DISCLAIMER: This review was written after watching Aria: The Natural as well. This same review with edits to pertain to Natural specifically is located on its respective page. If you were to ask me a year ago if I had an favorite Iyashikei anime I would of been confused to what you actually mean. Little did I know at the time but I had actually watched a fair number of them and they were some of my more highly rated shows. KON Non Non Biyori A Channel How To Keep A Mummy New Game and Tanakakun Is Always Listless just to new a few. The Aria series was another one of those anime on my radar that I subconsciously had added to my watch list many months ago. So when the opportunity arose to watch it with the /r/anime community during a rewatch came up I took my chance especially since its length would cause me to skip out to watch something shorter. The premise of Aria is simple Mars has been terraformed and is now covered in water and everyone there decided to model it after Venice dubbing it NeoVenezia how original. Akari moves to the planet from ManHome aka Earth and is an apprentice to become a Prima Undine at the Aria Company. It is from this simple premise that the series springboards and shines. From the many people she meets and various activities of our three main characters each from different companies we get to live in a world that looks from the Renaissance era the golden age of real life Venice but feels like the present and more often than not the future. In a medium filled with wannabeheroes conflict and drama Aria: The Animation stands out as a show with none of that. Its refreshing as whatever conflict there is in Aria is believable relatable and not overblown for the sake of entertainment. This incidents also are encompassed in each episode with no higher level plot to speak of perhaps other than the girls desires to become Undines. The cast is well thought out and doesnt ever feel bloated. The main girls Akari Alice and Aika are all fantastic each fitting a typical role. Akari is an airhead and dreamer a pink haired deredere Alice is stoic and shy our green hair dandere/kuudere and Aika is energetic and headstrong a blue haired tsundere. Their mentors Alicia Athena and Akira respectively are a neat glimpse into their students possible future. While similar in many ways they have changed in subtle ways to be different from their students over their lives making them perfect mentors for them. The supporting male cast of Akatasuki Al and Woody are windows into the other main professions on Aqua and serve as comedic entertainment more than anything when on screen other than Al which we dont see much of here in The Animation but do in The Natural. The meat of this show however comes out with Akari on screen during her encounters. The SciFi tag on this show is not misplaced something I noticed going in and was a tad confused about. While the setting of a futuristic Venice would check mark this box the visuals make you feel this is not the case. Akari is a special girl on Aqua and her various encounters bring out the SciFi elements in the show something that you have to watch for yourself to experience as I would spoil it all for you here otherwise. As the season moves on we time jump between seasons every few episodes ultimately completing a full year cycle on Aqua with Akari. By the of the 13 episode season what may have started out as your typical SoL show with three cute girls each fitting into a typical boring role morphs into something much more special. Even the characters show a noticeable change by the end of The Animation. This show really captures everyday life and that while overall you may have changed it was done subconsciously with small improvements over this time. Being from 2005 this show still stands up to me. I personally was amazed at the beauty in the artwork of the show even over 10 years later. The animation is smooth and the art style really fits well allowing you to relax and immerse yourself in the world. Voice acting was very well done each character has their own unique voice to them that is recognizable even when they are off screen. A typical gag throughout the show is Akari saying some sort of dreamy line with Aika snapping back at her No sappy lines allowed followed by Akaris now signature Ehhh? or Huh?. Music is another thing in this show that is soothing to the soul it blends perfectly into the setting. In an unusual twist Arias OP animation is different for every episode with NeoVenezia being panned over with various day to day activities of its residents. Make sure never to skip the OP cause first you will miss some great scenic shots with some a fantastic OP but also sometimes their is a conversation happening that pertains to the episodes events. Another quirk of Aria is its narration style. The beginning of the episode always starts with Akari having some sort of conversation with Alice and Aika thinking out loud to herself or reading out an email she is sending to her friend Ai back on ManHome detailing events of the day. Every episode also ends before the ED with either Ai or Akari reading out their reply email to each other from the beginning of the episode. Its such a subtle thing but it perfectly bookends each episode into its own little story with its own little lesson or discovery. Discovery and lessons are a big part of Aria teaching the viewer that you can always learn in life and it will always be unexpected. Akari is a boundless source of optimism throughout Aria and her eagerness to experience new an exciting things drives the shows narratives along. While she may be clumsy and airheaded Akari is thoughtful and perceptive seeing things in such a different light from those around her teaching even her elders a thing or two from time to time. After only 13 episodes Aria has firmly placed itself as a must recommend to anyone from me who enjoys a more laidback anime that they can unwind to after a long or stressful day. It also may be one of the oldest anime I have ever watched excluding Neon Genesis Evangelion but is still is relevant even in 2019 and most definitely beyond. Recently a Kickstarter was backed to remaster bring it up to HD quality the entire Aria collection and also dub it if you are into that thing. So I would highly recommend checking it out to see if it is available anywhere at the time of writing this review it is not. I know I will be buying it and rewatching this show again.