Aria The Natural Episode 5

Sometimes, when we go on a journey, we might realise that we make the wrong turns and mistakes. However, without these mistakes, we will never be able to see the sights that we see due to the mistakes. In fact, most of the time, because of the wrong turn, we can experience something that is even greater than what we wanted to see in the first place. We might get disappointed along the way, but it is often not the end product that is the most important, it is the sights and sounds of the journey that leads us along.

This is why life is like a journey. We often walk in different roads, finding and getting lost. However, we all reach the end and experience different things in life that are enjoyable.

This is what I was taught by this episode.

There are 2 mini episodes within this episode, so onwards!

1st story

Spring had arrived and Akari and Alicia went out together as it was a public holiday. Akari was driving her gondola along the sea, as she observed a lot of Torii on one of the islands, who was their destination. When they landed, they saw a lot of torii lining up, as it was the shrine of Okitsune-sama, a fox messenger for the god of rice, Inari). Akari was shocked at the two statues, as the statues were often in pairs, and it was the statue of Okitsune-sama.

They then went into the temple, passing through a lot of torii as they hit the tea house. There, they sold fried tofu as it was Okitsune-sama’s favorite dish. The old lady in the shop also re-accounted the tale about Okitsune in a child human form to interact with the people here sometimes. She did warn that the god was mischeivous and whatever you do, never follow him back to the god’s realm because you would not be able to come back. Alicia smiled as she said the old lady loved to scare people with that tale but Akari was geniunely scared, of course, considering her being rather naive.

As they walked around the big temple, Akari could feel that there was someone following them but whatever she turned, she saw no one. There was in fact a little boy wearing a mask following them. The rain then came into the middle of the sunshine and it was the first time that Akari had seen a sunshower. Alicia mentioned that there was another name for sunshower but she could not remember. With that, both of them hunted for shelter in order to escape the rain.

It was then when they hunted for shelter that they seperated, with Aria and Akari not finding Alicia. The rain had stopped and they tried to track the way back to the tea house and could not, as they kept moving around in circles. It was as though they had reached another dimension. On the other hand, they eventually knew that there was indeed someone following them. It was then that a fog started to build up and there was a form of marriage procession going on, with a bride under an umbrella. Akari was shocked as the procession stopped right where she was standing.

They looked at her, while a little boy (the one following them all along) extended his hands to Akari. However, Akari remembered the tale of the old lady but the boy only wanted the fried tofu (he’s the messenger). As the procession continued, Akari found herself back to reality as she rushed back to a worried Alicia at the teahouse. She had met with Okitsune-sama.

As they left the temple, Akari noticed that her fried tofu was on one of the statues. Okitsune-sama simply wanted some of his favorite food as she moved off. It was then that the symoblism of the marriage procession was revealed as the other name for sunshower was “Fox’s wedding” as it was reputed that marriages of animals were carried out in a sunshower).

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2nd story

It was their second journey as Alicia had a day off. Alicia actually wanted to bring Akari to a place in search for spring, as they drove off once again with their gondola. Alicia had prepared some bento for a nice picnic as they arrived at a forested area. It was the first time that Akari had seen such a giant forest as she was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of butterflies and beautiful flowers in the region. Aria, who was carrying the bento, was getting hungry, as they sat down in the middle of the forest and started to eat. After getting their full, Aria was chasing a bee and they found a path filled with flowers in the distance.

They followed it, as they saw a stone structure that was in fact an old railroad station. It was used to transport timber and stone to build roads in the earlier days of Aqua. However, it was abandoned already. Akari thought that it was the special place that Alicia wanted to show her, but Alicia simply prodded her to go on. It was then that Aria went to chase a grasshopper and tripped.

As they rushed over, there was a stretch of the old railway as they followed it. As they walked, they found themselves in a track branch, as Akari used the walking branch to decide the path. As they walked on, they were about to give up as it was coming to evening until they saw a tree in the distance. They went over and found a really beautiful cherry blossom tree with an abandoned train. The top of the ceiling had came off and they observed as the cherry blossoms fell down slowly onto our two leads.

Aria then caught itself in the wires, before dropping down, snapping the wires and returning the lights in the train. A beautiful scene appeared as their journey for today ended.

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Episode thoughts

A really beautiful episode, especially after a hell lot of emo-scenes from Honey and clover that forced me to delete it from my hard disk. That is what I always like about Aria: The feel-good factor. There are very few series that I had watched that gives you this warm-hearted feeling and yet not be so cliche in which there is nothing you can learn. There is no fanservice, no serious plot or anything out of the ordinary, but still, it just charms.

This episode clearly indicates why Aria is so powerful, due to its simplistic messages to the viewer. Both the mini-episodes mentioned about travelling and the journey to look for something beautiful. This reminded me of how it parallels life. Sometimes, we were so caught up in life, moving up the corporate leader and gunning for success that we forget that we might already went past the stage where we wanted.

Sometimes, we fear to go forward, for we have heard tales of horror from others, just like Akari who was told the tale of Okitsune. However, sometimes, what the others want was something very simple and easy. All of us just needs a bit more courage, a bit more strength to go on to do what we want. Yes?

I guess the next episode is finally ALICE-CENTRIC!!! I can’t wait to watch it =/