(CR) Amanchu!

[Proto]

Originally Posted by Verso Sciolto

Understood.

Personally I didn’t think of Aria when I first watched this. If Aria had not been mentioned again in these most recent comments about episode 13 I probably wouldn’t have made that association again myself in this thread.

While "Pikari" immediately pops into my head whenever Amanchu! is mentioned, I can't remember the names or particular character traits of the main characters in Aria. Nor do a lot of the events from Aria linger distinctly in my mind. I still have the overall feeling from it, which is certainly a pleasant enough sensation, but I personally find the settings, characters and especially the dynamics between the various personalities more interesting in Amanchu! - On balance though, I think the Amanchu! manga will hold up better over time than its anime too, in my mind. It felt like the animators almost “got it” but not quite. They did get the tone right for the personal interactions within this continuation of their adaptation and this is in many respects a perfect bookend to the beginning of the story as adapted.

That's probably by design. Amanchu is clearly the more character driven series of the two. While ARIA has some interesting character development, the series is much more about establishing a setting, a mood, a feeling. While I love the characters in ARIA like you I agree that they are secondary to the aforementioned things. What I remember the most about it is all the times it made me feel so much fullfillment and plenitude after an episode. For many people ARIA is THE iyashi-kei anime pinnacle, and not without merit.

And well, the second part comes mostly down to taste. It's difficult to say what will be the better remembered series down the line. ARIA is winning in sales though.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Proto

That's probably by design. Amanchu is clearly the more character driven series of the two. While ARIA has some interesting character development, the series is much more about establishing a setting, a mood, a feeling. While I love the characters in ARIA like you I agree that they are secondary to the aforementioned things. What I remember the most about it is all the times it made me feel so much fullfillment and plenitude after an episode. For many people ARIA is THE iyashi-kei anime pinnacle, and not without merit.

And well, the second part comes mostly down to taste. It's difficult to say what will be the better remembered series down the line. ARIA is winning in sales though.

Just adding to this: for me the single most important character in Aria was Neo-Venezia and nothing else. Akari was there to serve as the audience insert character who would learn about the things that the author wanted for us as the audience to learn as well. Everyone else was there just to get Akari to experience something new. It's impressive how, despite that, I still got misty eyed when their character arcs concluded in the final season

On the other hand Amanchu doesn't really feel like that. It feels much more like a journey of self discovery for "Teko".

But yeah, I kind of fell in love with Aria for the sense of wonder it managed to invoke and Amanchu so far hasn't done that for me. At least the anime hasn't, the manga (back when I used to read it) actually had some pretty interesting bits I enjoyed that haven't been covered in the adaptation yet but they were far more character driven.

For me so far it's still Aria > Tamayura > Amanchu I'm sad to say.

[Infinite Zenith]

This one's for Flower and everyone else who enjoyed Amanchu! – there's a second season, and it's joining the Spring 2018 lineup There'll be three new characters joining the main group.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith

This one's for Flower and everyone else who enjoyed Amanchu! – there's a second season, and it's joining the Spring 2018 lineup There'll be three new characters joining the main group.

Those were great news indeed!

[Verso Sciolto]

Originally Posted by Verso Sciolto

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Originally Posted by Proto

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Probably by design, mostly comes down to taste and I'm glad Aria continues to generate income for its creator, too.

Amanchu! manga. Still up: 1, 77 and 78. There will be continuation, as mentioned on the bottom line. Aria gets a mention on the side. Lots of other interesting things before April while looking forward to spring and to seeing these pages animated for Season 2, too.

[Marcus H.]

Finally finished Amanchu in three days, including the OVA.

As someone who haven't watched Aria, haven't read the manga and don't even know how to swim, I really don't have the kind of previous attachment to the series. But the story carries some kind of melancholy in it. If not for Hikari, Futaba wouldn't have made any progress in her new life in Izu and would have become an inconspicuous part of the student body... that's how bad Futaba's situation is. And for that I think Hikari for leading away Futaba out of her comfort zone and into a more adventurous life.

Teko struck too close to home, and if not for some initiative, I probably would have ended up like her. Again, thanks, Pikari.

Hopefully, Advance would bring some great underwater sights as well as sweet moments with the Diving Club. Also moar sensei plz.