Description
Aria (stylized as ARIA ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kozue Amano. The series was originally titled Aqua (stylized as AQUA ) when it was published in Enix's Monthly Stencil magazine in 2001, and retitled when it was transferred to Mag Garden's Comic Blade , where it continued serialization from 2002 to 2008. Aqua was collected in two tankōbon volumes, and Aria was collected in twelve volumes.
Hal Film Maker has adapted the manga into several anime television series. A first season was broadcast in 2005, a second season in 2006, an OVA released September 2007, and a third season in 2008 that ended around the same time as the manga serialization. An OVA, titled Aria the Avvenire , was released in the anime series' 10th anniversary Blu-ray box sets between December 2015 and June 2016. A film to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the anime series titled Aria the Crepuscolo premiered on 5 March 2021. A second anime film titled Aria the Benedizione premiered on 3 December 2021.
ADV Manga released English translations of the first three volumes of Aria in 2004 before dropping the license. Tokyopop then acquired the English- language rights to Aqua as well as Aria. Tokyopop released the two volumes of Aqua in October 2007 and February 2008 and six volumes of Aria between January 2008 and December 2010. The anime is licensed in North America by The Right Stuf International, which released all three seasons in box sets under its Nozomi Entertainment imprint between 30 September 2008 and 2 March 2010.
The series is set in the 24th century on a terraformed Mars, now named Aqua, and follows a young woman named Akari Mizunashi as she trains as an apprentice gondolier (known as Undines). The series has been praised for its calm pacing, optimistic worldview, beautiful art, and, for the anime, the quality of the soundtrack.