Moé Moé Rabu

President Aria has a summer cold and is resting in Akari’s bed. Akari tells him to rest whilst she goes out to buy him food. Akari is standing by herself on the pier in the heat looking around, she notices a woman dressed in black and wonders if she is hot wearing it. Aika then appears and says that it’s hot today. Akari takes note to herself to stopp staring at the woman as it is rude. Sitting in the gondola, Aika complains about it being hot, that she can’t sleep in the gondola and Alice hasn’t arrived yet. But Aika then says that this town is famous for its ghost story. Akari says that she doesn’t want to hear scary stories, but Aika says that in summer time, scary stories are the best thing to tell. As Aika starts to explain the story and Akari notices that the black dress woman is not there anymore. The story that Aika tells is about a woman in a black dress who asks gondola rowers to take her to San Micheal and that they disappear with the woman when they arrive. Upon hearing this, Akari gets scared and asks Aika that since this story is from Venezia that the story isn’t true, but Aika tells her that it exists here in Neo-Venezia. Then suddenly a hand is placed on Akari’s shoulder which scares her, but to find that it is only Alice behind her. Later on whilst they are training, Aika says that Akari really was scared, and Alice says that she has plenty of scary stories. Aika says that today they should talk scary stories but Akari tells them not to. Later in the afternoon, the three girls finish practise and go their separate ways and Akari tells herself that she should hurry home.

Now it being nightfall, Akari is heading back home after buying President Aria’s food. Rowing by San Marco Square, we see the same black dress woman sitting in the same spot from earlier this morning. She calls out to Akari, which she stops and realises it is the same woman from earlier this morning. The woman boards Akari’s gondola and tells her to go, but Akari apologises and tells her that she is still a trainee and cannot take customers. Upon hearing this the woman apologises and says that its troublesome since there are no other gondolas around. As she disembarks, Akari tells her that instead of riding as a customer she can ride as a friend. The woman thanks her and boards again. The woman tells Akari that she is a good girl and is glad that she met her. Akari agrees and asks her where to head to, which the woman says San Michael island, and this catches Akari by surprise. Over at Aria Company, President Aria is staring outside from the doorway with his cold still. Alicia comes by and tells him that his cold can get worse if he sits there too long, and she sees that Akari is late.

Whilst rowng towards San Micheal island, Akari starts thinking about San Micheal island, the woman and what she is doing there. Meanwhile cats from around Neo-Venezia are gathering and staring towards San Micheal island. She also wonders if the woman is going to a mourning. Remembering what Aika said about the black dress woman, Akari tells herself to not think about it. Arriving at San Micheal, the woman disembarks and thanks Akari, and then Akari takes her leave. But suddenly the black dress woman grabs Akari’s arm and says that she really is a good girl. Pulling Akari along, the black dress woman starts running and says that they will always be together. Whilst being pulled along, Akari starts wondering what is happening. Passing by a passage way, the two come across an open area with gravestones and purple flower petals flying around the air. Akari falls out and out of breath, the woman asks her what is wrong and tells her to stand up. The woman says that it is ok and that they will be well together since they are friends, and with that the woman’s veil flies off to reveal nothing underneath. Akari is absolutely scared at this point and the wind is starting to blow harder. At that point, Cait Sith is standing behind the headless woman. The woman looks up to Cait Sith and runs off and disappears, leaving Akari behind. Akari suprised to see Cait Sith all she could do was stare at him. Cait Sith then places his paw on Akari’s cheek which Akari holds in her hands whilst Cait Sith uses his other hand to hug Akari. Later on, Akari is lying on the floor of Aria Company and wakes up to see President Aria happy to see her. Akari looks at her left hand and sees a purple rose petal. She realises what she just went through and cries out to President Aria while hugging him. Alicia then comes back from searching for Akari telling her she was worried and wonder where she went. Akari explains to Alicia what happened to her and she found herself back at Aria Company. Alicia is glad to see that Akari is safe and the two huge each other.

The next day Akari tells what happened to her yesterday to Aika and Alice. Aika asks Akari about the woman and how she escaped. Akari says Cait Sith but Aika is dumbstruck. Alice puts together the things that Akari has mentioned and says that it could be true, in which Aika starts yelling scary. Akari says that it could have been a dream but Aika is still yelling. Alice asks if they could see the petal she got from San Micheal, but as Akari shows it, both Akari and Aika are scared. Alice explains that the story that Aika told Akari yesterday that it still continues on. Explaining the story to both Aika and Akari, Aika notes that the story doesn’t fit with what happened to Akari, but Alice says that is what makes the story even more scary. And with that all the girls scream. In her letter to Ai, Akari says that when she woke up she didn’t know what happened, but she does believe that Cait Sith did save her.

Preview:

Well this was a different turn in the usual go happy type episode. It was slightly more darker but that is only due to the ghost story part and the Black Dress Woman. Though this was a good episode and seeing the various scared faces of Aika and especially Akari was gold. The addition of the black dress woman having no face was an excellent addition which is not part of the manga added the extra scary factor. What I also like about this episode is the factor that cats are the guardians of the undines. Seeing how today that President Aria was not with Akari she came across something quite terrible. President Aria and the rest of the cats must have sensed this and Cait Sith came to Akari’s aid. With this it seems that the cats are the true guardians of Neo-Venezia, or to the Undines at least.

Animation was superb especially at the San Micheal graveyard. I also liked it when Akari was rowing towards San Micheal island that we came across levitating sign posts. ARIA is set in the distant future but you can easily forget about it (except for the flying spaceships now and then) but these signposts also show that this is in the distant future.

This episode is from Navigation 38 (Volume Eight) and is one of the few that have Cait Sith. As a small note, I couldn’t figure out majority of the story that Aika and Alice said as it is beyond my understanding. Guess I will have to wait till the fansubs come out. Looking at next week’s preview it will most likely be Navigation 30 (Volume Six). It’ll be another episode with Cait Sith and I’m looking forward to seeing Akari in some casual clothing for once. Also I recently noticed that the vocalist for Smile Again is the voice actress for Akari, Erino Hazuki.