Beginner Japanese Book Club // Now Reading: 葬送のフリーレン // Next: ウスズミの果て

Would you like me to add you to the members list? @ulisan too?

Probably a good idea to bookmark this thread to keep an eye on when the book is decided and reading starts and so on.

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Yes, please! Many thanks😊!

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Please :smiley: I appreciate it ^^

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Np! I added you as ‘will order the book’, and @ulisan as ‘member but not currently participating’.

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Just got my first shipment from Amazon JP today! It included volumes 3-6 of Is the Order a Rabbit (I already had the first two volumes), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and of course Aria the Masterpiece volume 1.

The quality of Aria is absolutely amazing. The cover, the paper quality… everything is just so nice! I’m so glad I got the Masterpiece version and not the original publication of Aqua. Here are a few pictures:

Cover

Double Page Color Image

Size Comparison With よつばと

Aria%20Yotsubato%20Size

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Is there furigana in this series? A lot of KR books I have that seem like they’d be furi-laden are surprisingly lacking (and some books I’d expect to be furi-free have it).

It has almost no furigana. And unlike Kiki, it doesn’t replace higher grade kanji with kana. I’ve read the first six chapters of volume 1 and I’ve had to look up a bunch of kanji that I didn’t know.

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Holy poop that looks nice! I just ordered Kiki’s Delivery Service today so that I can attempt the most belated readalong ever :joy: my finger is on the trigger for whatever wins the poll, but I might just buy Aria either way after seeing that.

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It looks gorgeous! :o How different is this versus the original printing? If it’s essentially the same, I might just pick up the copies at a book store by me rather than ordering online, since it’d be more convenient for me.

From my comments earlier, either one should be fine for reading and the original doesn’t really have any flaws, nor is it lacking.

But if you’re a collector or likely to revisit things in the future for their artwork (particularly in backgrounds and scenery), this version truly is definitive.

If @seanblue wants to compare pictures of some of the pages, I can find them in my copies and upload equivalents later tonight.

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Op, I must’ve missed that, but thank you for clarifying! :slight_smile:

I don’t have the original so I can’t compare. A Reddit page I linked to in my original post said some of the double page drawings were new. It’s also possible the original Aqua was smaller size, but I don’t know for sure. As @fl0rm said, the content should be the same. Aqua apparently has an extra one shot manga, but we’ll just skip that since it’s not included in the Masterpiece version.

@fl0rm If you have よつばと as well and can do a size comparison picture that could be useful.

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I’m not sure what version I got…
I bought this: https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B002CZPL4Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Front looks different, so small version I guess…?

You didn’t buy the book we’re actually reading (if it wins). :sweat_smile:

You have to buy volumes 1 and 2 of Aqua…

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The original Aqua and Aria are the same size as Yotsuba. Here’s me casting a shadow over a bunch of stuff laid out for size-comparison purposes.


Yotsuba and Aqua are in the normal seinen size. イカ娘 is shounen-size. Kino is typical LN-size.

Also, I meant that we can compare your copy to mine if there are any specific pages you’d like me to take pictures of.

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Oh, the listings I’ve seen with both (at much lower than what I paid… -_-) had Aqua at the end, so I assumed it was what comes next, and that we were doing volume 1 of the Aria. But ok, found and ordered, will probably get it before the others too anyway, it estimated July, while Aqua got May 17- June 17 =P

It’s more confusing with the Masterpiece set (seven double-page-count volumes) because the name Aqua was dropped and the two of them together are now considered Aria volume 1.

Aqua is the prequel to Aria as far as names used in serialisation go, but it’s part of a continuous story.

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I know, I just didn’t feel like taking more pictures at that moment so I made the lazy suggestion. :joy:

If you want, take a picture of the first three pages and also that double size page at the start of chapter two. The chapter two double page is the one I put above and here’s the first three pages. Also there’s a double page panel on pages 28-29 if you want to get that. I think those should probably be enough.

Pictures

image

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One major difference, aside from the shot at the start of chapter 2 not being in colour, seems to be that your binding is a lot less stiff. It almost looks like the book is sitting open in your pictures, while I have to hold mine open.

Another is the page numbers.

Pictures





I definitely had to hold mine open, but the larger size probably helps with making it less stiff. The color pages in mine are a nice touch (there were only a few), but your version still looks very high quality.