First thing I noticed was that Akari’s chin is a lot sharper; all that gondola rowing seems to have melted away her baby fat. Not that I mind as she looks more grown-up and a lot prettier too. Which fits in well with the increased love-love atmosphere of this OVA.

As noted by YSAB Main Office’s Admiral Erica, a sharp upswing in Akari x Alicia was detected in this OVA. Though I normally feel that any and every anime series can be improved by having MOAR yuri, I didn’t greet this development with immediate and unrestrained enthusiasm; mainly due to Rule No.12 rather than any preference for an alternative pairing. Haiz. But it was ‘undeniably romantic’ and I expect fanfic writers will be getting busy with the aftermath of their date. Will be interesting to see if we get more along this line in the next season.

Minor note. While the dream where Akari is already a prima was a good way to set up the Alicia x Akari dynamic of this OVA, I was wondering why Alicia had to leave once Akari becomes a prima. Can’t the ARIA company have two primas? After all, Himeya and Orange Planet have whole fleets of prima undines.

And Alice-chan is hilarous even when she is ghostly gloomy. Athena-senpai is Glorious, of course.

Looking forward to ARIA The Origination; I do hope that Akari doesn’t go back to being chubby.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

I was about halfway through ARIA: The Natural when my laptop went kaput. But I was inspired to pick up where I left off by Francesco’s Venice which was recently repeated on BBC4.

The historical comparision was startling. Francesco da Mosto laid out how Venice was a place of great art and culture but also a latter day Sin City, home of Casanova and syphilis. It was the herat of a mighty trading empire that was laid low overnight by Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope. A third of its population died horribly from the plague. It was stripped of its treasures by Napolean, many of which are still in France. Then the existential threats of the sinking lagoon bed as well as native Venetians being crowded out by tourism.

But da Mosto’s exposition also explained how the romantic image of Venice created by the poet Byron and the painter Turner are still with us today. And this legacy is evident in the anime. But by placing it on another planet far into the future, the series has bypassed the grotesque mirage of our own age and successfully created a sci-fi/fantasy world of beauty, grace and love.

Great characters are an essential part of the series’ charm. Plus the chibi mode in combination with the humour, deadly effective on me – I was laughing so hard I had to stop the playback when SD-Alice said: ‘From the ancient times… Gachapen desu!’

Despite powering up my yuri goggles to maximum strength and Okazu priming, I just couldn’t pick up any yuri vibes beyond lots of admiration. The absence of real male love interests means that LFB hope springs eternal though.

Athena-senpai is gorgeous as always. More glimpses of young Athena was great too.

Aika’s new hairstyle is soooo much nicer. I started to like her character more almost immediately. Yes, I am that shallow. orz

In other news, Akatsuki’s mom joins Ama Shigure and Yukari Takara on my anime MILF list.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.