neko's thinkbox

Special Thinkbox entry for the last episode of ARIA The ORIGINATION, perhaps representative for the entire series, I think. ^^;

Neko’s Golden Thinkbox

Everyone makes way for Alicia’s last time as a Prima Undine.

Phew. Gotta wipe my tears away. Honestly speaking, this episode could not have been any better, and it moved me to tears on so many levels.

Of course, it was the last episode of ARIA. My anxiety was totally overwhelming these past few days, and I kept thinking about what would be in it to make it a perfect conclusion to such a wonderful anime series.
Ever since the preview in episode 12, I had imagined Alicia would need to take some distance from her past like on Neo-Venezia, or she would take a long break, or something like that.

But who, except those who already read the manga beforehand, would have thought that Alicia would use the stress of her many jobs, as well as her future marriage as the main reasons to retire from being an Undine? I was pretty astonished at this news, a bit like Akatsuki (even though I don’t like Alicia that much, mind you). I mean, how old is Alicia now? 23, 24 (earth years)? It would be understandable if she dropped a few of her responsibilities altogether, but to completely devote herself to a life NOT on board of a gondola, is a total surprise. At least she does remotely remain in the gondola business, even though I will have to translate the whole sentences (or read the manga) to find out her new role.

Also… We never saw her fiancé either! He was never mentioned before! This really surprised me, because I really had imagined that, apart from Aika wanting to be with Al, and Akatsuki having a crush on Alicia while being on friendlier terms with Akari… There would be no real love for our Undines in ARIA. At least not in Kozue’s documented form; Doujins will of course create any (im)possible links, but that’s pretty irrelevant to my interests (Guys, don’t touch those H-Doujins. DON’T. Alicia will be sad! D:)

This image is so damn beautiful and emotional…

Putting the jokes aside, here’s the more serious part, as I promised in ep 12. Let’s hit the most prominent element of this final episode: the emotion. Even more than episode 9 and 12 combined, I kept weeping during almost the whole episode. Never has an anime ever had such an emotional impact as this. In 4chan terminology, I cried buckets of manly tears.

It is a pretty common feeling when a good story ends, no matter what setting or plot it is. With time, you grow accustomed to the different characters, their personalities, the entire environment, and you start to develop a certain affection for everything in this little bubble of fiction the whole story creates. Depending on your own personality (experience and/or emotional fragility, if you want), you may be more or less able to distance yourself from this particular fiction; keeping in mind that it is only the fruit of someone’s imagination and does not correspond to the reality in some way or another. From my experience, until now, I have been pretty successful in distancing myself like this from the many good stories I read and watched.

In the case of ARIA however, and I keep repeating myself from my past two ARIA reviews, it is this special utopian scenery that totally drew me in. This paradisiac planet of Aqua, with its wonderful city of Neo-Venezia, the man-made landscape, the weather, everything; everything is beautiful. The people living their peaceful lives, without obtrusive technology, or diseases, drugs, violence/police, etc etc. Add these beautiful girls riding their gondolas in the waterways of the reconstruction of the old Venice, each one with a different personality, from tsun (thorny) to dere (lovingly), from kibishii (strict) to yasashii (gentle), but with two common traits: friendship and solidarity. Hard feelings, rivalry and jealousy only are jokingly shown. Their common purpose is to succeed in fulfilling their goals, and to live a peaceful and complete life.

..Impossible, right? Right. Everything is sugarcoated to the max, played down to remain a positive fairy tale of the modern times. However, that is the utopia I started to appreciate and to long for. Therefore, I was engulfed in this story, I was living every week for thirty minutes on Neo-Venezia, fully feeling the raw emotion as it developed in these last episodes.
In before hazukashii serifu kinshi, I know, I just explained the obvious elements of an utopian story, and the effect it it supposed to have on the viewer. However, I felt like justifying myself for being so serious and emotional with this particular series. Perhaps you might adhere to my thoughts and feelings, or not (and label me an overreacting emo). Well, everyone draws their own personal experience of such a story. This was mine, how about yours?

I did exactly the same thing throughout the whole episode.

After this tl;dr passage, it might be easier for you to understand now (if you didn’t already know) why I cried when Akari cried, during the entire retirement ceremony, and for the rest of the episode. I knew it would be the end, I would have to part with my beloved characters, with this utopian world. This fact already had raised my emotional sensitivity in the past few episodes, and obviously now the most. Like Akari, I did not want Alicia to go away; I did not want the Undines to go away; I did not want Neo-Venezia to go away. I shared the same pain as her: I wanted this bubble, this dream, to remain a little bit longer… But, as everyone knows, every thing must come to an end, and preferably finish on a high note (unless you are called Naruto, Edogawa Conan, or…. Oh wait, those will come to an end too… someday :P).

It goes without saying that the images alone already conveyed a lot of melancholic feelings. When Alicia rowed past all of the Prima Undines in that beautiful sunset, this background of people who liked and loved her, I really could not hold back my sobs. Like on a graduation from school, from university, or whatever – much more intimate since I am watching anime alone in my room, of course – but it’s exactly the same feeling of happiness and nostalgia, adding even more intensity to the emotionality of the whole story.

But the pinnacle of it all was the music. The insert song by Makino Yui, Yokogao really struck me hard with the soft piano, violin and the gentle vocals, right there where it hurts. Even now, as I listening to the acoustic version of the song while writing, I get teary eyes.
And I dared them to do it all this time, and they did it. They got me sobbing through the entire ending by putting Undine, the opening to the first ARIA series, at the end of the series. This blissful moment of nostalgia is priceless and truthfully, I could not have been any happier.

No matter what, I will not forget that place. That city. That planet.

This rather long elegy, mainly based on the many tears I shed until now, also extends to the beautiful artwork and character design that has been done throughout Origination. The quality has increased so much ever since the first series, it is so beautiful to see the implication of the staff to make this series the most beautiful one of them all. I will miss the gorgeousness of Neo-Venezia (luckily, I got Amano’s three Illustration Works to make this withdrawal less painful).

As I said in the thinkbox of episode 12, I had labeled this last episode a sort of epilogue to the main plot, Akari finally becoming a Prima Undine, all goals have been fulfilled. I still do believe it is, and that it would have been the best thing ever if they had made a double episode for eps 12 and 13. Nevertheless, the last ep was a highlight by itself, raising the emotional bar even further, as you read through all of my ramblings up until here.
As for the contents of the epilogue, I am pretty happy with everything. Everyone lives their life as one would have expected them to (except Alicia and Athena, obviously…), and… Ai-chan becoming Akari’s new apprentice. I guess that was pretty obvious, ever since the OVA, that things would ultimately turn out like this. Well, this development sure suggests that the whole story might repeat itself, just with different characters. So, the story will never really be over!

My last ramblings… Al sure has grown up a LOT… Really weird to see him at the same height as Aika. Oh well, guess he had to grow up yet, that old man. ALSO. What the hell is up with Akari’s hairdo at the end? Was she trying to imitate Alicia in some way? Her behavior sure did unconsciously, from the smile in the kitchen to the very last line she said. However, the hairdo fails hard. I’d like to see grown-up Aika and Alice…………..
And Ai-chan looks lovely in that ARIA Company dress. …I had to say it. Sorry Aika ;_;

Thank you.

Phew. That was it! I’m done with my mourning! Oh, one more thing.
I wish to express my deepest thanks to Amano Kozue for this beautiful dream I was able to discover and to live through until the end. I hope she will come across these lines one day and find out that even in Luxembourg, there is a freak who loved ARIA. And I tell you, I am so going to Venice this year because of this.

…AAAANYWAY! I CAN NOW READ THE MANGA! Yatta!! Thank you for sticking with Neko’s Thinkbox until the end of this wonderful anime by reading my long/stupid/funny/serious/emotional reviews. Hope to see you again soon~