Aria the Natural: Episode 8 Commentary

The Day of the Festa Del Bòcolo...

Today is Festa Del Bòcolo, during the Acqua Alta–and yet nothing was heard of the festival during the previous Acqua Alta. My guess is that Acqua Alta and Festa Del Bòcolo are on different days (the former by solar and lunar events; the latter by specific calendar date), and they simply lined up on the same day this year.

The scene with Alice and her rose is another example of character building done right. Her believing that a rose from her to Athena would be just another rose, with Akari saying it would make Athena happy, is simply a minor progression for Alice. It’s her path to learning more about people, the way they act and react. It’s Alice learning what she means to Athena, and what Akari and Aika mean to her, as friends. For such a small portion of the episode (including Alice giving Athena the rose), it carried a lot of weight in what it conveyed.

Beyond that, the slight story-building for Akatsuki and Woody, and Al, worked well. Things are going as smoothly as they have for Aika and Al, with nothing being certain about Al’s potential feelings for Aika.

This episode went far to expand upon Akatsuki. It’s already been known that he has trouble with money, but there’s more to it than that. There’s his conversation with Woody. There’s his decision to use the “no sappy lines allowed”. There’s his removing his boots the same as Akari decided to. (Akari should really get some taller boots, so they won’t be full of water when she’s walking in a deeper area.) He even had a scene to play with the viewers as he blushes when Akari says his rose to her is the first she’s ever received from a man. Hopefully he understands Akari’s view of his roses floating away, through town on the current. Although, I must say, I am surprised that he didn’t take Akari by the hair and demand that she explain things to Alicia.

As far as building characters and history, this was a good episode.