Aria the Crepuscolo

johnbradshaw★ 10

I don't know why this short movie got such a criminally low score and I'm here to correct that. J.C Staff has never been known for producing great anime but I can confidently shout out with every ounce of my strength that Aria is an absolutely masterpiece. The same goes along with every other parts of the series. The problems with drama in slice of life overall is its unnecessary and unnatural moments. As soon as they solved a misunderstanding, another one will occur or some unpleasant problems will immediately take place. Aria doesn't need that, it precisely understands that mundane life itself has too manyworries already, it doesn't need more manmade tension or fake drama to beg for the viewer's sympathy. It carefully treats its characters like real and tender human beings. And along the blur line of fantasy and reality, Aria sends its heart-warming messages and encourage people to live on happily. This short movie is just as wonderful, they centered around the mermaid pair of Athena and Alice, they seems to trouble over something lately. And with the help of their dear juniors, under the magical night of the festa del Redentore, their feelings will get to each other. The ost of Aria is top-notch, along with the new and improved animation, everyone will enjoy this lovely movie. If you're a fan of slice of life or simply you have an hour to spare, Aria the Crepuscolo will be perfect. They will have another movie next year I believe. Can't wait.

Gippy★ 4

This is the second part of the post-TV movie trilogy, taking place after the events of the 3 TV seasons (Animation/Natural/Origination) and the first post-TV "movie", Avvenire. But while Avvenire was divided into 3 20-minute episodes, Crepuscolo and the upcoming final part of the trilogy (Benedizione) are a 1-hour movie. It's more Aria, which we would've never imagined happening after Aria the Origination in 2008. Origination wrapped up the journey of the main cast and their senior undines very nicely, and to this day, it is still considered one of the finest iyashikei (healing slice-of-life) shows ever produced. 3 years after Origination, the voice actress forAthena Glory, Tomoko Kawakami, passed away. Avvenire was released in 2015 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Aria S1's original airing. As a sign of ultimate respect, they didn't recast Athena. Instead she only appeared as a cameo, and a stock audio recording of one of her past singing performances was used. Fast forward six years later, and the second part, Crepuscolo, is finally out. What you'll immediately notice is this one isn't animated by the original studio that did Aria TV and Aria the Avvenire. Instead, it's animated by JC Staff. This decision was probably because they did Amanchu, which was by the same author as Aria, and also directed by Junichi Satou. The background art, which has always been one of Aria's strengths, was stunning as usual. But JC Staff revamped the character designs, and despite everyone looking more detailed, this is one of the few times where the detail update makes the aesthetic worse. It's jarring and off-putting, as everyone now looks too sharp and "Amanchu'd", as the style suggests they jumped out of that show. The original designs were softer and simpler, with more rounded outlines, which invited a sense of relaxation and comfort. The main issue I had with Avvenire was that the three new singles weren't given enough time to make the movie theirs and launch a new generation of undines. Crepuscolo doesn't do this either, as the movie is squarely focused on Athena and Alice. It is clear now that the new singles will play second fiddle to the Aria TV cast for the whole movie trilogy, which is a shame. But what's worse is that they did the unthinkable: they recast Athena, and then made her one of the main characters. Yes, it's more Aria, and fans will take anything they can get. But I felt that they disrespected Tomoko Kawakami's legacy by recasting Athena. Her story, along with the other senior "Water Fairy" undines Alicia and Akira, had concluded nicely. They didn't need to be in this movie. Two of them have moved on from being an undine. The movie trilogy should've focused on the new singles and their mentors. But the author was content on just having this be a supplement to Aria the Origination episode 9. Certain scenes from that episode are re-animated here, so at times this felt like a rehash rather than something new like Avvenire. As a result, this one didn't have the tranquil magic of Aria that I so fondly remembered. The synopsis for Benedizione makes it appear to have a more substantial story, so hopefully Crepuscolo was just a rare miss and that JC Staff is able to conclude the movie trilogy in a satisfying manner.