12 Days Day 12: I’m just a little happy
What better way to finish off a series of posts like this than to reminisce on my most awing anime experience of the year? On May 7th I woke up to see that Aria the Origination episodes 12 and 13 had been delivered to mplayer. I was nervous about my AP Calculus exam, so I figured I would watch some calming Aria and let it soothe me.
I always liked Aria, from the day I watched the first episode of the Animation more than a year earlier. I’d never for one moment, though, considered that it would break into my Top 10 list. My Top 10 list being riddled with such hits as… Interlude, Kannazuki no Miko, AIR, Loveless, and Saishuuheiki Kanojo.
I cried once during episode 12 of the Origination and I cried four times during episode 13. I cried when Akari cried, I cried when Akari cried again, I cried when Akari woke up the next morning, and I cried when she uttered the last line of the whole show:
“Chotto ureshii dake da yo.”
The moment I heard those words, I understood that Aria was my favorite show of all time. My Top 10 list crumbled like Teppelin, replaced with a single show upon a single pedestal. I cried like a mother at her daughter’s wedding when I heard those words, and then I went to school and kicked the shit out of that Calculus exam’s ass.
P.S. “Only two posts about Aria, lolikit?” Yeah, I could have made every one of these twelve posts be about this show. I tried hard not to. It was a grueling task, but I won in the end. V!
shirokiryuu and 4 others are discussing. 
dood, 
CCY 12:07 am on December 25, 2008 Permalink |
lolikitsune’s 12 Days posts: all the emotional power of mine, none of the tl;dr. I give this a Stamp of Approval.
(damn it stop making me want to watch Aria, it doesn’t work if I try to watch Aria)
Omisyth 4:11 am on December 25, 2008 Permalink |
The first episode of Aria bored me to tears. Is there something I’m just not getting, or a certain turning point in the show? And none of that “slice-of-life might not be for you” shit, I love SOL and/or slow-pacing.
lolikitsune 4:50 am on December 25, 2008 Permalink |
@CCY: thanks for the approval :P And uh, yeah, you -should- watch Aria.
@Omisyth: I’m going to take a wild guess and assume that you weren’t actually bored to (pained) tears. I won’t lie: Aria is boring. It’s not a matter of SOL/not SOL. You can have SOL like Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star or Sketchbook; shit happens and it’s funny or relatable. Aria is not like those shows despite being under the same umbrella.
It’s boring.
It’s hella fucking boring.
If you were bored by it, all I can say is it’s doing its job. The rest is up to you—do you choose to enjoy that boredom? Or do you choose to say that that boredom left you in tears?
There is a turning point in the show, about 48 episodes in, when it blindsides the viewer with “OMG PLOT.” But this only has any power or interest if you’ve spent those 48 episodes learning to love the characters.
It’s not a simple matter of pacing… it’s a fundamental matter of content. For forty-eight episodes, nothing happens. That’s Aria, and if you enjoy that boredom, then props to you, and if you don’t—well, more power to you.
P.S. The characters are lovely and teach us lots of wonderful things. That’s the show’s main draw to me.
bluemist 6:43 am on December 25, 2008 Permalink |
I’m just a few episodes in, but what attracted me to Aria are those characters. If they weren’t as interesting in the first few episodes I’d also be bored to death too.
I like this pace where nothing happens and yet there’s always something new to explore. Like new sights and sounds, characters explaining how life works around town, etc. Makes the Aria world grow bigger and bigger. I hope it is this way for those 48 episodes.
Baka-Raptor 8:11 am on December 25, 2008 Permalink |
Sissy. The only thing about Aria that made me cry was the price tag.
Zeroblade 11:28 am on December 25, 2008 Permalink |
“The characters are lovely and teach us lots of wonderful things. That’s the show’s main draw to me.”
Likewise. That, and it’s the most calming animated thing ever. EVER.