Aria Highly recommended

Publisher
ADV Manga
Writer
Kozue Amano
Artist
Kozue Amano
Country of origin
Japan
Length
4 volumes
Year
2002

Aria V. 3

By David Rasmussen
23rd Jul 06

It has been awhile, hasn’t it… since I last reviewed Aria.
I have not lost any of my enthusiasm over the title, nor have I changed my opinion about the worthiness of the title or the Anime series that came out last year (Aria the Animation which spawned a second season now playing on Japanese TV called Aria the Natural) which I am still waiting to get ahold of to review (highly recommended)… however, that being said, it seems ADV has also not changed their opinion on Aria either (sad to say).

I won’t say how though, because (to date) I have only speculation about this point and speculation is forbidden (as well as tacky comments, “well, well” and “heh heh heh”… that means you, Alicia).
One thing I can note is that I was misinformed about the end of Aria the Manga. I thought, from original information I had, the title would end it’s run with V. 4 so, to this date, I’ve been sadly contemplating the “passing” of an old friend, a title I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would miss when it went away… only to find out that presently Aria is up to Volume NINE in Japan!! Oh, well, so much for the early farewells…

That, of course, doesn’t help us seeing how Aria has seemingly had it’s own “ending” with only three volumes printed to date, and seemingly no plans to print anymore coming from ADV to boot. Sure, in the overall sense of things it is not the most comforting of thoughts to think that ADV has all but abandoned all hope for we who are avid readers of the title, but that is only speculation on my part. That, by the way, brings me to you today.

So, then, I guess it’s bad acronym time as I ask you, the readers, to please (please)…. (wait for it… wait…) join me to S.A.N. (Save Aria Now!) …ok ok ok, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be, but it’s only slightly less gimmicky than Ryan Seacrest’s old catchphrase from American Idol past. You know, that catchphrase (which might still be forever scarred and etched in acid onto every last evil copy of American Idol the Video game for the PS2, GBA and possibly Xbox if it got that far in it’s “infection” of gaming systems).

First question, to you readers out there, is Aria truly worth saving? I think it is. Let me tell you why.

Aria (n) - A vocal piece with accompaniment sung in solo; part of an opera.
This is the dictionary reference to what an Aria is, which (in my opinion) is the perfect title for this series as it fits it snugly like a Undine’s gloves.
One hundred and fifty years have passed since terraforming of the planet Mars has turned it from a stark lifeless desert into a water world where 90% of the surface is covered with oceans.
How did that come about? Guess the polar ice caps were enough to do such a thing… go figure! Once the polar caps melted it turned a majority of the world into a water planet, hence why the world was eventually named Aqua (which fit since it was now the world of water). Life eventually flourished in the form of immigrants from Earth, and a human world abit primitive in comparison to life on Earth took root.

Now, at the 150 year anniversary of the terraforming of Aqua, in the year 2301, in a city called Neo Venezia, the story begins.
This series is the story of young Akari Mizunashi, and her dream to become a full fledged gondolier (known on this world as "Undines"). Undines are the people who navigate the watery canals of Neo Venezia on their gondolas, providing a valuable service to both residents and tourists alike. Akari, who works for the small yet hard working Aria Company, is one of those Undines… and she is not alone.

Like any good series, Aria has a lovely supporting cast (including a new supporting cast who joins as of the third volume). First there is Alicia, who acts as Akari’s instructor and mentor (as well as fellow coworker in this small company). She guides Akari through the paces of her training as an Undine helping her on her quest to become a full fledged Undine (which is shown when she no longer needs to wear the trademark gloves which is a sign of the maturity of rank of the Undines, of which she is presently wearing one marking that she is halfway through her training to full fledged status as of Volume 3).

Then there's her best friend Aika, who works for the rival company (Hime-ya), who also helps her but in a different way than Alicia (who Aika looks up to and admires since Alicia is one of the best Undines on Aqua -- and they have a little past together which is delved into in Volume 3).

Finally there's company mascot "President Aria", the blue eyed cat like creature that is the company mascot. All Undine companies in Neo Venezia have a blue eyed cat as a mascot, and the mascot is always named "President (company name)", hence "President Aria".

As of Volume 3 a new supporting cast member shows up in the young schoolgirl (14 years old/8th grade) loner Undine named Alice (is it me or is EVERY FEMALE in this series who is a main or major cast member named A-something?). Alice works for Orange Planet, another major corporation that is even overshadowing Hime-ya, which Aika works for. Alice is abit of a loner, who does not seem to get along well with others in her own company (and who often times has this most perplexing large owl eyed weird expression on her face throughout Volume 3‘s appearances)… but somehow manages to forge a friendship with the sunny Akari and the grumpy Aika (which I’ll go into as I review Volume 3 shortly).

And of course there's the citizens of Neo Venezia, as well as those just visiting, who also for brief moments pass in and out of Akari’s life as they board her boat as briefly as a short rainstorm.
Hence why the term "Aria" suits this book best if I got the gist of the term right. Like an Aria, a vocal piece sung in solo with accompaniment, thus is the life of trainee Undine Akari Mizunashi.
It is her solo life, but it is made brighter and more complete with the "accompaniment" of friends, co-workers and the people she meets each and every day she lives and works in Neo Venezia.
I don't know if I got that right, but it seems so right to me at least… too late though since it capped off my original review of Aria V. 1, and it comes back for this review as I look for people to speak out about bringing Aria back (and bringing Aria the Natural out on DVD).

In Volume 1, which takes place in the Fall season of Aqua, you will travel the canals of Neo-Venezia as you watch Akari help a man find his daughter and her husband (and ultimately maybe find abit of himself in the process along the way).
You’ll watch gondola washing day, and meet Aika (Akari's friend) for the first time.
You’ll take a break and wait on a bridge with Akari for Aika, and meet Akari's first customer who has "affectionately" nicknamed her "pigtails"…. though affection doesn't seem to play into it since he seems obsessed with yanking on said pigtails constantly. So, to that end annoying male who likes tugging on people‘s hair, I hereby nickname you ponytail… now cut it out, ponytail!

Then you’ll visit an island with a Japanese shrine on it's shore, and behold the Wedding of the Inari Fox!

Finally it’s a trip once again through Neo Venezia on the Vogare Longa, and see how Akari deals with this event, which is rumored to be a "test" of would be Undines who want to become full fledged in their art.
This was the beginning, a beautiful, quiet yet intense, interesting and simple read that flows with beautiful artwork, a lovely enticing story, and just plain goodness from beginning to end.
But it was not the end, Volume 2 came next.

Volume 2 came next, and Fall turned into Winter.
Akari, however, is not adjusting well as she is not used to the cold of winter, being that she came from the climate controlled Earth she just isn’t used to weather changes like this.

As winter starts Akari sees her first snowbugs, and adopts one as her own for a short time.
But being a resident of Man’s Home (Earth) she isn’t very used to cold weather (as mentioned above) so she’ll take a trip to her first hot spring (complete with lots of bathing women done most tastefully).
After that she’ll meet her first Gnome… as in the people who maintain the inner workings of this pristine water world, which looks quaint and old fashioned on the outside but has a strange technological twist on the inside which should look quite good when translated in Anime form.
Finally she celebrates her first Aqua New Year, and goes to the carnival celebrating the end of winter, but ends up pursuing the mysterious robed Casanova.
Oh, and President Aria (the strange “cat” mascot of the Aria company) gets his own section this time out!

Now Volume 3, which has changed the season once again from the cold of winter to the warmth of a fine lovely beautiful spring which has come over Neo Venezia.

We start out with the introduction of the newest member of the cast, Orange Planet’s Alice.
She is not a very sociable Undine, and seems to have an attitude that she doesn’t seem to understand alienates her from her coworkers (who are not too welcoming to her gruff outcast attitude).
However, like it or not, she’s about to make new friends with Akari and a not so willing to make friends Aika whether she (or Aika for that matter) want to make new friends or not.

As Akari is settling into enjoying spring (the one year anniversary of her arrival to Neo Venezia) she is invited by Alicia to take a daytrip with her to an forested island to find “spring”, which takes them rambling down a rundown old set of train tracks on one of the islands which leads to a most wonderous discovery … and no, the discovery isn’t a dead body (Stephen King did that one already) or Alicia admitting her undying love to Akari or anything like that. It’s a fun beautiful trip, so there.

After that, while Aria Company’s gondolas are in the shop, Aika stumbles onto a treasure box hidden in the borrowed boat Akari takes from the boat repairman while her boat is being repaired. Inside is a treasure map that sends Akari, Aika & a kinda reluctant Alice on a treasure hunt to find a worthy treasure.

Next who should come at Akari’s door at Aria Company but a runaway Aika. It seems she has come over to Aria Company for something more substantial than mooching food from Akari or hanging out with her, today she is contemplating running away from “home” (Hime-ya), which leads to you seeing the major Undine of Hime-ya (Akira of the non male slash psychically maligned), as well as learning Aika’s place in Hime-ya and the reasons why she’s so attached to Alicia (and the “relations“ between Akira & Alicia).

After that the waters are rising in Neo Venezia, but don’t bother calling FEMA it’s not that kind of flooding. Apparently the waters of Aqua raise upwards every spring and rises to the point that it can even overcome the high raised Aria Company building and minorly flood the ground floor.

This is not the time to work gondolas if you are not full fledged (what with conditions being the way they are), so it’s the time to relax. So what should happen but a visit from ponytail (he who calls Akari pigtails and tugs on her hair) who recruits her on a mission of love to find red roses because today is the day you give a single red rose to the one you love… except he’s too hardheaded to stop at just one red rose, mind you. Target of ponytail’s affections? If you think it’s pigtails… no.
Regardless, though, maybe recruiting Akari to deliver a token of love to this particular female was not a good idea, which may be sorted out when the story nears it’s end and the target of ponytail’s affections show up only for… well, you’ll see.

And that, as they say, is that. Solid? Yup. Beautiful? You bet…
All this praising getting Aria V. 4 and Aria the Animation DVD V. 1 out from ADV anytime soon? No.
But let’s break this down while I’m still optimistic about the “future” of Aria in English.

Aria the Breakdown (3rd verse)
What's Hot?
When I think about Aria I think about this review I did a long time ago of Kaleido Star episode 1, and how I noted how beautiful it was because of it's simplistic styling and the purity of it's lead character's dream (to star in the circus that she has been fascinated with since childhood).

Well, if that was beautiful and pure, then this even more beautiful because it's far more simple and pure than that dream ever was! The dream to become a full fledged Undine, and row the canals of Neo Venezia forever is the dream of our heroine, and it even beats out the dream of Kaleido Star because in that one she wants to be a circus star while here our heroine just wants to be the best she can be and live her life doing what she loves. How can that not be more pure? I don’t see how!

It’s a beautiful series well deserving of it‘s Highly Recommended status.
The stories are just brimming with this delightful innocence and whimsy that captivates the readers, and sticks with you after you read it. It’s artwork is wonderous, and sometimes captivating in it’s wide visuals of the beautiful city of Neo Venezia (both above and below ground). Everything about this title is beautiful, and should have gone on… a truly overlooked (and now underappreciated and ignored) little gem of a read that deserved far much more attention than ADV gave it.

What’s Not?
It’s e-mail time, everyone! Please e-mail ADV, and ask for more Aria (and Aria the Animation slash Natural on DVD), which hopefully shows interest in the title and kickstarts it back onto the bookshelves (and potentially the DVD shelves) again with fresh new volume prints, but I’m still going to hold out hope that Aria is presently on hiatus and eventually will return to publishing it… eventually.

As for Aria the Animation slash Aria the Natural on DVD? Well, knock on wood and hope it will see the light of R1 slash R2 release in a few years. Knock on wood. (The end of July 2006 saw the release of Aria V. 1 on DVD… not sure if it‘s Aria the Animation or Aria the Natural though, sorry).
Oh, Aria the Animation has 13 episodes, while Aria the Natural has 26 which is presently showing now on Japanese TV as we speak. (By the way, just out of curiousity, but does anyone know offhand what is the basic general rule of thumb for series out on DVD in Japan is? How long do we have to wait before it ideally comes into English format?)

What to Ignore?
I’d like to ignore the above and think that ADV is on the cusp of revealing a lot of great plans for Aria’s future… really, I want to have tons of faith in ADV if I could. I mean it’s not like I have a bone to pick with them, and quite a few of their series are my favorites that I recommended in the past, so it’s not like I have some vendetta against them for no good reason or anything.
I just want to see Aria published and set out on DVD, that’s it. Really. That. Is. It. Not much to that.

Overall?
One of my personal favorites, and hopefully one of your’s too once you get to know the title better -- for the three volumes you can presently purchase. It seems short of buying from Japan the newest stuff, and having to own a Region Free DVD Player in order to play the Anime DVDs, there is little Aria related swag you can get your hands on at this present day and time.

Nothing has changed. The series is still solid, and highly recommended.
So tell ADV please in your e-mails to release the rest of the mangas into English print (or at least tell everyone why they discontinued it so we can figure out what to do next and not be hanging in limbo about the series‘ English translated fate as long as we have been hanging), because somebody should Save Aria Now (SAN)… please.
Now it goes without saying, but in Adam Sessler accent… I give Aria the manga series a five... out of 5.

-- David Rasmussen 23rd Jul 06