The year is 2301 and people are living on Mars. Only now it is known as ‘Aqua’ and the planet has been transformed to make it habitable. This is the setting for Kozue Amano’s Aria (ADV Manga). This is a pleasant story starring an optimistic young girl Akari, and her quirky cat, President Aria. They live in Neo-Venice, a city modeled after Earth’s Venice. Akari is training to become a gondolier called an ‘Undine’. Each chapter in Volume 1 is a short story of a day in Akari’s Utopian life. This story builds a new world where people have adjusted to a planet that is 90% water, where a year lasts 24 months and the weather is controlled by people called ‘salamanders’ who live on floating islands. People from the planet Earth, now referred to as “Man Home”, come to Aqua for vacation and to experience its more primitive lifestyle, as it is 100 years behind in technology.
I have only been able to get ahold of Volume 1 so far, and I’ll be checking out Volumes 2 & 3 shortly. The story is suitable for all ages and is also published by Tokyopop.