Aug 29, 2022
At its heart, this is a story about the trials and the joys of raising children, especially as a single parent.
Hino is an out-of-work 25-year-old who struggles to find the motivation to return to the working world until he rescues a young mermaid from the wreckage of a typhoon. His mother berates him constantly for not measuring up to his former classmates and he, like most of us who can relate to his situation, feels like trash for not meeting her standards. With each chapter, it is nice to watch him grow as a person, as he gradually makes the conscious decision to be responsible
...
for this child in his care. It starts with a small gesture out of necessity until he is essentially a working parent in order to fund his new lifestyle and make sure his child has the necessities for a healthy, fulfilled life. Before he knows it, he has stopped seeing her as just a strange creature and she has begun to adapt to the human world. The finale of their story is an emotional one where Hino tries to determine whether or not he is harming her by caring for her and wonders if she even views him as anything more than a potential threat to her survival.
The art is very soft and sweet, which does wonders for creating the slice-of-life atmosphere that the story hinges on, and the very short conversations Hino has with his coworkers help move his development along in a briefly refreshing change of pace. The ethical dilemma raised in the final chapters is explored in an interesting and satisfying way, but the story could have continued for at least another volume and done so much more with the concept.
Unfortunately, there are a few moments where the "joke" seems to be that Hino feels like a child predator when in fact he's just socially awkward and overthinking things. They are easy enough to ignore and aren't too overplayed, but it does detract from the sweetness of those scenes. Otherwise, I recommend this quick read if you're in the mood for a small dose of something cute.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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