I checked under the dust jackets of my two AQUA manga to see if there was anything special. (you never know....) And there was! Each one has a little 4-panel extra comic on the front cover with the characters in chibi. Silly little vignettes, but very cute. Now I wonder if ARIA has them too.

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've been all over the Mag Garden site looking for news about the alleged Aria anime, but the only anime they're talking about are Elementar Gerard and Jinki Extend (and PMK and tactics... ad infinitum...^^;). Google doesn't turn up any results either. I wonder if, as in the initial Tsubasa anime mix-up, there might have been a mistranslation somewhere. (But OTOH, the Tsubasa anime WAS finally confirmed later.:D) The fact that Amano-sensei says nothing on her site is rather worrying, though. She does have release dates for the two new drama CDs coming out next year. Ganbatte kudasai Amano-sensei!

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My Aria calendar came today! It's actually a little (5"x7") hardcover booklet and comes with a little stand to prop it open. It has 12 full-color illustrations from the manga - some I recognize as cropped versions of the tankoubon covers, one is the Alpha cover, and the rest I think are from Comic Blade color inserts. But it only has the girls! Akari, Aika, Alicia, Alice and Akira, plus Aria-shachou and Hime-shachou of course - and the third "water fairy" from Orange Planet, whose name I don't know. No Akatsuki. Dang. I was hoping to see what color his uniform was.^^;

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I happened to line up all 3 of my (English) Aria volumes last night, and noticed that the spine picture for vol 3 was the same as the one for vol 2. I'm just speculating, but this MIGHT account for the scarcity of vol 3 in brick & mortar stores.

No word yet on when vol 4 will be out. ADV Manga is apparently not releasing anything in December and January, according to their own site.

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Must remember to add this to my site tonight.

http://www.obiwanmarie.co.uk/aria/index1.htm
and with that absolutely adorable Aria-shachou (NYU!♥) icon. eee! so cute!!!!#^___^#

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So... no ADV Manga releases at all from December 04 through January 05, huh? guess the whole manga staff must be out picketing Comcast or something.XD

Whatever the bug is, they'd better fix it soon.

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aria WIP color sketch: Akatsuki and Akari. SO cute. ^___^ (Go to Gallery and then click on the last aqua square in the ARIA category [as of 12/12/04]) The caption mentions a "Comic Blade Special Edition" double (?) cover. I guess that this is probably for an upcoming issue of Comic Blade - doesn't say which one though (Amano-sensei, you tease! ;___;).

There are also several interesting pieces in the "Rough Sketch" section (directly under etc.) It's fascinating to see Amano-sensei's work as it progresses and how many versions it goes through.

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've created an Aria news page, generated from my anime blog. I hope to use this to share new information as I come upon it, quickly and efficiently. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alas, Sasuga Books also does not have Alpha in stock. I also checked publisher Mag Garden's site, and it appears that they are sold out at the source. *kicks self for not getting it at Otakon* I am still getting the 2005 calendar, however.

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, it seems that vol 3 of Aria just flew off the shelves. On a random check of Arlington bookstores while holiday shopping over the weekend, no one had it - including the Borders where I got mine during lunch two weeks ago. :sweat: Lucky!

Anyway, many good revelations in vol 3. Not the least of which:

- Aika is the heir to Hime-ya! Vol 3 also introduces her Hime-ya mentor, Akira, who is a longtime friend/rival of Alicia-san. Hilarity ensues.
- Alicia has an... interesting streak of assive-aggressiveness. Ara ara.
- Akatsuki DOES have a crush on Alicia! (Along with everyone else on Neo-Venezia, it seems.) However, his attempt to express this to her doesn't quite pan out, resulting in Alicia believing that he and Akari have a thing xd ... and Akari receives a first flower from a guy, ever. oh that was precious, though no doubt painful for Akatsuki. Still, for AkarixAkatsuki fans (like me :grin: ) it's a happy thing.:grin::grin:

Posted by Aria-Kakaricho at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)