Things I write and draw

It took me over seven months to get here, but I have at last finished all 189 episodes of Aryana! All the comments asking for another season now make sense, because although the main plot, i.e. Aryana's mermaid condition, is resolved, so much else is kind of swept over, as if there wasn't enough time to resolve everything, but who knows how these things happen.

So the main thrust of the show is: Neptuna made a magical deal with Ofelia that on Aryana's fourteenth birthday, Aryana would turn into a mermaid. There hasn't been much rules lawyering about this deal, but within the last batch of episodes, it seemed that a potential loophole to set Aryana free was that Ofelia can die and it would break the deal. The teased tragedy is that Ofelia wants to die for Aryana's sake, to ensure that she can have a normal life, and Aryana, naturally, goes berserk at this possibility.

I thought they would do a Buffy-esque twisted where Ofelia would only temporarily die, like during surgery or something, and that would be enough to break the spell. But nawp, the show's solution is that Neptuna straight up commits suicide to break the spell so Aryana and Ofelia can be free. It's actually pretty upsetting! But also shunts the merfolk storyline further aside where it's kind of like... what was the point of any of this then??? But obviously I'm watching for different reasons than most of the commenters.

The final batch of episodes are fun, but they're not great, storytelling-wise, because Aryana misses most of it. She's the lead character! But she's out there in merfolk storyline exile and thus cannot be an active player with all the drama happening on land. Her eventual reunion with her parents is great, but this also means that she has no impact on all the massive upheavals going on with Victor, Ofelia, Megan and Stella, and especially Megan's change of heart. Sad to say everything Megan and Stella is my jam, and the mother-daughter duo splintering is A+, no notes, and I laughed so hard that even Jason, whose only motivation is his obsession with Stella, can only be like, "Stella, why are you so obsessed with Aryana, this is insane." Neptuna straight-up kills Jason, though.

Everyone not within this quadrant is either not there or only have walk-on roles through the entire final arc. Actually, even if you're in the quadrant it doesn't mean your story is tidied up, because stuff swept over includes:
- Ofelia and Victor never actually get back together on-screen, they have no romantic moments in the final episodes, but in the epilogue they're holding hands. Okay.
- Aryana doesn't choose between Hubert and Adrian. I did not like the teen romance storyline and this is in-character for Aryana, but after aaaaaaall the drama, that's just WOW! COWARDS!
- Bebet never finds out Aryana was a mermaid! Justice for Bebet! There was a brief bit where she hangs out with Hubert and Adrian and MEIN GOTT I would love to know their dynamic, but we never see it.
- Andoy and Carlina get married off-screen, I GUESS.
- Nothing for Marlon, except a tux for prom, I GUESS.
- What's Elnora doing? Who knows.

No wonder people want another season! I did like the show better than Kambal Sirena, but that show at least stuck to a landing.