Character Analysis
Aja is the tomboy of the Holograms. Tinkering around with machinery is not an uncommon occurance, particularly Synergy, in fact, since she is probably the closest thing to a mechanic the Holograms have (Rio of course cant assist with Synergy). She's also quite a personality. In Video Wars Jerrica labels her 'stubborn and unreasonable', and it's true that she is very stubborn as a character, but unreasonable she never is. She has an incredible amount of perception, and is able to read deeper into people's characters than perhaps Kimber or Raya can - an example of this is how she is not taken in by Riot in Stingers Hit Town, while the other Holograms, including Jem, are more or less captivated. Aja believes there is something 'odd' about Riot and in the end she is proved right. Her hunches are usually spot on - she thinks out the problems of having Clash (as Sarah) on board during Video Wars, but she is big enough a character to concede when she makes a mistake.
Aja is the straight talking Hologram in many ways. Chinese-American of unknown parentage, it becomes apparent when in China that Aja is bilingual, and able to read the Chinese characters. She is probably just as hotheaded as Kimber, but less quick to jump to conclusions, which is probably her extra years and experience showing through. She is intensely loyal, but not afraid to speak up against what Jerrica says if she doesn't agree with it. You get the feeling the whole way that Aja's commitment to the Holograms can never be faulted and she values her friendships highly - her concern for Jerrica in Midsummer Night Madness and in One Jem Too Many is unmistakeable. However she can be a little blunt on occasion and this leads to clashes with the emotional Kimber, such as the offhand remark about being older in Bands Break Up which Kimber takes to heart.
This said, Aja does have a lot of heart, and occasionally you see her cry. In China she sheds tears when she thinks they aren't going to be able to perform their concert - perhaps a secret desire to play at her family's homeland, she is very keen to see as much as she can of Chinese culture while she's there - and she also cries when she believes that Craig has betrayed her. Despite her fairly strong outward appearance, she's pretty sensitive inside.
Another thing about Aja is her obvious ability for music. She is a natural performer - in Beat This, Set Your Sails and Friend or Stranger she has important roles in either the melody or the video or both, and you get the feeling she's loving every minute. She's good on the guitar, though confesses to be 'hopeless on drums' (despite early indications from Hasbro that push her in that direction - see beginning of Truly Outrageous) and knows her own ability without being swollen headed about it. If she makes a mistake she's willing to accept it and make a joke out of it, such as the mis-played beginning of There's A Melody Playin' in Search For The Stolen Album. Jerrica obviously trusts her implicitly also, since she trusts her to meddle with Synergy's circuitry.
Aja is the only Hologram, interestingly enough, who never walks out on the band. Kimber goes off and has her stint with Stormer in Bands Break Up, Raya sneaks away believing she isn't wanted at the end of Talent Search and Shana leaves to work for a designer in the same episode, but Aja never even hints at quitting the group. This is another indication of her fierce loyalty and commitment to both her music and her friends. Since she was brought up from the age of eleven or twelve by the Bentons I also think she feels somewhere that she has a debt to repay for their kindness. In the flashbacks to their childhood it is Aja who begs Emmet not to send them away, and he tells her of course he won't...this I think is a big deal to Aja who is determined to repay that gesture with her loyalty. She also has a strong sense of right and wrong, perhaps sometimes to the point of over-defining situations into black and white.
 

Friendships/Roles
Aja's relationships with other characters vary quite widely. She is closest I think to either Shana or Kimber, but she also has a strong bond of loyalty to Jerrica and although the two argue, they always make up. I tend to see them as being on equal terms, as opposed to Jerrica really being in charge. Aja's relationship with Kimber is more of a sister one in some ways than Jerrica's is, even though the two girls are very different from each other, and since Shana and Aja both became Starlight girls at the same kind of age I think that bond is also irrefutable.
I don't believe she has much of a bond with Raya. It's not anything she does say, more the things she doesn't say. There are very few exchanges between Raya and Aja, and very little enthusiasm towards Raya from the Chinese-American girl...this to me is telling. Perhaps Aja feels secretly that a stranger has been permitted into what is to her a select family-type group. However she is too goodhearted to turn on her new bandmate, even though occasionally she seems frustrated, such as in Video Wars when Jerrica is convinced by Raya to give Clash/Sarah a chance. It seems to me that maybe Raya and Aja face life from such totally different viewpoints that they arent always compatible with each other.
Aja's relationship with the Misfits is very clear cut - she wants nothing to do with them. She resents Kimber becoming involved with Stormer as much as the rest of the Holograms and does her bit to try and convince her to come back to the group, but in the end is willing to accept that Stormer is not as bad as she first thought. She dislikes Roxy from their first meeting and Pizzazz and Jetta are not real popular with her either. I don't think it's personal, more her loyalty to her group that makes her feel this way. She also loathes the Stingers from the moment they meet and confronts them for their bad behaviour in Stingers Hit Town, winding up drenched for her trouble.
Aja has a few moments with guys which hint at romance, such as with Mozart in Journey Through Time, but her 'true love' from the series is Craig Phillips, Stormer's brother. The depth of her feelings for him are exhibited on more than one occasion - when she believes Stormer is Craig's wife she is distraught and runs away in tears, when he tells he in Talent Search that he must go back to Europe she does a wholly un-Aja like thing - a sentimental thing - and gives him her scarf as a momento. The series did not continue to expand on their relationship but I think it can be read as more serious than a casual encounter. It is also interesting to note that, since Rio's ethnic origin is still under fierce debate, Aja and Craig's relationship is the only on-show partnering which crosses the boundary of race.