Aria

Formerly known as Aqua in the first two books, it focuses on an Undine (gondolier) from Aria Company, Mizunashi Akari and her adventures. The book is like a passage of life as we see Akari maturing from when she first started in the company to her graduation. Along the way, are her adventures with the supernatural and Cait Sith, her friends and their thoughts of life; and the spectacular view of Venice.



One of the very few things that drew me to the manga was the slow pace of the book. Whilst many of my friends felt that the story was quite mundane and too slow, I could see it's similiarities with YKK (Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko). It's the journey through life with it's ups and downs that appeals to me. The storyline is unique and touching to the heart.

Another thing that I love most is the gorgeous sceneries that Aqua and Aria introduces us to. The sceneries are based on real-life locations. In fact, for the anime production, the team made visits to Venice several times to photograph and capture the sceneries. Throughly an amazing production.



The songs are soothing and calming. Akari's seiyuu, Erino Hazuki has done several of the op/ed. I don't really fancy her voice but it has come out remarkable. Round Table feat. Nino lend their jazz, blue-ness voice to the compilation. I have to admit that they often make me cry whenever I hear their songs being blasted in the show. Then, there's Makino Yui. She is an amazing singer who manages to capture the life and essence of Aria. Finally, a very criticized group Sonorous! Sonorous sang for the Aria the Arietta OVA and many criticized the nature of the song, saying it doesn't have any resemblance to previous works done for the Aria animation series. I would have to say that I disagree with them. The Sonorous team has done an amazing job. Their song reminds me of Gedo Senki's theme song. Soothing, calming, and simple. It's a splendid piece of work that deserve praises.

A MUST not forget is Eri Kawai, the seiyuu singer for Athena Glory's voice. She has contributted much to the series. The R.I.P. singer composed two of my favourite songs, Barracole and Coccolo. Though giberish, the melody just captures my attention. Simply amazing.



The color used in the animation and manga are soothing. Depictions of the underwater sea comes out perfect that it renders readers like myself, crying as I watch or read it. Not being too dramatic in my descriptions, I have to say that Aria touches my heart. Everything about it means something to me. My dream is to collect every manga (Japanese/English), and dvd collection that is available out there. It's simply one of the best.

I'd be uploading videos of the animation later. Hopefully the complete set. ^^;