Review: Nagi no Asukara

A seven-sided love polygon? Good thing I took a course in moe vector calculus so I can figure out what's going on.

3ET: Nagi no Asukara

Review Scale

Warning: the following contains SPOILERS and aquatic adolescent angst


When I think of P.A. Works, I usually think of a studio that is fine at adapting an existing story. I think of beautifully detailed backgrounds and well-animated characters. And I also think original works that are a complete mess (I'm looking at you, Hanasaku Iroha). Now, with Nagi no Asukara, the first doesn't apply and the second is absolutely true. As for the third, there were early indications that this would be the first original show by P.A. Works that had a compelling story with characters I enjoyed being around. And those indications turned out to be correct.

One technical detail I have to touch on in addition to the gorgeous visuals is the way this show sounds. Not the soundtrack, thought it is a good soundtrack, but the way sound is used to help communicate the story. The effect of making all of the underwater sound echoing helped make that undersea village of Shioshishio distinct from the surface. And the sound of crunching snow and splashing water adds to the realism of the seaside town of Oshiooshi. The use of sound to communicate information gives the world a more visceral feel, which in turn makes me feel more attached to the characters.

Chisaki suddenly realizing that Tsumugu is kinda hot.

This visceral world helps make what turns out to be a love heptagon more palatable. Usually, love polygons of any size are an anathema to quality storytelling, a lazy way to mine drama. However, Nagi no Asukara does a couple of things to make itself rise above the glut of bad love polygons. The major one is that the romantic story is intertwined with a quality plot about the tension between Shioshishio and Oshiooshi. There is a taboo in Shioshishio of falling in love with people on the surface. This isn't just good old-fashioned xenophobia, there's a good reason. Children born of sea people and surface dwellers don't have the thin layer of skin, the Ena, that allows them to breath underwater. Therefore, the population of Shioshishio has been dwindling for several generations. There is also an ecological disaster coming that forces the sea people to "hibernate", something the kids don't want to do.

On the surface, the residents of Oshiooshi try to hold an ancient festival to stave off the slow ecological disaster (it will likely take decades according to the show) and appease the Sea God. During this festival, three of the four kids from the sea, Hikaru, Kaname, and Manaka, become stuck under the ocean and hibernate for five years. During this time, they don't age while their friend Chisaki does, as she stays with Tsumugu and his grandfather on the surface. One by one, the kids come back and have to cope with a world that has changed without them. Not only has Chisaki aged to be older than them, but two young girls who were in elementary school when they went into hibernation are now their age. And those girls get involved in the love polygon. And despite how convoluted it all sounds, it works. I could feel for the characters as they navigated the difficulties of being gone for five years, and I was happy for them when they found that some things hadn't changed. The story itself is well-thought, there are small points brought up early in the show that pay off later on, whether it is a major plot point or just a small bit of comedy.

"Feelings fucking suck."

The best story of the group was that of Manaka and Hikari. After she is rescued from hibernation by Hikari, and wakes up from a prolonged sleep, her relationship with him is strained. Hikari, who has an obvious crush on her, tries to make things as normal as possible, but Manaka still feels distant. He finds out that this distance is due to Manaka being the "sacrifice" of the festival, hence she lost the ability to feel love after she comes back from hibernating. And I love how this point is shown; the show hints at this before overtly showing it happening, complete with the sound of waves crashing in Manaka's ears as feelings of love that have bubbled up in her dissolve away. Through a second festival, she is able to recover her ability to love, and when she gets her feelings back, the two of them snap back to their usual teasing rapport, an obvious sign that Manaka returns Hikari's feelings. It's a bit of a silly story, but given that this is a modern fairy tale, I'm willing to allow it the plot to be a bit childish at points.

And the fact that this is a middle school cast helps me to accept that. It also helps the romantic drama not to feel terribly forced or unnatural. That means Nagi no Asukara is able to show the awkwardness of pubescent first love without all of the baggage that comes with high school drama. Even Chisaki, though she grows five years physically, is emotionally stunted after her friends go away for five years, and she has frozen her feelings for that entire time. The cast eventually has to come to terms with the idea that they can love someone, and be loved by someone else. And the real nice thing is that this show asks a question near the end, "is it OK to fall in love if it hurts other people", and answers it with a resounding "yes". Not just through Hikari and Manaka, but with all of the characters. And the ending is fairly satisfying. No, the ecological disaster hasn't been resolved by the end, and I don't think they can cure climate change with the power of love. But, everyone is on the road to resolving their romantic feelings.

It's OK, Kaname. You weren't the first to cry in this show, you won't be the last.

I have to hand it to Nagi no Asukara's writer, Okada Mari. She is much maligned in some circles, but this is a case of her doing really good work. She is able to intelligently weave the romantic and non-romantic plots while doing some good subversion of love polygon tropes. The last thing I'll say is this: I don't like kids. I think middle school children are obnoxious and toddlers are tiny balls of pure evil. So, it is a testament to the quality of the writing that I liked all of the characters in this show. I even found the toddler son of Hikari's sister to be absolutely adorable. That feels like a microcosm of my feelings about this show, there is no reason that I personally should have enjoyed it, but I did.

Final Score: 7/10