News from Neo-Venezia

We're moving!

Benevenuto Neo-Venezia will be moving over the weekend to its new home, http://drawerofdreams.net/neo-venezia. Comments will be closed until we are up and running on our new site.

Hope to see you all on Monday!

OP & ED Lyrics Added

Lyrics for the full versions of UNDINE and RAINBOW have been added to the ARIA the Animation section.

(Unfortunately I am not able to provide the full versions. Please support ARIA by buying the official CDs!)

Site Update!!

Yes! I have added information about the anime!!!:) (there's not much right now, but there IS an updated cast list, a link to the official site). I plan to put up episode summaries and screenshots soon!

Crescent Noise

I got the first 3 volumes of Amano-sensei's Crescent Noise off eBay - the Japanese editions (which are a good bit bigger than I expected). However! at the back of vol 3 it says "To Be Continued in Vol 4."O_O As it is said, Cripes.

Amano-sensei's site under construction

Just checked in on aria.sunnyday.jp to find that the site has been significantly reduced. The message on the front says, in effect, that Amano-sensei has been too busy to manage the site and even has fallen behind on fan letters, and is cutting back. There's no other meaning to this (sweatdrop for emphasis) and Amano-sensei would like to keep renewing information briskly.

Kawaiiso Amano-sensei! Odaijini kudasai!

(Status of the site: All the finished color artwork has been removed, although the rough sketches are still up. The photogallery is still up.)

Roman Club reprint

Wow, 2 news updates in a day! :)

Comic Blade has confirmed that they are reprinting Amano-sensei's Roman Club series starting in August. Either it's 2 volumes a month or 1 volume every two months, I need to check my grammar.^^; The new sketches on her site (in the Gallery) are for the new covers. I was a bit confused when I saw the first one, because it had the Aria manga cover template (with "2301 AD The Voyage to Neo Venezia" at the top). I was wondering if that boy was the one Akari had been writing to.XD

don't panic

It appears that ADV is involved in the production of the anime in some way.

I found this in a staff listing [credit: F.A.T.] One of the entries for Aria is simply "Mag Garden x AD Vision", which doesn't say very much, but it is certainly telling.

Other info I was able to see: the debut is scheduled for Fall 2005, and a broadcaster has not yet been determined. Also of note: many of the staff, including director Junichi Sato, worked on Kaleido Star.

Comic Blade site updated

Comic Blade finally has the current issue listed on its site (the one with the Aria cover). I'm going to LA for Anime Expo next month, and my 2 main goals are:
1) Get that issue of Comic Blade
2) Shake down any ADV executives I see for info about vol 4
3) Look for info on the anime

I'm beginning to wonder if the Aria anime will debut this summer. I didn't see anything about it at the Tokyo Anime Fair, and I was looking. Two months between the announcement and debut seems really short. Then again, the Tsubasa Chronicle anime was formally announced only a couple months before its debut, and nobody seemed to know before then that it was even in production. (The downside is that the Tsubasa anime is really not that great...XD)

first look at the aria figures

Amano-sensei has posted a picture of the first set of Aria figures along with the model sketches.

omg so cute. I hope Sasuga will get these special edition issues.

Aria anime announcements hit press

It's gratifying to see that Aria is more popular than I thought.:) All the major anime news sites - AnimeNation, Anime News Network, and Anime on DVD - have mentioned Animate.tv's announcement now. All mention a July start date, which I still have been unable to verify personally; and Amano-sensei's site hasn't been updated since May 21.

I wonder which groups will sub it when it begins. I certainly don't have the ability to do so, but when it begins I'll do my best to keep up with the episodes.

]]> Will this bring more recognition for Aria among the mainstream anime fandom? I don't think it will turn into the next Sailor Moon, though it would be... interesting if it did.

ARIA Anime Confirmed!

Animate.tv has confirmed that the ARIA anime is in production! No details about a premiere date or series length in the piece, but more information will be in the August issue of Comic Blade which goes on sale in June... Hey, that's this month!:)

...it figures that this news would be confirmed the day AFTER the big site update.XD

It's the big update!

Yay, the update! Added more character pages (Alice, Akira and Athena) and cover scans and info for Aqua and Aria 4-6 and the drama CD.

:edit:...d'oh. broken links all over the place. I think I found them all, but if anyone finds any, please leave a comment and I'll get to it asap.

It's Amano-sensei's Birthday!

OMEDETO TANJOUBI AMANO-SENSEI!!!

Aria kicked up a notch!

(Thanks to Aria fanlisting's Mazzie for this update!:)

According to this ad, Aria vols 7 & 8 will have special editions that come with chibi-figures of Akari, Aika, Alice, Alicia, Akira and Athena. From what I can tell, the Akari, Aika and Alice figures will come with vol 7 with one half of a gondola, and vol 8 will have Alicia, Akira and Athena with the other half, and the two gondola halves will fit together. Sounds really cute.:)

Release dates:
Vol 7: September 10, 2005
Vol 8: January 10, 2006

Each special edition volume will cost ¥1600 (about US$15). Which is not too bad, considering the regular volumes cost about ¥525.

There are also rumblings of a TV anime, but I'm holding out for confirmation on Amano-sensei's site. (btw, Aria-shachou's tail is flipping again...:) It may already be there, but I can't read Japanese fast enough, so bear with me if I keep my enthusiasm in check for a bit longer.:)

Misc housekeeping: Yes, the big site update IS coming. :) I've been kind of HTML-d out working on my friend's site, to get it updated in time for the summer con season (my goal, not hers). Please visit if you wish!

:edit: I read too fast. Vol 8 actually comes out January 10 2006, not October 6.XD

4kids & kappa mikey

In an odd, ironic, and vaguely psychopathic twist, 4Kids has acquired Animation Collective's "Kappa Mikey", an animated series about an American actor who finds fame, fortune and utter confusion in Japan after becoming a voice actor in a failing anime series, which becomes a smash hit.

The interesting thing about this series is that the art style is not in the least bit (stereotypical) anime-like (although that may change between now and the series debut on Nick (!) in '06). Also, MTV had a hand in its early development, which makes it all the more odd that the completed series will air on Nickelodeon of all places. Even the most promising animation series wither and die on Nick. (or get assassinated if they threaten to overshadow the network's teen idol franchises - witness the slow death-by-reruns of Invader Zim). Finally, there's 4Kids' involvement. hooboy. after seeing what they've done to real anime series, I shudder to think of what will become of a series that is in their hands from the very start.

From a technical standpoint, Kappa Mikey's animation will be done in Flash, something I've only seen in "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends." It works for Foster's, but Kappa Mikey appears to be a good deal less ...fanciful (given that it's about an American actor finding fame as an anime voice actor in Japan). Nonetheless, Animation Collective has a good (Web) track record and I look forward to seeing what they can do in the broadcast medium, despite the odds already stacked against them.