From: usenet-2007@planetcobalt.net   
      
   Aje RavenStar  wrote:   
   > I got this a couple of weeks ago, but it's been a busy time with   
   > various things, new stuff, Oni-Con (ok, got my con fix for the next   
   > ten years.  No place for an old otaku).  This is the first of a two   
   > volume set that was continued in the Aria series (three volumes   
   > published in the US previously).   
      
   Just to clarify: Aria is still ongoing in Japan (11 volumes up to now),   
   ADV just stopped releasing the series after volume 3 for whatever   
   reason.   
      
   > The artwork is still simple and wonderful, but if you've seen the   
   > later stories, it's clear this is early versions of the same settings   
   > and characters.  Alas, unlike the three Aria volumes published by ADV,   
   > the frontpiece is not color.   
      
   Volume 1 of the german edition does have color pages. ;)   
      
   Anyway, if you're interested in colored pages I'd strongly recommend   
   getting the artbooks (Alpha, Stella, Cielo). I found the third one at   
   Connichi (a german anime convention) this year, and it was totally made   
   of win and awesome. Thus I ordered the other two, which arrived   
   yesterday. =_=   
      
   > But that's a minor disappointment.  It's nice to finally be able to   
   > see how things first came together, characters met, etc.  I'm looking   
   > forward to the second of the two volumes of this series, scheduled for   
   > release in February, 2008.   
      
   Tokyopop will also release the first volume of Aria in January 2008   
   (according to Amazon).   
      
   [...]   
   > Quite a few stories have at least one character trying to achieve   
   > their Utopia, but it's usually not the underlying theme of the story   
   > (Death Note, which I saw episode 1 of this last weekend, is the first   
   > thing that comes to mind.  Light has an idea of what will make his   
   > world a Utopia in his judgment - but it's a flawed concept, and the   
   > conflict it will bring is the theme of that story, it appears so far).   
      
   I'd say Appleseed. Maybe Noir too.   
      
   cu   
   59cobalt   
   --   
   "My surname is Li and my personal name is Kao, and there is a slight   
   flaw in my character."   
   --Li Kao (Barry Hughart: Bridge of Birds)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)