Feeling blue? Or are you tired of all those grim swords and shinigami shonen manga adventures or the angst-y drama of shojo manga romances? Take a break from all the drama with Aqua, the refreshingly light and breezy slice of life manga by Kozue Amano from TokyoPop.

Aqua is a prequel to Amano's other series, Aria, but you don't need to read Aria to appreciate and "get" the story. In fact, Aqua fills in the blanks about Akari the undine's first impressions of Aqua, the terraformed, now water-covered planet Mars. It defies all rational logic that a society that can turn the dusty red planet into a shimmering blue water world would create retro-romantic city that resembles Venice, Italy. But if you can let go of that, Aqua provides a relaxing ride into a world full of discoveries with few, if any worries or drama.

Unlike the Earth version of Venice, Neo-Venezia has eternally blue waters, uncrowded streets (even at the height of tourist season), and a few spaceships and floating islands hovering in the skies. At times, Neo-Venezia festivals seem to be more likely to serve takoyaki than pizza, but it's like the Vegas version of Venice: all the fun, romantic stuff without the inconvenience of a language barrier. Given the current Dollar to Euro exchange rate, it's probably about the cheapest semi-European vacation you'll get this summer.

Check out my review of Aqua Volume 1 and Aqua Volume 2 and take a manga mini-vacation that won't give you exchange rate sticker shock.

© 2003 Kozue Amano