Aria the Animation - Episode 4:That Undeliverable Letter...

I can fly!

No, don't go Akari.

Cats... everywhere.

I suspect that there's something special about that bell.

Like if you still do pinky promises in 2301.

While out shopping, President Aria slips out of Akari's basket and runs off into various alleys. President Aria's destination is a small park full of stray cats. In the middle is a small girl with a bell collar around her neck. The small girl gives Akari a letter, asking her to pinky promise to deliver it shortly before running away into on of the buildings around the small park. Akari is bewildered by the situation and returns home. She searches for the address on the letter using her laptop but can't find it.

Try opening your eyes.

The next day, Akari gives the letter to an old mailman. The mailman discovers that the content of the letter is a really old data chip. The mailman hangs onto the letter, telling Akari that he will look into it later on when he gets to the post office.

My Aria senses are tingling.

Wait, what?

Akari is practicing her paddling when suddenly a bell chimes and President Aria acts weird again. President Aria tells Akari to go down a narrow alley again and this time it leads them to sunny residential area where they meet the small girl again. The girl asks Aria if she was able to deliver the letter yet but to the disappointment of the girl, Akari hasn't yet. Akari tells her that she is about to find out the address on the letter and promises that she will deliver it soon. The girl is overjoyed and then is called by her name, Ami, by a mysterious woman's voice and runs inside the building she came out of.

Alicia sneak attack.

Back at Aria Company, Akari is in deep thought when Alicia surprises her by putting an ice pop on her face. Akari explains her situation to Alicia, who understands right away.

Go on.

That's not what I ordered.

Incoming misunderstanding.

Later that day, the mailman comes back from the post office and tells Akari that he wasn't able to find the address on the letter but he found a place with the same name as on the letter. The mailman explains that it was an old excavation base that excavated water for Aqua when people first started to populate it but it's too far away to go by gondola. Akari thanks the mailman and says goodbye just before Woody the sylph comes to deliver some packages. Akari thanks him but asks him right before he leaves if he can help her deliver the letter on his sky-cycle.

I just swallowed a bug.

Yo.

City of Atlantis.

The next day, Akari is standing outside of Aria Company, ready to deliver her letter. Woody comes to pick her up and they fly to Kai Tak Base, the old excavation base. When they get there, Akari and Woody only find gravestones on the top of the island. They investigate and discover that the base is deep underwater.

Best hide and seek player.

In memory of Allen Honda.

Tears were shed.

While looking for more clues, Alicia and President Aria stop by on a sky-cycle they borrowed and tell Akari that Kai Tak Base sank because of excavating too much water from underground and that everyone died. All of them search for more clues and find the grave that the letter is addressed to. Akari plays the video to the grave and learns that the woman in the video is the man's wife. The wife tells her husband that she hopes he comes back soon so she doesn't have to be alone anymore. Right before the video finishes, a cat named Ami jumps on the camera.

This one looks like an Orange Planet. hehe

Everyone finishes up and gets ready to go back home. Akari reads another email from Ai, that responds to Akari's email about the strange letter. Ai recalls the time when Akari said, "Neo-Venezia is made of miracles" and tells her that all of Aqua might be made of miracles.

Analysis:

Akari meets a strange girl in this episode who is able to lead President Aria straight towards her. This girl asks Aria to help her deliver an old letter to someone who is already dead. During Akari and the small girl's second meeting, we here a women call her Ami. In the end, the woman in the video calls her pet cat Ami also. It makes sense that the small girl is the ghost of the cat. Having the ability to attract President Aria and having the same bell collar, they are unmistakably the same entity. The scenes with the Ami in it are also hinted to be supernatural by the sudden color change.

In this episode, we are introduced to another character, Woody. Woody is a sylph who delivers packages and letters by sky-cycle. He is part of the special services in the series, which consists of water fairies (undines), fire keepers (salamanders), and wind messengers (sylphs). Woody is very energetic and positive. He tends to end his sentences with "yo".

The theme of this episode is strong feelings. Mailmen and sylphs are able to deliver letters, which contain the "treasured feelings" of others in it. Akari is jealous of this job but Woody tells her that her job as an undine is to make these "treasured feelings". I also think that salamanders represent the protectors of these "treasured feelings" since they are the guardians of Aqua. In this episode, the feelings of a wife are delivered to her long dead husband by the feelings of her cat. There strong feelings of love for each other helped them pass through the boundaries of time and space. This is also considered a miracle by Ai. Since everyone has these "treasured feelings" inside of them, Ai believes that all of Aqua is made of miracles.

The episode is named "That Undeliverable Letter" because the letter was impossible to deliver without the feelings of those who wanted it to be delivered.