Bartender finished. Entertaining anime and a real change from the usual. It is undoubtedly pretentious but it's forgiveable due to the nature of the stories involved. The final episode was hard to take in, especially for me, someone who isn't particularly familiar with spirits, let alone cocktails, but the meat of the anime made it a worthwhile watch nevertheless. Recommended.

7/10

Beautiful, perfect, wonderful, stunning, lovely, warm, gentle, delightful and full of memories.

By the time you finish Aria the Natural you really do wish it never ended - one episode after next wee got to see a story that became a memory of the characters you've gotten to know, but just as how those times became precious to them, they become precious to us, the viewers. The connection you make with their world means you find yourself feeling the happiness they feel as immediately as they do and of course, you feel the sadness they feel too. Like moments or times wee hope never end, wee get to watch these memories-to-be go by in Neo-Venezia and the idea of these stories coming to an end as the episodes dwindle become a saddening prospect.

Aria the Origination puts to a close one of the most precious works of our time by showing us more stories of the day-to-day lives of characters wee have now gotten to know very well and as an inevitable consequence, love tremendously.

What defines Origination, the final season of Aria, is its focus on time. The past, present and future. Wee get to see many precious moments that wee may have expected as well as ones that wee didn't - but most importantly it doesn't allow for something that doesn't exist in reality. Eternity, and that something could last forever.

It may seem surprisingly daunting or unexpected from the Aria wee have gotten to know so well, but it manages to show us these facts of life in a way that couldn't be more Aria - by showing us Neo-Venezia in more stunning detail than ever before and getting to know the characters even better as the transitions take place that shape the inevitable futures of their lives.

It's their world that wee indulge in that sets Aria apart from anything else out there. It's shown to us in a way that, over time, makes you feel more and more like you're there, just wondering and looking forward to what will happen day-to-day and you'll inevitably start to hope that it never ends. Why would you want it to end? This applies to our lives as well as Aria - why would you want precious stories to end? The attachment to Neo-Venezia gained from spending so much time there over its first two seasons stays with you as Origination begins and makes you want to revisit it even more after each time you get to spend time there but as things start to change you slowly start to realize that the times you've loved watching are, without doubt changing in ways that won't allow for more of the stories the first two seasons had shown us. Those times are coming to an end.

Akari, our protagonist, along with her best friends Alice and Aika have to face this fact too and it becomes hard in different ways for them all. Wee get to see how they get past their struggles and learn to embrace their futures and you can't help but cheer from them as it happens. There are many more hard times in these thirteen episodes than in either of the seasons that came before it, but for all these difficulties wee get to see them pull through and find an appreciation for happiness never found before in Aria and that is what characterizes Origination for what it is - an observation of the past, present and future and showing how any or all of those times can be appreciated.

Aria the Origination puts to a close one of the most precious works of our time - that's no easy feat, but it accomplishes this with 13 perfect episodes and an ending that leaves you sad knowing wee may never see any more stories of Neo-Venezia or the people wee've grown to love ever again but even happier now knowing that Akari has learnt how to appreciate how cyclical happiness is in life and that you should make of it what you can, while you can, before it passes you by without you noticing.

As naturally as she does however, you realize that wee have gotten to learn the same thing. Wee get to appreciate, or further appreciate how happiness comes and goes in big or small ways and depending on who you are or how you're feeling this could mean little or the world to you but clearly, to me and many others, it has meant the world.

Any form of entertainment that is capable of doing that has to be something truly special.. and in this case it happens to be a Japanese animation about a girl and her life wanting to be the best gondolier she can be. How amazing is that?

10/10

Dunno, can't vouch for Cowboy Bebop cause I dropped it after a few eps. Too boring. Heard it gets much better though (if its reputation means anything it should).

As for anime with dubs, can't recommend anything cause I've not really heard many/any that I like.

Still gaming though? :>

(This post was last modified: 02/09/2012 08:54 AM by Azumi.)

There's plenty of good titles out there. This season hasn't been great but the last few have had their decent titles.

I think you're giving anime a lot more shit than it deserves, though. I'm still watching a lot that I enjoy.

HSOD was just bad and highlighted a lot of the bad aspects of anime. Can't recommend it to anyone yet most people have seen it unfortunately.

(This post was last modified: 02/09/2012 09:06 AM by S7*.)