Ah, forbidden love…
What They Say:
Episode 2 “The Chilly Desert”
Long ago, all humans lived in the ocean. But some who longed for the land abandoned the ocean, casting off the special raiments granted to them by the sea god to adapt them to life under the sea…
Though mankind was divided into sea dwellers and land dwellers, each with different ways of thinking, they were all still fellow humans, and they continued to maintain contact as time went on.
Sakishima Hikari, Mukaido Manaka, Hiradaira Chisaki, and Isaki Kaname live in an undersea village, while Kihara Tsumugu lives on land.
When these middle school second-year land and sea dwellers meet for the first time, their hearts begin to undulate like the tides.
The youthful fantasy tale of these young people’s lives unfolds in a strange and beautiful world.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The first episode of Nagi no Asukara did a great job of introducing us to the teens of the town of Shioshishio (say that five times fast) and the town above, whose name escapes me. It also established the conflict they kids would be facing right away.
The show doesn’t slow it’s pace in this second episode. It even adds another facet to the complex nature of the relationship between the sea peoples and land dwellers.
Manaka continues her crush on her new hero, Kihara. She takes the infatuation to absurd lengths, even going so far as to maintain the illusion that she still has a cursed fish stuck to her knee because it interested him. We get to watch her make a fool of herself trying to get closer to Kihara while trying to avoid Hikari’s wrath. I wonder if the little feather things behind her ears have any meaning, beyond looking cute.
Hikari continues his hormonal, jealous rampage, ever after being called out on it by half the cast. It’s implied that he’s only become ill tempered recently, which might explain how he managed to stay friends with the group as long as he has. He seems to be the only one that doesn’t understand his own feelings. Even when he reasons with himself about the absurdity of hating on Kihara when Kihara is such a great guy, he still doesn’t get it.
In he middle of the teen angst, the sea kids and Kihara begin a project with their teacher to make the stand-in sacrifice for the upcoming festival. There’s already the beginnings of respect and tolerance between the two sides, even if it’s just between Kihara and Manaka. The ceremony, which the other town’s folk have apparently given up on, was supposed to represent the sacrifice of a maiden to the sea god. That’s a bit of mythology that comes up in a bunch of cultures, and one that whole other series have been focused on. I can’t help but wonder if the lack of respect is going to come back and have a profound effect on events to come.
The other folktale being heavily referenced throughout this episode is the little mermaid. Most of Manaka’s friends are worrying about what will happen to her if she falls in love with a surface boy. There’s real concern there, because it’s against societal rules for a sea dweller to get with a surface person. They get first hand proof of what can go wrong when someone reports Hikari’s sister for just such a crime. Those who wish to marry a surface dweller are exiled. For a species of human that appears to loose their ability to breath when their magic coating comes off, I wonder exactly what it takes to make a sea human a surface human.
The animation hasn’t dipped at all during this second episode. If anything, it was a chance for the animators to go wild with some facial expression. The characters do emote very well, even though I think that the kids are drawn looking younger than they are. The cutesy designs are at odds with the serious relationship talk that keeps coming up, and it’s a bit awkward. Kihara is perhaps the worst culprit, as he has a very deep voice for the boyish looks.
In Summary:
Wasting little time, Nagi no Asukara expands on it’s budding conflict between the surface world and the undersea world. The drama continues to turn up the stakes, adding the threat of exile to that of racism. The love quadrangle is expanding, and already the leads are panicking over what the future could bring. Hikari is starting to be put in his place, and Manaka is still frustrating but not as hopeless as I thought. I’m content just to watch the lovely magical world they live in, even if it makes little sense most of the time.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.8.4, via Safari 6.0.5, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
