Aria watch order
On a terraformed Mars now called Aqua, Akari Mizunashi trains to become an undine, a gondolier guide in the water city of Neo-Venezia. Kozue Amano's manga became three gentle TV seasons, an OVA, a three-part anniversary OVA and two short films, a classic of calm slice-of-life anime.
First time? Watch the three TV seasons in order: ARIA The Animation, The Natural and The Origination, with the Arietta OVA between the last two. Then Avvenire, Crepuscolo and Benedizione.
Story order
Release order with the specials in place: episode 0 before The Natural and the bonus episode 5.5 inside The Origination. Avvenire and the two films all take place after The Origination's final episode.
- ARIA The Animation
The first season. Akari, a trainee at the tiny Aria Company, meets her friends Aika and Alice, their mentors and the city itself, and writes about her days in letters to Ai, a girl from Earth she meets in episode 1.
- ARIA The Natural: That Miracle in Which We May Meet Again (optional)
A five-minute special billed as episode 0 of the second season. A short extra; skip it if you like.
- ARIA The Natural
The second and longest season: a year of Akari, Aika and Alice's training, seasonal festivals and Neo-Venezia's quiet mysteries.
- ARIA The OVA: Arietta
A 30-minute OVA released between seasons 2 and 3. Akari dreams of running Aria Company herself, and Alicia remembers the day she became a full undine. Commonly watched before The Origination.
- ARIA The Origination (episodes 1–5)
The start of the final season, as the three trainees begin to think about their futures as full undines.
- ARIA The Origination: That Little Secret Place (optional)
A full-length bonus episode, numbered 5.5, released on the season's DVDs and never aired at the time. Akari and President Aria spend a day off wandering the city. Watch it between episodes 5 and 6.
- ARIA The Origination (episodes 6–13)
The rest of the final season, with the trainees' promotion tests and the ending of the TV story.
- ARIA The Origination Picture Drama (optional)
Seven short picture-drama extras, about seven minutes each, that came with the Origination DVDs. Bonus material, not part of the story.
- ARIA The Avvenire
A three-episode 10th-anniversary OVA set after The Origination's ending, introducing a new generation of trainees. Much of it looks back at the trio's training days, including manga stories that hadn't been animated.
- ARIA The Crepuscolo
A 60-minute film for the 15th anniversary, centred on Alice's junior Anya and her attempt to reunite Alice and Athena. Athena has a new voice actress, Rina Satō.
- ARIA The Benedizione
The 60-minute final film, about Aika, a historic Himeya gondola and Aika's own past. It closes the anniversary trilogy that began with Avvenire.
Release order
The order it came out in Japan. Episode 0 of The Natural came out about a month after that season began airing.
- ARIA The Animation
The first season. Akari, a trainee at the tiny Aria Company, meets her friends Aika and Alice, their mentors and the city itself, and writes about her days in letters to Ai, a girl from Earth she meets in episode 1.
- ARIA The Natural
The second and longest season: a year of Akari, Aika and Alice's training, seasonal festivals and Neo-Venezia's quiet mysteries.
- ARIA The Natural: That Miracle in Which We May Meet Again (optional)
A five-minute special billed as episode 0 of the second season. A short extra; skip it if you like.
- ARIA The OVA: Arietta
A 30-minute OVA released between seasons 2 and 3. Akari dreams of running Aria Company herself, and Alicia remembers the day she became a full undine. Commonly watched before The Origination.
- ARIA The Origination (episodes 1–5)
The start of the final season, as the three trainees begin to think about their futures as full undines.
- ARIA The Origination: That Little Secret Place (optional)
A full-length bonus episode, numbered 5.5, released on the season's DVDs and never aired at the time. Akari and President Aria spend a day off wandering the city. Watch it between episodes 5 and 6.
- ARIA The Origination (episodes 6–13)
The rest of the final season, with the trainees' promotion tests and the ending of the TV story.
- ARIA The Origination Picture Drama (optional)
Seven short picture-drama extras, about seven minutes each, that came with the Origination DVDs. Bonus material, not part of the story.
- ARIA The Avvenire
A three-episode 10th-anniversary OVA set after The Origination's ending, introducing a new generation of trainees. Much of it looks back at the trio's training days, including manga stories that hadn't been animated.
- ARIA The Crepuscolo
A 60-minute film for the 15th anniversary, centred on Alice's junior Anya and her attempt to reunite Alice and Athena. Athena has a new voice actress, Rina Satō.
- ARIA The Benedizione
The 60-minute final film, about Aika, a historic Himeya gondola and Aika's own past. It closes the anniversary trilogy that began with Avvenire.
Explained
What kind of show is it?
Aria is iyashikei, 'healing' slice of life: slow, episodic and calm, about small everyday moments in a beautiful city. There's no big plot to follow, but the characters do grow, and the later seasons build toward the trainees becoming full undines, so watch it in order.
Do I need to read Aqua first?
No. Aqua is the two-volume start of the manga, published under that name before the series moved magazines and became Aria, and the anime draws on both without needing either. Akari is already working at Aria Company when episode 1 starts, and the show introduces everyone you need. The manga has some stories the anime never adapted, if you want more.
Which specials matter?
Arietta is the one most people include, between The Natural and The Origination. Episode 0 of The Natural, episode 5.5 of The Origination and the picture dramas are short extras you can skip. Avvenire and the two films are worth watching after the TV series, since they continue past its ending.
When are Avvenire and the films set?
After The Origination's ending, with a new generation of trainees. They use a lot of flashbacks to the TV-era story, so they're best watched last, once you know the cast.
Is there an English dub?
Yes, for most of it. A 2017 Kickstarter funded an English dub of all three TV seasons, Arietta, the bonus episode and Avvenire, released by Nozomi Entertainment. The 2021 films haven't had an English release in North America.