While S2 felt a bit too long to me, Aria the Origination is a more focused 13 episodes that make up the show’s best effort in what it always set out to be, simply a peaceful and atmospheric series about the mundane. It’s kinda saccharine, but its positivity is endearing and it was clearly made with a lot of heart. The animation’s improved as it shifts to widescreen and does a better job living up to the detailed artwork of Neo-Venezia (though the chibi faces they always do looks more jarring), the characters get more development as they begin to reach their goal of becoming a Prima, and I was satisfied with the ending. The only thing I noticed was the supernatural aspect of the series that was explored in Natural seemed to just be dropped with Origination. I didn’t really mind as I preferred the bigger focus on the characters themselves, but it made me wonder what the point of it was.