Aria (アリア, Aria?) is a science fiction manga by Kozue Amano (天野
こずえ, Amano Kozue?). The series was originally titled Aqua (アクア, Aqua?) when it was
published by Enix in the magazine Monthly Stencil, being retitled when it moved
to Mag Garden's magazine Comic Blade.[5] Aqua was serialized in Stencil from 2001
to 2002 and collected in two tankōbon volumes. Aria was serialized in Comic Blade
from November 2002 to April 2008 and collected in twelve volumes. The series has
been adapted as an anime television series, with a first season 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.
| # |
Title |
Original airdate[2] |
| 1 |
"That Meeting at the Carnival..."
"Sono Kānibaru no Deai wa..."
(その カーニバルの出逢いは・・・)
|
2006-04-02 |
| Aria
Pokoteng leaves Aqua HQ on carnival morning. Later on, Akari and Ai-chan
become separated from the crowd while chasing after "Casanova",
the legendary giant, masked
MC of carnivals. Eventually they confront Casanova, who invites them
to a cheering march and finally gives them a glimpse of his true identity
as Caith Sith, the 100 year old cat king of Neo-Venezia. President Aria
turns out to be one of his attendants. |
| 2 |
"Looking for That Treasure..."
"Sono Takaramono o Sagashite..."
(その 宝物をさがして・・・)
|
2006-04-09 |
| Akari,
Aika, and Alice find a note that leads them on a treasure hunt through the
city, which ends up on a hill looking over a beautiful view of Neo-Venezia.
They decide to replace the clues, so that others can find this treasure
for themselves. (Adapted from Aria Navigation 13.) |
| 3 |
"On That Night of the Meteor Shower..."
"Sono Ryūseigun no Yoru ni..."
(その 流星群の夜に・・・)
|
2006-04-16 |
| Akari
and Aika meet Al, an apprentice gnome visiting the surface, who invites
them to lunch. Later, they invite him to watch a
meteor shower from the rooftops. (Adapted from Aria Navigations
8 and 23.) |
| 4 |
"That Neo-Venezia–Coloured Heart..."
"Sono Neo Benetsia-iro no Kokoro wa..."
(その ネオ・ヴェネツィア色の心は・・・)
|
2006-04-23 |
| Mr.
Postman borrows Akari and her gondola for the day while his is being repaired,
and she helps him deliver the mail. During the day, they help a boy deliver
in person a letter to his former teacher on her wedding day. (Adapted from
Aria Navigation 21.) |
| 5 |
"The Things We Found on That Spring Day...
/ That Rainy Day's Honesty..."
"Sono Haru no Hi ni Mitsuketa Mono wa... / Sono Ame no Hi no Suteki wa..."
(その 雨の日の素敵は・・・ ／ その
春にみつけたものは・・・) |
2006-04-30 |
| Alicia
and Akari visit an island that recreates a Manhome Japanese temple. Akari
meets a procession of
kitsune
and, frightened, offers them her
sushi. Alicia
and Akari then go on a picnic inland of the city. After following old railroad
tracks, they find a
blooming cherry tree. (Adapted from Aria Navigations 4 and 12.)
|
| 6 |
"That Smile Reflected in the Mirror..."
"Sono Kagami ni Utsuru Egao wa..."
(その 鏡にうつる笑顔は・・・)
|
2006-05-07 |
| Alice
invites Akari and Aika to spend the night. While there, they realize she
did this to have an excuse to not attending a company party, because she
feels out of place among so many older people. After talking with Athena
and watching Maa-kun go to great effort to climb onto a bed to bite President
Aria, she decides to put more effort into "joining the party." |
| 7 |
"To Those Cats' Kingdom..."
"Sono Nekotachi no Ōkoku e..."
(その 猫たちの王国へ・・・)
|
2006-05-14 |
| While
practicing their rowing, Akari and Aika watch President Aria take his own
boat down a chanel they had never noticed before. The next day, they see
him again and this time follow him. They end up in labrynthine warehouse
that has them traveling in circles, until Aria shows them the way out. As
they leave, Akari sees behind them dozens of cats, including one as large
as an ox, who bows to her. (Adapted from Aqua Navigation 4.) |
| 8 |
"On That Day of the Bocolo..."
"Sono Bokkoro no Hi ni..."
(その ボッコロの日に・・・)
|
2006-05-21 |
| During
the annual flooding of Neo-Venezia, Akari meets Akatsuki. He wishes to give
several roses to Alicia for the Feste de Boccolo—a day when men give a single
red rose to the women he loves. Akatsuki is nervous of approaching Alicia,
however, and practices presenting them to Akari. Alicia sees this, and wishes
the two well in their relationship. (Adapted from Aria Navigation
15.) |
| 9 |
"Those Untainted Stars Are..."
"Sono Sugao no Hoshitachi wa..."
(その 素顔の星たちは・・・)
|
2006-05-28 |
| Akari,
supervised by Alicia, gives a tour as an undine, only to have her clients
discover a secret garden she did not know about. Later she searches Neo-Venezia
for unique places to show others, but cannot find any place that Aika and
Alice do not already know about. When she despairs of ever reaching Alicia's
level as an undine, Alicia says she has a lot to learn herself, and is glad
of this as it means she will always have new things to discover. |
| 10 |
"In That Warm Town with Those Warm People
And..."
"Sono Atataka na Machi to Hitobito to..."
(その あたたかな街と人々と・・・)
|
2006-06-04 |
| Puzzled
as to why Akari gets special treatment from locals, even though she is an
immigrant, Aika and Alice follow her for a day. After watching her run errands
and take a ferry, they conclude that it is because she is naturally nice
to everyone and takes joy in nearly everything. |
| 11 |
"That Precious Gleam..."
"Sono Taisetsu na Kagayaki ni..."
(その 大切な輝きに・・・)
|
2006-06-16 |
| Akatsuki's
brother asks for Akari's help transporting some glassware by gondola. While
picking up the cargo at the workshop, she overhears a tourist disparaging
Neo-Venezian glassware as an inferior copy of Venetian ware—like the rest
of Neo-Venezia. This depresses an apprentice glassmaker riding with them,
until Akari points out that Neo-Venezia may look like Venice, but the process
of building it was different—that this is its own place, with its own memories
to cherish. Akatsuki's brother tells her she will be a good undine. |
| 12 |
"Chasing That Mirage... / The Light of
That Wind Chime..."
"Sono Nigemizu o Otte... / Sono Yakōrin no Hikari wa..."
(その 逃げ水を追って… ／ その
夜光鈴の光は・・・) |
2006-06-18 |
| On
a summer day hot enough to see
mirages on the ocean, Akari takes refuge in a cool cafe. When she tries
to buy iced coffee, she learns it serves only iced milk, beause it is a
refuge for the city's cats. Later, Akari buys a windchime with a
noctilucent clapper, a summer specialty of Aqua, and hangs it outside
her window. The glow lasts for a month, and when it dies, the clapper drops
off into the sea. (Adapted from Aria Navigation 17 and Aqua
Navigation 7.) |
| 13 |
"That Big Resolution..."
"Sono Dekkai Jibun Rūru o..."
(その でっかい自分ルールを・・・)
|
2006-06-25 |
| |
| 14 |
"That Newest Memory..."
"Sono Ichiban Atarashii Omoide ni..."
(その いちばん新しい想い出に・・・)
|
2006-07-02 |
| Disturbed
that Aria Company does not have its own "parina," or distinctive pole for
hitching boats, Akari decides to design one herself. Looking for ideas in
the company archives, she finds an old photograph of Akino that shows one,
and she creates a new one based on it. |
| 15 |
"In the Middle of That Vast Circle..."
"Sono Hiroi Wakka no Naka de..."
(その 広い輪っかの中で・・・)
|
2006-07-09 |
| |
| 16 |
"The Separation from That Gondola..."
"Sono Gondora to no Wakare wa..."
(その ゴンドラとの別れは・・・)
|
2006-07-16 |
| |
| 17 |
"If That Rainy Night Would Become Daylight..."
"Sono Ame Furu Yoru ga Akereba..."
(その 雨降る夜が明ければ・・・)
|
2006-07-23 |
| |
| 18 |
"That New Me..."
"Sono Atarashii Jibun ni..."
(その 新しい自分に・・・)
|
2006-07-30 |
| Aika-chan
arrives at the barbecue party with a new, ultra-cute hairstyle and goes
over the top after being praised by Alicia for her goddess-like looks. Minutes
later she accidentally burns her hair and runs away. Akira confronts Aika
at Himeya HQ and teases her baseless desire to become a copycat of Alicia.
Aika tries to run away, but Akira stops her to explain it is impossible
to impersonate someone else and she should simply aim to become the best
ever undine in Neo-Venezia. Aika then cuts her hair very short to express
her new, dynamic "me". |
| 19 |
"That Crybaby... / That Young Girl's Heart..."
"Sono Nakimushi-san ttara... / Sono Otomegokoro tteba..."
(その 泣き虫さんったら・・・ ／
その 乙女心ってば・・・) |
2006-08-06 |
| (Adapted
from Aqua Special Navigation from volume 2, and Aria Navigation
35.) |
| 20 |
"The Shadowless Guests... or Invitation
without a shadow..."
"Sono Kage no Nai Maneku Mono wa..."
(その 影のない招くものは・・・)
|
2006-08-13 |
| Adapted
from Aria Navigation 38, this is a controversial episode open for
conflicting interpretations. In the midst of the summer heatwave Akari observes
a ghostly lady in black at Piazza San Marco. Next evening the lady asks
Akari for a ride in her gondola to Isola San Michele, where she drags Akari
into the cemetery, then disappears. Akari meets Caith Sith and regains consciousness
later on the balcony of Aria HQ. (She was possibly victimized). Akari insists
Caith Sith saved her life, but Alice-chan explains the black lady's "medival"
execution related ghost story had no trace back on Man-Home, its a recent
myth made up on Aqua (potentially a dark magic concotion of Caith Sith to
lure girls to his liking). |
| 21 |
"That Night of the Milky Way Railroad...
or The Night of the Galaxy Express..."
"Sono Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru ni..."
(その 銀河鉄道の夜に・・・)
|
2006-08-20 |
| Adapted
from Aria Navigation 30, this is a higly controversial episode open
for conflicting interpretations. Akari wakes up 02:00 AM to the sound of
a train's whistle, even though the Neo-Venezia railway is down for night
time. Caith Sith tries to kill Akari by sending her a ticket for the Milky
Way Night Express, that magic train which takes the departing souls to the
afterlife. Akari confides in Alicia, Aika and Alice-chan her growing affection
for Caith Sith and her disambiguity about taking the ride. Alicia-san encourages
her to go and Akari turns up at the platform. She escapes by chance, giving
up her ticket for a crying kitten who lost its boarding pass. Eventually
Akari hugs Caith Sith and the cat king takes conducting the train. |
| 22 |
"In That Parallel World... / The Things
Aqua Wants to Protect..."
"Sono Fushigi Wōrudo de... / Sono Akua o Mamoru Mono Yo..."
(その パラレルワールドで・・・ ／
その アクアを守るものよ・・・) |
2006-08-27 |
| (Adapted
from Aria Special Navigations from volumes 6 and 7.) |
| 23 |
"That Sea, That Love, and Those Thoughts..."
"Sono Umi to Koi to Omoi to..."
(その 海と恋と想いと・・・)
|
2006-09-03 |
| |
| 24 |
"That Undine of Tomorrow..."
"Sono Ashita no Undīne ni..."
(その 明日のウンディーネに・・・)
|
2006-09-10 |
| |
| 25 |
"That Meeting's Crystal..."
"Sono Deai no Kesshou wa..."
(その 出逢いの結晶は・・・)
|
2006-09-17 |
| |
| 26 |
"In the Middle of That Pure White Snow..."
"Sono Shiroi Yasashii Machi Kara..."
(その 真っ白な雪の中で・・・)
|
2006-09-24 |
| |
