Akari Mizunashi - ARIA
Character: Akari Mizunashi
Series/Fandom: ARIA
Deviance: 1~
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Canon Used: ARIA is composed of two manga: Aqua and Aria. Aqua is, effectively, a prequel series and is about Akari's first 11 months on Aqua, a 2 volume series. Aria is the training after that, which is 9 volumes! I'm taking Akari from volume 6, chapter 26!
Appearance:
Akari is a 16 year old girl with green eyes and pink hair. Her hair is mostly cut short, save for two waist length "ponytails" in the front. She usually wears her Aria company uniform, which varies by the season. The winter uniform is a long, white dress with long sleeves and a small cape over the shoulders. It's decorated with blue and gold. She also wears black tights underneath for the cold. Her summer uniform is nearly the same, but with short sleeves and without the cape or tights. For both uniforms, though, Akari wears a single glove on her left hand and a hat with the Aria company logo on the side, also trimmed in blue and gold.
Winter uniform~
Psychology:
Akari is, quite simply, a normal 16 year old girl with a dream. More than anything, Akari aspires to become a Prima, or a professional Undine (gondolier). She was born on Man-Home, also known as Earth, but when she was 15, Akari moved to Mars, and immersed herself in the culture, quite literally, of a whole new world.
She's a very cheerful, optimistic, and sociable person. Akari loves to meet new people and won't hesistate at all to greet them and make lifelong friends along the way. That's part of why Akari wants to be an Undine, after all. While she loves to row her gondola, she was charmed by the idea of meeting so many new people on her job and getting to see a piece of their lives. She's a very friendly girl, too, so she's very easy to make friends with, offering an always cheerful shoulder to both friends and aquaintances alike.
One of the most important things about Akari, though, is how she finds joy and wonder in absolutely everything. She's an easy-going person and is perfectly content to sit waiting in a square for hours watching the people there and talking to the ones around her. Her friends call her air-headed for this, but Akari really loves her life on Mars. She wants to take full advantage of every day and find happiness in everything she does, whether it's practicing her rowing or going stargazing with her friends. She takes immense pleasure in the simplicities of life, and doesn't miss the technology of Earth at all compared to the lifestyle of Aqua.
She also really has a gift to touch people. Akari can make even the most reclusive and introverted person smile warmly, just because her smile and cheer is infectious. She reminds the people of Neo-Venezia just how beautiful and wonderful their city is, and is considered a very promising Undine just because of her infectious charm and enthusiasm for life itself.
In terms of faults, though, she certainly is air-headed. Akari will often carry on conversations with people, becoming friends with them, and never catch their name. Even after talking to them multiple times. She's forgetful, but she's a hard worker and very determined and dedicated. So things balance out enough.
Other Skills/Abilities:
Akari's most prominent skill is her rowing ability. She's been practicing for more than a year, and has been practicing with simulations for even longer. Though, with the simulations, Akari learned backwards. Yet when she reverse-rows (or, rows backwards), Akari is must faster and more skilled with her boat.
She may also have some kind of spiritual ability, since she gets to see things that others don't. Like a fox's wedding or the king of cats. Supernatural stuff. But mostly, I say nope, nothing else.
Other Weaknesses:
Akari is a human, so she's susceptible to all human injuries, diseases, et cetera. BUT WHY WOULD YOU HURT AKARI, SERIOUSLY.
History:
Akari was born on Earth in 2285 and lived in Tokyo, Japan, but somehow found out about a profession on a far away world. On Aqua, once known as Mars, there was a city of water where women could elegantly row gondolas along the small canals, meeting new people every day as they were tour guides for the city of Neo-Venezia. Akari became charmed by the city, and she aspired to become one of those Gondoliers, known as Undines. She practiced rowing with simulations, and when she was 15, Akari finally came to Aqua to start training with one of the Undine companies. Akari came to the Aria company, becoming its second employee.
Working with her senior, Alicia, and her new-found friend, Aika, Akari became accustomed to her new home and trained every day. After all, to be an accomplished Undine, she had to go from a Pair to a Single, then finally a professional Undine. She practiced and explored the city of Neo-Venezia, making friends along the way. However, one day Alicia took Akari out for a picnic, having her navigate the difficult canals that led to a popular, but beautiful tourist attraction. Once Akari reached the high hill where wind turbines decorated the landscape, Alicia told her that she had passed her test. Akari went from a Pair to a Single after eleven months on Aqua!
As a Single, Akari, of course, continued her training and continued to make friends in Neo-Venezia. Significant people that she met include~
-Akatsuki, a Salamander that's in love with Alicia
-Alice, a Pair from Orange Company
-Akira, Aika's senior and another Water Fairy
-Athena, Alice's senior and also a Water Fairy
-Al, a Gnome who Aika likes (AND IS SO CUTE OH MY GOD)
-Woody, a Slyph that Akari meets
-"Grandma", the best Water Fairy for 30 years
-Postman-san, a recurring friend of Akari's who is...a postman.
So Akari is doing her best to become a professional Undine, training hard, and discovering the beautiful city and the places around it.
Reality Description:
It's the end of 2302, and winter is well in its prime for Akari. It snows almost every day, and it's so cold that it's hard to grip the oars for her gondola. It's December, month 23. That's right, 23. 150 years ago, Mars was terraformed so that humans could inhabit it. The colonists melted the ice caps, but they melted more than they expected, covering 90% of the planet's surface. Because of that, Mars became known as Aqua, the water planet. It has the same rotational period as Earth, but twice the orbital period, so a year on Aqua is 24 months. However, since Earth is closer to the sun than Mars, there were a few adjustments that they needed to make.
For one, the gravity of Mars is a third of Earth's, so gravity has to be controlled. Gravity is controlled by workers called Gnomes. The Gnomes live deep underground, and using a machine that is controlled by what looks like an organ, they can send gravity stones into the intricate pipe system at Aqua's core at high speeds, thus maintaining the gravity at 1G. Gravity stones look like gumballs, but they have a tremendous mass, you see. The other important adjustment is the weather. Salamanders are the people that control this. They work on floating islands that are scattered all over the atmosphere of Aqua, thus maintaining the weather of Aqua to be like Earth's.
Akari lives in a port city of Aqua, Neo-Venezia. Neo-Venezia is based off the iconic city of Venice that sunk over 580 years ago, so it has the beautiful canals and gondoliers that Venice is famous for. Neo-Venezia is located in the Adriatic Sea, which has many different islands. These islands were colonized by different countries, and buildings represent their countries were built on them. However, it's the gondoliers that drew Akari to Neo-Venezia. She's training to become one of these gondoliers, called Undines. Undines are tour guides for Neo-Venezia as well as ferrywomen for the occasional odd-job.
There are three main companies in the Aria manga. The Aria company, which Alicia and Akari work for, only has two employees. Hime-ya, which Akira and Aika work for, is oldest and most famous undine business in Neo-Venezia. And finally, Orange Planet, which Athena and Alice work for, is one of the newest, but top Undine companies. It’s very large, despite opening only 10 years ago. Alicia, Athena, and Akira are the top three Undines in Neo-Venezia, and are thus known as the Water Fairies. The Fairy before them, who boasted 30 years of being the best, is simply known as "Grandma". In addition, every Undine company in Neo-Venezia has a blue-eyed cat as its business symbol for good luck.
Undine training has to do with the gloves that the girls wear. The gloves are a symbol of their skill because as they get better, their hands will become more calloused until they finally don't need gloves anymore. Novices wear two gloves and are called pairs, Trainees wear one glove and are called Singles, and when they become professionals, they're Prima Undines. Trainee Undines have to use a black boat when they practice. The fare is cheaper than with official Undines and their white boats, so they stick out to potential customers. Despite that, Trainees can only have customers as long as they’re accompanied by an instructor. Akari is a Single!
In terms of the technology of Aqua, it's an interesting combination. To preserve the atmosphere of Venice, Neo-Venezia is a "backwards" city. There isn't a lot of high technology like people are used to on Earth. While computers are commonplace on Earth, the only person that ever has one in the series is Akari, who uses a small console that has a digital screen to pop up midair (think Denno Coil) to write letters to an unknown person. Otherwise, the main technology you see around belong to Slyphs. Slyphs are people that make deliveries and maintain operations in the town, and they fly around on flying motorbikes. However, mail is still via gondola.
There are many special landmarks and events in Neo-Venezia, but that's a long list. So if you're interested, you can check that out here.
First Person Speaking Sample:
{A girl comes to the Plane, looking curious for a moment, but that instantly changes to nothing short of absolute amazement once she sees the stars all around.}
Hohe?! I-Is this really the inside of that pretty shop?
{She stares, turning in place}
...Wah~ It's really pretty! It's like when we went to see the meteor shower on the rooftops...Oh, but this is a lot closer. You can see more than just comets and the little stars. I think they had simulations of things like this on Man-Home...
{o wait} Oh, that's it, isn't it? It's a simulation...Living in Neo-Venezia for so long, I guess I'm not used to these things anymore. I kind of forgot about them after my first year on Aqua...It sure is a nice one, though.
{That seems to be enough for her, so she just stands there and watches, wondering to herself why a simulation would have a bar...} Shopkeeper-san, which way is the exit? I think my friends are waiting for me.
Third Person Writing Sample:
If Alicia hadn't been there to help, Akari probably would have died of embarrassment. It had been a complete and total accident caused by Akari's hands being just a little too clumsy, but she had to pay for the mistake all the same. Of course, Alicia had nothing more to say than "ara, ara", but before Akari knew it, she was rowing her black gondola with delicate care along the narrow canals of Neo-Venezia.
"You should have been careful, missy," the man said. Akari looked up sheepishly to him, his arms cross and face sour. Seeing that expression, her head drooped again.
"I'm really sorry, sir," she murmured quietly, "it was an accident..."
"You should be! That was a very valuable piece of Venetian glass!"
Akari's head threatened to dip lower, but Alicia spoke up finally, nodding to the other person on the boat.
"Still, it was an accident. Besides, you get a free ride and you get to help an Undine in training. Akari-chan really appreciates it, I'm sure."
The man's arms crossed a bit tighter, but he made a grunt of approval. Alicia had said that the shopkeeper had been a long time supporter of the Pairs and often chose their black gondolas to help them out. That was lucky, Akari had to admit, but she still felt horrible to have ruined such a treasure.
The snow was piling up on her hunched shoulders, so once Akari straightened after a few minutes, the drift fell off like its own little snowfall onto the gondola behind her. There were people all bundled up on the streets, and Akari thought that she saw people that she knew wandering about with scarves held close to their mouths. That made her smile just a little. It was always nice to see her friends while she was working, even if Akira-san had lectured her for it.
"Ara, ara, Akari-chan, we're coming up to the customer's destination," Alicia chimed softly, pulling Akari out of her idle daydream. Akari looked back to them, noticing that the man wasn't quite as hunched up anymore. She had noticed that people always relaxed on a gondola. It was relaxing, after all.
Coming to an intersection, Akari turned the boat skillfully to the right, and she gasped as she looked up. With a tiny dock outside the front door, there was a grand, lavish house. The paint was a rough, sea green, and a woman with a warm smile waited at the red door, waving to them with a grin.
"Ah, dear, I didn't think that you would get such a stylish ride home. You didn't con these poor girls into it, did you?" she asked, and Alicia laughed cheerfully. The man's frown deepened again, his arms crossing tightly. Pulling up to the small dock, the woman helped their customer out, smiling gratefully to Akari.
"Thank you, dear. Sometimes I wonder how he'd manage to get home without great Undines like you."
Akari lowered her head again, about to explain that it had been her fault to begin with, but Alicia interrupted once again.
"It's our pleasure, miss! Thank you very much, sir. We hope that you'll use our service again soon."
He looked over his shoulder, taking off his hat to run a hand over his balding head.
"You handle the boat well," he admitted, "even if you're a klutz."
Akari couldn't help but grin warmly at that.