one thing that annoyed me with TP’s translation is: “Sideburns” why on hell would Akari would be called Sideburns ?!

TBH i dont have an issue with that. True i would of prefered they kept pigtails, but that term has already cause a few problems in manga in the past . Sideburn was probably the onlt alternative they could think up.

Then again, this is TP we’re talking about, they aren’t exactly the best when it comes to doing translation. I get the feeling, all to often, that they’ve got a robot some where that does it. All to often their translation feel to mechanicle, and don’t take into consideration the characters personalities.

I see you got to Volume 2, and yes… the colors are more vivid on the first color page, while the paper’s… well, it’s the same paper, but the ink is bold and the printing decently done. And yes, they did change the names… again. They’re about as inconsistent as Del Rey is in terms of naming (anyone remember Negima?), but yes… this worked out rather well.

As for Aria, the story does seem to jump around a lot, so I’m not bothered by the way Alice failed to show up here. As for the translation… well, I guess they’re following OtaKing’s suggestions regarding how to handle the translation.

“Given the way volume one was handled, the muted colour pages, I was expecting the same again here. However I was surprised to find the art was vibrant a full of rich colour, just like in the original.”

I’m a little confused by your comment here because in Aqua and my 2 TP Aria volumes the pages that were originally in color are in black and white. This seems to be a standard practice with publishers here but it’s a bit of a shame since the Japanese tankoubon (from what I can tell from my Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou volumes at least) keep the original color pages AND are cheaper. As I’m sure you know it looks so, so much better than what happens when you take an originally colorful page and turn it black and white.

Speaking of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, if you haven’t read it yet I highly recommend it. It’s like Aria but in my opinion even better. It does some of the same things as Aria such as being a slow slice-of-life and having beautifully drawn landscapes but it’s a bit more melancholy and wistful. The Japanese phrase which describes it best is “mono no aware” which as I understand it means “a sensitivity to things” and is a gentle sadness at the transience of everything combined with an awareness of its beauty. Something like that.

Anyway, sorry for letting this comment run away from me and become quite long.

Not sure what you’re confused about Alexandra. Aqua color pages were in black and white, which if you’ve read te review i did you’ll notice i hated. Mainly because they didn’t convert it to black and white properly, and it now looks ugly. Plus why convert it at all? Many publishers, including TP have left colou plates intact in the more popular series they’ve released.

Then in vol1 of Aria they leave the color plates, but the colours are faded and aren’t as vibrant and clear as they were in the original (i’ve posted copies to compare). And now in vol2 we have the vibrant colors.

I’ve read a bit of Yokohama, but couldn’t get into it, as for saying it’s better than Aria, i disagree. It’s good, but it’s not that good

As for Alice’s out-of-order appearance, you do have to remember that while the Aqua manga is a prelude, chronologically the Aria manga volumes one and two preceded it in terms of publication, which puts it a tad out of order chronologically… much like the anime it inspired.

I suspect that either 1) someone skimped out on the printing in Vol 1, or 2) they decided to go for a watercolour effect. Still, volume 2 sets that right. As for Aria, I think the beauty of it us that there’s still hope for tomorrow, rather than a nostalgia for the things which will only go away… which is why I read the manga and watched the show.

I dont think Aria came first. From what i heard (and i could be wrong lol) The series as a whhole was to be called Aqua. However Amano had a falling out of some sort with the original magazine that was publishing it, and moved to a new one, having to change the name of the series in the process. Hence the Aria name.

That alone though wouldn’t bother me, the way Alice was just dumped in vol2 of Aqua is what bothers me, there’s no introduction or anything, added with the lack of her in the first 2 vols of Aria it’s a ‘meh’ moment. Atleast the anime handles that right

For me, i love it because of it’s change of pace. Even the shojo stuff i read usually has action of some sort going on in it. The nothingness of Aria is refreshing, and easy to get into.

If you check the tqnkubon publication dates, Aqua vol 1 didn’t show up till 2003, while Aria was printed in 2002. I think that the last Navigation with Alice was drawn well after Aqua was started, to judge by the art style, and that’s why there’s those sketches asking who Alice is. And she only shows up in the “Of Colds and Pudding” story, IIRC. I’ll have to reread to be sure.

Yes, it does have that unhurried quality which never threatens the worlds or the characters with the end of tranquility, which is a nice change from books where there’s some event that causes drama. Even the drama tends to be low key and non-threatening.

The tankubon version may have come first true, however aqua was publshed first by magazine, as was aria. From what i’ve understood, it took them a while to get the publication rights to Aqua back, which is probably why Aria was published first, and also explains why the series was changed from Aqua to Aria.

I recall reading that the reason Alice doesn’t appear in the first volumes of Aria/does appear in the last volume of Aqua is due a difference between two Japanese print runs (Enix, and Mag Garden) and the fact that the Tokyopop version comes from the latter, in which the original unrelated short stories from Aqua v2 were replaced with newer, Aria related stories.
Heres where I read that: http://scottd.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/aria-manga-comparison-adv-vs-tokyopop/#comment-959

As was already mentioned, the two volumes of “Aqua” were indeed published twice in Japan. First in 2001 by Square Enix, then again in 2003 by Mag Garden / Blade Comics, a good while after they took over the series as “Aria” in 2002, and between their release of “Aria” v3 and v4. So the series was indeed originally published in the order of “Aqua” first, then “Aria”, in magazine prepublication as well as in tankoubon.

The “introduction” of Alice in “Aqua” v2 is marked as a “special” chapter, which I take to mean outside of normal chronology (at least in my German edition). FWIW, Alice is properly introduced for the first time (none of the other characters know her yet) in “Aria” v3, chapter 1.

I think it’s quite likely that Ephidel is right: the last chapter in “Aqua” v2 was probably published as a sidestory sometime after the chapters in “Aria” v3 (or even v4) and then inserted into the second edition of “Aqua”, which was later licensed by TP.

Did Tokyopop’s volume included the inner cover?
I mean the character profile and 4komas.
This is an example.
I am dying to know what is the meaning of 4komas in volume 3.

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