It’s hard to believe it has already been 26 episodes since I started watching the second season. I was really glad to see that they stayed away from all the Cait Sith and supernatural stories for the last couple of episodes. Instead of the regular opening theme, they used a slower tempo version. I don’t like it more than the normal tempo opening, but this one definately fit the mood better. Just like all the recent episodes, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this episode as well. As I was watching this episode I kept thinking the previous episode would have been better suited to be the last episode. That was until I finished the episode in its entirety. The last few minutes really gave the series a nice ending in my opinion. This chapter of the series may be over, but there is still a lot left untold. It wrapped the season up in the series’ signature style.

As far as complaints go, the only one I have is about the sheer number of episodes that revolved around the supernatural. I generally found those episodes to be less enjoyable than the other ones. Although those episodes were still all worthwhile to watch. Plus the other episodes easily made up for any discontent I may have had. The art was without a doubt one of the best of the past two seasons of anime. It wasn’t perfect all the way through, but it was great for the most part. The music seemed to have improved over the first season. I thought they were able to match the mood of each scene better this season. My guess is this won’t be the last season of “ARIA”. This is such a laid back series that it should be enjoyable to many people. One of the beauties of this season is one could skip the first season and still be able to enjoy it. Of course, I would highly recommend watching the first season as well because the first season was just as good.

I’m finally back from the business trip so hopefully there won’t be anymore major interruptions for the time being. The series managed to give us another memorable episode. Most of my favourite characters make an appearance in this episode. Even with all of its good points it was unfortunate that this episode had its share of issues. Allowing so many recurring characters to be together at one time comes with certain costs. Almost every character had very few lines in this episode. Nevertheless, I still really liked this episode. I also thought the overall art was greatly below average. The majority of the scenes managed to maintain the series’ high level of standard, but it was very noticeable when the consistency dropped. Regardless of the reason I just think it’s really regrettable this is one of the series that had to be devalued in this way. Besides the episode’s consistency I didn’t have any other problems with it.

As expected from “ARIA”, this was yet another good episode. We get a better understanding of the responsibilities as well as the ugly side that comes with being an Undine. It was funny to watch Aika, Akari, and Alice try and come up with nicknames for one another. I would have liked to hear them suggest more names for each other. It does make me wonder what nicknames would be appropriate for them. Unsurprisingly, I thought Akira, Athena, and Alicia’s nicknames were really fitting for their characters. This may not have been the first time their nicknames have been mentioned, but it must have been quite a while ago if they had been mentioned previously. We knew from before that Aika has a lot of respect for Akira even if she didn’t outwardly show it, but we get to see just how much she respects her in this episode. They could have pulled this episode off as the last episode of the season with the way they set it up. I felt like it would have been a suitable ending. Of course, I’m glad there are still two more episodes to go though.

This is the kind of episode I’ve come to expect from the series; an episode without anything to do with the supernatural that is simply easy to enjoy. It’s an extremly laid back episode, which is perfectly suited for this series. We learn about another tradition that has been supposedly adapted from the real Venezia. The episode may have been low on excitement, but everything worked nicely from beginning to end. It is episodes like this one that remind me of the sad truth that this series is going to be wrapping up very soon. Since it doesn’t follow any sort of continuous plot they could easily pull off an even longer series. There are only three episodes left in the series. I hope they can give us another great ending for the series like they did for the first season.

The only word to describe the first half of this episode is “interesting”. Aria-shachou ends up in a parallel universe where everyone’s gender is the opposite. I personally didn’t think this was one of the series’ better episodes, but I still had fun watching it nonetheless. This is one of the rare chances we get to hear the seiyuu’s try to change the gender of their characters. That in itself makes it worthwhile regardless of how good the episode is. My biggest issue with this episode was the subpar quality of the art. They weren’t able to maintain the series’ usual high standard. As for the second half of this episode, I felt it was better than the first half. We get another look into Akatsuki’s silly childhood. Although Akatsuki’s mother wasn’t in it much, I thought she had potential to be a pretty good character. At this point in the series I kind of doubt we’ll get to see her again though.

This is yet another Cait Sith episode. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to each individual viewer. If I knew it was another Cait Sith episode I would have probably been more hesitant in watching it. Luckily it turned out quite well. I thought all the elements in this episode ended up working out nicely. We got to see Akari wear something else other than her uniform, which is a rare sight. It wasn’t anything flashy, but rather a simple ensemble well-suited for someone like Akari. Watching this episode reminds me of just how mysterious Aqua remains. As much as I enjoyed this episode, I could really do without anymore Cait Sith episodes. The next episode looks like it’ll be a lot of fun, even though it doesn’t seem like there will be any sort of development.

Some pretty big things happened in the series during my trip. Akari says farewell to her old gondola and Aika gets a brand new hairstyle. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m a big fan of Aika’s new hairstyle. I have to agree with Aika, it really does make her look more mature. As for this episode, it’s yet another episode involving the supernatural. Except this time they attempted a horror theme. Personally I don’t think it fit the series at all. I felt like it somewhat tarnished my image of a utopian setting. Nevertheless, I still had a good time watching this episode. On one hand I think it’s nice that they’re trying to branch out a bit. On the other hand, this series never had any real need to diverge from the usual formula in the first place. Hopefully the rest of the series will stick with what works.

I happened to come across two posters in Akihabara which I found to be suitable for this review as well as the previous one. Click on the photo to view a larger version.

This episode should please any Athena or Alice fan. There was even more character development than episode 6 of this season. The episode adds a whole new dimension to Alice. We get to see a child-like side to Alice, which I think complements her character very well. I’m sure most of us can relate to her shadow-hopping game at some point during our childhood. When Athena suddenly rowed the gondola sideways it took everyone by surprise. I thought that was a pretty awesome maneuver. There may be a possibly we’ll get an episode dedicated to Athena, but I’m not counting on it. She was in this episode more than almost all the other episode she has been in. There’s just nothing like a fun-to-watch episode mixed with character development.

This was another episode that was comprised of two short stories. I was glad this episode had two different stories because the second one was far superior to the first. The first half was pretty much about cats and mirages. It was yet another episode involving the supernatural. I thought the first story wasn’t exactly suited for this series. Some of the stuff in that story felt like it didn’t belong in the series. The second half on the other hand was just what one would come to expect after watching all the other episodes previous to this. Watching this episode reminds you that this is what “ARIA” should be like. Personally I really enjoyed the yakourin story. It was nice to learn about another one of Neo-Venezia’s traditions. Tanto grazie.

In this episode we get to learn about Neo Venezian glass. It’s not exactly the most exciting thing, but just leave it to the series to make the episode entertaining. There really wasn’t any sort of development except for the fact that this was her first job she was hired for. It didn’t seem like much happened in the episode. Before I knew it, the episode was already over. I didn’t think this was anywhere close to being the best episode of this season, but I still got some enjoyment out of this episode. We do get to hear a bit about imitation and authenticity, which was pretty interesting. It’s unlikely it will come up again in the series, but it does give us something to think about.