Nothing in life is better than sleeping. Why else would we do it so much? It's so much more rewarding than dealing with reality. The only downside of sleeping is that I haven't discovered a way to eat while I'm asleep. I haven't given up yet, but thanks to Aria, I've discovered the next best thing: eating while watching an anime that lulls you into a sleep-like euphoria. Whenever you finish watching an episode of Aria the Animation/Aria the Natural, you feel like you've just woken up from delightful nap. Naps kick ass.
I'd rejected Aria several times in the past because it
sounded too complicated to be a good slice of life show.
When I think slice of life, I expect something that I can relate to, for example,
a story that takes place in the present, preferably on Earth.
Aria, on the other hand, takes place on a futuristic terraformed Mars.
Wouldn't sci-fi and fantasy elements disqualify Aria from the slice of life genre?
Could such a show really be lazy enough for me? Hell yeah.
| Well developed minor characters |  |
| Simultaneous subplots |  |
| Comical victimization | |
| Random Cat | |
| Badass mid-episode transitions | |
| Soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura | |
| A Great Non-Yuki Soundtrack | |
| Fade into intro/ending | |
| Themes of Hatred/Suffering/Revenge | |
| Topics of Hatred/Suffering/Revenge | |
| Lesbians | |
| Stylish visual effects | |
| Dinosaurs |  |
| Graphic violence | |
| A character vaguely resembling myself | |
| Soft-spoken girl voiced by Mamiko Noto | |
| A cool non-Noto soft-spoken girl | |
| Pimp in a white suit | |
| Time Travel | |
| Obligatory hot springs episode | |
| Catch phrases | |
| Alternate Universe Filler | |
There's plenty of comical victimization.
There aren't any dinosaurs, but there's something called a Gachapen:
Gotta love those chibi faces:
And the catch phrases:
Aria pulls off the difficult feat of making characters seem simple without making them seem stupid. Furthermore, character interaction in Aria is as impressive as I've seen in any series. Throw any three characters together, and you've got chemistry, whether it's the cats, trainees, primas, or company trios. So far I've only placed the Alice-Athena-Maa trio on the list, although the water fairies (Alicia, Akira, and Athena) could easily make it.
Is Aria an accurate vision of the future? Let's hope not. I'm cool with time travel and terraforming Mars, but annoying dancing singing cats is where I draw the line. Unfortunately, the world of Aria is already becoming a reality. Venice recently saw its first professional female gondolier. What's next? A female president? I'm terrified already.