Aqua is one of those manga that can be read without worrying about having violence or anything creepy in it. It's a very slow-paced, relaxing manga to read. If anyone is into action or fast-paced manga, then Aqua will not be your type of manga, and you’ll more likely going to drop it once you begin to read this short manga. Compare to the anime, there are indeed some differences. But the relaxing feeling is still mostly the same.

Story:
This manga is unique in my opinion, as most other slice of life mangas I’ve heard of are mostly taking place in a setting just like in real life. But surprisingly, this manga takes place in a planet called Aqua, which is terraformed Mars in the future. The plot is not complex. Akari Mizunashi came to Aqua all the way from Manhome (Earth) and trains to become an undine, a professional gondolier who guides tourists in the city of Neo-Venezia, which is a city based on Venice in Italy. The story may seem simple, but the unique setting and strange characters such as President Aria (a cat) makes me want to explore Aqua further and get to know how Akari was trained to become an undine. I’ve yet to read its sequel, Aria, in order to explore Aqua futher and compare it with the anime version.

Art:
The art is excellent. The characters and the setting were well drawn. The city of Neo-Venezia has a great detail and still looked great even though it’s only black and white on the manga. Though the only part that might turn people off are some of the deformed faces of certain characters, which occurs sometimes in certain situations throughout the manga. But I don't really mind about it, as the deformed faces were used to display how a person feels about something.

Characters:
The characters are very likable. Each character has a different personality, which is why it made this short manga good to read. Though Alicia and Akari can be similar in some way, as both of them are easy-going and never get angry. Aika may seem a bit strict and moody sometimes, but she is also a likable character. President Aria is a cute cat which sometimes acts like a human even though it cannot speak like a human. This made President Aria a unique character, which made me fascinated.

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed this short manga very much. This is my first manga actually, as I usually watch anime instead of reading manga. But I was glad that I picked Aqua as my first manga to read, it’s very relaxing and great manga to start off for me.