Aria Volume 5 (Aria (Tokyopop)) [Paperback]

Kozue Amano (Author)

Book Description

Series: Aria (Tokyopop) | Publication Date: November 3, 2009

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427805148
• ISBN-13: 978-1427805140
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #899,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Water World, January 13, 2010

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aria Volume 5 (Aria (Tokyopop)) (Paperback)

A new volume of Aria is like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. It doesn't last for too long, but while you are in the midst of it you can just close your eyes and relax, drifting away to somewhere more beautiful and peaceful than whatever your present circumstances may be.

In the terraformed world of Aqua (formerly Mars) life drifts along as lazily as the ubiquitous canals that cover the surface. Undine-in-training Akari is thrilled that her second Autumn on Aqua brings with it the return of the winter uniform for the Aria gondolier company, and a new series of adventures. Her new day begins when the mailman's personal gondola is broken, and he needs Akari to take him on his rounds. Because she is still in training, Akari cannot take him as a customer but uses the excuse of "extra training" to carry the mailman in his duties.

That is about the extent of the trouble that Akari gets into in the fifth volume of the acclaimed series "Aria." A slice-of-life comic, there are five vignettes in all, each with showcasing some beautiful aspect of the planet Aqua, or some minor hiccup in Akari's life. In one funny chapter, called "Canzone," Akari's friend Alice becomes frustrated that her left hand is not as useful as her right hand, and decides to go on a system of training to bring the left hand up to the right hand's level.


If you are familiar with the "Aria" series, volume five is more of the same, and that is good. The only slight dissapointment here is the same as with all other US-released versions of "Aria." The beautiful colored pages that appear in the Japanese-release are black-and-white. It doesn't seem like it would cost that much to print those few colored pages as they originally appeared.

If you are unfamiliar with the "Aria," then you are missing out. The art, story and pacing here are simply beautiful, and artist Amano Kozue has created something really special.

5.0 out of 5 stars Aria Volume 5, August 25, 2010

By 

Mark H. Hoskins "Kempis Curious" (San Clemente, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aria Volume 5 (Aria (Tokyopop)) (Paperback)

The third great prima is introduced in this volume, and not surprising it is the mentor of Alice. What is surprising is that she doesn't have the same personality as Alice... it's a welcome contrast to what is going on between Akari-Alicia and Aika-Akira. Also in the same story we are reminded that the beautiful, skilled, dignified, and reserved Alice is still the youngest person in the set of main characters... she still has some some growing up to do and is prone to silly beliefs and lack of self-confidence.

The other memorable story is the start of a male/female romance between two of the characters. This kind of thing is very low-key in this series, so don't get your hopes up if you're looking for more of that. Alternatively, don't be scared away from the series if you hate that sort of thing. : )