Aria the OVA: Arietta
Akari Mizunashi dreams of life after attaining her goal of becoming a Prima Undine, but upon waking realizes that she might not actually have the confidence to run Aria Company on her own. Wary of the future, she seeks advice from her mentor Alicia Florence—one of the three great "Water Fairies" of Neo-Venezia. Much to Akari's surprise, Alicia reveals her own struggles of the past, but also shares the steps she took in overcoming her self-doubt of running the company and taking on an apprentice. Finding solace in her teacher's words, Akari prepares to embrace whatever trials she must overcome on her path toward achieving her dreams.
Ani*Kuri15
15 one-minute shorts created by various people from Japan's animation industry. The title of the collection, Ani*Kuri15, is abbreviated from the words "anime" and "creators". Season One Shinji Kimura (Studio 4°C; Art Director, Steamboy) - title: Attack of Higashimachi Ni Chome/Attack of Higashimachi 2nd Burough Shōjirō Nishimi (Studio 4°C; Character Designer, Tekkonkinkreet) - Uchujin Raikou Hiroshi no Baai/Invasion from Space - Hiroshi's Case Akemi Hayashi (Gainax; Character Designer, Fruits Basket) - Namida no Mukou/From the Other Side of the Tears Osamu Kobayashi (Madhouse; Art/Mecha Desgin, Gungrave) - Sancha Blues/The Aromatic Tea Blues Yasufumi Soejima (Gonzo; 3D/CG Director, Last Exile) - Hyotoko/Blaze Man Season Two Atsushi Takeuchi (Production I.G; Mecha Design, Ghost in the Shell) Mamoru Oshii (Production I.G; Director, Ghost in the Shell) - Project Mermaid Kazuto Nakazawa (Studio 4°C; First Unit Director, Kill Bill Chapter 3: The Origin of O-Ren from Kill Bill: Volume 1) - "yurururu" ~Nichijou Hen~ Ranji Murata (Gonzo; Character Design, Blue Submarine No. 6) and Tatsuya Yabuta (Gonzo; Story Design, Final Fantasy VII) - Gyrosopter Tobira Oda (Original Manga, Danchi Tomō) and Yasuyuki Shimizu (Key Animation, Naruto (movies)) (Studio 4°C) Season Three Michael Arias (Studio 4°C; Director, Tekkonkinkreet) - Okkakekko Makoto Shinkai (Comix Wave Film; Director, The Place Promised in Our Early Days) - Neko no Shuukai/A Gathering of Cats Shōji Kawamori (Satelight; Director, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?) - Project Omega Mahiro Maeda (Gonzo; Director, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo) - Onmitsu Hime Satoshi Kon (Madhouse; Director, Paprika) - Ohayō/Good Morning
Aria the OVA: Arietta (Dub)
Akari Mizunashi dreams of life after attaining her goal of becoming a Prima Undine, but upon waking realizes that she might not actually have the confidence to run Aria Company on her own. Wary of the future, she seeks advice from her mentor Alicia Florence—one of the three great "Water Fairies" of Neo-Venezia. Much to Akari's surprise, Alicia reveals her own struggles of the past, but also shares the steps she took in overcoming her self-doubt of running the company and taking on an apprentice. Finding solace in her teacher's words, Akari prepares to embrace whatever trials she must overcome on her path toward achieving her dreams.
Tetsuko no Tabi
ased on a seinen manga by Kikuchi Naoe and Yokomi Hirohiko, serialised in IKKI. The "story" is that a manga artist is asked by her boss to accompany him and a travel-writer on various train trips around Japan and draw a manga about it. The kicker though, is that it's completely non-fiction —the creator really did go on all these trips, and the manga simply records what happened, with no embellishment. There's a little disclaimer at the front that says "This is non-fiction, so I apologize for the lack of drama," and indeed, it mostly is just about them riding trains from place to place, waiting on platforms, etc. The "travel writer" turns out to be a super train-otaku who has vast knowledge of the train network, but also micro-manages all their trips, planning every detail down to the second. He cares mostly about following the schedule and successfully achieving his planned goals (e.g. visiting all stations on a line in a completely bizarre order to accomodate infrequent trains). The mangaka doesn't really care about trains; she's cynical, sarcastic, and rather lazy (she mainly just looks forward to the next eki-ben); he's completely gung-ho as long as he's following the schedule, and the inevitable conflicts are pretty entertaining. Throughout, though, it feels real —if you've travelled by train in Japan it will all seem very familiar, not just the scenery, but also the atmosphere and feel— and the artist does a great job of pacing and applying little tweaks to keep it consistently entertaining. In an additional bit of recursiveness, some of the characters who show up in the manga (who of course are real people, who really did show up) do so because they (really) read previous episodes of the manga! In addition of course, you can learn about various out of the way and interesting Japanese train lines and stations; some of them really do look cool. There's always this vague sense of surreality about it however, the trips are all planned by the train-guy (goal: visit all 9,843 stations in Japan) who seems to consider everything as part of a checklist rather than an experience to be enjoyed. You learn a bit about train-otaku culture too; there's really only the one guy in the story, but train-otaku culture is a sort of constant peripheral presence.
Sketchbook: Full Color's
To Sora Kajiwara, the world is full of wonderful and adorable things she wants to draw—cats being a popular object of her affection. Even though there are some things that can't be captured with a pencil and paper, she still brings her sketchbook wherever she goes. Her love of drawing eventually leads her to join her school's art club, despite her shy and childish personality. Just like herself, all of Sora's fellow art club members have their own vivid imagination and personality to match. Through her interactions with the rest of the club, Sora begins to break out of her shell and see more of the world around her, taking every opportunity to sketch whatever is on her mind or in her heart.
Tokyo Marble Chocolate
Serious and generous, but a bit shy, Yuudai has been unsuccessful with the opposite gender. Chizuru is an energetic and cheerful girl, but when it comes to boyfriends, she's been unlucky and clumsy, and never had a steady relationship. This is the first Christmas the couple spends together. Chizuru loves animals and Yuudai plans to give her a rabbit in a box, but it turns out to be... a mini donkey?! As the funny creature escapes, Chizuru goes after it, and Yuudai loses sight of them both! The time that should have been spent together... The important feeling that should have been revealed... Small, but precious things that tend to be buried in every day life. What answer will the two youngsters find while separated from each other? Yuudai and Chizuru—their feelings and the time they spent far from each other are delicately unfolded in this double-sided pure love story told from two different perspectives!
Sola
Sola's story revolves around Yorito Morimiya, the main protagonist, who is a young boy attending high school. He loves taking pictures of the sky at any time of day and any time of the year. One day, Yorito decides to take a picture of the sunrise overlooking the bay, but is deterred when he meets a strange girl trying to force a vending machine that stole her money to give her what she tried to buy—a can of tomato juice. Yorito helps her with forcing the machine while attempting to strike up conversation with her, despite it being four in the morning. Yorito tells her why he is here, but by the time he has forced the can out of the machine, the girl has mysteriously vanished.
Nodame Cantabile (Dub)
Shinichi Chiaki is a first class musician whose dream is to play among the elites in Europe. Coming from a distinguished family, he is an infamous perfectionist—not only is he highly critical of himself, but of others as well. The only thing stopping Shinichi from leaving for Europe is his fear of flying. As a result, he's grounded in Japan. During his fourth year at Japan's top music university, Shinichi happens to meet Megumi Noda or, as she refers to herself, Nodame. On the surface, she seems to be an unkempt girl with no direction in life. However, when Shinichi hears Nodame play the piano for the first time, he is in awe of the kind of music she creates. Nevertheless, Shinichi is dismayed to discover that Nodame is his neighbor, and worse, she ends up falling head over heels in love with him.
Nodame Cantabile
At a top music academy in Japan, Shinichi Chiaki’s arrogance is matched only by his top-notch piano playing. But when Chiaki and the teacher get into a fight, he’s demoted to the reject class. Chiaki is left to pursue his dream of being a conductor while surrounded by a bunch of loser musicians and one annoying girl, Noda, who has proclaimed herself Chiaki’s girlfriend. It doesn’t help that Noda, who insists on being called Nodame, lives right next door to him.
Mokke
This is a story about two sisters: Shizuru is a high school student who is able to see ghosts while her younger sister, Mizuki, is haunted by these apparitions. Frustrated by their abilities, their parents decided to entrust the sisters into the care of their grandparents who live in the countryside. As they adapt to life in the countryside, Shizuru and Mizuki begin to learn about the importance of coexisting nature with these apparitions.
Miyori no Mori
After being deserted by her parents, 11-year old Miyori shuts her heart from the rest of the world and denies any form of human relationships. She was entrusted in the care of her grandmother who lives near the forest. Miyori will take a walk in the forest where she felt a strong sense of loneliness in the forest which seems to have nothing. However, she soon encounters unbelievable things and gradually realises that the forest is more than what it seems...
Minami-ke Tadaima
There are three of the Minami sisters: Haruka, Kana and Chiaki, who have an average life. The girls only have each other to depend on and help each other get through everything from love confessions to cooking.
Minami-ke
There are three of the Minami sisters: Haruka, Kana and Chiaki, who have an average life. The girls only have each other to depend on and help each other get through everything from love confessions to cooking.
Lucky☆Star (Dub)
Lucky☆Star follows the daily lives of four cute high school girls—Konata Izumi, the lazy otaku; the Hiiragi twins, Tsukasa and Kagami (sugar and spice, respectively); and the smart and well-mannered Miyuki Takara. As they go about their lives at school and beyond, they develop their eccentric and lively friendship and making humorous observations about the world around them. Be it Japanese tradition, the intricacies of otaku culture, academics, or the correct way of preparing and eating various foods—no subject is safe from their musings. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Asatte no Houkou
Karada is a young girl who hates being treated like a child and who wishes to be grown up. Shoko is an aloof, unhappy young woman who has just returned from overseas. When they meet by coincidence one night at a local shrine where they both like to make wishes and both exchanged ages.
Aria the Natural OVA
In a continuation of the last series, Akari Mizunashi continues her job as a gondolier along with her friends from the other two rival companies, Aika and Alice. As they continue their training to become Undines, they continue to meet new people and partake on mysterious adventures, all in the quiet, scenic, and peaceful city of Neo Venezia.
Aria the Natural (Dub)
Akari Mizunashi continues her training to become a Prima Undine (a professional tour guide gondolier) along with her friends Aika and Alice in the peaceful city of Neo Venezia. Despite the fact that these three girls are from competing companies, they are constantly together, learning more about how to become better tour guides and more about the mysteries of Neo Venezia. As the group continues to meet interesting and unforgettable people through their daily routines, they will also come closer to the secrets that make the enigmatic and ever beautiful city of Neo Venezia so warm and alive. Welcome back to Neo Venezia: the city where miracles can be created by hand.
Aria the Natural
In a continuation of the last series, Akari Mizunashi continues her job as a gondolier along with her friends from the other two rival companies, Aika and Alice. As they continue their training to become Undines, they continue to meet new people and partake on mysterious adventures, all in the quiet, scenic, and peaceful city of Neo Venezia.
Animal Crossing
Ai is a self-reliant girl that moves to Animal Village. She makes friends with the various villagers as she settles into the village. One night as she walked along the beach, she finds a message in the bottle. It sets her off on a quest of planting pine trees around the village to fulfill a miracle on the eve of the Winter Festival.
Amaenaide yo!! Katsu!! (Dub)
In this sequel, a girl named Kazusano Kazuki join up with the 6 girls and Ikko. With Kazuki around, Ikko will find himself in more embarassing situations with these priestesses-in-training.
