Aria, Volume 5

アリア [Aria] #5

by Kozue Amano

One-hundred and fifty years in the future, terraforming on Mars has caused its polar ice caps to melt, covering 90 per cent of the planet's surface with water and making it habitable for humans. Mars is now referred to as Aqua, the water planet. Enter Akari, who leaves Earth for Aqua to become a gondolier, known on Aqua as an undine. In "Aria, Volume 5", Akrai welcomes the second spring on Aqua. She has the pleasure of accompanying the president of the Aria Company on some errands, and she meets a talented singing undine, one of the elite Three Major Fairies.

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Slice Of Life, Graphic Novels, Comics, Comics Manga, Shojo

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Kozue Amano (天野こずえ Amano Kozue) is a female Japanese manga artist. She is widely known as the creator of Aria, which proved to be a best-selling hit, and was adapted into an anime television series consisting of 3 seasons and an OVA.

Reviews

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still the wonderful ambling slice-of-life through Neo Venice.

The only complaint I have is some art inconsistencies with the night scenes. Every few panels, they forget to make the sky dark and so it suddenly looks like daytime. Not too big a deal, all things considered.

[The Poor Person's Book Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading these after a DNF to put me in a more positive mood

[Starbubbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just absolutely love this series. It seems to calm me down when I am at my most stressed, cheer me up when I'm blue...
I believe I have made my point.
I think I have found what I want to start adding to my Christmas wishlist.

[vanessa♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a good-feeling manga☺☺☺

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can go to Mars as easily as you can take a train cross-country in Japan, so it's no big thing to take San Marco in its entirety to Neo-Venezia and rebuild it there.

Akari's e-mail correspondence to her friend feels much more mature and sober than her persona out in the world. A cynic--and no, I'm not one, why are you even asking?--might get the feeling she's faking it, but the manga itself doesn't even slightly hint that that's the case. She's genuinely open-hearted while dealing with other people face-to-face, and with her new world.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that we got a chapter with Alice! She can be so reserved, and graceful when rowing, so seeing this childish goofy side of her was a highlight of the volume. The fireworks chapter was great too, very pretty and seeing more of our Gnome friend Albert was a joy.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Completely cute and tame. Adventures all around Aqua!

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm getting more used to the Aria series' slow pace, but so little of note happened in this volume that it was almost painful to read. There were more references to consumption and weight than there have been in any of the previous volumes. There was still some beautiful art, though, so towards the end I mostly skimmed or skipped the dialogue and just focused on the visuals.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! I'm so sad to be closing in on the last translated volume though. It did bug me that on the back it says spring when it's fall... how was that not caught??? But now an even deeper insight into training and friendship, and as alwats beautiful art.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another gorgeous volume of Aria. Plus, new characters! And more insight into undine training and how Neo-Venezia works. Now, if only Tokyopop's release schedule of this series wasn't criminally slow.