''Aqua'' and ''Aria'' is a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island soc ...

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scient ...

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by

Kozue Amano is a Japanese manga artist. She is widely known as the creator of ''Aria'', which proved to be a best-selling hit, and was adapted into an anime television series consisting of 3 seasons and 2 OVAs. As of autumn 2010, Amano's work releases ha ...

published between 2001 and 2008 by

Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...

then by Mag Garden. Set in the early 24th century on a

terraformed Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, now called Aqua, it depicts the life of a young woman named Akari as a trainee

gondolier The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...

tour guide A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, religio ...

, or undine. It was adapted by

Hal Film Maker was a Japanese animation studio founded in August 1993 by former Toei Animation staff. Hal Film Maker's parent company, TYO Inc., merged its two anime studio subsidiaries—Yumeta Company , known as from 2009 to 2017, is a Japanese animatio ...

as a 54-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series broadcast between 2005 and 2008, comprising two seasons, an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

(OVA), and a third season, all directed by Jun'ichi Satō with music direction by Shigeharu Sasago and

Takeshi Senoo (born December 26, 1969) is a Japanese composer. He has worked on several different anime shows, including the ''Aria'' series, ''Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha'', and the ''Himawari!'' series. Along with Shigeharu Sasago he was music director of the ' ...

. 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 discography of the ''Aria'' television series consists of five

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

s, one

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

, one

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

, and nine

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, " In the Summertime" was t ...

s. The core of the discography is the three original

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' ...

s, covering the three anime seasons, produced by Flying Dog/

JVC Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music En ...

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, a Japanese

choro ''Choro'' (, "cry" or "lament"), also popularly called ''chorinho'' ("little cry" or "little lament"), is an instrumental Brazilian popular music genre which originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Despite its name, the music often has a f ...

band that previously created the music of the anime adaptation of ''

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō is a Japanese science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Hitoshi Ashinano. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Monthly Afternoon'' magazine from June 1994 to February 2006, with a concluding postscript episode in July 2006, and c ...

'', another futuristic

slice of life story Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a characte ...

. The other two studio albums containing piano versions of music from the soundtrack albums and theme sounds, released in 2006 and 2008, respectively. A vocal compilation album collecting the songs and lyric-less vocal themes from first two anime seasons was released in 2006. Nine maxi singles were released, seven of them produced by Flying Dog/

, covering the opening and endings themes of the three anime seasons and the OVA. The remaining two, produced by 5pb. Records, were the opening and ending theme songs of the two

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

adaptations. One tribute album was released to mark the passing of Eri Kawai in 2008.

Soundtracks

Several soundtrack albums were released for the anime television series ''Aria''. Most of the releases charted in the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...

charts, with the highest ranking album being ''Aria the Natural Vocal Song Collection'' at 30th, and the highest ranking single being "Euforia", the opening theme for ''Aria the Natural'', at 18th.

Aria the Animation singles and album

The opening and closing themes of the first anime season, ''

Aria the Animation ''Aria'' (stylized as ''ARIA'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kozue Amano. The series was originally titled ''Aqua'' (stylized as ''AQUA'') when it was published in Enix's ''Monthly Stencil'' magazine from 2001 ...

'', were both released as singles on 21 October 2005 under the

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ent ...

label, and peak ranked 25th and 40th on the

singles chart, respectively. The opening theme single performed by

Yui Makino is a Japanese actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress, singer, and pianist. She is best known for her work in the anime ''Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle'' where she voices Sakura (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle), Sakura and some of the theme ...

included "Undine" and "Symphony" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics written by Eri Kawai and Rieko Itou, respectively. The ending theme single performed by Round Table feat. Nino included "Rainbow" and "Just for You" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics written by Katsutoshi Kitagawa and Rieko Itou, respectively. The soundtrack for the first season, ''Aria the Animation Original Soundtrack'', was released under Victor Entertainment label on 23 November 2005 and peak ranked 102nd on the Oricon albums chart. Choro Club feat. Takeshi Senoo performed all the tracks except #2, #9, and #25, which were performed by Yui Makino, Eri Kawai, and Round Table, respectively. The two singles and the albums were re-released on 22 July 2009 by Victor Entertainment.

Aria the Natural singles and album

The opening and closing themes of the second anime season, ''

Aria the Natural ''Aria'' (stylized as ''ARIA'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kozue Amano. The series was originally titled ''Aqua'' (stylized as ''AQUA'') when it was published in Enix's ''Monthly Stencil'' magazine from 2001 ...

'', were both released as singles on 26 April 2006 under the Victor Entertainment label, and peak ranked 18th and 23rd on the Oricon singles chart, respectively. The opening theme single performed by

included "Euforia" and "Amefuri Hana" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics written by Eri Kawai and Yui Makino, respectively. The ending theme single performed by Round Table feat. Nino included "Natsu Machi" and "Shiosai" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics written by Katsutoshi Kitagawa and Rieko Itou, respectively. The soundtrack for the second season, ''Aria the Natural Original Soundtrack: Due'', was released under the Victor Entertainment label on 24 May 2006, and peak ranked 48th on the Oricon albums chart. Choro Club feat. Takeshi Senoo performed all of the tracks except #2, #13, and #24, which were performed by Yui Makino, Eri Kawai, and Round Table, respectively. "Due" is Italian for "two." The two singles and the albums were re-released on 22 July 2009 by Victor Entertainment.

Aria Piano Collection: Stagione

An album of piano music titled ''Aria Piano Collection: Stagione'' label was released on 2 August 2006 under the Victor Entertainment label, and peak ranked 115th on the Oricon albums chart. It had piano versions of music from the first two seasons of ''Aria'', with a focus on different seasons of a year on Aqua, performed by Takeshi Senoo and

Mina Kubota (born on February 5, 1972, in Fukuoka, Japan) is a Japanese composer. Kubota has also worked on vocal music composition and arrangement for anime theme songs. Two notable works would be and which managed to hit the chart positions in Japan ...

. Piano tracks are interspersed by "Stagione" tracks which are comments from the

voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

reprising their roles from the anime adaptation. "Stagione" is Italian for "

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

". The album was re-released on 22 July 2009 by Victor Entertainment.

Aria the Natural Vocal Song Collection

An album, compilation of vocal music titled ''Aria the Natural Vocal Song Collection'' was released on 6 September 2006 under the Victor Entertainment label, and peak ranked 30th on the Oricon albums chart. 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.

Aria the Natural: Tooi Yume no Mirage OP & ED Single

A single of the opening and ending themes of the

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

''Aria The Natural: Tooi Yume no Mirage'' was released 6 October 2006 under the

Geneon Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. Th ...

label, and peak ranked 74th on the Oricon singles chart. It included vocal and instrumental versions of "Blue Blue Wave" and "Sono Chiisana Chiisana Hohoemi de" performed by Kaori, with music and lyrics by Chiyomaru Shikura for both songs.

Aria the OVA: Arietta OP & ED Single

A single of the opening and ending themes of ''Aria the OVA: Arietta'' was released 21 September 2007 under the Victor Entertainment label, and peak ranked 35th on the Oricon singles chart. It included "Nana iro no Sora o" performed by Sonorous and "Ashita, Yūgure Made" performed by

Erino Hazuki is a Japanese voice actress who works for Aksent. On February 24, 2014, she announced that she had been married around December 2013. Filmography ;2002 *''Seven of Seven'' - Erino Kogarashi *''Princess Tutu'' - Malen and Uzura ;2004 *''SD Gundam ...

, both in vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics by Sonorous and Rieko Itou, respectively.

Aria the Origination singles and album

The opening and closing themes of the third anime season, ''

Aria the Origination ''Aria'' (stylized as ''ARIA'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kozue Amano. The series was originally titled ''Aqua'' (stylized as ''AQUA'') when it was published in Enix's ''Monthly Stencil'' magazine from 200 ...

'', were both released as singles under the Victor Entertainment label on 23 January 2008, and peak ranked 20th and 26th on the Oricon singles chart, respectively. The opening theme single performed by

included "Spirale" and "Yokogao (acoustic version)" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics by Eri Kawai and Rieko Itou, respectively. The ending theme single performed by

Akino Arai is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and lyricist for various anime theme songs and shows, including ''Record of Lodoss War'', ''Please Save My Earth'', ''Macross Plus'', ''Outlaw Star'', ''Kaze no Stigma'', ''Maoyu'', and '' Aria The Origination'' ...

included "Kin no Nami Sen no Nami" and "Torikago no Yume" in both vocal and instrumental versions, with lyrics by Akino Arai. The soundtrack for the third season, ''Aria the Origination Original Soundtrack: Tre'', was released under the Victor Entertainment label on 20 February 2008, and peak ranked 49th on the Oricon albums chart. Choro Club feat.

performed all of the tracks except numbers 1, 2, 14, 21, and 22, which were performed by Sonorous (#1 and #21),

(#2), Ryō Hirohashi (#14), and

(#22). "Tre" is Italian for "three."

Aria the Origination Piano Collection II: Di Partenza

A second album of piano music titled ''Aria the Origination Piano Collection II: Di Partenza'' was released under the Victor Entertainment label on 26 March 2008, and peak ranked 56th on the Oricon albums chart. It had piano versions of music from the third and final season performed by

for all tracks except numbers 2, 6, and 9, which were performed by

(#2 and #9) and Sonorous (#6). "Di partenza" is Italian for "of departures."

Aria the Crepuscolo Original Soundtrack

Aria the Origination: Aoi Hoshi no Il Cielo OP & ED Single

A single of the opening and ending themes of the

''Aria the Origination: Aoi Hoshi no El Cielo'' was released under the

Media Factory , formerly is a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing. History It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd. Media Factory was possi ...

label on 25 July 2008, and peak ranked 84th on the Oricon singles chart. It included vocal and instrumental versions of "Graceful Way", "Il Cielo", and "Hana no Saku Hoshi" performed by Kicco,

Kana Hanazawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer. A prolific voice performer in anime, she has amassed several film and television credits since her debut in 1990. She won the Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, and won the Newtype ...

, and Mio Isayama, respectively, with lyrics by Chiyomaru Shikura for the first and the third songs and Daisuke Mizuno for the second.

Himawari

A tribute album to Eri Kawai titled ''Himawari'' was released on 24 December 2008 under the Victor Entertainment label, and peak ranked 151st on the Oricon albums chart. All tracks except numbers 11 and 12 are related to the ''Aria'' anime adaption. Tracks 3, 7, and 11 are "sample versions" made for the final singers, and tracks 13 through 16 are live versions of songs performed during ''Aria the Concert''. All songs and themes are performed by Eri Kawai, who also wrote the lyrics for all songs except track 7. The album cover was drawn by

, the writer and illustrator of ''Aqua'' and ''Aria''. A portion of the profits from the album were donated to WWF Japan.

Aria the Box

A compilation triple album titled ''Aria the Box'' was released on 23 September 2009 under the Victor Entertainment label, and peak ranked 25th on the Oricon albums chart. The first CD contains the 25 best hits soundtracks selected by the anime adaptation director Jun'ichi Satō, the second one the theme and insert songs from the three anime seasons and OVA, and the last CD contains the compositions which were not used in the anime.

Release details

Reception

On 30 November 2007 was held ''Aria the Concert'' in the Nippon Seinen-kan hall. Most of the performers of the soundtracks of the anime franchise were present.

Notes and references

External links

Yui Makino website

Round Table website

Choro Club website

Takeshi Senoo website

Mina Kubota website

Sonorous website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aria Anime soundtracks Film and television discographies Discographies of Japanese artists Lists of soundtracks