Aria the Animation is based on a science fiction manga by Kozue Amano. The anime is directed by Jun’ichi Sato, and is produced by Hal Film Maker. There are three seasons of Aria the Animation, as well as an OVA. The Right Stuf International holds the license to distribute the property in North America.

Aria the Animation takes place in the early twenty-fourth century, in the city of Neo-Venezia (which is located on the planet Aqua). Aqua used to be the planet Mars, but the planet was terraformed into a habitable planet that is covered in oceans. Neo-Venezia is based on Venice, both in atmosphere and in its architecture. Neo-Venezia is a harbor city of narrow canals, and the mode of transporation is unmotorized gondolas.

A young woman named Akari comes from Manhome (which used to be known as Earth) to become a trainee gondolier with Aria Company. Aria Company is a very small company that only has two employees (Akari, along with the popular gondolier Alicia). The president and namesake of the company is Aria Pokoteng, who is a large and fat cat that gets itself into a lot of mischief. In many ways, Aria Pokoteng is a lot like Chu-Chu from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Akari is currently a journeyman for the company, but her goal is to become an undine (a gondolier who acts as a tour guide).

Akari is not only friends with Alicia, but she is also friends with two trainees from rival companies. Aika works for Himeya Company, and is the only daughter and heir of Himeya’s owners. However, Aika doesn’t like this distinction, as she feels the company’s other employees fawn over her too much. Alice works for Orange Planet, which is the largest water-guide company in Neo-Venezia. Alice is a standoffish and snotty girl who speaks in a deadpan manner.

Aria the Animation is a slice of life anime that has Akari exploring the worlds of gondoliering, Neo-Venezia, and the planet Aqua itself. If you enjoy slice of life stories that don’t have much action and have rather slow pacing, then Aria the Animation may be for you. Content-wise, Aria the Animation should be acceptable for all ages, but with the slow pacing, younger children may not get much of an enjoyment from the anime. With this in mind, the youngest age that might enjoy this anime would probably be girls around ten years old. Also, Aria the Animation will definitely appeal more to a female audience than to a male audience.