Otakuism

Story:

ARIA is pretty well known by now, but just to reiterate for newcomers. ARIA takes place in the 24th century on the terraformed Mars, now known as Aqua because 90% of it is covered in water from the melted ice caps. On Aqua there is the wonderful city of Neo-Venezia, based on the real city of Italy. Just as in Venice Gondoliers are needed for touring the city and in Neo-Venezia these gondoliers are known as Undines. Akari is an Undine apprentice, a sparkling girl who always sees the beauty in life. Akari is joined in her daily discoveries of life in Neo-Venezia by Alicia, her professional Undine superior and just as happy-go-lucky as Akari; Aika, Akari’s more cynical and tsundere friend; Akira, Aika’s hot-headed superior; Alice, a shy junior undine prone to sarcasm; and several other crazy personalities. Together they find the daily beauty and wonder in the almost magical world of Neo-Venezia.

Impressions:

So I finally found the first four volumes of ARIA translated (in before slowpoke) and read them all tonight. Of course I already love ARIA from the wonderful anime, so the manga just serves to increase my love. Since the anime basically adapted stories straight from the manga, little is different; though there are some noticeable changes. Ai-chan does not exist at all, yes sad I know, but Akari still addresses an unknown person at the beginning of each chapter. I suppose a critical reader could say she’s directly addressing the audience in order to increase her moe appeal, but I’m not that critical. The story moves at a much slower pace, with Alice not being introduced till volume 3 and Athena not even mentioned as of volume 4. The stories maintain their same brilliance; that mix of nostalgia and other-worldliness that makes you wish you were there on the streets of Neo-Venezia.

I quite like the art in ARIA. It ranges from the very detailed - like old city blocks - to the hilarious SD forms of the characters. Everybody seems to be rendered a bit more mature to me, which is interesting to see. I only read two stories that I don’t think were in the anime, though don’t trust my bad memory. One was when Al was first introduced and Akari and Aika saw how he worked. The explanation behind the gravity marbles was fascinating, as it really sounded like it could work in a far-fetched way. The other chapter is when the three girls throw a thanksgiving party for everyone they know on a boat. Just general ARIA good times here. The first three volumes of ARIA were put out in english by ADV before their manga department blinked into non-existance, and recently it’s been announced that Tokyopop has the license, though they seem to be waiting on it for a long time. Damn Tokyopop. And they still have AQUA to publish, too. Anyone who enjoys slice-of-life or just quieter manga in general should definetely read ARIA; it’s a modern masterpiece of out own time I believe. I got all the translations from the good folks at Promfret.