Oh... I'm dying.
I finally got around to watching the final 3 eps of the last season... manly tears, you guys, manly tears. T_T What a wonderful ending, it may be the best conclusion to a series I've seen.
What makes it more moving is how long ago this series started... show of hands, who has also been watching since October 2005?
Two and a half years doesn't seem very long, but how many animes for thoughtful adults have come and gone since then?
Bartender,
Emma,
Sketchbook... Even more shows started before
Aria but ended in the meantime...
Genshiken,
Honey and Clover, original series
Legend of the Galactic Heroes... etc. Ahhh, such wonderful shows.
Aria also had special meaning for me... it was recommended to everyone on the old
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou forums when that manga was near the end of its long, long run.
Aria has many similar feelings as
YKK; what's more, the same band (Choro Club) made very similar music for both
Aria and the
YKK second-batch OAVs. It felt like
Aria continued a genre which
YKK (probably) started... and now that it is over... ahhh... it feels like the descendant of the world's greatest piece of fiction (
YKK) has faded into history with nothing to carry on the tradition.
It's so very sad.
Hopefully some more thoughtful shows will be released. Does anyone know of any being released now, or soon? Currently I'm following the "Gaiden" series of
Legend of the Galactic Heroes... that colossal series is the only one which seems to be targeted toward this audience.
-k
curious