My Aquamarine, My Distant Blue: a Tribute to Mizunashi Akari

     “Akari-chan. Ever since you came to Aqua my world had completely changed. The ordinary days and the face of the world began to shine brilliantly. Right… As if magic has been casted on them. It calmly covers Aqua and spreads everywhere, warming, embracing all of Aqua like the infinite sky and sea.

     I’m really glad I met you. Thank you, my Aquamarine. My Distant Blue.”
– Alicia Florence (Aria the Origination, Ep. 13; Aria Manga: Vol. 12, Ch. 58)

Alicia is no stranger to the meaning behind the moniker she gave to Akari. Aquamarine, “that distant blue,” is the wonderful future that Aria Company was founded for. Akino Ametsuchi (a.k.a Grandma, the greatest undine in the history of Aqua), founded Aria Company, believing in that distant blue – the endless horizon at the sea that President Aria watched and strived for (Reference: Aria the Origination, Ep. 7; Aria Manga: Vol. 9, Ch. 45.5).

When Akino was still working for Himeya Company, she noticed a stray cat gazing at the sea. The cat was just siting there, patiently watching the horizon of the sea. Akino dismisses this sight as a one-time event and brushes it off for the time being.

But as days passed, she witnesses the cat’s perseverance: the cat remains at the same spot, still gazing at the horizon. Akino wondered: what was the cat looking at; what was he waiting for all this time? Then, one night, heavy rain falls. While taking a break from her Prima-Undine duties, Akino remembered the stray cat she saw at the harbor. She had a worrisome thought that the cat might still be there despite the heavy rain. At first, she was reluctant to confirm that possibility, but in the end she decided to check the harbor.

Akino’s worrisome thought was true. The cat was there, he remains in the same position, persevering and continuing to gaze at the horizon of the sea despite the cold that the rain has brought to his body. Akino tried to carry the cat to a safer place, but the cat remains firm in his position, ignoring Akino’s attempt to help. Accepting the cat’s stubbornness, Akino decided to stay with him. Then, she covered the cat with a “rain coat” and protected him with her umbrella.

Morning arrives. The rain stopped pouring, paving way for the radiance of the sun to light the seas. That light slowly engulfs Akino. While beholding this beautiful sight, Akino realized a precious insight: Akino, being too caught up in the work of being an Undine, saw something valuable from the cat’s gaze towards the sea. The cat’s patience and stillness, made her realize that she was pushing herself too much. In her 14 years of hard work, as the ace Undine of Aqua, she realized that she moved so fast, too fast that she can no longer appreciate the wonderful things in her world.

Inspired by the cat’s patient and still appreciation of the horizon of the sea, Akino decided to look at the world that the cat was seeing; she decided to gaze at that “distant blue” with the cat that inspired her, as she declares:

“Can I wait here with you too?
I also want to see the world that is reflected in your beautiful blue eyes.”
– (Aria Manga: Vol. 9, Ch. 45.5; Aria the Origination, Ep. 7) 

With that she founded Aria Company at the spot that the cat – Aria – viewed the horizon: that distant blue, that vast ocean, and that vast sky.

The Vast Horizon of the Sea, that Distant Blue reflected into Aria’s Eyes

Akino and Aria gazing at that Distant Blue

Certainly, because Alicia always sees this vast horizon – that distant blue, she knows very well the implication of the moniker: Aquamarine. Alicia likened Akari to “the infinite sky and sea” of Aqua; a presence that warmly embraces everything in Aqua. Again as she declared:

“Akari-chan. Ever since you came to Aqua my world had completely changed. The ordinary days and the face of the world began to shine brilliantly. Right… As if magic has been casted on them. It calmly covers Aqua and spreads everywhere, warming, embracing all of Aqua like the infinite sky and sea…“

Indeed, Alicia was true to her words; her life truly changed when Akari came to Aqua. At the time that she was just promoted into a Prima, she was still insecure when Grandma left her; she was not confident if she can be a great teacher and senior like Grandma was to her.

But when Akari came, this changed, as Alicia states:

“I wasn’t certain, when I chose you… that I could really be a good senior to you.
But you always stuck right behind me. With your pure heart, you found many wonders I hadn’t noticed.
You gave me my confidence, Akari-chan.”
–(Aria the OVA ~ Arietta)

Yes, this is why when Alicia says that Akari’s presence is like magic that embraces Aqua like the infinite sky and sea, she truly meant it. In a sense, she truly believes that Akari is comparable to the distant blue that Aria Company was made for. As Aria’s gaze at that distant blue transformed Akino’s life; in the same manner, Alicia’s life was also changed by Akari’s wonderful being. This is why she can declare with full confidence:

“I’m really glad I met you. Thank you, my Aquamarine.
My Distant Blue.”

Indeed, Akari is the Aquamarine, the distant blue of Alicia’s life – the person that changed her life forever, the Prima Undine whom she can entrust Aria Company’s future to.

Gazing at that Distant Blue
Towards that Wonderful Future

The expert of happiness, the person with a pure white heart, the Aquamarine, that distant blue – in the end, all these words, all these titles are not enough to describe the whole person of Akari. To fully know Akari, one must experience the light of her personality first hand. Unfortunately, Akari’s personality is so ideal that it seems almost impossible to be seen in a real person. Akari is like a utopian character, an ideal fictional character that may never be realized. This is the magic of fiction and the power of imagination: it lets us perceive of an ideal that we can hope for, even though it may never be. It enabled Kozue Amano –  the writer of Aria – to create a wonderful world such as Aqua, and a wonderful character like Akari… even though she may never exist in our world. Akari, and her world, Aqua, are ideals that I deeply sought. Like president Aria’s persevering gaze towards the distant blue, I will not stop hoping that a Utopian world like Aqua can someday be realized, despite the wretchedness of my own world.

But looking at it from another perspective: what if I adopt Akari’s paradigm, can I not say that the place that I live in is already a wonderful world as it is? Perhaps, if I shift my own perspective – similar to Akari’s – the world that seems so wretched may shine like it never did before. Maybe the problem is not the world itself, but my perspective of it. If Akari lives in our world, how would she view it? I’m guessing she will say a lot of wonderful things about it. Wonderful things that are simple, so evident, and yet we miss; wonderful things that are right in front of us but we take for granted.

Perhaps, beauty and value is something that only the person can determine. Yes, as Alicia said, only with a wonderful heart, can a wonderful world be conceived. Indeed, I believe a utopian world such as Aqua can be achieved if each and every person recognize the value of the most important things in their life. Maybe, if all people give the same amount of value and love as Akari does to the world, the world will realize a utopian place like Aqua. Perhaps, at a time that such utopia is reached, people as wonderful as Akari can be born and live peacefully appreciating the world to the fullest.

Post Script
My Aquamarine, My Distant Blue

For now, I will gaze at that distant blue with hope that a utopia, like Aqua, may someday be realized. Without forgetting the value of the ground that I currently stand on… with full appreciation of the present that I live in… I will hope, I will strive for the wonderful future that awaits humanity, no matter how unlikely it is.

Akari… even if I’m faced with the current wrongness and ugliness of my world, you were able to give me the courage to hope, to strive for a wonderful future. I thank you for reminding me to value the closest and the most important things in my life. Thank you Akari… You are indeed Aquamarine… that distant blue that can change people’s lives.

Akari… you are that ideal girl that I can never reach; you are that dream girl that I sought but can never possess… Indeed, you’re really like that sky at the horizon of the sea… you are that which I can only marvel at from a distance. In one way or another, you are really my Aquamarine… my Distant Blue. Just like how your presence changed Alicia’s life, making her ordinary days shine brilliantly, the light of your being also brought brilliance to my mundane life. Yes… that’s the irony of it, even if you are so distant from me, your light, your being, shines so closely onto me that it makes everything around me shine as well.  This light… this presence, whispers closely to me, as if you are right here beside me… reminding me that what I should treasure are the things that are right here in front of me: my own world… my own time and my own place… I will heed this message and treasure the things that are closest to me, as you treasured yours.

I am really glad that I witnessed your wonderful being
in your own wonderful world.

 Thank you, Akari. Thank you, my Aquamarine… my Distant Blue.

This write up is an epilogue of a larger tribute to Akari:

Prologue: A Tribute to Mizunashi Akari
Chapter 1: The Secret Behind Akari’s Smile
Chapter 2: The Akari Filter
Chapter 3: Akari’s Pure White Heart
Chapter 4: Aquamarine: the Completion of Akari’s Light

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