Comics / Manga

Aria: Volume 1


By Leroy Douresseaux
January 20, 2008 - 14:46

aria01.jpg
Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the image.

Aqua, a two-volume sci-fi/drama by Kozue Amano, introduced readers to a future version of Mars.  Now called, “Aqua,” 90 percent of the planet’s surface is covered by water.  This is where a young woman named Akari Mizunashi decides to do her life’s work.  Aqua is the prequel to Amano’s Aria, a sci-fi drama that continues the education of Akari.

Akari lives in the city of Neo-Venezia, an exact replica of the Italian city of Venice, famous for its canals and the gondoliers that navigate them.  Akari wants to be an “Undine,” a traditional gondolier who shows sightseers around the city.  She apprentices with the Aria Company, under the guidance of Alicia, a “prime” undine.

Aria, Vol. 1 finds Akari now moved up from an apprentice to a “journeyman,” the last step before becoming a full-fledged undine.  Although Akari is determined to be an undine, she is equally determined to learn more about her new home, both Neo-Venezia and the larger world of Aqua.  In the story entitled “Neo-Venezia,” Akari helps a tourist, who insists that he is not lost, find his daughter and her husband by guiding him through the city’s labyrinthine canals.

She teaches a fellow citizen how to be patient at the “Bridge of Sighs.”  Akari meets fox spirits in “Sun Shower,” and also takes on the marathon gondola race, “Vogare Longa,” a race that may… or may not decide her professional future.

THE LOWDOWN:  With a relaxed storytelling style and beautiful art, Kozue Amano has created a serene reading experience.  His amazing skill at drawing backgrounds and settings, in particularly the superbly designed and drawn, cityscape that is Neo-Venezia, is (to say the least) quite impressive.  The drama is rarely built on conflict, which is mostly minor.  Aria is a travelogue, and the story is told largely through letters that Akari writes back home to Earth (now called Manhome).  The readers are lucky enough to see the beauty Akari’s loved ones can only imagine through her letters.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Everyone.  Relax in front of a cozy fire with the comfort food-as-manga, Aria.

B+

 

Shop Pop at the Amazon aStore.

 

 

 


Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

    RSS       Mobile       Contact        Advertising       Terms of Service    ComicBookBin


© Copyright 2002-2023, Toon Doctor Inc. - All rights Reserved. All other texts, images, characters and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Use of material in this document (including reproduction, modification, distribution, electronic transmission or republication) without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Toon Doctor ® is registered trademarks of Toon Doctor Inc. Privacy Policy