Nozomi Entertainment and the Right Stuf have announced the September 30th release of Aria the Animation Season 1 (MSRP $49.99), a 13-episode box set collection based on the manga by Kozue Amano, a slice-of-life science fiction saga set in the 24th Century in Neo-Venezia, a city of canals on the colonized planet Aqua formerly known as Mars. The first season of Aria appeared on Japanese TV in 2005. It was followed by a second 26-episode TV series in 2006, an Aria OVA in 2007, and a third season (13 episodes) that ran from January to March of 2008. Jun’ichi Sato (Sailor Moon) has directed all the Aria animations, which were produced by the Hal Film Maker studio (Boys Be, PreTear).
Like an increasing number of anime releases the Right Stuf Aria Season 1 Box, which has an age rating of 13+, features the original Japanese soundtrack with English subtitles, but no English dub. While the per-episode cost is still somewhat higher than that of a typical American TV on DVD release, the 325-minute Aria set, which the Right Stuf is selling on a pre-order basis for $37.49, represents progress in the continuing struggle by American anime companies to lower the cost of their releases.
ADV released the first three volumes of the Aria manga in 2004 before ceasing publication. Tokyopop then acquired the rights and published Kozue Amano’s two-volume prequel Aqua as well as the first volume of Aria, which was released in January 2008. The Aria manga recently ended in
