Daily life for mermaids come with everyday issues. Follow the adventures of five young mermaids as they explore their town and the world around them in this delightful slice-of-life series that takes viewers to an enchanting world beneath the waves. – HIDIVE
Streaming: HIDIVE
Episodes: 12
Source: Original (spinoff of Cardfight!! Vanguard)
Episode Summary: Caro, Serena, Sonata, and Fina are mermaids who live in the quiet undersea town of Parrel. The town is known for its mill-ground coral sugar and fresh hijiki seaweed, but not much else; the people there live a slow-paced life away from the bustle of the big city.
One day the town leader receives a package, inside of which is an orb containing a young mermaid, Canon. Canon has come from the city to live in Parrel for a while, and the girls are happy to treat her like another one of their friends. After a natural phenomenon called the Grand Tide flows through town, taking with it dust and debris and overturning some plant life, the mermaids discover an old building they’d never noticed before. When they go inside, they find a projector and a cine-orb with a film of a mermaid dancing. They wonder what mysteries this forgotten place may hold.
Impressions: Ever since I was young I’ve had a fascination with mermaids. A large part of this probably comes from watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid at an impressionable age (I would have been about 8 when it was released, so it was primo kid brain candy for me), but even long after that youthful high my dreams of living beneath the warm ocean waters and talking to fish persisted. That’s likely why I feel a little bummed to be saying anything critical about Bermuda Triangle despite it being fairly rote and low-impact; it tickles that part of my brain that remembers what it was like to watch and enjoy something without having to think critically about it. The problem is, returning to that state of mind after nearly 30 years is a feat that’s only possible under the best of circumstances, and to be honest, I’m not sure I would really want to give up my critical awareness in exchange for some temporary pleasure.
This series is apparently an offshoot of the card-game-based shounen series Cardfight!! Vanguard, though without that knowledge I wouldn’t have guessed that the two properties were related. While both series have that vague undercurrent of “sales pitch” that’s mostly only perceptible when you’re not the one whose wallet is being targeted, this story of undersea girls doing undersea things passes as a typical, innocuous slice-of-life anime without too much trouble. This first episode is light-hearted and focused around friendship-building, which would likely be the case even if the setting weren’t somewhat out-of-the-ordinary.
The world-building in this series comes with its unique challenges, since the action takes place where typical “physics” aren’t in play. The series mostly takes the easy way out by ignoring the fact that the mermaids’ world is underwater when it would be inconvenient to answer any questions arising from that. The issue is that I do have these questions, and attempting to answer them distracts from the inconsequential nature of the series itself. I’d love to know how the cafe owner bakes her cakes and keeps them from getting soggy or disintegrating in the salty water. How do the mermaids drink liquid from cups at the cafe (and what properties does the liquid have that keeps it from dissolving into the seawater around it)? Why do the mermaid characters sleep on beds underneath waterlogged blankets? How do you mill sugar out of coral? Why do there seem to be only female mer-people? Maybe I don’t want to know the answer to that last one.
My guess is that the target audience for this series (young kids) probably wouldn’t be tempted to ask all of these questions, but that certainly begs another important question; who’s the expected Western audience for this series?
My husband and I ran a panel at a local convention last year called “anime for kids.” While the premise might seem pretty straightforward, recommending Japanese animation that young children are likely to enjoy comes with its own set of challenges, the largest one being language proficiency. Unfortunately, most younger children don’t have the reading skills to be able to keep up with subtitled entertainment. Even though we see a fair number of anime releases in the US and other English-speaking territories that would be entertaining for kids, those releases could very well be out of reach if they’re not subsequently dubbed into English, and dubbing comes with its own costs and requires a certain return on investment. It’s a complicated situation that often leaves the youngest audience members without access to entertainment that they might enjoy.
Obviously, there’s nothing out there stating that adults can’t enjoy anime series aimed at young people (in fact, I enjoy quite a few myself), but I know we’re not the primary market for youth entertainment and I’m not sure if or how that market’s otherwise being reached. To be honest, though, as someone who’s fairly open-minded about anime age-demographics, the biggest hurdle I see for this series isn’t necessarily that it’s aimed at kids; it’s more that it’s lacking in humor, or forward-motion, or just about any trait that would make up for its meandering and inoffensive nature. It’s very cute, soft and colorful, all traits that I generally like in a low-stakes anime series. However, there’s unfortunately not much about it that really expresses some form of genuine emotion, and that’s likely why it doesn’t end up leaving much of an impression.
There’s a part of me that’s sad over this premiere’s mediocrity. It makes me wonder what a really interesting series about mermaids might be like, one which captures the sense of beauty and adventure that I recall from my childhood imagination. This certainly isn’t a terrible opener, but it does leave one wanting for a little more depth and a better sense of compelling fantasy storytelling.
Pros: The low-conflict episode is very soft and cute. There’s an emphasis on making friends (and eating sweets).
Cons: Not very compelling, even for a slice-of-life fantasy. Might have difficulty reaching the correct target audience.
Grade: C