3ET: Nagi no Asukara

"Huh. That's different."

Studio: P.A. Works

Director: Shinohara Toshiya (Kuroshitsuji, Red Data Girl)

Writer: Okada Mari (Zetsuen no Tempest, Hanasaku Iroha)

Main Cast:

Hanae Natsuki as Sakishima Hikari

Hanazawa Kana as Mukaido Manaka

Kayano Ai as Hiradaira Chisaki

Ohsaka Ryouta as Isaki Kaname

Ishikawa Kaito as Kihara Tsumugu

Character Design: Ishii Yuriko (Another)

Music: Dewa Yoshiaki (Amnesia) and Watanabe Zentarou

As much as I try not to, I watch shows with bias. And in this case, I was ready to fail Nagi no Asukara before I watched a single second. I hated the last three shows by director Shinohara Toshiya and the idea of watching a bunch of middle school kids in a love polygon sounded boring. And despite my misgivings, I gave this show its fair shot, or at least as fair of a shot as I could give it.

In the first scene, the viewpoint character, a boy named Hikari,  is cooking for his family, when suddenly a fish swims into the frame. This detail means that the scene gives a lot of information in that they're underwater, they're human, and they have modern conveniences. Now, my interest is piqued. Not just because the idea of an underwater village is pretty neat, but that I wasn't told the information, I was shown it. It's almost as if the director who I was afraid of has figured out what he's doing.

Don't pay attention to the bratty kid yelling at his childhood friend
Pay attention to the fish swimming in the background.

That doesn't mean that the plot is perfect, far from it in fact. The show does revolve around a love polygon that is obvious to anyone with a working brain as to exactly how it works. Kaname (gentle blond boy) likes Chisaki (motherly girl) who likes Hikari (total brat) who likes Manaka (ditzy girl) who likes Tsumugu (surface dweller). I would like to believe that this won't bog down the plot, but I really don't think that's the case. I'm more interested in how the four sea children find a way to fit in with their classmates, especially given the bullying that they've already endured. I'd like to see them make friends other than Tsumugu. Maybe even on their own as if the four of them aren't joined at the hip. Also, a lot of time is spent exploring the society of the underwater village. There are strict rules against breeding with surface dwellers, wives tales about telling your dreams to certain sea creatures, and little things that suggest some actual thought was put into this story.

Then, there's the visuals, and they are great. The people in the sea village all have a sort of thin outer skin that lets them breathe underwater and needs to be kept wet every few hours while on land. It also sparkes in the sun and is a lovely effect. Also, the underwater village is rendered beautifully, with architecture that seems to be a part of the natural seascape. And I loved how the characters move when they are underwater, the fact that they can walk normally and float up to the surface as necessary seems like it would be off-putting, but the way the characters transition from one to the other to make it look natural.

Aww, they're all friends now.

I guess I'm a sucker for a show with potential that looks nice, because I'm passing Nagi no Asukara. It's clearly a modern fairy tale, which makes some of the physical absurdity easier to dismiss. I like exploring the culture of the sea village, as well as seeing exactly how this story will affect it. Even the love polygon stuff doesn't bother me that much because of how immature these kids are, some of them don't even realize what they're feeling, and even in these early stages I can see how Hikaru is maturing. With all that in mind, I feel good about my decision.