I don't read a lot of manga. I've read Death Note and a couple of others but not enough to really know something about the genre, but since I like to read comics/graphic novels every now and then I wanted to try Aria, in which the main character travels to Mars, now called Aqua to become an Undine who rows the gondolas through Neo Venice.

I was not completely prepared for the weirdness of the CEO being a cat, but said, the rest was pretty normal. I think this would classify as 'casual', which is how Netflix has started describing series that are nice to watch but where there is not a lot happening. She is training to be an Undine, and that's what happens. There is never really any kind of problem and she just seems to be having a good time. One thing I liked was the lights festival with lights that glow for a month and afterwards everyone collects at the sea to bid them farewell.

However, it seemed rather unnecessary to put the story in space, as everything seemed about the same, except for the cat. Also why did Mars have to be called Aqua and Earth Manhome? I quite liked the art though and it was a nice and quick read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

In spite of personal shit that makes me feel all

I managed to get some serious manga reading done of late.  So, yay? 

Anyway, yeah, onwards and... upwards.

Aria: Volume 1

Light, happy and free of all of the disappointing disgusting fan service that every other manga I have read lately has - even the ones I liked.  It felt like I was coming home when I read this - it was light, and, dare I say, "airy" to read.  I felt like I was watching Hayao Miyazaki or walking down a forest path and just watching the river beyond the line of trees.   Read if you need a pick-me-up, like I did. some of the beautiful imagery and the sense of relaxed happiness made me feel like everything was going to be okay and lovely.

Ghost Talker's Daydream, Vol. 1

Um, yeah, about that "fan-service".  This is a prime example of how over-sexualizing a character who does not want to be over-sexualized (she repeatedly talks about how she hates aspects of being a BDSM "master" repeatedly and continuously gets into situations wherein she becomes inexplicably nude to others.  It's pretty damn gross.  And it detracts from the strengths of the story itself - this is an interesting premise and it doesn't flinch from the depictions of death and the monster-of-the-week styled stories feel fresh and interesting.  Too bad, really.

Claymore, Vol. 1

Out of all of the ones that did have fan service, at least this one was classily handled.  A woman who seems to have little in the way of a human soul and a whole lot of demon-enhanced abilities is the star of this series.  Fascinating and dark, this killing machine of a person seems to be learning more about her human side as the story goes on as she continued down a path that is promised to take that very humanity away.

Ral & Grad, Vol. 1

And then we get into the wratched realm, where we have a woman agreeing to being sexually used by a fifteen year old boy and then we see grown women in the aftermath of having sex.  With a minor.  Oh god why Japan why.

After having read a lot of manga lately, can I just request that Japanese authors explain to me the need for exposition dumps?  It's not necessary, if you have skill as a writer.  Jeez.

I loved Aria, so when I heard about this manga I just had to check it out. And on the one hand I am happy I did, on the other though, I wish I hadn't.

This is no fault of the story or the art. Story is typical Slice of Life, so it can be a bit boring for people, but I really enjoyed it. I could use some relaxation during all the commotion of my life. The art was, as expected, gorgeous. With beautiful 2 page spreads of wonderful backgrounds. The characters are the only thing that I didn't entirely like about the art. Especially the green-haired girl. She changes from gorgeous girl to some kind of hybrid alien chibi character. Her transformation happens often and thus often annoys me and destroys the rest of the gorgeous art. I wish the mangaka would just pick one side or only switch occasionally.

The characters were the only thing I didn't like. The black-haired girl was nice and I really liked her, but our green-haired girl was just plain annoying. They are freshman in High school, so I am guessing she is between 13 and 16 depending on some stuff. However she acts like she is 10 year old and has an IQ of 10. Well her IQ rises when she is sprouting about her precious diving hobby, but other than that, sorry I doubt her IQ. She acts super childish, annoying people with her whistle (seriously, I might not watch the anime, should one come out, because of this) and she drags people with her to God-knows-where, mostly without their consent.
Maybe she will get better, so I will try another volume of this, since I truly love the art and the story/slice of life stuff.

All in all, this one is difficult to recommend. On the one hand, yes. On the other, no, because of our green-haired girl.

As for the rating, I am rating this a 4 stars because the story and the art were still great and I liked the relaxing story (you don't find those often).

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

There's a lot of characters I love, but the one I relate to the most isMizunashi Akari.I see some of my better characteristics in her - she's optimistic, always sees the good in people, is free with her emotions, and hangs out with a giant cat fairy.

Well maybe not that last one. But we're both very happy-go-lucky and try to see the good in everything. Plus I would totally love to live on a water-terraformed Mars and be a gondolier.