Aria the Masterpiece: Chapter 70 Discussion

Naphthalene · January 17, 2020, 1:45pm

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Aria the Masterpiece Chapter 70: 水の妖精

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Start Date: January 18th
Previous Chapter: Chapter 69
Next Chapter: I’m not crying, you’re crying.

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Please use spoiler tags for content that would be considered a spoiler.
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Arzar33 · January 17, 2020, 2:32pm

I voted “I’m reading along” by habit, but now just realized that it should have been “I’m no longer reading the book”

What a beautiful ending ! On one hand it’s totally expected and a bit cliche, but still a perfectly natural conclusion and the execution was splendid. So it was a great journey overall, and longest series I have read so far. It was hard to let it go, close the manga, put it back in the bookshelf…

Oh and also I guess like many people, I just had to reopen volume 1 immediately to check, and yes it matches perfectly !

I’m still not 100% clear about the final little twist tough…

Summary

So I took it as Akari’s writing’s are actually not emails to someone in particular, but somehow broadcasted ? Maybe she has the most famous blog of Neo-Venice ? Also seeing Cat Sìth looking at his tiny computer was very comical somehow.

seanblue · January 17, 2020, 2:43pm

When did you start reading this book?

I didn’t really get the “twist” either but maybe your explanation makes sense?

Same. Here’s some pictures for those who didn’t notice. (I didn’t grab everything because I was lazy.)

Summary

Belthazar · January 18, 2020, 12:00am

The end. Oh, woes.

Anyone have any idea as to the furigana on the chapter title? エテルナトーレ. Thinking “eternatore”, but Google translate doesn’t recognise that as being an Italian word. Maybe I’m missing an accent or to - when I get as far as “eternato” Google suggests “immortalised”. From the shape of it, I was thinking “eternity”, but that’s “eternita”, according to Google.

In other news, the final remaining major character without a name starting with A now gets a name that starts with A.

I’m not sure Akari being a famous blogger is particularly twisty? I mean, it’s a little odd that she’d call her posts “mail”, but blogs or instagram or whatever is already a thing, ya know? No, the biggest twist, at least for readers at the time, would be the sudden appearence of Ai as Akari’s new apprentice - up until that point, she’d been an anime-only character (and, actually, is the recipent of Akari’s letters in the anime). For us, Ai was a bit spoilt by the cover image.

It bugs me a tiny bit that I can only see Hime on page 342. Where are Aria and Maa?

Naphthalene · January 18, 2020, 12:24am

Oh! So that’s who that character is. I remember discussion of an Ai being an anime only character, so I really did not expect her to make an appearance.

I was also surprised to see that the emails aren’t email, but it does justify completely the use of 前略. So I guess my question from chapter 3(? Early on anyway) has been finally answered.
In other news there was way less talk about the future than I expected. That’s a little bit disappointing, but I can leave with that.

I did enjoy the end. I’m kinda wondering what my Saturday morning reading will be from now on though. (Well, there’s Sailormoon for now)

seanblue · January 18, 2020, 2:09am

I just want to say that I have a bad habit of not fully understanding the endings of manga I read, which kinda bugs me. I didn’t quite realize the her emails are blog posts thing on the first read-through. But that’s a pretty normal thing I guess, so it makes sense. I like it.

And now that I reread the chapter (since I read the last three chapters all at once last week), it’s truly over. I’m gonna miss it for sure! I hope we can all find something to read together again.

P.S. I think my favorite line from the chapter is あの頃は楽しかったじゃなくて、あの頃も楽しかった.

Naphthalene · January 18, 2020, 2:13am

I think that’s taken straight from the scene 灯里 is remembering, isn’t it?

Anyway, agreed, I hope we’ll get some other laid-back ~~camp~~ manga we can all enjoy together. Or, like 灯里 and the others, maybe we’ll just go in separate directions…

seanblue · January 18, 2020, 2:21am

It’s hard to tell, but maybe. I guess that’s part of Alicia’s advice to them?

Does laid-back camp have a secret cat world and made up pseudo-science? I think not!

Naphthalene · January 18, 2020, 2:27am

I haven’t read it yet, so I don’t for sure. It sure is 逞しい, though
Speaking of supernatural, the 狐の嫁入り chapter was one of my favorites, but does not involve cats. So 灯里 experienced more than 7 不思議s…

Belthazar · January 18, 2020, 2:29am

Yeah, but that wasn’t really in Neo-Venezia, as such.

seanblue · January 18, 2020, 2:35am

Oh yeah, that was a great chapter! I loved most of the supernatural chapters, but my favorite might be the one where Alice adopts Maa-kun.

Belthazar · January 18, 2020, 2:41am

Reckon my favourite was the treasure hunt one.

windupbird · January 18, 2020, 3:40am

Awww :’) I love love love seeing Akari with a new mentee :3 Everything came full circle, and it made my heart feel complete again I needed that, after that lonely moment near the beginning of the chapter.

Also can I just say that I think Akari’s hair looks so pretty in the future :3 And Ai’s hair is so cute, with that big bow >< I don’t know why, but I felt the need to gush about this. They’re adorable.

You’re not the only one, I didn’t really get that part the first time either. I think for me, part of the problem is that as the end gets closer, I get excited and start trying to read faster than I actually can xD For some reason, when I first looked at pg 342, I thought she was actually just emailing Cait Sith for a hot second xD I was like …wh-… how, that makes no sense …But then I read the text on that page properly and realized that that was really stupid xD Can you imagine, though, just sending Cait Sith a life update

Gosh…this is the end, you guys I’m trying to decide if I have a favorite chapter but I’m generally terrible at picking a favorite anything. There were so many good moments, and they were all good in their own unique ways. :3 I loved all the supernatural chapters and honestly most anything with Athena and Alice. It’s been fun reading this together! I definitely dropped out for a while in the middle, but I’m glad I made my way back in the end.

I don’t know why the heart is so big …I’m leaving it though

seanblue · January 18, 2020, 3:47am

The same exact thoughts went through my head!

hachiken · January 18, 2020, 6:03am

I didn’t know if it was some kind of widely-distributed blog or whether it just meant she was always emailing a number of people (like he family on Earth or something), but it was kind of an interesting reveal.
I watched the first season of the anime and it revealed the recipient of the emails was a small girl.

It was good to bring back Mr. Postman for the final chapter.

I didn’t notice, but that’s a nice way of ending.

The cover image does look good for the final volume, but it also does kinda spoil the entire final volume.

I… I don’t even particularly like manga!

I wished there had been a few more Aria-specific stories like the early ones, but I guess I’m happy with what we got.
I did like the mysterious and supernatural stories. They were usually interesting.
It’s been a quality manga with some great illustrations.
Where are we going to find another manga like this one to fill the void left behind?
Why isn’t there at least a second-rate Aika and Al spin-off series that I could at least indulge in to pretend I could be getting my Aria fix?

seanblue · January 18, 2020, 6:29am

Speaking of which, is anyone disappointed that they didn’t ever actually start dating (that we know of)? I know it’s not a romance manga, so we didn’t need chapters dedicated to it. Just instead of saying they were 仲良く as always it should have said they were going out now.

hachiken · January 18, 2020, 6:53am

@seanblue I guess it’s implied. But still it would’ve been nice to progress that story arc some more. I also would’ve liked to have seen more Akari and Akatsuki 二人きり stories. Or some romance story for Alicia that justifies the idea of leaving for 結婚

Belthazar · January 18, 2020, 9:39am

Yes indeed. Specifically, this small girl:

It's a spoiler!

While this sentence is entirely true, the line from my post which you quoted was actually referring to the postman.

You want we should read Silver Spoon?

I would like to read Laid-Back Camp as a splinter group, the issue with that being it’s not finished yet.

What? You don’t think being stuck down a well together counts as a date?

But seriously though, there are several chapters that involve Al hanging out with the girls specifically because Aika invited him. Only thing that makes those not dates is that Aika is too shy to do it without Akari and Alice, and Al is too obtuse to notice.

(Plus, Alicia got married without any signs of dating at all, so perhaps dating is simply not a thing in Neo-Venezia…)

Kyasurin · January 18, 2020, 10:25am

Today I re-read the previous two chapters and then the last one, and then the last one again, for all the feels. So many emotional tugs! For me, that scene where Akari comes into the room and sees Alicia and the others, then you slowly realise that it’s just her memories, and she is caught between wanting to hold on to them and wanting to move forward … wow, that really resonated.

Also I thought the exact same thing as @windupbird - wait, how can she be emailing Cait Sith?! I loved the explanation that Akari was blogging to the universe. It had never occurred to me.

I just assumed that they were… it sure looks like it from my perspective. I’m guessing there are quite a few challenges in being the heir to a major enterprise and falling for a guy who spends most of his life underground, but all strength to the pair of them.

Me neither! But I am sure I’ll end up re-reading the entire series at some point. 摩訶不思議ですね。

Naphthalene · July 27, 2020, 11:44pm

I somehow dreamed of that last chapter last night. I was rereading it because a new volume had come out. Waking up was hard.

In other news, though

I guess that happened, so that’s nice

It’s not the same feeling as reading ARIA with the old gang, though…
I may be crying a little.