Subculture Anime Blog

Oh President Aria, you’re so smart.

Summary:

After Akari prepares breakfast with Alicia, she notices that President Aria is reading a newspaper rather than the usual simple reading he does. Various things are being built around Neo Venezia as Akari meets Alice on the way to see Aika. When the girls finally gather, they discuss the various things being brought over from Man-home. The girls are surprised that Akari has not been inside one of the structures, so they suggest that they visit that day. Stopping by one of the buildings, Alice tells Akari that the designs were made by a college student. The girls notice a big crowd not too far away, which turns out to be a group of kids lining up to buy candy from a vendor. Aika recognizes the salesperson as an employee from a hotel, wondering why he is now in this position. A child trips and breaks the container for his candy, so the girls go to help him. The vendor Anri stops Akari before she attempts to pick up some of the broken glass, giving the crying child a replacement. Akari feels sorry for the broken chocolate container, but Aika expresses that it can’t be helped. The girls buy some of their own candy afterwards, and Anri watches them with a bit of concern as they walk away. The girls visit a grand cafe next, which Akari believes is like an art exhibit. The manager comes across the girls, receiving their compliments before their departure. When the girls go back outside, they find that Anri is no longer there.

The girls see Anri while practicing on another day, wondering what position he is in now. At home that night, Akari treats Presient Aria to one of the few remaining chocolates she has. While riding with Alicia and her customers later, she again sees Anri through the viewfinder of her camera. Alicia lets Akari rest after seeing her customers off, so she takes the chance to wander around town with Presient Aria. The two spot Anri again, quickly chasing after him. When Akari finds him in an art exhibit, he tells her to meet him later so that he can give her something. Akari eats another chocolate that night while contemplating her meeting, leaving only two more in the glass container. The next day, Akari finds that Anri is setting up his small candy shop again. He credits this to Akari, who felt sorry for the broken container before. Anri expresses that the wants to make people smile, and that he had almost forgotten about this. Anri gives Akari another two bags for herself and President Aria as a thanks, before having her come with him to the cafe from before. While discussing the calming feeling the shop gives off, the manager again stops by. Anri is surprised to finally learn that he is the manager, as he goes on to explain the authenticity of the art works around them. Akari finally realizes that the tall buildings as well as the small chocolates that Anri makes are a given for Neo Venezia, and this is what makes them wonderful. Anri meets the boy who has visited his shop before outside, quickly setting up his shop again to please him and the other children who have gathered.

Preview: Uh oh, who are these new Undine?

Impression:

So I don’t know how many people have actually noticed, but I’ve been experimenting slightly with my posts lately. It might be the fact that I am again pressed for time because of Uni, or that I am just getting bored of following a formula for so long. I dunno if I can even call this post’s summary a full one, especially since my Aria ones thus far have been quite long. The fact still remains that I originally only started this anime blog to practice Japanese, but it seems like it has slowly become just having the chance to talk about all the anime I love (which happens to be a good chunk of each season). My consistency has been all over the place for many shows, and I’m wondering how long it will take before I try to do something different again. But ha, this isn’t a burn out post or anything (which seems to be kind of popular around the blogsphere around now. Maybe I’ve been around long enough to finally realize when this stuff comes around) . I just like to talk about this kind of thing randomly in posts that few people read. It’s not the first time I’ve done it anyways.

I think I’m going to start about various slice of life aspects after each of these episodes, because as Orion says, this is like the slice of life anime. The theme Akari revealed at the end of this episode is a perfect concept to touch on. One thing that these shows does is take something that would usually be a given, and reveals just how wonderful it really is. It really makes you look at things in your own life in a whole different perspective. How many times do you really sit down to think about something as simple as a small jar of chocolates, or anything else that makes you happy? I wonder if it really takes anime to tell someone to appreciate the things they have never thought twice about before. That’s what I love about slice of life, and it is really unfortunate that so many people do not know how to appreciate it.

I’m not sure if there is much to say about the actual episode. As Aria is an episodic show, most things stay the same besides the new central concepts they introduce in each episode. All of the girls were wonderful as usual, as well as the hilarious noises that President Aria made. I loved how they brought art into the picture, and I noticed a lot of the lighting in this episode for the first time (because I’ve been studying it all day). I’m also interested in hearing the voices of the random characters that are introduced in each episode. A lot of these characters only last for a single episode, or may come back at another time, but that doesn’t mean they do not get proper treatment. Anri in this episode was played by Mizushima Takahiro, who is currently playing Kazuki in Kimikiss. I probably recognized him easier than I usually would have, because I just watched that show earlier today! I’m definitely looking forward to the next episode with the new Undine. Akari will probably own them with her awesome hidden skills by the end of the episode. Who wants to bet!