Aqua and Aria is a utopian science fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Kozue Amano published between 2001 and 2008 by Enix then by Mag Garden.
[1] Set in the early 24th century on a terraformed Mars, now called Aqua, it depicts the life of a young woman named Akari as a trainee gondolier tour guide, or undine.
It was adapted by Hal Film Maker as a 54-episode anime television series broadcast between 2005 and 2008, comprising two seasons, an original video animation (OVA), and a third season, all directed by Jun'ichi Satō with music direction by Shigeharu Sasago and Takeshi Senoo.
[2] A new OVA, called Aria the Avvenire, was released in the 10th anniversary Blu-Ray Box sets of the anime series between 24 December 2015 and 24 June 2016.
The core of the discography is the three original soundtrack albums, covering the three anime seasons, produced by Flying Dog/JVC Entertainment and released in 2005, 2006, and 2008, respectively.
Most of the music on the soundtrack albums was composed, performed, and arranged by Takeshi Senoo and Choro Club,[citation needed] a Japanese choro band that previously created the music of the anime adaptation of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō,[3] another futuristic slice of life story.
Nine maxi singles were released, seven of them produced by Flying Dog/JVC Entertainment, covering the opening and endings themes of the three anime seasons and the OVA.
[9][10] The opening theme single performed by Yui Makino included "Undine" and "Symphony" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics written by Eri Kawai and Rieko Itou, respectively.
Nino included "Rainbow" and "Just for You" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics written by Katsutoshi Kitagawa and Rieko Itou, respectively.
Nino included "Natsu Machi" and "Shiosai" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics written by Katsutoshi Kitagawa and Rieko Itou, respectively.
[5] It compiled songs and vocals themes from the two first seasons, new versions of previously released ones, and an original composition with Erino Hazuki, Ryō Hirohashi, and Chiwa Saitō reprising their roles from the anime adaptation as main performers.
[48] It included vocal and instrumental versions of "Graceful Way", "Il Cielo", and "Hana no Saku Hoshi" performed by Kicco, Kana Hanazawa, and Mio Isayama, respectively, with lyrics by Chiyomaru Shikura for the first and the third songs and Daisuke Mizuno for the second.
[52] The album cover was drawn by Kozue Amano, the writer and illustrator of Aqua and Aria.