Aria the Crepuscolo

As always, I have conflicting feelings about the straightforward Aria, which mix together about as successfully as mercury and water. On the plus side, it has a supremely powerful relaxing effect with an up to a 99% soporific success rate, it focuses heavily on documentary-like, almost intoxicating scenery of the city and its surroundings, fans of the letter A will be delighted (only the biker Woody oddly stands out, and not just because of his hairstyle), and the endless goodness of the people here makes the purpose of police and jail meaningless. I don't mind that the universal evil will be most allergic to this ripoff of Venice, but on the negative side, the same allergy applies to the depth of the characters, the humor, and the plot (whereas the 3rd season, Origination, was a pleasant surprise and for that reason alone is by far the best in my eyes). Anyway, anyone who ever gets to see this film must have been through the original series and therefore these aspects can't surprise them in any way and the viewer knows what they're getting into. Even so, it's quite unfortunate that the main "stumbling brick" (I'm not going to use the tired "stumbling block", because that would actually be excessive for describing Aria's problems) is almost identical to the one in Avvenire, namely the friends finding their way back to each other after not even a misunderstanding, but just because of a strange and banal disparity of feelings that could never cause any kind of disagreement anyway. Normally, I would forgive Aria any reason to take a scenic ride on the gondolas again, gaze at the quite charming streets of Neo-Venezia (and at the same time not to have to see the prudish President Aria or to avoid the altogether hollow caricatures), but please don't make the girls bigger drones in such an unpleasant and already repeated way. The proof of this mediocrity is ultimately in the fact that the flashback from Origination, which I love and know so well, was the part I enjoyed the most. For sure J.C. Staff managed to dust off the visuals and take it up a notch in quality, though even by the end they were losing their grip on it and the character of clumsy Athena started to get proper and uncharacteristic fan service in there, but that can be forgiven for the minutes that had come before in terms of aesthetics. Overall, though, I was sadly unconvinced by Crepuscolo (not much of a title, eh?), leaving the letter "e" in the title quivering lest it be replaced in full irony by the much-loved "a" so beloved by Aria, and in the final reckoning, this episode definitely bored me rather than pleasantly rocking me. A weak 3 stars. (08.09.2021)

It has been almost five years since I last peeked into the world of Neo-Venezia, and I enjoyed again the wonderful atmosphere and relaxation that I had almost forgotten this anime series could deliver... Of course, it all came back to me quickly, because even this new movie still has those old familiar ingredients that make me enjoy watching anything featuring these gondoliers. It looks good with its beautiful and magical setting in a city partially submerged in water, and some of the scenes are, in a word, breathtaking. In other words, somebody did quite well with the visuals. The soundtrack is excellent, it creates a terribly pleasant feeling, is soothing, and I would almost like to say it heals the soul. The narrative is interesting at certain points, although I did feel like it is basically repeating the same idea over and over again, and that at least one of the themes in this whole "Aria franchise" may be getting a bit overused, however, despite saying that I am still pretty into it and it still gives me the feels. So all in all, it is a likable show, a pleasant experience - and something that will probably make me get a night of good sleep now, which I can commend. 8/10. (29.08.2021)