The lull in the ocean is about to pass.
What They Say:
Episode 11: “The Changing Times”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The halfway point of Nagi no Asukara is imminent, and it’s clear that there are going to be some big changes coming. Everyone’s money seems to be on a time skip, but it’s hard to say which path this series will take. It ultimately will come down to Hikari, and what he decides to do. If he sleeps, there will be a time skip. All we really know is that in Hikari’s narration he still sounds the same age, but who knows how much older he is or how much time has past before looking back on present events.
Last week’s love confession from Kaname to Chisaki was overly dramatic, but when we open back up on it here we see that Chisaki’s whole family overheard it! Hilarious, and super awkward, those two go off to meet their friends. The confession doesn’t sway Chisaki’s emotions one bit, and she plans to tell Hikari how she feels about him.
The rest of the episode spans weeks of time as the summer winds on and the sea peoples prepare for their hibernation. The kids are still going forward with their plans for the Ofunehiki, and Miuna is still distressed about Akari’s future. She doesn’t want her future step mom doomed to extinction on land with the rest of them. Akari is firm in her decision, and comes up with her own plan to marry her boyfriend on the same day as the Ofunehiki. In fact, she plans to replace the statue as the sacrifice.
As horribly ominous as that sounds, we get a shocking confession from the resident sea god representative that the Ofunehiki is a meaningless ceremony. For Hikari and the others, including the adults and fishermen who came around to the idea, carrying out the ceremony will change nothing. I have a gut feeling that replacing the totemic statue with a real person might lend the ceremony real power, and make it potentially dangerous.
The rest of the episode is a montage of scenes of the kids and townsfolk preparing for the ceremony, even as the summer winds down and portends of a colder world continue. Stubbornly, Hikari and his friends decide to go against nature and continue to eat. No matter what they do, they are putting themselves at rise. Then again, I can’t blame them. Leaving their future up to fate and strange biological functions that no one has tested in a long time is not an easy choice to make.
Sadly, this is the first episode where I felt the animation was lacking. Some stiff, overly CG looking pans and some off kilter character models popped up occasionally, and I hope this isn’t a sign that the budget is getting cut back for the second half of the series.
In Summary:
The end is coming, but even now we still aren’t certain what form it will take. Hikari’s plan to save the surface turns out to be a farce, but maybe his sister will be the catalyst it needs to gain real power. After all, his family is special for some reason we don’t know yet. Either way, I don’t see their ceremony going off as planned. The foreshadowing of doom has been far too great and there are too many tears in that next episode preview. The next few episodes should be very interesting, and I’m extremely curious as to what form the show will take in it’s second half.
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.
