Despite the Aria trilogy being one of the most critically acclaimed wholesome, relaxing series, I was really disappointed that Amanchu, a series I really like written by the same mangaka and directed by the same anime director, ended up so underrated by watchers.

I consider Amanchu to be a kind of spiritual sequel to Aria. It has the same wholesome vibes with super close female friendships that almost border on eerie. It also has a similar water theme, but this time it’s set in a more down-to-earth, Japanese environment instead of the Venice-like setting of Aria.

The theme is also more typical high school-based, revolving around a diving club instead of a unique gondola tour guide setting. In some ways, I actually think this is better than the gondola touring, since you deal with fewer random side characters. Not that the side characters were bad in Amanchu, but sometimes I just want a more focused cast. Having all the characters in one school, rather than split across three different companies, makes it easier for them to interact.

What really makes Amanchu stand out compared to Aria, though, is the main duo: Hikari (nicknamed Pikari) and Futaba (nicknamed Teko). On paper, they’re the typical polar opposites: Pikari is a super energetic, bubbly girl, and Teko is a shy, new transfer student.

But it’s the wholesome writing of Amanchu that makes their relationship shine. Sure, it’s a typical setup—energetic girl helps shy girl come out of her shell—but it’s done really well. The dynamic between them is surprisingly deep and beautiful, and just watching them interact was enough to make me smile through the whole season. The way it wraps up, with how Teko deals with joining the diving club, is really wholesome.

Speaking of which, I really like the diving club in this show. Anime slice of life that can make me care for a super random sport or club idea is always a plus. Anytime any of the character go underwater is a visual treat. I've personally always liked swimming but was too lazy to learn deep diving. Thankfully this anime was detailed enough to show me what I was missing out on. The only issue I can think with these diving scenes is there's not enough of them, though that's mostly due to the focus on Teko's journey to join the club which I found fine.

As much as I love the main two characters and the diving, they basically carry the show for me. Everything else is a bit forgettable and hit or miss. There are side characters, like the teacher and a pair of pink-haired siblings, but I didn’t really connect with them. The pink-haired sister, in particular, can be too much of a bully to her brother at times.

Overall, Amanchu is about one thing for me: pure, wholesome female friendship, with some fun and unique diving themes. The diving itself is shown in enough detail to make me care, and the underwater scenes are nice to look at.

It’s a bit of a shame that season 2 and onward kind of moved away from the wholesome nature of the main duo’s relationship, since that was basically the whole point of season 1. It’s probably the one I’ll stick with for rewatching in the future.