Aria 1
February 2, 2008
What happened in this volume? I feel like I can’t really say much different from what I already said about Aqua. There was a lot of riding around in boats. The last chapter is just Akari participating in a boat race. Obviously the fastest contestant wins, but she keeps getting sidetracked by little things in Neo-Venezia while competing and winds up enjoying herself a lot more because of it. Her teacher approves.
She is now at the stage in her apprenticeship where she can give tours as long as her teacher is in the boat with her. There is one chapter where she tries to force a cranky old man to appreciate the beauty in nature and doing things by hand (as opposed to what I assume is a rather industrial, automatic way of life where he is from), and one chapter where she discusses the history of Venice and Neo-Venezia with someone who was apparently a former customer. They pass an afternoon waiting on people who take hours to show. Apparently things like this were common before cellphones.
Another chapter is entirely focused on Akari and her friend cleaning their gondolas, playing around while doing so, and then at the very end, riding in their clean gondolas. I liked that chapter too. The only other story I haven’t really talked about yet has the characters going to an environment set up to mimic Japan. Akari works hard at not getting lost and led away to the world of demons by the fox spirit.
They all do a very good job at being calm and relaxing, and are some of the only stories I’ve read that are totally successful at having zero plot. I love reading them, because I love watching the joy the main character seems to take from simply rowing around and looking at the scenery. It’s so nice, and it helps break up the drama between the other series I love so much.
February 2, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I’m interested in this series for similar reasons to why I want to read Yotsuba&: it seems like an excellent palate-cleanser. They both wouldn’t embroil one in some dramatic action/angst that ends up addicting one for multiple volumes.
I did end up buying Aqua 1-2, but I’m going to try those first before I start with Aria, since they technically form a complete series and stuff. But I anticipate that I shall like it.
February 3, 2008 at 10:55 pm
I want to try Yotsuba& too, for similar reasons. I always manage to guilt myself out of it because I start too many new series, but it seems similarly great for quiet, inconsequential stories.
February 4, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Woah…I’ll be damned that the Tokyopop release of Aria has now graced our presences. (I sure as heck didn’t see it the other day when I went book shopping!) I have all three of the books that ADV had released, and I’m curious to see how the Tokyopop and ADV releases vary. Oh, and I’ve been waiting quite a while to see what happens beyond volume three, too!
(By the way, I agree with jun; Yotsuba&! is simply adorable and I do recommend that you pick it up.)
February 5, 2008 at 2:36 am
I kind of wonder about the presentation comparison as well. It’s such a minimalist series, you could really get down to nuts-and-bolts type things like lettering and text size since it stands so heavily on its art instead of dialogue. The biggest difference I can imagine might be that ADV provides translation for their sound effects and Tokyopop does not, but I could be wrong about that.
May 30, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Yeah, you’re right about the differences with the sound effects. Even though “Aria” is a series that focuses more on art and atmosphere than on dialogue, I have come across some (slight but) noticeable differences between ADV and Tokyopop’s translations, such as how Akatsuki calls Akari “pigtails” in ADV’s translation, but “sideburns” in Tokyopop’s translation. Also, I had noticed that ADV had toned down some of the yuri and “adult” elements in their release: (e.g. ADV hid the fact that Alicia is a bit of an alcoholic). Despite that Tokyopop has been leaving some of these things intact, I think that they are being way too conservative by issuing “Aria” with an older teen (16+) rating.
June 1, 2008 at 4:32 am
WOW. I didn’t even notice the rating. I’m just sort of reacting to this sudden knowledge, but going over it in my mind right now, I can’t really think of anything objectionable at all. Of course, I’m not even sure I remember Alicia drinking either, but still. 16+ does seem really high.
June 15, 2008 at 6:18 am
I’m pretty certain that Alicia doesn’t drink in the first volume, but she does in the second one. I really can’t remember if she does in the third or not.–And from what I’ve heard, Alicia’s drinking habit is something that was dropped from the anime.