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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
The backgrounds and setting art are breathtaking, there are talented girls crushing on older, equally talented girls, and it's all set in a gorgeous futuristic Venice. All you could possibly want.
Distant worlds, ideas and expressions explored through sublime art and tranquillity has to be a genre of its own.
This was a reread, for the first time in Japanese. Recently I was in the mood for some light, slice-of-life fantastic story, and I remembered I still didn't own a physical copy of Aqua 1 & 2 (they have been very hard to find for years). So glad I finally fixed this.
What can I say about this manga? If you like slice-of-life, low SFF edging on magical realism, this is for you. I love Aqua and its sequel Aria in the same way I love Japanese wind chimes. They are simple and yet masterfully crafted little things that fill me with a quiet, restful but bubbly kind of joy. I felt all of these feelings once again as I reread the first volume of Aqua. And the art, especially the two-pages drawings of Neo-Venice, are so beautiful they made me exclaim in awe more than once, just like the protagonist Akari.
What can I say about this manga? If you like slice-of-life, low SFF edging on magical realism, this is for you. I love Aqua and its sequel Aria in the same way I love Japanese wind chimes. They are simple and yet masterfully crafted little things that fill me with a quiet, restful but bubbly kind of joy. I felt all of these feelings once again as I reread the first volume of Aqua. And the art, especially the two-pages drawings of Neo-Venice, are so beautiful they made me exclaim in awe more than once, just like the protagonist Akari.
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When I was about 10 years old I checked out all the Aria volumes from the library and since then it's been a favorite of mine, but I'm not sure how I ever missed Aqua. I blame the publishers for making it confusing as to which order to read them in. So I assumed the story started en medias res, but this one has a little bit of Akari arriving on Mars which was interesting. I'm not sure if Aqua is a prequel or if it was written before Aria, but the art style seemed a little more immature than the later ones I remember, and there's less focus on the landscapes which is what I really come here for.
The start of something magical as Aqua is the prequel volumes to Aria, only the best manga ever written! (She said with conviction!)
These manga are stress relievers and actually belong to a type known as:
Iyashikei - which means healing.
They are to your soul and to your stress the way a warm bath is to a tense body!
Sheer bliss!
Give yourself the best gift ever and go read these volumes wherever you can find them!
And people say happiness can't be bought...
These manga are stress relievers and actually belong to a type known as:
Iyashikei - which means healing.
They are to your soul and to your stress the way a warm bath is to a tense body!
Sheer bliss!
Give yourself the best gift ever and go read these volumes wherever you can find them!
And people say happiness can't be bought...
Absolutely a cute premise, but I did not really get sucked in by the first book. I always give manga at least two books before I make up my mind, though.
The backgrounds and setting art are breathtaking, there are talented girls crushing on older, equally talented girls, and it's all set in a gorgeous futuristic Venice. All you could possibly want.