5 Reasons for Being in Love with ARIA by Kozue Amano

Aria, a manga by Kozue Amano is celebrating its 15th anniversary with an anime film. Find out why you should consider including this in your TBR!

Can you imagine what would happen in 300 years? Perhaps a world so quiet because all had perished except for you, the sole human survivor. A post-war world where survival of the fittest was trending again. It could be that humans had abandoned earth and invaded another planet instead. Sounds like familiar concepts? 

It is because current popular narratives prefer that kind of dystopian apocalyptic setting to imagine the future. But what if the future does not mean doomsday?

In the 24th century, mankind had successfully terraformed Mars and turned it into a water planet called Aqua. ARIA is a day-to-day story of Akari Mizunashi, a 15-year-old girl who lifted off the Earth to chase her dream job in Aqua. She wished to be an undine, a female gondola rower specialized in tourism. Together with her friends, Aika and Alice, she rowed through the canals of Neo-Venezia to unearth its hidden gems. 

I found (and instantly hooked into) this manga when I was around 9 years old. My best friend showed me the first two volumes (AQUA), and we both become obsessed with undines and Neo-Venezia. Heck, we even used to have stacked notebooks filled with our doodles. And surprise! Most of them were anime girls in undine uniforms. I also remember reading the manga SO many times that I actually memorized all the panels and dialogue lines! I know! What a bunch of nerdy kids! Anyway, here are the 5 biggest reasons why AQUA/ARIA could trap us into such big freaks.

That Gorgeous Atmospheric Setting

AQUA Vol. 1 Ch. 3, Underwater City

ARIA's main setting is based on undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man, Venice. Amano translated that claim into almost every Venezian detail such as the canals, the plazas, or the tourists searching for romance. She included even the natural phenomenon such as acqua alta as shown in one of my most favorite chapters, Navigation 3: Underwater City. The setting plays a major role in ARIA, because, again, it is a story about the most Venezian aspect of all, the gondola rower. Readers could sense that she has done her research extremely well, and this is why the setting places as the number one reason I should mention about ARIA's appeal.

Those Elegantly Beautiful Characters

AQUA vol. 2

It wouldn't be a good manga if the character design doesn't stand out. If it doesn't make the readers know them by silhouette. In ARIA, Amano creates exceptional characters through stylish costume designs and cute hair-dos. Honestly, I think I've never been more in love with character designs more than I love undine girls'. The summer costume, my favorite, is inspired by the naval uniform design on a simple summer dress. Different undine companies embedded their logos into the uniform and created unique marks made of simple play in dot, curve, or line. Shoes and gloves designs are all distinctive and terribly artsy, and in all honesty, I could just babbling nonstop about why undine uniform is just THE BEST MANGA HEROINE COSTUME (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

But we need to also talk about the hair-dos! As a self-proclaim long-haired anime girls connoisseur, I am spoiled with the many variations of long-hair style Amano can think of! The hairstyle is important, and not just because of my kinks, for the characters' special traits. In other slice-of-life manga, this is often overlooked so that SoL characters are never that memorable. In ARIA, even without animation or colorized version, readers could always tell these undines apart.

That Romantic Theme

ARIA Vol. 3 Ch. 15, Festa del Boccolo

When I say romantic, it doesn't mean the boy-meets-girl teen lit kind of romantic. What I mean is the romantic as in GHIBLI's films with simplistic mundane chores such as washing dishes or cooking breakfast magically look so fun, grand, and hot damn aesthetic. ARIA is, after all, a slice-of-life manga, so the chapters are mostly stand-alone about finding hidden treasures in everyday life. It is an adventure story with a twist of fantasy and science fiction at times, yet it stays casual and anchored into a familiar world. Of course, being a romantic, sometimes the narration could be rather cheesy. But that's what Aika is for! Always ready to bonk Akari's up-in-the-cloud head with her famous line: 恥ずかしいセリフ禁止！, Hazukashii serifu kinshi! Cheesy embarrassing lines are not allowed!!

Those Alluring Mysteries

ARIA Vol. 6 Ch. 30, Galaxy Express

Unraveling mysteries in an exotic city? Boy do Robert Langdon had himself a competition here. From whimsical cat lord the city guardian, spine-chilling case of the mourning lady, magical orient express for cats, mesmerizing fox spirits, the list could go on and on. The pace of each chapter is laid-back and relaxing, but the mysteries gave a nice twist to it.

... and, of course, THE CATS

Maa-sachou, Aria-sachou, Hime-sachou

Because, seriously, who wouldn't fall in love with these adorable company presidents. My favorite is of course the fluffiest and plumpest of all, Aria-sachou himself. 

For what it's worth, ARIA tells a story that will always be relatable. It is about growing up, exploring new possibilities, be present and having a great time with precious people. If you love wholesome slice-of-life tales, if you enjoy following the laid-back adventure of girls overcoming on-the-job training, if you fancy yourself the exploration of a beautiful city, I think you should give AQUA/ARIA a try! To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the franchise, ARIA: The Crepusculo will be released by the end of Winter anime season of 2021. Can't wait!

Do you enjoy reading about animanga? Kindly check my other anime commentary: Why Facebook Fans are on Fire Over Horimiya