STORY
Long ago, humans lived in the sea. However many of them wanted to live on the surface, and so they moved, causing a split between the two groups.
Nagi no Asukara follows the story of four children from the underwater sea village, Shioshishio. Due to some reasons, their school closes, and they must transfer to the school on the surface, in a village called Oshiooshi.
It is a really good setting to the story, as the four characters (Manaka, Hikari, Chisaki and Kaname) begin meeting new people and slowly, but surely attempt to reunite the two villages.
For the first ten or so episodes, the anime is enjoyable, following the school-slice of life genre. It's around the midway mark, where the anime steers away from the stereotypes and continues with a darker tone.
The show is a bit slow at the start, but once it hits into overdrive near the halfway point, it has an effect, that will glue you to the screen. Can't say anything else about it without spoiling it!
CHARACTERS
Before the aforementioned turn at the halfway point, our main characters assume the roles of slice of life character archetypes. Manaka is the emotional one, Chisaki is the loving one, Hikari is the loud and energetic one, and Kaname is the handsome, smiling one. There's also Tsumugu, a new friend from the surface, who is the calm and collective type.
In the second half, the characters each become unique, leaving the cardboard cutouts that most slice of life characters are. Their true colors are revealed, and so are their emotions.
Because this is a romance anime, the characters have crushes on their friends, and I must admit, I did get a bit confused at one point, as there are love triangles, and there's this one thing that this show does, which I haven't seen much anywhere else. This anime will not give you the final "layout" of the couples very early on. The show likes to create moments where you think, "Oh no wait, she has a crush on HIM, and not HIM." As a result, we are left wondering how these affections will conclude. Really a good job on that.
This anime has no definite one main protagonist. The title gets passed around throughout the episodes, from one character to the next, which in my opinion is excellent, as it leads to brilliant character development, not just for the main five, but others too.
ANIMATION & SOUND
The animation... What can I say. Nagi no Asukara has the potential to have the best art style of any show I have ever watched.
The animation is a masterpiece.
The sheer amount of detail in everything! Rust on ships and old metal buildings, paint peeling off houses, the reflection of light off the water surface at night, snow isn't just a flat sheet of white, I could go on forever listing where there's a huge amount of detail.
In the first episode alone we are shown how well the sea village is animated. It is like something out of a dream, going around a little village, other people swimming past, living in a house with fish around you... It is perfect!
The characters are also really well animated. All residents of Shioshishio have the same turquoise eye color, as well as the shine of their Ena (a layer of skin that allows them to breathe and live underwater). When it comes to animation itself, I cannot find a single flaw. Full marks here.
The soundtrack mainly consists of piano and guitar music, and even though it isn't the best soundtrack in the world, it seems to fit the anime. The openings and endings are quite good too, I like the shows second opening, "ebb and flow" which is conveniently put in directly at the beginning of the second half. The beginning of this song really nails it, high reverberated piano notes with a smooth vocal.
I prefer the sub to the dub, even though I had a tough time deciding between the two. However as soon as I saw The names Kana Hanazawa and Ai Kayano, I decided almost instantly.
FINAL EVALUATION
Nagi no Asukara is an excellent anime. It has a similar approach to every other romance comedy anime, but steers away, and does its own thing. It really was great to watch, and the shows ending was very satisfying. Its animation is just a masterstroke, and gives this show its own charm.
9/10
Why would you watch Nagi no Asukara?
-awesome characters
-great story
-AMAZING art styles
-very good cast for Japanese dub
-a very good take on the romance genre
-if you enjoy shipping characters
Why would you NOT watch Nagi no Asukara?
-if you don't like the slice of life rom-com genre
-if you hate moe.
