Anachronisms abound in Neo-Venezia, a recreation of 20th century Venice on the terraformed Mars of the future. And there’s nothing more anachronistic than a written letter. (Not to mention the Japanese postal symbol 〒, and radio calisthenics.) Even today, in the 21st century, how many of us can relate to Ai-chan who has never sent nor received a letter?
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| Special delivery for President Aria |
President Aria is hinting at later developments. The butterfly is a
symbol of marriage in Japan.
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| Mission start! |
This guy has always reminded me of the old man from
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. And Akari is at her most Alpha-like as she helps him in his rounds. Her incredible eagerness to learn new things is one of the traits we love her for. And her amusing penchant for stating the obvious, “Neo-Venezia has a lot of mailboxes,” is why we make fun of her. Oh, but Aika isn’t around to deliver her trademarked riposte.
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| Lovely as always |
Aika-chan with her hair down: what a treat. Get used to seeing pictures of her every week. I am her unabashed fan. And who can mistake Matsuki Miyu as the bride? She always gets the teacher roles. The basilica she gets married in is
Santa Maria della Salute. There are a lot of churches in Venice!
As lovely as Akari comes off, I always liked how YKK never does state the obvious. The expressiveness of the very absence of speech bubble made for a formal depth that Aria lacks. Hey, not trying to be disagreeable; although I'm partial to Ashinano's works, I love Aria.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I always found Aika to be the best character in the series. Best teacher-student chemistry (with surprisingly good rationale for them to get along); best character development (the way she gave up on her fascination for Alicia and how it was symbolised by the haircut and how the mental change clearly affected the scripting).
Have fun with the rest of your journey.
> Hey, not trying to be disagreeable;
DeleteThe name of your blog suggests otherwise.
But you're right. YKK is worshiping at the high altar of iyashikei. Ashinano presents Alpha's world just as it is, and it's up to you to find your place in it. If Aria is a guided tour of Neo-Venezia, then YKK is backpacking through Europe with just a beat-up copy of Fodor's.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteAs for YKK, sometimes I wonder if Akari is also a gynoid? To me, Aria manga's unanimated and cryptic Navigation 56 suggests she may not have been truly aware of her own existance until that point. Btw, did she really fly to Mars and never an "earthling" family member came to see her? Maybe she was manufactured in place and primed with "replicant" memories?
My theory on the family tree is:
DeleteYune (Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth) is great-grandmother to Fuu Sawatari (Tamayura). Akari is the seventh-generation daughter to Fuu. And Akari is ancestor to Dr. Koumiishi who helped create the A7s.