History Manga / Aria

* BeachEpisode: Chapter 16/Episode 5 has the trainees be brought over to a private beach in order to relax, courtesy of Alicia and Akira's good will. The original intent of the excursion was to give the trainees extra practice to keep up with summer patronage, which was avoided in the manga but done anyway in the anime.

* AnAesop: Enjoy life. Do it now! Every episode has a more specific/minor one, usually summarized and stated outright towards the end. Some fans [[SeriousBusiness elevated them to their de facto religion]].

* ShaggyDogStory: The first Picture Drama story has the main trio getting ready to participate in a soccer tournament. After Aika gets everyone fired up and they believe they have a solid strategy, [[spoiler:they're promptly eliminated in the first round]].

* SenpaiKohai: Alicia, Akira and Athena are sempai to Akari, Aika and Alice respectively. Alice is also kouhai to Akari and Aika, [[spoiler:at least until she becomes a Prima ahead of both girls]].

* GrowingUpSucks: Explored in the Epiphany chapter with Alice -- she laments not being as excited for the celebration and believes that she needs to put it and other childhood wonders behind her in order to mature. However, she still clearly longs for such excitement despite her words, and Athena, Akari, and Aika give her a quiet nighttime present in order to show that you don't have to give up childlike wonder as an adult, and can ''make'' wonder for others as well.

* SempaiKohai: Alicia, Akira and Athena are sempai to Akari, Aika and Alice respectively. Alice is also kouhai to Akari and Aika, [[spoiler:at least until she becomes a Prima ahead of both girls]].

Has nothing at all to do with ''LightNovel/AriaTheScarletAmmo'', and especially not ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}''.

!!''ARIA'' contains examples of:

* GrumpyBear: Alice. Akatsuki has some of this too, at times.

* OneeSama: Alicia, Akira and Athena.
* OneWordTitle

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Italian; Justified by Neo-Venezia being a conscious recreation of Venice, but it's even odds whether a piece of writing in the background is in Italian or Japanese. In the anime this is mingled with some UsefulNotes/{{Esperanto|TheUniversalLanguage}} as well.

* WordSaladLyrics: The lyrics for the songs performed by Athena were chosen purely for how they sound, not for their meaning. The lyrics for the opening theme were also originally meant to be a nonsensical but wound up with real lyrics instead, although a WordSalad version still gets [[InsertSong used in later scenes]].

* WordSaladLyrics: WordOfGod says that the lyrics of songs that Athena sings was chosen purely for how they sound, not for their meaning. It was also initially wanted for the first opening.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Akari has pink hair, Aika has blue, Alice has green, and Athena has purple.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aria_gondolas.jpg]]

** Alice wears hair ties that resemble the fluffy orange F.O.E. characters from Music/{{IOSYS}}'s ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' parodies.

The story focuses on Aria Company, the smallest gondolier tour business in the city with only two employees. It is run by [[OneeSama Alicia Florence]], who one day welcomes a new apprentice called Akari Mizunashi. Most of the plot deals with [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship the relationship between the two girls]] and Akari's efforts to become a Prima, the highest rank of Undine, signified by being allowed to steer a gondola without wearing gloves. Akari also befriends and trains with apprentice Undines from other companies, who each get their own screen time as the series progresses.

For people who like lovely imagery of beautiful girls against a wondrous backdrop, this SliceOfLife series is a nice change of pace from the action-filled and [[FanService fanservicy]] fare of most other anime. For this reason ([[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship and others]]), it's often compared to another Slice-of-Life work, ''Manga/YokohamaKaidashiKikou''.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Clearly Akari and Alicia, but the other girls aren't immune to this.

* LastEpisodeThemeReprise: The opening tune for the first season, "Undine", reappears in the second, during the arc in which Akari bids goodbye to her old gondola. "Undine" [[BookEnds closes off]] the last season too.

* MythologyGag: A few scenes in''Crepuscolo'' reference the ARIA Cafe. For example, the cake Anya eats when she meets Athena and the drinks at the Epiphany party are items from the cafe's menu.

* BigDamnHeroes: In Episode 20 of ''Natural'' (Chapter 38 of the manga), Cait Sith saves Akari from being spirited away by a ghost.

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: President Aria Pokoteng. The rest of the cats, as strange and varied as they were, also count for this.

The manga series is written by Amano Kozue and started out with the title ''Aqua'', but was renamed ''Aria'' when the series switched publishers from Enix's ''Stencil'' to Mag Garden's ''Comic Blade''. Both were later adapted into a 2007-2008 anime series with three parts, chronologically titled ''The Animation'', ''The Natural'' and ''The Origination'', plus a stand-alone {{OVA}} called ''Arietta''. All three installments were produced by [[Creator/{{TYO}} Hal Film Maker]].

The manga series is written by Amano Kozue and started out with the title ''Aqua'', but was renamed ''Aria'' when the series switched publishers from Enix's ''Stencil'' to Mag Garden's ''Comic Blade''. Both were later adapted into an anime series with three parts, chronologically titled ''The Animation'', ''The Natural'' and ''The Origination'', plus a stand-alone {{OVA}} called ''Arietta''. The pacing is generally [[{{Iyashikei}} relaxed and easy-going]], with lots of attention for the [[SceneryPorn beautiful scenery]] of Aqua and Neo Venezia.

Most of the drama consists of friendly disputes between the various apprentice Undines as they learn their trade. Akari also has a [[WeirdnessMagnet talent for surreal encounters]], which pushes the story into a [[UrbanFantasy fantasy]] setting at times. The later seasons and the OVA have a tendency to become somewhat melancholic from time to time, but generally the tone of the show is light and warm.

* ImprobablyFemaleCast: It is explicitly stated that being an Undine is one of the few ways that a female can become a professional gondolier, so you won't see too many men in the rest of the story. That being said, the fact that ''only'' Undines show up as gondoliers makes it look like guys don't take up the job at all. In addition, three men (four if you count President Aria) are cast regulars compared to the six company women ([[spoiler:and later, their juniors]]).

* ThemeTuneCameo: Alicia at one time hums the opening tune of the series while lighting some candles in her home.