused around the three young girls, Akira, Aika and Alice, and naturally on Neo Venezia as well. The most obvious change that I'd like to address was the expansion on the supernatural elements of the show, w…
Read at the sourceCauthan
(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)
[Synopsis]: In the city of Neo-Venezia on the planet Aqua, once known as Mars before being terraformed, Mizunashi Akari (Hazuki, Erino) works as an Undine under the Aria Company – a professional gondolier who ferries the citizens of Neo-Venezia as well as tourists through the city’s many waterways. Though only a fledgling Undine, Akari and her friends Aika (Saito, Chiwa) and Alice (Hirohashi, Ryou) have high aspirations of one day becoming as accomplished as their respective teachers, known as the Three Water Fairies of Neo-Venezia. Aria The Natural takes off right where Aria The Animation left off and in much the same way it explores the city of Neo-Venezia through the interactions of Akari and her friends.
[Characters]:
Something t…
Read at the sourcePyraXadon
In 2005, the anime community was given Aria The Animation, a show that showcased how we people can miss the smaller, more minute parts of our lives that we take for granted, which in turn displayed its unique characteristics and turned it into a beloved anime. And only after one year of it existing, do we get Aria the Natural, a sequel to Animation. So, what did this sequel have in store this time?
Story (8.45/10): Likewise to Animation, Natural bears the same story. Picking up relatively back where Animation left off, we return back to the world of Aqua, the terraformed planet formerly known as Mars, back to the city of Neo-Venezia where our main protagonist Akari trains to become a Prima Undine, a gondola driver in the city that she loves.
Similarly to Animation, Natural essentially u…
Read at the sourceBanjoTheBear
(This has been adapted from my reddit thread)
It's strange to think about everything that has gone on in one's life to get to this specific moment. The people one has seen, the events one has experienced, and the magical moments one has witnessed all culminate into a single, solitary point in time. These various encounters seem miniscule and largely unrelated. But if one looks at the bigger picture, it's easy to see that these tiny dots form quite the beautiful image. Such is the case with Aria the Natural and most of what it has to offer.
STORY
Aria the Natural begins where its previous season, Aria the Animation, left off. Akari, Aika, and Alice are still aspiring Undines, experiencing everything that Neo-Venezia, Aqua, and life throws their way.
Aria the Natural follows quite well i…
Read at the sourceLambda-kun
Aria is for me the greatest folklore tale of anime, this is absolutely relaxing and the characters fit great for that concept.
You'll find sometimes huge creature like Cath Sith, more swag than Spartacus, this guy make yours ovaries crackles until the end. I love the fact that series looks like to Galaxy 999, there's train flying in the sky after all.
The female cast is amazing, Akari is really moe sweetheart, she's the most interesting after Alice in my opinion. All characters has her defined personalities and projects ondines training.
The palette color is the best part, according to a Neo Venezia, your eyes will be dazzled by that creativity of this new world.
But wait to see Aria the Origination for the evolution of all these elements.
Read at the sourceXiaraith
One expression: "Embodiment of relaxing happiness".
Welcome back to yet another season of Aria. Never heard of this anime before? To put it bluntly: this whole series marks the pinnacle of entrancing anime Slice of Life.
To follow the anime chronologically, please watch "Natural" only after you’ve finished "Animation", otherwise you might miss out on proper character and world introduction.
Note: Alongside the actual review you will come across some diary entries written by our protagonist Akari in her usual cheerful way. Let them accompany you during your personal gondola travel throughout Neo Venezia as you read this humble examination.
~~~~~
"Dear Diary, how have you been so far?
You grew quite big, but that's not bizarre,
since I experienced a WORLD last season.
You know, so man…
Read at the sourceOdysseusUlysses
If one is lucky, there may come a point in life were you experience a prolonged period of happiness and peace, a seemingly never ending golden age of joy and determination that makes pale all other periods in comparison as the sun does the moon. Everything may not exactly be perfect, quite the contrary it may be a period of struggle and poverty, perfection is in no way a prerequisite, at the time it may not even seem that you are inordinately happy, but upon reflection you realise that those were the best years of your life. The great tragedy of the present is that we can never see it for what it is until it becomes the past… To create a series in which one can witness these feeling played out with an almost musical perfection is no small feat and a rare privilege for the viewer indeed. To…
Read at the sourceMitsui_to
I find it hard to write a review about a sequel that has a similar tone with the prequel. Yeah, same characters, same premises, same conflict type.
But still i find this sequel is better, and i'm going to tell you why soon.
The first thing that i noticed about this series is the amount of the episodes. 26. Meaning it is doubled from the prequel, Aria the Animation.
And yet i give it a better score, and yes, i'm going to tell you why soon.
Then, i browse the net, seeing about The Natural popularity and the hype about it. The Natural is not as hyped as the first one.
And yes, as you guess, i still give it a better score, and YES i'm going to tell you why.
The main story is still the same. The chronicle/adventure/ordinary life(Choose one or even, choose all of 'em) of Mizunashi Akari to…
Read at the sourcealcavey
I've been aware for quite awhile now that ARIA has been one of the top anime titles of this site.
But I always found myself putting off watching it. Admittedly, I was a bit unenthusiastic after reading the synopses...
And then I finally got around to watch it and simply fell in love with it.
I gave it full marks for everything, but if I had to point out what I liked the most..
Then it would be the characters, of course. Excluding moe-points, they really are wonderful and lovable folks and by the end of the show, you really feel connected to them.
The sounds and music were perfect. The opening, the ending, the insert songs.. Amazing. I could listen to the tracks all day.
The story was specially captivating. It has been pointed out that each episode is almost self containing, but it still…
Read at the sourceKuro4735
Right off the bat I’d like to note that this show is definitely not for everybody. The Aria series as a whole is extremely slow paced, and while it does a great job at creating an incredibly ambient, calming atmosphere, at the same time I can easily see people get bored of this series. Aria may not have the most compelling story out there, but in its stead it has a very detailed, well thought out setting, as well as a charming bunch of characters. The slow pace to this second season really does a great job with fleshing out setting little by little, and the main characters compliment this very well. There are a few issues I did have with the series (the unnecessarily large amount of episodes to Cait Sith would be one of them), and how character development didn’t really kick into high gear…
Read at the sourcestarshinesMonet
This series for me wasn't so much of a sequel, but more of a natural progression of the original. Due to the relaxed nature of the first, it simply continues where ARIA the Animation left off and lets us even further into its world.
As far as characters go, there is a one new introduction to be made and futher development into a few others, particularly those of the Prima Undines and Grandma.
Other than that though, most of the series feels like an extenion of the first one, which really makes for a wonderful series when you think on it!
Read at the sourcezerokill
If thinking of Natural as the direct sequel of the series, then it would be quite right to say it lays grounds for many pivotal events. When thinking of Natural separated from the main franchise it lacks strong foreground for most to make sense of it. Yet, it's probably what made the series successful. (Aria the Natural that is)
The story is quite much like the previous one. Without too much introductory the characters return and maintain the slow flow of time. The monotonous yet relaxing mood is kept throughout every episode. Yet, this is also where most of the mysterious elements of the series plays in. This sequel to Aria the Animation is far more linked to it's slice of life genre. Making each episode well... More episodic! Every episode being a new day and a new experience, much like…
Read at the sourceStormy_77
Story
Aria the Natural continues where Aria the Origination left off, chronicling the adventures of our very likeable main protagonist Akari and her best friends and fellow Undines (Gondoliers) Aika and Alice. Most of the episodes start off with Akari writing to her friend Ai-Chan about what is happening at Neo-Venezia and ends with a closing narration. The difference is, with Aria this is not only seamless, but very natural and fits the anime.
This is a true slice of life anime, the stories are random, mostly standalone (except a few arcs) and can be picked up at any time. All the stories are compelling in some form or another, and this anime is one of the best "feel good" anime I've ever seen. Aria the Natural is fantastically profound in that it can make you think and start to appreci…
Read at the sourceArchaeon
The problem with sequels is that they're rarely as good as the original, any show that actually achieves the feat of surpassing the original appears only once in a blue moon. Given that fact, I will freely admit that I approached Aria: the Natural with a certain degree of trepidation, especially as the original series is a favourite of mine.
Thankfully, all of my fears were removed in the gentlest manner possible.
Aria: the Natural continues the tale of Neo Venezia in very much the same manner as the original, except for the fact that this series is twice as long. The story, once more, revolves around Akari, Aika and Alice as they go through their daily lives in their "quest" to become undines. The episodic format of the original series is maintained throughout this one, and the show gen…
Read at the sourceGrimaH
I sometimes get depressed about my life being nowhere as enjoyable as any of the characters in this show.
Oh well.
STORY
Life of Akari and friends as they discover Neo-Venezia. Meh.
The one thing I noticed is that for a place which has seasons twice as long, and for a pace which goes like an old woman on stilts (not that I'm complaining), the seasons go by awfully fast. Plus the characters don't seem to grow much, especially considering they're in the latter puberty stages.
Still, that's a minor flaw if you consider the episodic nature of things this is meant to be taken as, and each episode's story is very well done, interesting, and never fails to leave a smile on your face. It's...therapeutic, the way it lifts your spirits.
Which is where this anime hits it off with everyone.
Plus it n…
Read at the sourcemartusf
This is the second Aria season, based on the slice of life manga Aria, which, on a side note, has finished publishing in Japan.
Story
The plot is quite similar to the first season, but now the individual stories are even better. Some of the episodes were pure brilliance, while the rest were really, really good. There is even some character development, and some unexpected twists. I also think that the episodes were well planned, with build-up and a sort of climax. Not much action, though, only the regular lives of the undines on Aqua. The sci-fi element worked well, as always.
Art
The animation is really lovely. The panorama-views look really good, and the backgrounds do as well. I liked the character designs a lot, but I think the animation could have been better. Specially facial expre…
Read at the sourceFaust721
This is the first time that I have ever felt an anime deserves full marks in all categories. Aria the Natural had everything I could want in an anime. Here\'s the breakdown...
Story: The reason why the plot is so good is that each episode has a unique story and it never gets tiring despite not having a running story. Neo-Venezia is a place meant to be explored and that is what we get thorugh the series as Akari and Co. meat new people and grow. Watching something like this is relaxig and just puts a smile on your face.
Animation: The world of Aria is absolutely beautiful. The town of Neo-Venezia is presented in such detail that it makes me wish that I was there. And the sceneries are a sight to see and in an anime like Aria, we get to see them in many aspects, whether it is in the mornin…
Read at the source