The organic world of Aqua originated by Kozue Amano receives one and all to be raised in an environment calming for the hasty, cozy for the weary, and optimistically-molding and expansive for the tunnel-visioned, where we can learn to set our eyes of the heart on finding gems around our steps, thereupon each little treasure should be efforted to be crafted into self-sustaining sources of happiness.

To find sources of joy wherever we go and to cherish every fleeting moment in order to build up our kinship to the positive and resistance to sadness is clearly a prevailing wisdom guiding us as we step out of Neo-Venezia for every chapter closed. By means of immersive world-building, Amano is able to welcome the reader into dimension-transcendental proximity such that the reader can feel the same novelty and mundanity that has allowed Akari to shimmer so.

Magnifying upon that thought, beyond the windblown visual landscape, I find the passage of Mars's time to be the magic containing the story's undying quality of serenity. Stretching time to double it's length within a year essentially decelerates the wheels. I personally like to see it as a revolt against the speed in which our feet are dragging our souls in modern society, commandeered by the Guardian that is Water. Think, moving in water hinders motion by a lot due to its density. We can only truly live in Aqua then by accepting its gift of slowness and being one with its natural flow.

Our protagonist has constantly expressed her earnest wish to be a true citizen of Neo-Venezia when she states how she prefers the bare realness of the planet as opposed to the machine-littered Earth (though not necessarily bad at all), her past home. She finds the natural animation of the place to be the best friend for her philosophy of taking the journey with one step and a couple of soul-relishing intakes at a time. This makes the setting so forgiving of our unique pace as beings possessing variety crossing beyond infinity. Truly, what paradise would it be to live in a world inspired by Amano’s diorama of an ideal societal mindset and lifestyle.

This story made me wonder if society as a collective slowing down would be a good thing for us...At the moment, that is my desire for myself at least: to move as the water and grow as a plant. However, I am too zoomed into the compressed direction of this world out of sheer necessity. But I digress.

Aqua is a harbor for the creatures of motion in need of a brief stop. Within its borders, one can guiltlessly enjoy an undisturbed space and time.