Aria The Avvenire 1
So at least now I know what I can vote for in AOTY now. lol
Man, I don't even know what to even say about this episode. There are just so many emotions going through me right now. New posters might not know, but I'm very invested in Aria and consider it probably my favourite show of all time, let alone anime, so I'm just happy to come back to the world after leaving it for a few years.
It's all so familiar, from the Choro Club soundtrack, to using Undine as the OP, to how the episode itself just opens with Aria-sachou doing his same old shtick. It all feels like the show never really ended. But of course, while the familiar OP plays you can see things have changed since the final episode of Origination.
It's just strange how it disturbed my nostalgia - particularly in a season when we have a Star Wars sequel and a Rocky sequel that are both manipulating nostalgia for the sake of re-establishing franchises. And I admit to simply enjoying the manipulation, because I just don't want to be cynical about Aria or SatoJun's desire to make a few special episodes to commemorate the anniversary of the anime.
But admittedly, it does just that. Particularly when it answered the long-standing question I had about how they would include Athena in these sequels. Needless to say, they did so in perhaps the only way they could, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I actually got emotional when it happened because, in many ways, this episode serves as an homage to the memories of both Tomoko Kawakami and Eri Kawai and the contributions they made to Aria.
Feeling happy, nostalgic, melancholic and reflective all at the same time is not something I really expected to feel today... but I guess when it comes to Aria, that's the only way I can feel.
Perhaps the one criticism I would have, and this is perhaps reflective of where anime is now compared to in 2008, is that the use of CG is just so noticeable in a world where it was absent before. It's used fairly sparingly, but it's still there.
I'm looking forward to the next one of these in a month or so. Although there's a part of me that's selfish and wants these episodes to serve as a springboard for just a whole new season featuring the new girls. (I'm buying into the Star Wars shit, but just in a completely different context, I know. lol)