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Toby Jones

Toby Edward Heslewood Jones (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his extensive character actor roles on stage and screen. From 1989 to 1991, Jones trained at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He made his stage debut in 2001 in the comedy play The Play What I Wrote, which played in the West End and on Broadway, earning him a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2020, he was nominated for his second Olivier Award, for Best Actor for his performance in a revival of Anton Chekov's Uncle Vanya.

Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama Orlando in 1992. He appeared in minor roles in films such as Naked (1993), Les Misérables (1998), Ever After (1998), Finding Neverland (2005), and Mrs Henderson Presents (2005). He portrayed Truman Capote in the biopic Infamous (2006). He has since acted in Amazing Grace (2006), The Painted Veil (2006), W. (2008), Frost/Nixon (2008), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), My Week with Marilyn (2011), Berberian Sound Studio (2012), Dad's Army (2016), Journey's End (2017), and Empire of Light (2022).

Jones is also known for his voice roles as Dobby in the Harry Potter films (2002–2010), Aristides Silk in The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and Owl in Disney's Christopher Robin (2018). He is also known for his blockbuster roles as Claudius Templesmith in The Hunger Games franchise (2012–2013), Arnim Zola in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Mr. Eversoll in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), and Basil Shaw in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023).

Jones's television credits include Doctor Who (2010), Julian Fellowes's Titanic miniseries (2012), MCU's Agent Carter (2015), Sherlock (2017) and What If...? (2021) and Wayward Pines (2015–2016). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for his role as Alfred Hitchcock in the HBO television film The Girl (2012) and won a Best Male Comedy BAFTA for his role in Detectorists (2018). In 2024, Jones starred as Alan Bates in the acclaimed series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, a biographical drama about the Horizon Post Office scandal.

Early life
Jones was born in Hammersmith, London to actors Jennifer Jones (née Heslewood) and Freddie Jones. He has two brothers: Rupert, a director, and Casper, also an actor. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School and Abingdon School in Oxfordshire in the 1980s. He studied drama at the University of Manchester from 1986 to 1989, and at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris from 1989 to 1991.

Film and television
Jones has appeared in more than 20 films since his first acting role in the 1992 film Orlando. He voiced Dobby in two Harry Potter films: Chamber of Secrets (2002) and The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). He played Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury in the HBO/Channel 4 production Elizabeth I. In 2006, he portrayed Truman Capote in the biopic Infamous. He appeared in the film adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist in 2007. In 2008, he portrayed Karl Rove in Oliver Stone's W and Hollywood agent Swifty Lazar in Frost/Nixon. He appeared alongside his father in the 2004 film Ladies in Lavender.

Jones appeared in the 2010 episode "Amy's Choice", of Doctor Who, as the Dream Lord, and in the Big Finish Productions series' Dark Eyes (audio drama) as Kotris. He also played the role of Samuel Ratchett in Agatha Christie's Poirot TV Series 12 episode "Murder on the Orient Express". In 2011, he played the role of the British spy master Percy Alleline in the adaptation of John Le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Arnim Zola in Captain America: The First Avenger, a role which he reprised in the sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier three years later as well as in a cameo in the TV series Agent Carter the following year. In 2012, he had a leading role in the ITV mini-series Titanic, starred as one of the seven dwarves in Snow White and the Huntsman, played Dr. Paul Shackleton in Red Lights, and Max in Virginia. He also portrayed film director Alfred Hitchcock in the HBO television film The Girl, a role that earned him his first Golden Globe Award nomination, as well as his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

In 1998, he appeared as a City businessman in the music video for Gomez's song "Whippin' Piccadilly", from their album Bring It On.

He played Neil Baldwin in the BBC drama Marvellous in 2014. Sam Wollaston, in The Guardian, praised Jones's "lovely, very human, performance", one that earned him his second British Academy Television Award nomination. From 2014, he appeared in the BBC Four television series Detectorists, for which he received a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2016 before winning the award in 2018.

In 2015, Jones played the part of Roger Yount, a banker, in the three-part BBC series Capital based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name. Discussing working with Jones on Capital, writer Peter Bowker said, "I think Toby is a genius and thought that long before I worked with him. He always wants to know a character's needs, and what's beneath those needs. Then he takes all that material and somehow embeds it into the character and physically inhabits the character, so that you never think he's playing the character. It's fascinating to watch him close up. He carries the emotional complexities in every tiny gesture that his character makes so that you immediately can see what his character is like. A character like Roger is full of contradictions, a city banker with an air of entitlement but also a little insecurity picking away at him. Toby can portray that in his walk alone. That's what's great about him, he can portray cold he can portray warm and he can portray both of those things at once."

He played Captain Mainwaring in the film Dad's Army, released in February 2016. In July, of the same year he starred as the eponymous agent Verloc in the BBC's The Secret Agent, a three-part television adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel.

In 2017, he portrayed Culverton Smith in "The Lying Detective", an episode of the BBC crime drama Sherlock. In 2018, he played the dinosaur auctioneer Mr. Eversoll in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the fifth instalment of the Jurassic Park series. In the same year, Jones voiced Owl in Disney's live-action Christopher Robin.

In 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford Brookes University.

In 2024, Jones played Alan Bates in the acclaimed ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, a dramatisation of the British Post Office scandal.

Radio and audiobooks
In 2003 Jones played the part of Lord Brideshead in a BBC Radio adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. Jones voiced the title character in the 2005 BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Oblomov. He also read the 2009 Radio 4 adaptation of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. He played Inspector Goole in the 2010 BBC Radio adaptation of An Inspector Calls. Since 2013 Jones has been the voice of the lead character, Joey Oldman in the BBC Radio 4 series The Corrupted, an adaptation of the G. F. Newman novel Crime and Punishment. On 2 December 2012 he played Napoleon Bonaparte in Anthony Burgess's Napoleon Rising on Radio 3. In 2013 he played Kotris in the award-winning Doctor Who audio play, Dark Eyes, and read an abridged version of "The Manual of Detection" by Jedediah Berry for the BBC. In 2020 he portrayed Falstaff in BBC Radio 3's Henry IV, Part 1.

In 2021, Jones recorded the audiobook version of John Le Carré's final novel Silverview for Penguin Audio.

Stage
In 2001, he starred in the London West End comedy The Play What I Wrote, directed by Kenneth Branagh. His comic turn as Arthur earned him the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and the play moved to Broadway in 2003.

In 2009, he returned to the stage in Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the National Theatre, Parlour Song at the Almeida Theatre, and The First Domino at Brighton Festival Fringe. In 2011, he played J. M. W. Turner in The Painter at the Arcola Theatre. Jones starred as Stanley in the 2018 revival of The Birthday Party at The Harold Pinter Theatre. In 2020, he starred in the title role in the Conor McPherson adaptation of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Personal life
On The Graham Norton Show, Jones said that he and his wife Karen were together for 26 years before they married in 2015. They have two daughters.

Jones was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama.

title: Toby Jones


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User:Timsheridan

Timsheridan is a wikipedian who has been actively contributing since June 2005, but made his first edit in December 2004. He currently resides in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom.

Be sure to Hack the planet.

Interests

 * Asterisk PBX
 * Computer programming
 * Telecommunications
 * Voip

Current works
[No ongoing articles.]

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User:Timsheridan


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Lexington Broadcast Services Company

The Lexington Broadcast Services Company (first known as Lexington Broadcast Services and later known as LBS Communications) was a television production and syndication company founded on November 15, 1976, by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel, who, according to Advertising Age, was "the man who built Lexington Broadcast Services into the nation's largest barter syndicator, and thus defined that segment of the TV ad business."

History
LBS was originally a unit of Grey Advertising, in order to develop products that were marketed for syndication. Some of the first products that were made were Not for Women Only, which was produced by WNBC-TV in New York City, and Hot Fudge, which was produced by then-ABC O&O WXYZ-TV in Detroit. Siegel was moved from Grey Advertising's president in order to become head of Lexington Broadcast Services Company. In 1977, it launched its first breakout hit for the company, Sha Na Na, for syndication, with advertising on a barter basis.

In December 1982, it entered into a partnership with Columbia Pictures Television to bring the ABC drama Family to off-net syndication starting in September 1983, with LBS handling distribution under license from Columbia Pictures Television, which was sold onto a barter basis. The success of Family led to the formation of the Colex Enterprises joint venture (as mentioned below). In 1986, it launched a syndicated block with DIC Entertainment and Mattel, Kideo TV. That year, DIC and LBS formed the Family Theater package of eight animated specials, and decided that DIC and LBS would team up with Columbia Pictures Television to produce a live-action Dennis the Menace feature film.

In 1985, LBS, DIC Enterprises and Karl/Lorimar Home Video set up a home video distribution venture, Kideo Video, which released titles from LBS' Kideo catalog, through which, by 1986, LBS planned to release titles for the videocassette market, and it gained programming rights for 200 Kideo titles. By 1987, LBS had to market beauty videocassettes due to the underperforming expectations of the initial Kideo videocassettes, and sponsored made-for-TV specials would not be included in its initial deal.

In June 1987, DIC and LBS settled their lawsuits regarding Kideo Video "amicably" out of court, due to the cross complaints that stemmed from the home video label beginning in 1985. The settlement allowed Lorimar Home Video to continue distributing for the home video market certain kids' animated programs, and called for LBS and DIC to have the right to enter into separate home video agreements independently of each other. In addition, the rights of one of the companies could be independent of each other, and also independent of Lorimar Home Video, and the issue of a joint account that LBS was managing and allegedly was being trafficked in and out of the Cayman Islands was raised. It was revealed that there was wrongdoing in the $250 million account co-owned by LBS.

In late July 1987, LBS Communications, on behalf of Westgate Entertainment, began marketing a $3 million, two-hour barter syndicated special on the Titanic, and LBS and Westgate had exclusive rights to the taped footage of the attacks at that time. The company had to feed the special to an ad-hoc network of TV stations on October 28, and at least 30 minutes of the two-hour special would be from Monte Carlo. It was decided that LBS would sell the telecast as part of a four-special barter package.

The company was known for distributing programs from DIC Entertainment and Columbia Pictures Television (including select material from Columbia subsidiary/label Screen Gems), by way of its Colex Enterprises joint venture with Columbia, in addition to the 1991 syndicated re-launch of Baywatch. The company was also known for handling Elia Kazan's films that he directed from 1945 to 1976, and syndicating selected Bob Hope-produced movies that reverted to him after their initial release. That year, LBS Communications built up its distribution arm to allow stations to broadcast syndicated TV productions from outside production companies, and Paul Siegel would take over as president of the LBS Entertainment division. He had plans for advertising with Paramount Domestic Television and Coca-Cola Telecommunications, but the company then found itself in the cold, and the alternatives failed to materialize due to a management buyout of the company from Grey Advertising by Marvin Davis, who was a former employee of the 20th Century-Fox film studio.

Around the time that LBS' partnership with Columbia Pictures Television ended in late 1989, LBS began to lose money, and in December 1991, LBS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As a result, the company ended up having to sell between 80 and 85 percent of its assets to its Baywatch distributor partner, the Scotti Brothers' All American Television. In 1997, All American was sold to Pearson plc, and was re-branded as Pearson Television. Pearson Television later merged with CLT-UFA to form RTL Group and Pearson Television was renamed Fremantle. As of today, some of LBS' library is owned by Fremantle, while many of their programs are owned by other companies.

Ad sales

 * Fame
 * Hollywood Squares (1986–89)
 * The New Liar's Club
 * This Is Your Life (1983–84)
 * Too Close for Comfort

Colex Enterprises

 * The Canterville Ghost (1986)
 * Dennis the Menace
 * The Donna Reed Show
 * Eischeid
 * Family Reunion
 * Father Knows Best
 * The Flying Nun
 * The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
 * Ghost Story
 * Gidget
 * Gidget's Summer Reunion (1985)
 * Hawk
 * Hazel
 * Joe Forrester
 * Jungle Jim
 * Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story (1986)
 * The Monkees
 * Route 66
 * Wild Bill Hickok

Films

 * Heathcliff: The Movie (1986) (released by Atlantic Entertainment Group and produced by DIC Entertainment and McNaught Syndicate)
 * Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986) (released by Columbia Pictures and produced by Nelvana)

title: Lexington Broadcast Services Company


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Autoloader

An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ammunition into crew-served weapons without being an integrated part of the gun itself. The term is generally only applied to larger weapons, such as naval weapons, tanks, and artillery; that would otherwise have a dedicated person or persons loading them.

An autoloader extracts a shell and propellant charge from the ammunition storage rack/compartment and loads it into a magazine or belt, if the gun has one, or directly into the chamber of the gun if it does not. It often replaces a human loader. Automation can streamline and speed the loading process, resulting in a more effective design.

With a smaller crew, the vehicle can also be made smaller inside. This reduces the amount of surface area that needs to be armored, meaning the vehicle, especially the turret, can be smaller and lighter. With a lower profile, the tank is harder both to spot and to hit.

History
Autoloaders were developed at the beginning of World War II. Their first combat use was in "tank-buster" aircraft such as the 75 mm caliber Bordkanone BK 7.5 cannon-equipped Henschel Hs 129 B-3. Every Soviet and Russian-derived tank since the T-64 main battle tank has used an autoloader. Their use has been mostly shunned by American and British tanks, despite the American T22E1 medium tank being one of the first tank designs to use an autoloader.

After the middle 20th century, autoloading became common on large 76.2 mm caliber or greater naval guns. The size of the shells, when combined with the more elaborate autoloading facilities available in the wider spaces of a ship, makes an autoloader much faster than human loaders. For example, the US 5"/38 Mark 12 can load about 20 rounds per minute.

The advent of jet aircraft, and the rate of fire required to engage them, hastened the adoption of automatic loaders on naval artillery. Development was often problematic, and reliability was seriously compromised in many cases. The US 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun was derated from 40 rounds per minute to 34 to improve reliability. The Soviet/Russian AK-130 was so badly delayed that the Sovremenniy class destroyer (now Admiral Ushakov) does not have one and likes to use two older 100 mm caliber guns. The US 3"/70 Mark 37 actually spent more time in design (13 years) than in service (12 years) due to severe unreliability. These problems are largely of the past and the field has advanced a great deal.

Rate of fire
The Soviet/Russian AK-130 (twin barrel naval 130 mm), using autoloading, can achieve up to 40 rounds per barrel per minute. The Italian 127 mm/5" Compact has similar performance. The largest caliber auto-loading naval rifles were the US 8"/55 Mark 16, deployed on the three cruisers of the Des Moines-class cruiser in the late 1940s, and the 8"/55 Mark 71 tested aboard the destroyer USS Hull (DD-945) in the late 1970s. Both weapons achieved a rate of fire of 12 rounds per barrel per minute, compared to 3-4 rounds per minute for the preceding hand-loaded weapons.

A modern tank autoloader for a 120 mm and 125 mm caliber weapon in good condition can achieve about 10-12 rounds per minute. This rating may or may not include the time required to bring the gun to the appropriate loading angle (if required) and then bringing it back up to firing angle after loading. The autoloader on the cancelled Object 640 "Black Eagle" tank was supposed to have up to 15 rounds per minute rate of fire.

For weapons above 127 mm, the increased weight of the round pushes this issue decisively in favor of the autoloader. For self-propelled artillery with calibers of around 152 mm and 155 mm, for example, autoloaders can typically achieve 8–12 rounds per minute, while a human loader(s) can typically achieve 4 rounds per minute. For sustained bombardments, this may not be so important. Sustained firing rates for artillery are typically only 1–2 rounds per minute, but the rapid-fire capability is vital to shoot-and-scoot tactics to deliver enough fire and then avoid the rapid counterbattery response provided by modern counterbattery systems. On the other hand, even during sustained bombardment an autoloader could be useful, as the fatigue issues of loading an artillery piece for hours (i.e. 155 mm projectile weighs ~45 kg) do not affect them.

In addition, an artillery piece with an autoloader and powerful fire control system can use the multiple rounds simultaneous impact technique, firing several shells with varying propellant charges so all of them land on their targets simultaneously.

Survivability
The most common tank autoloaders store their ammunition in the turret basket, increasing the possibility of a catastrophic explosion should the armor around the hull or turret be penetrated. More armor protection, and isolation/separation of the ammunition from the crew compartment has traditionally been available in tanks with a human loader, which can decrease the possibility of cook-off, or protect the crew in case of an ammunition explosion. For example, the M1 Abrams was designed to protect the crew from cooking off, which is accomplished by storing the main gun ammunition in a compartment at the rear of the turret. The compartment is separated from the crew by a power-operated armored door, which is only opened for a couple of seconds each time the loader needs to grab another round. The roof of the compartment has blowout panels, are armored against outside attack but much less resistant to pressure from inside, so that if the compartment is penetrated by enemy fire the panels will open, venting the explosion generated by the ammunition and protect the crew while keeping the tank in one piece. Other western designs from the later Cold War era to the present with manual loading have similar protective features. In contrast, the Soviet tanks of the Cold War which employ autoloaders store the ammunition on a carousel in the middle of the crew compartment, where any penetration by enemy fire is likely to incinerate the crew and blow the turret right off the top of the tank (known as the jack-in-the-box effect). This is made worse by the fact that autoloader holds only a limited number of rounds, while the remaining ammunition is stored around the crew compartment. Result is that even if the carousel itself is not hit, ammunition stored around the tank may still ignite due to a penetrating hit, and thus set off the ammunition in the carousel.

Some Western designs, such as the Leclerc tank, store the primary ammunition in an isolated compartment in the turret bustle, with blowout panels on top and the ramming mechanism underneath or in the middle. This allows for much better crew protection but the loading mechanism, taking up space in the ammunition compartment, reduces the available number of rounds that can be carried. Therefore, such a tank usually stores additional ammo in compartmentalized storage at the bottom of the fighting compartment, like older manual loading tank designs. This storage can be surrounded by water, but the reduced crew must still transfer this ammunition to the autoloader at some point. However, such a design can also allow for the rapid replacement of the autoloader and reloading of the ready ammunition by making the compartment at the rear of the turret a modular component that can be easily replaced with appropriate support equipment, similar to how the US M270 MLRS system is reloaded. Another possible advantage is that the door that separates the turret can be only large enough for one round of ammunition to slide through, rather than extending across the entire rear of the turret as in the case of the M1 Abrams – this could save additional mass and reduce the power necessary to operate the door, by using less armor for the same level of protection, since it would be part of the turret instead of a sliding component in a heavy frame.

Size
Autoloaders are often implemented in an attempt to reduce tank size and profile. The Stridsvagn 103 and T-64 are examples of this, both being significantly lower in profile than contemporaries with manually loaded guns and a fourth loader crewmember.

Crew reduction
The replacement of the loader and gunner with a commander and driver could allow crewmembers to rotate shifts. This would enable continuous operations on the battlefield. Though in some retrofit cases (Abrams tank for example) there is nothing in the fitting of an autoloader that requires the removal of the loader. In such situations the autoloader frees up the fourth crew-member to support the other three full-time, instead of just part-time when they are not doing their main job.

The disadvantage of the need to keep most of the ammunition close to the autoloader can be actually turned into an advantage by using an unmanned turret design with a crew capsule. In this case, all the necessary ammunition can be kept in direct access to the autoloader, without affecting the safety of the crew, because the crew compartment is completely separate from the autoloader and ammunition. Modern examples of this design are the Russian T-14 "Armata" MBT and the Polish PL-01 light tank.

Adoption
The current generation of tanks using autoloaders (Russian T-72, T-80, T-90 and T-14, Japanese Type 90 and Type 10, Chinese Type 96 and Type 99, South Korean K2 Black Panther, French Leclerc, Sino-Pakistani Al-Khalid MBT, North Korean M2020, Iranian Zulfiqar and Karrar) all weigh between 45–55 tons. Tanks that do not use autoloaders tend to weigh in the 55–70 ton range (American M1A2 Abrams, German Leopard 2, Indian Arjun, British Challenger 2, Turkish Altay, Israeli Merkava, and Italian C1 Ariete).

title: Autoloader


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Aria (manga)

Aria (stylized as ARIA) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kozue Amano. The series was originally titled Aqua (stylized as AQUA) when it was published in Enix's Monthly Stencil magazine in 2001, and retitled when it was transferred to Mag Garden's Comic Blade, where it continued serialization from 2002 to 2008. Aqua was collected in two tankōbon volumes, and Aria was collected in twelve volumes.

Hal Film Maker has adapted the manga into several anime television series. A first season was broadcast in 2005, a second season in 2006, an OVA released September 2007, and a third season in 2008 that ended around the same time as the manga serialization. An OVA, titled Aria the Avvenire, was released in the anime series' 10th anniversary Blu-ray box sets between December 2015 and June 2016. A film to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the anime series titled Aria the Crepuscolo premiered on 5 March 2021. A second anime film titled Aria the Benedizione premiered on 3 December 2021.

ADV Manga released English translations of the first three volumes of Aria in 2004 before dropping the license. Tokyopop then acquired the English-language rights to Aqua as well as Aria. Tokyopop released the two volumes of Aqua in October 2007 and February 2008 and six volumes of Aria between January 2008 and December 2010. The anime is licensed in North America by The Right Stuf International, which released all three seasons in box sets under its Nozomi Entertainment imprint between 30 September 2008 and 2 March 2010.

The series is set in the 24th century on a terraformed Mars, now named Aqua, and follows a young woman named Akari Mizunashi as she trains as an apprentice gondolier (known as Undines). The series has been praised for its calm pacing, optimistic worldview, beautiful art, and for the anime, the quality of the soundtrack.

Story
Aqua and Aria take place in the early 24th century, starting in 2301 AD, in the city of Neo-Venezia (ネオ・ヴェネツィア Neo Venetsia, literally "New Venice") on the planet Aqua (アクア Akua, formerly Mars, sometimes stylized as in the manga with the base text for "Mars" serving as a gloss), which was renamed after being terraformed into a habitable planet covered in oceans around 150 years beforehand. Neo-Venezia, based on Venice in both architecture and atmosphere, is a harbor city of narrow canals instead of streets, traveled by unmotorized gondolas.

At the start of Aqua, a young woman named Akari arrives from Manhome [sic] (マンホーム Manhōmu, formerly Earth, sometimes stylized as  with the base text for "Earth" serving as a gloss) to become a trainee gondolier with Aria Company, one of the three most prestigious water-guide companies in the city. Her dream is to become an Undine, a gondolier who acts as a tour guide (see Terms below). As she trains, Akari befriends her mentor Alicia, trainees and seniors from rival companies—Aika, Alice, Akira, and Athena—and others in Neo-Venezia. Aqua covers Akari's arrival on Aqua and her early training as a Pair or apprentice. Aria continues her training as a Single, or journeyman, culminating in the graduation of Akari, Aika, and Alice as full Prima Undines.

Each chapter is a slice of life episode of Akari's exploration of the worlds of gondoliers, Neo-Venezia, and Aqua itself. Amano frequently uses several pages of lush art to depict an environment, showing the wonder of both everyday activities as well as one-of-a-kind events. It has been described by reviewers as very similar in tone and effect to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō.

Aria Company
Aria Company is a small water-guide company that starts with only two employees. Its uniforms are lined with blue, and its president (and namesake) is Aria Pokoteng.
 * Mizunashi Akari (水無 灯里)
 * A native of Japan on Manhome (Earth) who immigrates to Aqua when she is 15 to become an Undine. While not as skillful at rowing a gondola as Alice nor as familiar with the history of her adopted city as Aika, Akari makes friends quickly and easily converses with customers and other strangers. She is depicted as optimistic and cheerful, finding enjoyment in things or events that others think humdrum and mundane, for which Aika and Alice call her "mysterious"; in the anime, Aika and Alice separately comment that Akari seems to attract mysterious phenomena to her. Akari often says Hohe or Hahi, which is her short version of "wow". When Akari used gondola simulations on Manhome, she accidentally learned how to row backwards and has to relearn the proper method when she starts at Aria Company; however, as Alicia puts it, "When rowing backward, Akari-chan is unrivaled!"
 * Most chapters of the manga and episodes of the anime are framed with narration taken from e-mails written by Akari. In the anime, the recipient is a young girl named Ai, a customer in the first episode who becomes Akari's pen pal, but in the manga the recipient is someone she does not name and is referred to as zenryaku but has never seen.
 * At the start of Aqua, Akari arrives on Aqua as a new Pair (apprentice) at Aria Company. In chapter 5 of Aqua, when Aika is promoted to Single (journeyman), Alicia tests and promotes Akari as well. Later, in chapter 58 of Aria and episode 12 of Aria the Origination, after Aika is promoted to Prima (full Undine), Alicia gives Akari the test for Prima. When Akari passes, she is given the title "Aquamarine" (遙かなる蒼).
 * At the start of Aqua, Akari arrives on Aqua as a new Pair (apprentice) at Aria Company. In chapter 5 of Aqua, when Aika is promoted to Single (journeyman), Alicia tests and promotes Akari as well. Later, in chapter 58 of Aria and episode 12 of Aria the Origination, after Aika is promoted to Prima (full Undine), Alicia gives Akari the test for Prima. When Akari passes, she is given the title "Aquamarine" (遙かなる蒼).

 * Arishia Furōrensu (アリシア·フローレンス)
 * The only other Undine with Aria Company, Alicia is one of the Three Water Fairies of Neo-Venezia, known by the title "Snow White" (白き妖精). At the start of the series, she is 19 years old and the most popular Undine in the city, noted especially for her graceful rowing style. She was promoted to Prima at 15, the youngest ever to do so. Like Akari, she is relaxed and easy-going, but she also likes to tease others, especially her childhood friend Akira. Her favorite phrase is "My, my" (ara ara; "Well Well") and she frequently giggles, to Akira's annoyance. According to Grandma Akino, she is an excellent Undine because of her ability to enjoy everything.
 * At the end of the series, Alicia announces her upcoming marriage and retirement to take an administrative position within the Gondola Association. She tells Akari she had put off her Prima exam because she had been planning to retire after that and did not want to leave her student and friend. According to issue No. 6 of Monthly Undine, after her retirement, "Snow White" is designated the 8th "honored appellation" by the Gondola Association, as an Undine who made great contributions to the industry.
 * At the end of the series, Alicia announces her upcoming marriage and retirement to take an administrative position within the Gondola Association. She tells Akari she had put off her Prima exam because she had been planning to retire after that and did not want to leave her student and friend. According to issue No. 6 of Monthly Undine, after her retirement, "Snow White" is designated the 8th "honored appellation" by the Gondola Association, as an Undine who made great contributions to the industry.

 * Ametsuchi Akino (天地 秋乃) Guranma (グランマ)
 * A famous and long-serving Prima Undine, who started Aria Company with Aria Pokoteng after realizing she was missing too much of life as Himeya's top ace. She was Prima Undine for 30 years and mentor to Alicia, her last disciple, to whom she left the company on her retirement. She is highly respected by younger Undines, who call her "Grandma".
 * A famous and long-serving Prima Undine, who started Aria Company with Aria Pokoteng after realizing she was missing too much of life as Himeya's top ace. She was Prima Undine for 30 years and mentor to Alicia, her last disciple, to whom she left the company on her retirement. She is highly respected by younger Undines, who call her "Grandma".

 * Aino Ai (愛野アイ)
 * A girl from Manhome. In the anime, she befriends Akari in episode 1 and becomes Akari's e-mail correspondent, while visiting Aqua whenever she can. In the manga, she first appears in chapter 60 as Aria Company's newest employee. In both versions, at the end of the series she becomes a Pair under Akari after Alicia's marriage and retirement. At some point before the start in the OVA Aria the Avvenire, she becomes a Single.
 * A girl from Manhome. In the anime, she befriends Akari in episode 1 and becomes Akari's e-mail correspondent, while visiting Aqua whenever she can. In the manga, she first appears in chapter 60 as Aria Company's newest employee. In both versions, at the end of the series she becomes a Pair under Akari after Alicia's marriage and retirement. At some point before the start in the OVA Aria the Avvenire, she becomes a Single.

 * Anna (アンナ)
 * A retired Undine who trained under Grandma Akino, becoming a Prima before Alicia. She left Aria Company shortly after Alicia was promoted to Prima to marry a fisherman named Alberto. She has a son named Ahito, and lives with her family on Neo-Burano Island.
 * A retired Undine who trained under Grandma Akino, becoming a Prima before Alicia. She left Aria Company shortly after Alicia was promoted to Prima to marry a fisherman named Alberto. She has a son named Ahito, and lives with her family on Neo-Burano Island.

Himeya Company
Himeya Company is the oldest and currently second-ranking water-guide company in Neo-Venezia. It employs 80 Undines, with a uniform lined with red. Its president is Hime Granzchesta.
 * Aika S. Granzchesta (藍華·S·グランチェスタ)
 * The first friend Akari makes on Aqua, Aika is 16 when they meet. Aika is a Pair and then Single at Himeya Company. She is the only daughter and heir of Himeya Company's owners. However, she does not enjoy the distinction as she feels the company's employees fawn on her too much. Aika speaks bluntly and often responds to Akari's idealistic comments with "Embarrassing remarks are not allowed!" (恥ずかしいセリフ禁止!). Despite their contrasting personalities, she gets along well with Akari and Alice. However, she frequently squabbles with her mentor, Akira, whom she resembles. Aika considers herself reliable, especially compared to the distractible Akari and antisocial Alice, but both her friends call her a crybaby for her tendency to tear up when emotional. She is proud of her gondola skill as an Undine and can be very competitive about it. She also greatly admires Alicia and finds any excuse to visit Aria Company—and once tells Akari that if not for her family obligations, she would have joined Aria Company. Over the course of the series, Aika develops feelings for Al.
 * In chapter 58, Aika becomes a Prima, taking the title "Rosen Queen" (薔薇の女王). She takes charge of a newly opened Himeya branch office in preparation for taking on the whole company one day.
 * In chapter 58, Aika becomes a Prima, taking the title "Rosen Queen" (薔薇の女王). She takes charge of a newly opened Himeya branch office in preparation for taking on the whole company one day.

 * Akira E. Ferrari (晃·E·フェラーリ)
 * One of Neo-Venezia's Three Water Fairies and a native of Aqua. As a Prima Undine, Akira is called the "Crimson Rose" (真紅の薔薇) and is famed for her conversational skills. She has many admirers among her customers, especially her female ones, but she considers herself very feminine. In flashbacks, Akira is shown as very tomboyish when young, to the point of using a male pronoun for "I" (俺) (see gender differences in spoken Japanese) and being mistaken for a boy by Akatsuki. Akira is a mentor to Aika, who calls her the Demon Instructor for her strictness and loud, brusque personality. Akira is particularly harsh with Aika because she believes there is potential in her, and Aika admits that it is only due to Akira's strictness and honesty that she has become a good Undine.
 * Akira and Alicia are childhood friends, and their relationship mirrors Aika and Akari's. However, Alicia teases Akira far more than Akari does Aika. Akira still resents that Alicia became a Prima before her. Upon Alicia's retirement at the end of the series, Akira becomes the undisputed top Undine in Neo-Venezia.
 * Akira and Alicia are childhood friends, and their relationship mirrors Aika and Akari's. However, Alicia teases Akira far more than Akari does Aika. Akira still resents that Alicia became a Prima before her. Upon Alicia's retirement at the end of the series, Akira becomes the undisputed top Undine in Neo-Venezia.

 * Ayumi K. Jasmine (アユミ·K·ジャスミン)
 * Ayumi appears in the Origination series as a cheerful Single for Himeya Company, who often works as a traghetto rower with Atora and Anzu from Orange Planet. Unlike many Undines, Ayumi doesn't plan to become a Prima because she wants to specialize in the traghetto, which gets her involved with the city and its people as well as lets her make money.
 * Ayumi appears in the Origination series as a cheerful Single for Himeya Company, who often works as a traghetto rower with Atora and Anzu from Orange Planet. Unlike many Undines, Ayumi doesn't plan to become a Prima because she wants to specialize in the traghetto, which gets her involved with the city and its people as well as lets her make money.

 * Azusa B. McLaren (あずさ・B・マクラーレン)
 * A newly trained Single under Aika in the Avvenire series.
 * A newly trained Single under Aika in the Avvenire series.

Orange Planet
Orange Planet is the largest water-guide company in Neo-Venezia, employing 81 Undines (including 20 Primas). Its uniforms are lined with yellow, and its president is Maa.
 * Alice Carroll (アリス·キャロル)
 * Alice is a 14-year-old Undine for Orange Planet. She first appears (in volume 3 of Aria/episode 3 of Aria the Animation) as a standoffish, detached girl. Aika later describes her as anti-social and complains about her tendency to put on a grim face and speak in a quiet voice. Alice speaks in a deadpan manner, though she frequently uses dekkai (でっかい) as an intensifier. Although initially only a Pair, her rowing already surpasses both Aika and Akari's—for which skill Orange Planet scouted her despite her young age. Despite working for rival companies, Alice, Akari, and Aika often practice together, and Alice sincerely enjoys the others' company, though this does not stop her from telling them to be quiet when they argue. Because of her age and lower status, Aika often addresses her as "kōhai-chan" (後輩ちゃん). Through her friendship with Akari and Aika, Alice lightens up as the series progresses. However, she still struggles with her detachment.
 * For a long time, Alice was not confident in her singing skills until Athena advised her to enjoy what she sings and not worry about her performance. In volume 11 of Aria, after Alice graduates from middle school, she is promoted to Prima straight from Pair, the first Undine to do so, and is given the title "Orange Princess" (黄昏の姫君).
 * For a long time, Alice was not confident in her singing skills until Athena advised her to enjoy what she sings and not worry about her performance. In volume 11 of Aria, after Alice graduates from middle school, she is promoted to Prima straight from Pair, the first Undine to do so, and is given the title "Orange Princess" (黄昏の姫君).

 * Athena Glory (アテナ·グローリィ)
 * One of Neo-Venezia's Three Water Fairies, known by the title "Siren" (天上の謳声) for her beautiful singing voice. She is Alice's mentor at Orange Planet. She is quiet most of the time and often appears to be an airhead who does not pay attention to her surroundings (in the anime, she is shown more than once forgetting to duck while rowing under a bridge), but she genuinely cares about Alice. Athena has a strange laugh that comes out sounding as though she is angry. She was a trainee Undine with Alicia and Akira. She joined them in joint practice sessions like Akari, Aika, and Alice do now. At the conclusion of the series, Athena semi-retires from being an Undine to debut as an opera singer.
 * One of Neo-Venezia's Three Water Fairies, known by the title "Siren" (天上の謳声) for her beautiful singing voice. She is Alice's mentor at Orange Planet. She is quiet most of the time and often appears to be an airhead who does not pay attention to her surroundings (in the anime, she is shown more than once forgetting to duck while rowing under a bridge), but she genuinely cares about Alice. Athena has a strange laugh that comes out sounding as though she is angry. She was a trainee Undine with Alicia and Akira. She joined them in joint practice sessions like Akari, Aika, and Alice do now. At the conclusion of the series, Athena semi-retires from being an Undine to debut as an opera singer.

 * Atora Monteverdi (アトーラ·モンテヴェルディ)
 * Atora is a Single for Orange Planet who appears in the Origination series. She often works as a traghetto rower with Anzu as well as Ayumi from Himeya Company. Atora took the Prima exam once but did not pass and became too discouraged to try again. After meeting Akari during her stint in the traghetto, she decides to train harder to retake the exam.
 * Atora is a Single for Orange Planet who appears in the Origination series. She often works as a traghetto rower with Anzu as well as Ayumi from Himeya Company. Atora took the Prima exam once but did not pass and became too discouraged to try again. After meeting Akari during her stint in the traghetto, she decides to train harder to retake the exam.

 * Anzu Yumeno (夢野 杏)
 * Anzu is a Single for Orange Planet who appears in Origination. She often works as a traghetto rower with Atora as well as Ayumi from Himeya Company. Although Anzu has failed her Prima exam several times, she continues to work hard and is determined to become a Prima.
 * Anzu is a Single for Orange Planet who appears in Origination. She often works as a traghetto rower with Atora as well as Ayumi from Himeya Company. Although Anzu has failed her Prima exam several times, she continues to work hard and is determined to become a Prima.

 * Anya Dostoyevskaya (アーニャ・ドストエフスカヤ)
 * A newly trained Single under Alice in the Avvenire series and the Crepuscolo movie.
 * A newly trained Single under Alice in the Avvenire series and the Crepuscolo movie.

Cats
Because blue-eyed cats are considered lucky on Aqua, all Undine companies have a blue-eyed cat as a mascot, who is given the title President. Cats on Aqua have been bred to be as intelligent as humans, though they cannot speak.
 * President Aria Pokoteng (アリア·ポコテン)
 * President and namesake of Aria Company, and an Aqua cat. Aria is large and fat, massing 10 kg. He is attracted to President Hime, who does not appear to reciprocate his sentiments; his pursuit of her is a common comic relief scene.
 * President and namesake of Aria Company, and an Aqua cat. Aria is large and fat, massing 10 kg. He is attracted to President Hime, who does not appear to reciprocate his sentiments; his pursuit of her is a common comic relief scene.

 * President Hime M. Granzchesta (ヒメ·M·グランチェスタ)
 * President of Himeya Company, a small, delicate, black female cat from Manhome. "Hime" means princess in Japanese.
 * President of Himeya Company, a small, delicate, black female cat from Manhome. "Hime" means princess in Japanese.

 * President Maa (まぁ)
 * President of Orange Planet, an Aqua kitten with very tiny blue eyes. Alice calls her "Maa-kun" after her unusual meow. Maa often bites President Aria's belly. The volume 8, Special Navigation, an annual President checkup reveals that Maa is actually a female cat and much attracted to President Aria.
 * President of Orange Planet, an Aqua kitten with very tiny blue eyes. Alice calls her "Maa-kun" after her unusual meow. Maa often bites President Aria's belly. The volume 8, Special Navigation, an annual President checkup reveals that Maa is actually a female cat and much attracted to President Aria.

 * Cait Sith (ケット・シー)
 * A huge cat with mysterious powers, said to be Cat-sìth from Scottish folklore. He has been the king of the cat kingdom in Aqua for at least 100 years. In the anime, Alicia and Akari suggest that he is the spiritual guardian of Aqua. Jun'ichi Satō, the anime director, claimed that his interpretation is "a little different from the original manga's interpretation". It is hinted at various times throughout the manga as he secretly guides and protects Akari to the seven mysteries of Neo Venezia, and is ultimately revealed that he is Akari's pen pal and the final mystery.

Other characters

 * Akatsuki Izumo (出雲 暁)
 * Akari's first customer as a Single. He is a tall, impatient young man who calls Akari "Pigtails" or "Sideburns" (momiko) to tease her. He works as an apprentice Salamander, someone who helps maintain Aqua's climate in the floating buildings that are tethered overhead. Although drawn like a typical bishōnen, his constant scowl combined with a loose-fitting robe usually covers up his more "attractive" features, which he rarely displays. Akatsuki has an older brother who teases him to the point of rage.
 * Akatsuki is not on the ground often, so every visit to the surface is an adventure for him. He claims to be in love with Alicia, though Alicia and his older brother suggest that he is really attracted to Akari. In any case, every visit to Neo-Venezia, no matter his official reason, he spends most of his time with Akari.
 * Akatsuki is not on the ground often, so every visit to the surface is an adventure for him. He claims to be in love with Alicia, though Alicia and his older brother suggest that he is really attracted to Akari. In any case, every visit to Neo-Venezia, no matter his official reason, he spends most of his time with Akari.

 * Udo Ayanokoji the 51st (綾小路宇土51世)
 * More commonly known as "Woody". Woody is a Sylph who delivers packages and other goods to people in Neo-Venezia. He has a bad sense of direction and cannot navigate without a map. His physique is well-built, and he is usually seen wearing goggles. He was childhood friends with both Akatsuki and Al.
 * More commonly known as "Woody". Woody is a Sylph who delivers packages and other goods to people in Neo-Venezia. He has a bad sense of direction and cannot navigate without a map. His physique is well-built, and he is usually seen wearing goggles. He was childhood friends with both Akatsuki and Al.

 * Albert "Al" Pitt (アルバート·ピット)
 * Al is a Gnome, a person who lives underground regulating Aqua's gravity so that it is the same as Manhome's. Gnomes rarely come to the surface except to shop. He looks younger than Akari and Aika, but he is actually three years older. His young appearance is due to the stronger gravity underground making him smaller.
 * Al is a Gnome, a person who lives underground regulating Aqua's gravity so that it is the same as Manhome's. Gnomes rarely come to the surface except to shop. He looks younger than Akari and Aika, but he is actually three years older. His young appearance is due to the stronger gravity underground making him smaller.

 * Namihei Anno (庵野波平) Mr. Postman (郵便屋さん)
 * An elderly mailman in Neo-Venezia, called Mailman-san or Mr. Postman by Akari. He is the first person that Akari meets after arriving on Aqua. He is a kind man who is devoted to his work and his younger co-workers. Akari does not learn his name until near the end of the series when he hires her for a gondola ride after retiring from his job.
 * An elderly mailman in Neo-Venezia, called Mailman-san or Mr. Postman by Akari. He is the first person that Akari meets after arriving on Aqua. He is a kind man who is devoted to his work and his younger co-workers. Akari does not learn his name until near the end of the series when he hires her for a gondola ride after retiring from his job.

Terms
Several terms of the world of Aqua are derived from elemental mythology:

 * Undine: A gondolier acting as a refined tour guide for visitors to Neo-Venezia. All known Undines are young girls and women, except those of the gender-flip parallel world in the Special Navigation of volume 6.
 * Pair (ペア): An apprentice Undine who has just begun practicing sculling a gondola. A Pair is recognized by her pair of gloves, worn to protect her hands as she builds up calluses. When a Pair is promoted to Single, she removes one glove. This is translated by Nozomi and ADV as "Pair", and by Tokyopop as "apprentice".
 * Single (シングル): A journeyman Undine qualified to take customers only under supervision. So-called because she wears only one glove. Nozomi and ADV translate this as "Single," and by Tokyopop as "journeyman."
 * Prima (プリマ): A graduated Undine who is no longer a Single. Once an Undine becomes a Prima, they can take customers without supervision. This is translated by Nozomi and ADV as "Prima", and by Tokyopop as "full-fledged Undine".
 * Salamander: A person working at controlling the weather and adding heat to the atmosphere as part of terraforming Aqua. Salamanders live in floating islands tethered at high altitude.
 * Gnome: A person working underground to regulate the gravity of Aqua, so that it is as strong as Manhome (Earth). Because of their environment, most gnomes are short and have bad eyesight.
 * Sylph: A person who makes deliveries by air bike. Deliveries are done by air in Neo-Venezia because only unpowered watercraft such as gondolas are allowed in the smaller canals of the city.
 * Traghetto: A gondola designed to ferry several people across the Grand Canal. Because of its size and the number of passengers, the gondola is rowed by two Singles.
 * Three Water Fairies (水の三大妖精): Neo-Venezia's three most accomplished Undines at the time of the series: Alicia Florence, Akira E. Ferrari, and Athena Glory.
 * Seven Mysteries of Neo Venezia (ネオ・ヴェネツィアの七不思議): The seven mysteries of the city of Neo Venezia that very few people have ever gotten to witness. Akari is the only person to do so when the story takes place, thanks to personal guidance from Cait Sith. Those mysteries include the endless waterway hall, the Carnival Casanova, the mirage coffee shop, the galactic train that runs in the night sky, the legendary lady of San Michele Island, the (street) stone of misfortune, and Cait Sith himself.

Development
According to her original afterword to Aqua volume 2, Kozue Amano's goal in writing the series was to have readers find happiness in small things and to not focus on their failures. In another afterword, she stated that writing Aria has forced her to pay attention to the four seasons and that she hopes the series shows her appreciation for them. Amano developed a 24-month calendar system for Aqua, based on Mars's real orbital period of 668.6 local days (see Timekeeping on Mars), making every season 6 months long. Amano marked the passage of time and the seasons throughout the series through such means as Akari explicitly telling her correspondent the time of year and depicting seasonal observances such as fireworks at the end of summer (Aqua volume 2, Navigation 9 and Aria volume 4, Navigation 20), New Year's Eve (Aria volume 2, Navigation 9), or birthdays of characters (Aria volume 10, Navigation 46).

In the universe of Aqua and Aria, Neo-Venezia's builders modeled it after the city of Venice before its demise in the 21st century, including counterparts to such public landmarks as the Piazza San Marco and the Bridge of Sighs. In creating Neo-Venezia, Amano also based some of the fictional locations of the series on real Venetian locations. Examples include:
 * The Aria Company headquarters corresponds to the location of a vaporetto stop.
 * The Himeya Company headquarters is in the Danieli Hotel, located on the southern promenade, near Piazza San Marco.

Other locations on Aqua that Amano based on real places include the Japanese shrine visited in Aria volume 1, based on Fushimi Inari-taisha near Kyoto.

Adaptation as an anime
As part of the preparations for the first season of the anime adaptation, the production crew led by director Jun'ichi Satō made a trip to Venice for location research. As a result of filming the movements of gondoliers sculling, they had to redraw the animation of Undines rowing in the first episodes to make it realistic. Satō said that seeing a gondolier use his paddle to toss a bottle out of the water inspired the scene in episode 11 of Aria the Animation where Alicia does the same with a ball, which was not in the manga. As part of the production company's commitment to adapting the manga faithfully and gesture of consideration toward the voice actors, they provided the collected volumes of Aqua and Aria to date, rather than requiring them to purchase their own or giving stacks of photocopies.

According to Jun'ichi Satō, it was a struggle to fit the available material into the 13 episodes of the first season, which focused closely on Akari. The title of the second season, Aria the Natural, came about because he had 26 episodes to work with, letting him treat the story in a more "natural" manner, allowing the series to develop other characters more.

Choro Club and Takeshi Senoo composed 30 works of music for the first season of the anime and 15 for the second. Jun'ichi Satō and sound designer Yasuno Satō assigned Choro Club and Takeshi Senoo abstract themes instead of plot points, which was an unfamiliar method for the composers who did not have much experience working for anime shows. Takeshi Senoo and the three members of Choro Club make a cameo appearance as musicians in episode 23 of Aria the Natural. Jun'ichi Satō has commented that the lyrics for the songs "Barracole" and "Coccolo", sung by Eri Kawai as the voice of Athena Glory, were gibberish. The lyrics for the first two seasons' theme songs were also initially meant to be gibberish, but after reading the manga Eri Kawai decided to write Japanese lyrics: "I read the original manga and wrote the lyrics, using my image of Neo-Venezia as a starting point. Then did my best to match words that flowed with the melody." Kawai made demo recordings for Yui Makino as a guide for her performance of the theme songs. Takeshi Senoo has described "Smile Again", the second ending theme song of Aria the Natural, as a song about the end of summer, and envisioned it being sung by Erino Hazuki as Akari.

Manga
The manga was written and illustrated by Kozue Amano and has a complicated publishing history. Aqua was originally published by Enix in Monthly Stencil magazine from January to September of 2001 and collected in two tankōbon volumes. When the series moved to Mag Garden's Comic Blade magazine in February 2002, the title changed to Aria. Mag Garden later re-released the two volumes of Aqua with additional material and new covers. Serialization completed in February 2008. In all, the 70 serialized chapters of Aqua and Aria were collected in 14 tankōbon volumes, each volume containing five chapters covering a season of the year. Each volume is called a "voyage," and each chapter a "navigation."

In English, Aria (but not Aqua) was originally licensed by ADV Manga, who dropped the license after publishing three volumes. The North American license for Aqua and Aria was picked up by Tokyopop, which began releasing the series starting with the first volume of Aqua. The series has been licensed in France by Kami, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany,  in Italy by Star Comics,  in Indonesia by M&C Comics,  in South Korea by Bookbox, in Spain by Editorial Ivrea, in Taiwan by Tong Li Comics, and in Thailand by Bongkoch Comics.

Anime
Aqua and Aria were adapted by Hal Film Maker as a 54-episode anime television series comprising two seasons titled Aria the Animation and Aria the Natural, an original video animation (OVA) titled Aria the OVA: Arietta, and a third season titled Aria the Origination. The series was directed by Junichi Sato with character designs by Makoto Koga, and broadcast on the TV Tokyo Network between 2005 and 2008. All three seasons have been released on DVD in Japan. A special OVA series, Aria the Avvenire, received an event screening on 26 September 2015. It was animated by TYO Animations.

The series is licensed in North America by The Right Stuf International. A DVD box set of the English subtitled first season was released on 30 September 2008 under its Nozomi Entertainment imprint. The second season was released in two box sets on 29 January and 24 March 2009. The third season box set, including the Arietta OVA and the bonus episode numbered 5.5, was released on 2 March 2010. On 12 August 2017, Right Stuf launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce an English dub and a Blu-ray release for the first season of the series, which ended on 11 September 2017 with a total of $595,676 raised, which is $230,000 over the final stretch goal of dubbing the entire franchise, including the 10th Anniversary special OVA series, Avvenire. The series is licensed in Australia by Siren Visual. The series has been licensed in the United Kingdom by MVM Entertainment, and was released on Blu-ray on 25 October 2021.

The series is licensed in Korea by Animax Asia, in Taiwan by Muse Communications, in France by Kaze, and in Italy by Yamato Video. The series was also broadcast in Italy on the Rai 4.

Films
It was announced on 14 April 2020 that the franchise would debut a new work scheduled for winter 2020 in celebration of the series' 15th anniversary. On 22 July 2020, it was announced that the new work would be an anime film titled Aria the Crepuscolo, which premiered on 5 March 2021. The film was produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Takahiro Natori, with the main staff members reprising their roles.

After the film Aria the Crepuscolo's release, a new anime project titled Aria the Benedizione was announced, which would serve as the third and final installment of the "Blue Curtain Call" trilogy. On 21 March 2021, it was announced that the anime project is a film that will premiere in winter 2021. The cast and staff from the previous film reprised their roles. On 10 August 2021, two new cast members were revealed and the release date of 3 December 2021 was announced.

Soundtracks
Several soundtrack albums were released for Aria, including an album for each of the three seasons of the anime, two piano music collections, a song collection, and a tribute album. Singles were released for the opening and closing themes for all three anime seasons, the OVA, and the two visual novel adaptations. Most of the releases charted on the Oricon charts, with the highest ranking album being Aria the Natural Vocal Song Collection at 30th, and the highest ranking single being "Euforia", the opening theme for Aria the Natural, at 18th.

Drama CDs
Four series of drama CDs have been released. The first series was produced before the anime began and uses different voice actors; the other three were produced in conjunction with the three seasons of the anime, using the anime voice actors.
 * The first series comprises two volumes dramatizing episodes from the early volumes of Aria, released 25 August 2004 and 24 August 2005, and one volume dramatizing episodes from Aqua, released 22 September 2005.
 * The second series was produced in conjunction with Aria the Animation. It comprises three volumes titled Blue, Red, and Orange, after the uniform colors of Aria Company, Himeya Company, and Orange Planet, which were released 25 November 2005, 22 December 2005, and 25 January 2006, respectively. Red and Orange peak ranked 237th and 161st on the Oricon albums chart respectively. A drama CD box containing the second series was released for 27 July 2009, including a new drama CD as bonus material, and peak ranked 62nd on Oricon albums chart.
 * The third series was produced in conjunction with Aria the Natural. It comprises two volumes released 23 June 2006 and 21 July 2006. The first and second volumes peak ranked 132nd and 166th on the Oricon albums chart, respectively. A drama CD box containing the third series was released for 27 January 2010, including a new drama CD as bonus material, and peak ranked 82nd on Oricon albums chart.
 * The fourth series was produced in conjunction with Aria the Origination. It comprises three volumes titled Yuki ("snow"), Tsuki ("moon"), and Hana ("flower"), released 21 March 2008, 23 April 2008, and 21 May 2008, respectively. Yuki, Tsuki and Hana peak ranked 87th, 55th, and 48th on the Oricon albums chart, respectively.

Additional drama CDs were included as bonus materials for each volume of Aria Perfect Guide.

Radio CDs
An Aria radio show called Aria the Station was broadcast on the internet through onsen.ag and Animate throughout November 2006 in conjunction with the three seasons of the anime. The 115 episodes were later compiled on "radio CDs" released in three seasons. Each volume contains a CD-ROM with the radio episodes in MP3 format plus an audio CD containing additional material. The radio show starred Erino Hazuki as Akari Mizunashi and Chinami Nishimura as President Aria Pokoteng, with other voice actors from the anime as guests reprising their respective roles.
 * The 12 episodes of the first season were collected on one album called Aria the Station Neo-Venezia Informale, released on 29 September 2006.
 * The 51 episodes of the second season, Aria the Station Due were collected on four volumes. The first volume, numbered Cour.1, was released on 24 November 2006; the second, Cour.2, on 29 December 2006; Cour.3 on 23 February 2007; and Cour.4 on 25 May 2007.
 * The 52 episodes of the third season, Aria the Station Tricolore, were collected the four volumes. The first volume, numbered Cour.1, was released on 28 September 2007; the second, Cour.2, on 21 December 2007; Cour.3 on 28 March 2008; and Cour.4 on 27 June 2008.

Video games
The Alchemist company produced two visual novel video games for the PS2 based on Aria. Both were released in regular and special editions on the same day.
 * Aria the Natural: Tooi Yume no Mirage ("Mirage of a Distant Dream") was released 28 September 2006. This was later re-released on 6 March 2008 as part of the Alchemist Best Collection.
 * Aria the Origination: Aoi Hoshi no Il Cielo ("The Sky Over the Blue Planet") was released 26 June 2008. It ranked 30th for its first release week on the Famitsu sales chart with 7221 copies sold.

Art books
Four art books were published by Mag Garden containing drawings and sketches for Aqua and Aria by Kozue Amano:
 * Alpha (ISBN 978-4-86127-009-3) was released 29 January 2004.
 * Stella (ISBN 978-4-86127-140-3) was released 29 March 2005.
 * Cielo (ISBN 978-4-86127-297-4) was released 30 August 2006.
 * Birth (ISBN 978-4-86127-804-4) was released 10 February 2011.

Mag Garden published a fifth art book containing additional artwork used in the anime, video games, drama CDs, and merchandising:
 * Aria the Illustration Avvenire (ISBN 978-4-86127-573-9) was released 24 December 2008.

In addition, three poster books have been published, each containing ten A2-format posters:
 * Aria Premium Poster Book (ISBN 978-4-86127-213-4) was released 22 December 2005.
 * Aria Premium Poster Book 2 (ISBN 978-4-86127-328-5) was released 22 December 2006.
 * Aria Premium Poster Book 3 (ISBN 978-4-86127-447-3) was released 22 December 2007.

Guide books
Four guide books to Aria have been released by Mag Garden:
 * The first guide book, Aria Navigation Guide (ISBN 978-4-86127-212-7), released 29 October 2005, is focused on the manga. It includes background materials, character profiles, and a summary of the series by chapter from the start of Aqua through volume 7 of Aria.
 * Three guide books cover the three seasons of the anime, containing episode summaries, descriptions of primary and secondary characters, and other anime-related materials. Each book also contains a bonus manga chapter and a drama CD. Aria the Animation Perfect Guide Book (ISBN 978-4-86127-263-9) was released 29 March 2006, Aria the Natural Perfect Guide Book (ISBN 978-4-86127-327-8) was released 22 December 2006, and Aria the Origination Perfect Guide Book (ISBN 978-4-86127-510-4) was released 30 July 2008.

Additionally, Shinkigesha published guide books for each of Alchemist's two Aria video games, containing background materials, character profiles, and plot summaries covering all outcomes of the game:
 * Aria the Natural: Tooi Yume no Mirage Game Material Collection (ISBN 978-4-7753-0523-2) was released on 22 December 2006.
 * Aria the Origination: Aoi Hoshi no Il Cielo Game Material Collection (ISBN 978-4-7753-0645-1) was released on 1 September 2008.

Novels
Aria has also been adapted as series of light novels published by Mag Garden, with two released as of March 2023:
 * Mizu no Miyako to Kanashiki Utahime no Monogatari (水の都と哀しき歌姫の物語) by Ayuna Fujisaki (ISBN 978-4-86127-241-7) – published 28 February 2006
 * The Gift of the Four Season's Breeze (四季の風の贈り物) by Mari Okada, Ayuna Fujisaki, Tatsuhiko Urahata, and Reiko Yoshida (ISBN 978-4-86127-448-0) – published 10 January 2008

Monthly Undine
Monthly Undine is a spin-off facsimile of the Undine-focused magazine mentioned in the Aria universe. Six issues of Monthly Undine have been released as of March 2023 with a different character on each cover, each containing a collectible item. The first three magazines contain toy house parts with Himeya Company's Akira and Aika, toy house parts with Aria Company's Alicia and Akari, and toy house parts with Orange Planet's Athena and Alice respectively. When the three magazines' collectible items (toy house parts) are combined, they form a miniature "ARIA Company" building.

The President Cat Picture books
In March 2007, Mag Garden published a series of three Aria picture books. Each hardcover book contains a full-color short manga story focused on a cat president, and includes an additional collectible item written and illustrated by Amano Kozue.
 * President Maa Picture Book (ISBN 978-4-86127-337-7) was published 10 March 2007.
 * President Hime Picture Book (ISBN 978-4-86127-338-4) was published 20 March 2007.
 * President Aria Picture Book (ISBN 978-4-86127-339-1) was released 30 March 2007.

Sheet Music
Shinko Music published a selection of sheet music called Aria the Best Selection (ISBN 978-4-401-02030-0) in July 2008. It contained the themes from the three anime seasons of Aria.

Reception
In Japan, new volumes of Aria routinely reached the best-seller list for manga, and had sold over 3 million copies as of July 2007, representing 11% of all manga volumes ever sold by its publisher to date. In 2009, this number increased to 4 million.

The English translation of the Aria manga was described by a reviewer at The Comics Journal as "quite conceivably the best comics series ever created for elementary-school girls," calling it "a masterpiece of storytelling and illustration, gorgeous to look at and a feast for the young imagination in its ability to present an inviting, fully realized world." Aqua and Aria together have been praised for their joyful calm, vividly depicted futuristic world, moments of magic, and sense of whimsy. Amano's artwork is praised for her crisp lines and details, especially in the backgrounds and landscapes. Amano has also been criticized for confusingly giving every character a name that begins with A, for letting some slice-of-life stories "drift too far out," and for making Akari's character too sweet and effusive.

In 2006, the anime of Aria was ranked in the top 100 animated television series of all time in a poll by TV Asahi. As of June 2007, the first two seasons of the anime adaptation had sold more than 300,000 DVDs.

The anime has been praised for its quiet atmosphere, beautiful visuals —especially the backgrounds and character designs —and exceptional soundtrack. Anime News Network described the first season as "a gorgeous future fantasy populated with loveable characters", where "each episode is a finely fashioned tone poem steeped in a love of the slow rhythms of everyday life and told with an elegant self-possession that places it light-years beyond the vulgar moralizing of most "uplifting" stories." IGN contrasted Aria with Maria-sama ga Miteru as another series where not much happens, noting that "Maria-sama ratchets up the tension level whenever possible, though, and never mind that all the drama revolves around something completely inconsequential. Aria, on the other hand, is calm and relaxed. It freely admits that the plot is not the point." Several reviewers cited the characters as key to the appeal of the series, though some criticized the characters as unrealistic; the voice acting of Erino Hazuki (Akari) and Junko Minagawa (Akira) were particularly praised. Several reviewers point out that the series does not fit all tastes, being a slow-paced drama with an optimistic outlook.

title: Aria (manga)


text:
Ural State Technical University

Ural State Technical University (USTU) is a public technical university in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russian Federation. It is the biggest technical institution of higher education in Russia, with close ties to local industry in the Urals. Its motto, Ingenium Creatio Labor, means "brilliance, creation, work".

Overview
USTU has 20 faculties including: Metallurgical, Chemical Engineering, Building Materials, Civil Engineering, Physics and physics engineering, Radio Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Heat Power Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Economics and Management, Military Science, Physical Training, Humanities, Continuing education, and a Graduate school. USTU graduates 3000 engineers annually.

History
USTU was founded in 1920. It was formerly known as Ural Polytechnic Institute (UPI).

The school has rapidly expanded due to the industrialization program of the Soviet Government, which created a high demand for engineering positions. The USTU was key in providing local industrial enterprises with technical and engineering staff.

In the 1940s, though suffering from a shortage of personnel due to World War II, the USTU received a great stimulus for development as the military needed to increase production for new industrial goods from the plants in the Urals. Many industrial plants were moved to the Urals due to the partial occupation of Western Russia by Nazi military forces.

After the war, the USTU has kept close ties with the military industry, mostly by preparing a large amount of engineers for military purposes.

With the growth of Soviet Economy, the USTU kept expanding. In 1991, however, due to the economical crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it suffered from acute underfunding by the Russian Government. It was not until the mid-1990s that the USTU began to find appreciable non-governmental sources of funding, mostly by means of establishing business ties with local industrial enterprises that survived or arose as result of the economical crisis.

Currently, the USTU is preparing to undergo integration with several other universities in Yekaterinburg in order to increase its chances for successful competition with other universities in Russia.

In April 2008 it was named after Boris Yeltsin - Yeltsin Ural State Technical University.

In April 2010, USTU united with USU (Ural State University named after A. M. Gorky) and were named Ural Federal University.

Notable alumni

 * Arkady Mikhailovich Chernetsky, Mayor of Yekaterinburg
 * Andrei Kozitsyn, billionaire
 * Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia (1991-1999)

title: Ural State Technical University


text:
Commandos Military Unit

The Jednostka Wojskowa Komandosów, commonly called JWK and formerly known as 1 Pułk Specjalny Komandosów (1 PSK), is one of six special forces units currently operating within Poland's Centrum Operacji Specjalnych - Dowództwo Komponentu Wojsk Specjalnych (COS - DKWS, en. Special Operations Center - Special Forces Component Command). JWK (although under different name and with different structure) was formed in 1961 and is the oldest still active Polish special operations unit. The unit is located in Lubliniec, Poland.

The regiment has carried out the majority of special operations that resulted in the gathering of the actual Polish Intelligence. In the early years of the global war on terrorism, The regiment carried out special operations alongside US Navy SEALs from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group also known as SEAL Team Six.

Mission
Thanks to the unit's high recruitment standards, and a special training program the Regiment implemented several years ago, the unit's soldiers display a very high level of skills and professionalism and are trained to undertake a wide range of special missions during war, crisis and peace time.

 * SR - (Special Reconnaissance) - timely and accurate intelligence gathering on an enemy and its operations and strategies
 * UW - (Unconventional Warfare) - support and guerrilla training, spread of subversion and propaganda
 * DA - (Direct Action) - sabotage, ambushes, raids
 * PR - (Personnel Recovery) - recovery of missing or abducted friendly personnel from areas of operations
 * CSAR - (Combat Search and Rescue) - combat rescue and reconnaissance
 * CT - (Counter-Terrorism) - capture or killing of known terrorists, seizing or destruction of terrorist assets
 * CP - (Counter-Proliferation) - combat the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and conventional weapons
 * MS - (Military Support) - support, training and advising of allied forces
 * FID - (Foreign Internal Defense) - counter-insurgency in a foreign state
 * MOOTW - (Military Operations Other Than War) - Crisis Response operations
 * HR - (Hostage Rescue) - release of civilians or prisoners of war from an enemy or criminals
 * CPP - (Close Personal Protection) - personal protection of VIP, notably head of state and ambassadors

Along with being trained and competent in urban warfare, underwater warfare and mountain warfare, JWK personnel are able to carry out operations by land, air (including HALO and HAHO operations) or sea. In addition, JWK also possesses JTAC-qualified personnel.

It is worth noting that out of the 1800 worldwide, in JWK currently serve the only Polish soldiers having ever graduated from the grueling U.S. Special Operations Combat Medic Course (SOCM) at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

History
The unit was established in 1961 as a part of 6th Pomeranian Airborne Division in Kraków, under the name 26 Batalion Dywersyjno – Rozpoznawczy (en. 26th Sabotage-Reconnaissance Battalion). In 1964 26th S-RB was detached from 6th Airborne Division and relocated to Dziwnów on Wolin Island (Baltic Sea). It was restructured and named 1 Samodzielny Batalion Szturmowy (en. 1st Detached Assault Battalion).

On October 8, 1993, following an executive order from the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, the unit was relocated to Lubliniec and transitioned from a battalion to a regiment, which led to its renaming to 1 Pułk Specjalny (en. 1st Special Regiment) before being changed to 1 Pułk Specjalny Komandosów (en. 1st Special Commando Regiment) in 1995. Even though the unit's name did not receive its "Commando" (Komandosów) moniker until 1995, it officially became a Special Operations Forces unit of the Polish Armed Forces following the 1993 executive order; making at the time 1 Pułk Specjalny the only unit subordinated to the command of the Land Forces branch of the Polish Army while at the same time operating as a Special Forces unit.

After twelve years under the command of the Polish Land Forces, the unit transitioned to the Polish Special Forces Command (pl. Dowództwo Wojsk Specjalnych) along with all other Polish Special Forces units when it was formed in 2007. Finally in 2011 (October 1) for its 50th anniversary, the unit was renamed Jednostka Wojskowa Komandosów which at present is its current name. Within Poland's Armed Forces organization, the unit is referred to by its code number JW4101.

Organization
JWK is currently operating under the command of płk (Col.) Wiesław Kukuła. The unit operates with a combat structure similar to the US Army Special Forces and the Australian 2nd Commando Regiment and is composed of four squadrons with a fourth set up by 2016; respectively ZB A, ZB B, ZB C and ZB D.

Each of these teams carry the traditions of Polish units from World War II. ZB A inherits its traditions from Polski Samodzielny Batalion Specjalny and Batalion Miotła, ZB B inherits theirs from the No. 6 Troop (Polish) of the No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando and ZB C inherits theirs from Batalion Parasol. It should also be noted that the headquarters detachment of the military unit also carries traditions from World War II, which are those of Batalion Zośka from the Polish Home Army resistance movement.

Current Structure:
 * HQ & Logistics Detachment
 * Squadron A - insignia of the Batalion Miotła from the Polish Home Army and insignia of PSBS
 * Squadron B - Combined Operations insignia of the No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando unit and its No. 6 Troop (Polish)
 * Squadron C - insignia of the Batalion Parasol from the Polish Home Army
 * Squadron D - set up in 2016
 * Command and Security Unit - insignia of the Batalion Zośka from the Polish Home Army
 * Information Support Group
 * Special Forces Training Center

All three combat detachments as well as the HQ & Logistics Detachment have their own insignias, all carrying on Poland's legacy from World War II.

Along with all other Wojska Specjalne units, JWK is currently subordinated to the Centrum Operacji Specjalnych - Dowództwo Komponentu Wojsk Specjalnych (COS-DKWS, en. Special Operations Center - Special Forces Component Command); which itself is subordinated to the Armed Forces Branches Operational Command (Pol. Dowództwo Operacyjne Rodzajów Sił Zbrojnych) and Armed Forces Branches General Command's Inspectorate of Wojska Specjalne (Pol. Dowództwo Generalne Rodzajów Sił Zbrojnych), (Pol. Inspektorat Wojsk Specjalnych). Before Komorowski & Koziej reform (structure till 31.12.2013) from Biuro Bezpieczeństwa Narodowego, Wojska Specjalne had simply organisation of commanding (force user & force provider) - Dowództwo Wojsk Specjalnych.

Unit insignia
Continuing with its tradition of honoring and remembering Poland's legacy from World War II, JWK unveiled its new insignia on December 30, 2013 with the formal debut being January 1, 2014. The unit described it as a "combination of tradition and modernity", with the insignia referring to the legacy of the Polish Home Army, while at the same time bringing in modernity by incorporating the distinctive symbols of partisan & commando forces.

The anchor, known as Kotwica, refers to the "Poland Fighting" symbol of the Polish resistance movement from World War II, which was present on the insignia of Batalion Miotła (current insignia of JWK's Squadron A), Batalion Parasol (current insignia of JWK's Squadron C) and Batalion Zośka (current insignia of JWK's Sub-Command and Security element); the three reconnaissance battalions from the Polish Home Army.

Incorporated in the "Kotwica" anchor is a dagger, a worldwide-recognizable symbol of the Special Operations Forces and also a nod to the unit's previous insignias both as 1PSK and as JWK.

The red color of the emblem refers to the color of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando unit from World War II and its No. 6 Polish Troop also known as the 1st Independent Company, whose Combined Operations recognition badge serves as the current insignia for JWK's Squadron B. The black background of the unit's insignia is a nod to the official color of the Polish Special Forces.

Recruitment
Candidates wanting to serve in the Regiment must first successfully undertake a basic military training course. They then move on to a three-month “Junior Specialist” training course. During this phase recruits receive training in close combat, hand to hand combat, fighting with specialised equipment, parachuting, land navigation, weapons handling, basic survival, and several other military-related skills. Troops who successfully complete the second phase then move onto the unit, where they are assigned to a Battle Team (Zespół Bojowy). Once there, additional training continues (mountain and cold weather training, sniper, Casevac, amphibious operations, etc.). Volunteering soldiers from the unit can receive advanced training in allied countries, most notably the U.S. Army Ranger course.

Recent operations
The regiment has been quite active in recent years. In 2003, troops were deployed to support NATO operations in the Republic of Macedonia during the Kosovo conflict; a 13-man detachment was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Polish support for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). In 2006, they had charge of protecting the Polski Kontyngent Wojskowy (Polish Military Contingent) in Pakistan which helped in technical rescue after the Pakistan earthquake.

Squadron B of JWK was deployed to Iraq (Iraq War) as part of the Multinational Division Central-South in Diwaniyah. Headquartered in Camp Echo under Polish command.

Squadron B of JWK were involved in combat operations throughout Afghanistan, including the Kandahar Province.

In 2007 reports of war crimes from JWK soldiers started to become public. In August of 2007, a Polish patrol attacked the village of Nangar Khel, killing six civilians, including three children, and wounding three others.

Squadron B was deployed to Iraq (Iraq War) as part of the Multinational Division Central-South in Diwaniyah. Soldiers fought together with the 5th SFG ODA and were fighting and leading special operations throughout Afghanistan, including the Kandahar Province. Since 2010 Squadron B of JWK compound formed ISAF SOF Task Force 50 which perform special operations like capturing JPEL's, Special Reconnaissance, FID. TF-50 soldiers are operating in Ghazni Province and Paktika (War in Afghanistan). In 2016, JW Komandosów was tasked with training the elite Ukrainian 1st Battalion, 79th Airborne-Assault Brigade, whose soldiers were nicknamed Cyborgs for their famous defense of Donetsk airport in 2014.

Uniform
Like all units subordinated to COS-DKWS, JWK personnel wear a MultiCam or Suez (Poland's own version of MultiCam developed around 2007, no longer issued and currently being phased out) uniform while in garrison. For various reasons, they may also wear civilian clothing. Soldiers may also wear a distinctive dark green beret with a badge depicting the Eagle of the Polish Special Forces, though it is not mandatory except for a formal ceremony or with the dress uniform. Apart from Command personnel, all other personnel wear uniforms and berets that bear no name or rank so as to conceal and protect their identities. Civilian haircuts and facial hairs are authorized to help soldiers blend-in with the rest of the population. Every soldier serving in a combat capacity within the unit has a nickname used to refer to him when in a public environment.

Weapons
Weapons in use within JWK as of mid-2015.

Assault rifle

 * Heckler & Koch HK416 in 14.5" version
 * Heckler & Koch HK416 A5 in 11" version (currently being deployed)
 * Beryl

Pistols

 * Heckler & Koch HK USP SD in 9×19mm
 * Heckler & Koch HK USP in 9×19mm
 * GLOCK 17 Gen3 in 9×19mm

Submachine guns

 * Heckler & Koch MP5
 * Heckler & Koch MP5SD
 * Heckler & Koch MP5K-PDW
 * PM-98 Glauberyt

Shotgun

 * Mossberg 500

Sniper rifles

 * SAKO TRG-22
 * Barrett M107
 * Accuracy International AWM
 * Accuracy International AXMC
 * Knight's Armament Company M110

Machine gun

 * FN Herstal FN MINIMI in 5.56mm NATO and 7.62mm NATO
 * FN M2HB

RPG

 * Carl-Gustaf M3

Grenade launcher

 * Heckler & Koch HK GLM/AG-HK416

40mm grenade launcher system

 * Heckler & Koch GMG

Unmanned aerial vehicle

 * Aeronautics Defense Orbiter Mini UAV System

Unit Commanders since 1993
Source:
 * ppłk dypl. Zbigniew Kwintal 1993 - 19.7.1999
 * ppłk dypl. Bogdan Kołtuński 19.7.1999 - 24.2.2003
 * ppłk dypl. Wojciech Jania 24.2.2003 - 15.9.2005
 * płk Piotr Patalong 15.9.2005 - 7.11.2006
 * płk Dariusz Dachowicz 7.11.2006 - 16.2.2010
 * płk Ryszard Pietras 16.2.2010 - 5.9.2012
 * ppłk Sławomir Drumowicz 5.9.2012 - 26.11.2012
 * płk Wiesław Kukuła 26.11.2012–28.10.2016
 * płk Michał Strzelecki 28.10.2016–present

Losses
Since its inception the unit has lost eleven members as a result of active military duty.

 * sierż. Piotr Łosiak (February 16, 1995)
 * st. szer. Tomasz Przybylski (March 14, 1998)
 * kpt. Paweł Urlik (December 9, 1998)
 * plut. Artur Kuchta (September 11, 1999)
 * mjr Stanisław Musiejuk (October 29, 2002)
 * sierż. Piotr Mikułowski (March 4, 2003)
 * sierż. Paweł Legencki (March 4, 2003)
 * sierż. Sebastian Gruszka (September 20, 2009)
 * mł. chor. Bartosz Spychała (April 3, 2011)
 * mł. chor. szt. Arkadiusz Horbiński (May 8, 2011)
 * st. chor. szt. Mirosław Łucki (August 24, 2013)

title: Commandos Military Unit


text: User talk:81.86.186.31

title: User talk:81.86.186.31


text:
Talk:Wagon-wheel effect

Hello sorry to hear this now I have been trying it again for the last time — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.32.157.244 (talk) 19:41, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

Movie vs TV cameras
The section in the article on movie cameras does not make any sense. That is, it gives three frame rates, but the first two (24 frames per second and 25 frames per second) are explained by referring to standards for TV (i.e., NTSC and PAL). There is no citation given for the third frame rate. Moreover, the frame rate of "conventional TV" is also not linked or cited. I's be most grateful if someone who knows about all this stuff (I don't) can clarify this section. Robert P. O'Shea (talk) 19:05, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

Rotation Illusion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb1CZfUumDI (the girl dancing illusion) Would this count as "Reverse rotation effect", or do optical illusions fall into another category? Enumerate109 (talk) 18:16, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

IMO the "wagon-wheel effect" isn't an "optical illusion" at all but rather an artifact of an imaging process. Optical illusions are things that are perceived but aren't real, whereas the WWE is a optically real result. Optical illusions generally rely on flaws in human visual perception. Am editing the intro accordingly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.157.54.144 (talk) 01:59, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

Moving Moire fringes
I have seen this effect firsthand in the case of roads where there is a fence made up of vertical posts between one lane and another going in the same direction. In particular, if you ride the Portland Oregon MAX_Light_Rail east from the Sunset Transit Center to the Washington Park(Zoo) station, there is a section where it runs parallel to a highway and there is a fence composed of vertical metal posts between the railway and the highway. If there is a car running alongside the train, it is possible to see the "Wagon wheel effect" in person. Identity0 (talk) 18:49, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

I think this page should be merged with that for "Reverse_rotation_effect"

Suggested link
I'd like to suggest a link for this page. I'd add it myself, but the link points to a page and applet on my own website, so it would be better if somebody else looked at it and agreed that it's worth adding (or maybe not agree :-) ) It might be more appropriate for Temporal aliasing though... http://ws.cs.ubc.ca/~sanchom/wiki/index.php/Temporal_Aliasing Sancho 06:57, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Health warnings anyone?
There really should be a bigassed caution at the top of this page. It'd be a pity if someone discovered they had epilepsy after trying out some staring experiments they read about on Wikipedia. Jesus H Christ I can't believe I'm the one saying won't someone please think of the children!? 83.70.166.156 03:55, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Can anybody point to any research suggesting that flickering stimuli on a computer screen are a risk for seizure in people who don't already know that they are vulnerable (i.e. people who know they're epileptic)? I once looked for some research on this but couldn't find any. In any case I don't think any warning should be at the top of this wikipedia page, but rather next to any external link to a flickering stimulus. But again I'm not sure this is much of a concern, for example I believe some research concluded the Japanese cartoon scare was basically hysteria, but I'm not sure.. --Alex Holcombe 11:35, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Under continuous illumination
I have seen this effect on wheels that are under continuous illumination: Often, when driving slowly past a moving car with shiny alloy wheels, in the adjacent lane on the freeway for example, the spokes appear to be rotating backwards. If you look closely, it looks as thought this illusion is caused by the changing angle of sun rays reflecting from the shiny (often round) spokes. So, what you are actually seeing is the suns reflection slowly counter-rotating, not the spokes themselves. However, because the spokes are in quick motion and under continuous illumintaion, they are blurred and all you can see is the counter-rotating reflection of the sun. Ofcourse, they can be seen rotating either backwards or forwards at a variety of speeds, depending on the speed of the wheel and how fast you drive past it etc. Has anyone else observed this effect? - Sir_Spike

I have noticed this, yes, and can see where you're coming from here. However, I wonder if the fact that you are in a car - that by dint of its engine frequency coupled with the motion of your car over the rod maybe causing your eyeballs to vibrate in their sockets at a high frequency but low amplitude - means that you are subconsciously viewing the other car's wheels auto-stroboscopically.

As a kid I used to race my toy cars, watching the wheels as they went round, under continuous illumination. I've often wondered since why I occasionally experienced the wagon wheel effect when doing so. I now think it was possibly due to my making 'engine' noises which were akin to the humming effect as desribed in the article. Martyn Smith 16:20, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, when I hum loudly in front of my CRT monitor, the whole screen appears to wobble and writhe. So I guess that is beleivable. Sir Spike 05:38, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Actually, perhaps it is just the vibration of the eyeballs alone which is responsible for this effect? Sir Spike 06:59, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

The lug nut trick
I've seen more than once a reverse-rotation illusion in the lug nuts of large trucks. The effect is easily produced while installing wheels by careful adjustment of the angles of the lug nuts. Since the phenomenon is somewhat common, this technique must be well known to garage mechanics (though I've never encountered it in any literature.) --Wjbeaty 19:02, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

That may be true, but I stress that whenever there are curved reflective surfaces occuring at intervals around the wheels (such as shiny spokes or the curved top of the lug nuts), when there is relative motion between the observer and the spinning wheel, a wagon wheel effect may be witnessed. I imagine that this effect would be more commonly witnessed than your 'carefully oriented' lug nut scenario, and would therefore probably explain the majority of most sightings. Sir Spike 05:46, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Wagon-wheel effect


text:
Khallikote University

Khallikote University was a state university situated in Brahmapur, Odisha. It was founded in 2015 as a cluster university with five constituent colleges, transformed into a unitary university in 2020 and merged with Berhampur University in 2021, thus ceasing operation.

History
Khallikote University was established in 2015 as the first cluster university in Odisha. This was achieved by excluding Five colleges from the jurisdiction of Berhampur University (BU) and granting them autonomy, also allowing them to share infrastructure and teaching faculty. The five colleges were Khallikote College, Sashi Bhusan Rath Government Women's College, Government Science, Chhatrapur College, Binayak Acharya College and Gopalpur College. In 2020, the university was changed to a unitary university, i.e., a university with no affiliated colleges, and the five colleges were re-affiliated to BU. In 2021, the university itself was merged with BU and it ceased operation.

title: Khallikote University