Nagi no Asu kara

I have not yet completed the anime, so please let me sink in. However I am at a point where one of the major climaxes have hit and I feel that it will only get better from here so I will write this short review, and edit it after I have completed the anime.

When I had first started the anime I didn't really know what to expect. The synopsis had led me to believe that it was a classic romance anime with a twist, but I was completely and utterly wrong.

Getting into the anime, the first few episodes I was fairly right. This made ... me stop, don't get me wrong it was not because it was bad. But because I could not get into the mood of another "S-senpai, dai-sukiiii" moment. There were simply too many. However the story, the plot, and even the romance is much deeper than expected. There have been some scenes where I did not expect one to like the other. The romance was tremendously exceptional, I could not believe how deep and thought out the romance was. It was not the simple rooftop sunset "senpai, SUKIIII!!!" It was much more thought out, and had a much more deeper meaning.

Getting onto the story and plot. Again at first you will expect it to be a classic SUKIII anime. However later into the story you can feel the rising tension, the unexpectedness, the curiosity forcing you to watch the next episode. And once it hits, everything just shatters. Not in a bad way though, its more like an arrow. The further it travels the more of a force it creates, (or maybe I just play too many video games). The story, and plot, also go much further and deeper than I had ever even expected of this anime. Incorporated with the romance, it has officially become one of my top 10 animes, that is, to wait until I have finished it. Except, I won't be expecting anything less from excellence.


I've successfully finished the anime, and I must apologize. This anime is 10 times better than what I had predicted it to be. It did not fail, even at the last few seconds, to disappoint or fail me. As I had expected it had only gotten better from there. It does not fail to disappoint, the surprises, the tied connections that all lead to romance. Everything. Even the new Op had given the arch a proper feel to it, and what you were going to expect. As did the first Op. The whole show was amazing. Every scene was deeper and everything was much more complex but at the same time simplistic. Maybe it was simply simple with deeper meaning, and honestly, who doesn't prefer that. This had been one of the greatest animes I have seen and honestly if this isn't on your top 10, I don't know what else could be.

Ok. So I don't like this genre but I do love the ocean.

ABOUT THE OCEAN/ART:
8/10

But that's the thing... this isn't really about the ocean. It's about some other similar environment.
This anime break too many rules in order for me to believe that they are actually underwater.

I'd love to believe it but the immersion was broken from such things as:
Crying underwater, Fire underwater, Talking underwater, Hair not being "floaty", Drinking fluids underwater, etc.
...
I know some of these are needed for the plot and whatnot but it really takes away from what it's trying to portray. They did do a few things right but all of these weigh against it.

Now it did look really nice, it was gorgeous to look at. But if you look at one scene without any context you couldn't tell if they were underwater or not. And that is a serious flaw.

They made above and below water so similar that it didn't even seem like there was a difference.
Sure, there were some interesting plot development due to it and some world building (I enjoy the Ena [how they breathe underwater] idea and all that is required to sustain being above the surface) but you could pretty much change the ocean to the air and still have the same anime.

There wasn't really anything to solidify that it was the ocean. It was almost like a different village in the country instead of a different village in a whole new environment.

Now I am being a bit harsh, it was still underwater and the plot had a lot to do with that fact but the way it looked was too similar to the above ground.

Was well animated though and beautiful to look at. I find myself questioning if I should rank higher than 8 but I feel like the portrayal of the ocean does add some negatives.

CHARACTERS:
7/10

While I did like some of them and the interactions were really nice, I found it a little unbelievable that everyone liked one of the characters when he seemed like a tool. He later proved himself to be more but they didn't do a good job of introducing him as someone who is likable.

The interactions though are pretty great. Although some of the reactions are very silly but that comes with the genre.


SOUND:
8/10

I only remember one song from the show clearly and it was pretty good. Nothing spectacular but there was a nice variety of instruments like piano, strings and whatnot. Pretty enjoyable.

STORY:
6/10

This is not my favorite genre. I don't generally like this genre and as a result the story gets a low mark. It probably isn't a bad story comparatively to others of the same genre but it wasn't for me.

A lot of Love > Everything logic that ruins it for me. And there was the addition of magic and gods and that all had a big part of the story too and I feel like it just muddied things up.

I guess it made it more dramatic and gave a serious issue but I never found myself too enthralled.


ENJOYMENT:
6/10

Probably wouldn't watch again and the rewatch value isn't that great.
What really killed it I think was all the little things that just made everything seem fake.
Had they been more convincing that they were in fact underwater I might have enjoyed it but all the time watching that was bothering me.


TL;DR, Not my genre but I love the ocean. This is not an accurate and realistic portrayal of the ocean.

6/10

Taking place in a society where humanity is very clearly divided between sea and land, "Nagi no Asukara" tells the story of a group of children from the sea who challenges the social order by attending school on the surface, making friends along the way and learning the truth behind the world. Centered primarily around Hikari Sakishima, the story dives into the connections between characters and unveiling the mysteries that inhabit the divided land. As the small circle of friends become exposed to the surface world, new challenges emerge and romance blooms, playing an integral part to the grander tale of acceptance and the inevitability ... of change.

As part of this new world, the sea people have a special ability called "Ena," which allows them to live and breathe underwater. Their dwindling population and their distrust towards the surface world are the main sources of conflict that take sometimes drastic turns to overcome. Much of the story focuses on the tension between the two peoples and the character's actions in the larger scale of things. The "Ofunehiki," a type of festival to honor the Sea God, plays a central role in the story, tying together the myths and legends that will inevitably affect both the sea and land.

There is a certain mysteriousness to the series, much like the sea is vast and sometimes difficult to understand. Though the school lives of the characters are fun and lighthearted, dealing with things like first loves and crushes, there is a darkness that is added to the story drop by drop. Hints at the true extent of the dire situation the sea and land people find themselves in are revealed piece by piece, until the legend of the "Ofunehiki" finally ties it all together. Through the friends' struggle with maintaining the status quo among themselves and trying to help their dying community, they realize just how powerful change can affect both themselves and the world around them.

Tying in with the aquatic theme of the series, the artwork and setting is quite simply, stunning. Everything in this world revolves around the ocean. The sleepy seaside town on the surface is beautifully drawn and animated, with details radiating just as bright as the sun reflecting on the ocean. The water sparkles and illuminates patterns of swirling color and a certain clearness that looks very refreshing.

The real treat however, is the scenes underwater. Taking advantage of the setting completely, fantastical lights and water bathe the underwater village Shioshishio in a beautiful light. Look closely enough and images of the sun will appear, schools of fish will swim by and saltflake snow will fall from the surface. Certain scenes left me amazed. The water is manipulated in whatever way the mood demands, whether it is used to reflect the sun peacefully or surround us in a violent prison of crystal and lights.

I honestly cannot fully describe the setting perfectly with only words; it's that beautiful. Look at a few screenshots yourself and see just how much attention and detail are put into the animation and setting! The Ofunehiki was one of the most visually stunning scenes I've seen in a long time.

Even the music is centered around the ocean. The opening themes are "lull ~Soshite Bokura wa~" and "ebb and flow" both by Ray, and the endings themes are "Aqua Terrarium" and "Mitsuba no Musubime" both by Yanagi Nagi. All of the songs have a certain aquatic sound to them that reminds one of the ocean. I really enjoy "Aqua Terrarium" the most out of the songs. Hearing this song at the end of every episode, with its brilliant buildup and vocals gave a very satisfying end to another amazing visual and end revelation.

"Nagi no Asukara" is an amazing series that has a lot of ambition to go along with it. It is a story of learning to deal with change and accepting our differences. Just like the wave of the tide, the ebb and flow of change can sweep us underneath it and overwhelm us. Other times it will peacefully pass by us without a care in the world. We see how each character deals with their confused thoughts of love and friendship as the world around them starts to collapse.

When it all begins to be too much to bear, whisper your secrets to a red bellied slug and let your worries drift away like the shifting ocean tides.

I must admit. I was kinda expecting this to be your typical highschool romance of your average everyday highschool teens. But i was wrong. Very wrong. Although it does seem quite normal, well i must say. It's not. It mixes itself with supernatural. There being a beautiful underwater city full with life and culture. So far this anime has been one of the most beautiful yet sad romance animes that has come so far. And i will just add this. If you want romance, i highly recommend this anime.

"Spoilers alert"
Yesterday me and my brother watched Nagi no asakura episode1 to 26 we finish them all and while watching episode 1 i had feeling this will be one of my greatest and favorite anime of all time and i know this anime does have romance but i never expected that it has a lot of romance i mean a lot.......95% of the story is about romance ....... Our main protagonist hikari likes makana but hikari thinks that makana love tsumugu but later on in the near end it was reveal that makana love hikari and their still two females that love our main protagonist ... and that's chisaki my bias for hikari and miuna also want her for hikari 'cause she reminded me of sugu of sword art online and yui as well and also if feels like i'm watching sword art online 'cause both 2nd half of the story are very similar you will recognize it as soon you see it..

I'm very disappointed in the pairings at the end 'cause chisaki was not chosen by hikari nor miuna 'cause both love hikari very deeply but the problem is hikari he only wants one girl and that's manaka but still hoping that he choose chisaki 'cause i don't want chisaki to end up with tsumugu nor kaname ... i hate if someone trying to steal hikari's harem hahaha and also want some twist pairings that the writer and director will shock you that another girl was chosen not the main female lead... like in fairy tail natuxerza..... still hoping.......'cause you'll never know what might happen.. but then again hikari still choose manaka 'cause maybe they don't want to pair another incest nor older women to hikari 'cause hikari and miuna are niece and uncle while chisaki was not involve in the hibernation process and live at the surface and that's why she is know 5 years older to hikari 'cause hikari was asleep and didn't age at all 'cause hirkari wakes up after 5 years...

PS: This anime will be 55x very awesome if Hikari and Chisaki end up together..... to bad it didn't happen 'cause they are perfect for each other and very suited for each other :-( ahhhhhhhhh....I'm very disappointed 'cause I'm rooting for Chisaki and Hikari all the way 'cause i want them to be together forever ..,...............,....................4ever Happy Together.................

A breath of fresh air!

This anime was not at all what I expected, and I was pleasantly surprised. The first few episodes seemed a bit boring, and almost childish. What made me continue watching was the amazing artwork, and I do not regret it one bit.

I've never been a huge fan of anime series with romance as a central plot, but this one just captured me like none before. I would honestly recommend it to everyone, even if it might not be the usual anime you've been watching from before. It literally changed the way I thought about things, and I didn't think it ... would leave such a great impression, but it did.

The plot just thickens over time, and you learn great life lessons about love and friendship and family. Even though that may sound stupid, I guess the series will be what you make out of it. Personally, its officially become one of my favorites.

If you're not sure whether to watch or not, I strongly recommend you give it a try. If you watch till the end, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Prepare to dive into an ocean of emotions and a whirlpool of feels with Nagi no Asukara (A Lull in the Sea). This anime is truly a hidden gem, a diamond in the rough in the world of shows out there. I must confess that this show completely bypassed me when it aired back in Fall 2013, and I only recently picked it up during late November 2016, more than three years later. Boy am I glad I found it! I went into the series blindly, and ended it feeling absolutely satisfied, warm all over, and just generally in a state of emptiness when I ... don't know what to do after the perfection that was this anime. Looking back, I could only wonder why this series seemed to go terribly underrated and not mentioned a whole lot in the community. But I digress.

While I admit that I probably haven't watched too many anime yet to truly justify my rating, as I will most likely continue to watch more shows into the future, I can safely say that among those that I have already watched, Nagi no Asukara is the only anime I can give my rare, proud 10 to.

Why?

Before I go into my long, deep opinion, let's take a look at the components of the show first and how I feel about each of them:

Premise:

Nagi-Asu promotes itself as a drama, fantasy, and romance according to MAL, and I think it delivers in all of these perfectly, especially the first one. Truthfully, the synopsis didn't really give me a clear idea of what to expect from the show; it was as ambiguous as a road map you could get. I thought it would be a slice-of-life in a manner similar to Kokoro Connect, and while the first half of the series definitely felt like it at times, the second half all but abandoned the general cheerfulness of a SOL.

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Plot and Setting:

Under the sea and in a town beside the sea. We've seen this many times in both anime and other media before, but Nagi-Asu goes beyond and adds racial traits, prejudices and misunderstandings to the people who live underwater and the land-dwellers, almost making it seem like the equivalent of color, wealth, or beliefs in the real world. And boy, does Nagi-Asu deal with the topic of discrimination beautifully . . . Moving on, the plot is nothing too special but the execution was godlike, and safe to say there were a lot of twists along the way, with the most heart-wrenching ones truly unexpected.

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Character and Story Development:

The character development in this anime is a masterpiece, and even then that stills sounds like an understatement. One of the male MC's was the most unlikable piece of shite at the beginning, but he did a full 180 throughout the series, until it came to a point that one of the things that kept me going through the 2nd half's more emotional arc was seeing his progress as a person into something truly unforgettable. And it's not just him, everyone else in the ensemble cast had developments worth watching.

The story also had a very reasonable pacing, with no unreasonable or unwarranted slow-downs or rushes. As I already mentioned, the first half feels a lot like a SOL, but after the first half ended it slowed down a lot, but in exchange we get even more of the character development that I've praised so highly (although the first half definitely had great character developments as well).

The ending. As much as I'm a fan of Nagi-Asu, I can't help but be disappointed with the way the show ended. Yes, everything was resolved and all the ships sailed, but I feel like a lot more could have been done it if just wasn't rushed as hell. All that wonderful buildup for those last underwhelming 5-7 minutes ..

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Animation and Art:

Now, let me just say one thing:

That animation was legit, bro!

If you haven't watched Nagi-Asu and are browsing the internet for recommendations about it, then 9 times out of 10 this is the aspect of the anime that most people loved. PA Works, the studio behind Nagi-Asu (which is an anime original by the way), has always been known to deliver and exceed expectations in the visual department, and this series is no exception. Seriously, just pause whenever you encounter a background or basically any scene with few to no characters on it, and observe every little detail drawn in glorious, movie-level quality. In particular, the various underwater effects are simply spectacular.

The art style is really beautiful as well and definitely works in favor of the show.

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Soundtrack:

Any anime with Kana Hanazawa as a seiyuu is already a winner for me . .

But seriously, the soundtrack is yet another masterpiece element of the show. There are a lot of great tracks, with its fair share of upbeat and happy and sad and emotional. The right tracks play at the right moments, and a lot of times I was just held into a 'wow'.

Here is probably one of the most uplifting tracks I've heard in all of anime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBpHEnSIIU8

And an accompanying emotional track, which has feels written all over it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bNFA7unbg0

The OP's and ED's do well to accompany the series' soundtrack. Ebb and Flow (OP 2) is still among my favorite anime songs. The ED's also have great usage in the ending of some episodes as well - the one that comes most to mind is Episode 23.

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Production and replay value:

Consistency is the name of the game for Nagi-Asu, as its wonderful animation never falters even late unto the series. There is little to no drop in soundtrack quality and usage as well. Sasuga, P.A. Works

Replay value is at an all-time high here. Rewatch it whenever you've lost hope in humanity but still want to believe there is a chance, whenever you want to feel warm all over .. no. Just rewatch it whenever you have the time to fully commit to it, as this is when Nagi-Asu will reward you the most.

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Summary of Nagi-Asu's elements:

The best: Animation and art, soundtrack, production and replay value, character development
The good: Story development, premise, plot and setting
The bad: the ending

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Personal opinion:

I've already gushed about all the things about this anime that made me love it above, so I'm just gonna keep this short. Nagi no Asukara is an anime you MUST watch before you die. It definitely and safely belongs in a top 50 anime of all-time list, although I would boldly argue it has the repertoire to belong in even a top 20 list.

This anime takes its rightful place among the likes of Toradora and Clannad as some of the best romance and drama anime has to offer. Although I admit, the starting episodes might not really hook you in, as this anime only really starts to get going by around the ninth episode. It definitely has the pacing of a 26-ep show and I'm so glad P.A. works made this rare decision instead of going for their usual 12-13 ep shows. Twice the amount of episodes really helped this show flesh out the world, characters and the story it wanted to tell.

This anime had me not watching anything else for about a week after I finished it - it was that good for me. It made me question important things in life such as family and love. This anime is that kind - that is, if it hits you in all the right places, it is a show capable of changing your very life.

An ocean of emotions is waiting for you in Nagi no Asukara!

I will try to be at least spoilery as I can.
So, Nagi no Asukara, I went into this serie expecting like a fun romantic poligon between the characters and I got out crying like a bitch reconsidering the way life is lived as time goes on.

I will make a little sumary so you can know what you are going into:
People lived in the sea at the start of time, then some of them went to the land and removed their capability to live underwater, but underwater people can also live outside the water, but for like half day.
People underwater have towns and stuff, they ... live there normally. So, our main cast are four kids who live underwater in like a bay, one day their school closes so they have to go to an land school. And thats all I can say, quite interesting right?

The story is like a romance highschool drama, where the one that is going after someone does not realize having someone behind them also, and it forms like a chain, not that hard to understand.
Also story wise, it manages to make a good comentary on racism and discrimination, I did not expected to be thinking about those themes while watching a romantic anime, and it slightly changed my view about that matter.
It is a story of growth and I have not seen a show that made me think the way this one did.

The art is SO BEAUTIFUL, I dare you to find one shot that is not pretty as hell in this show, even every wall has so many details, its amazing to look at. It is a work of art, and sound wise is at point to, some songs in the ost really got me.

Speaking about characters, damn this serie has so many but at least most of them are very likeable, except for the fuckin' kid that is born on the second half (Watch it, you will see). The only thing I have to nag about is that most of them are very melodramatic, I would recommend to not binge watch this show, it might get you a little mad seeing most characters run off instead of facing their problems. But I dont find it that shitty since they are very young and seems to be normal to run from your problems, and eventually they realise that.
The main cast is highly likeable, a shy girl, an hiperactive boy, another shy but stronger girl and a quiet boy. Then there are boys and girls in the land, witch are very good too.
Personally I really resonated with Isaki, the quiet boy, the guy at the back always, chill and quiet. Maybe you will too?.

If you see this show you will see what is the problem most people have with the story. But I can asure you it is highly enjoyable, just trust me and keep watching all the way. It will have you in tears.

Nagi No Asukara in my opinion is one the greatest anime I've ever seen. There literally isn't an anime like it. I mean seriously what drew me into this anime was the first scene of the first episode. There is literally a male cooking with freaking fish swimming in the air. That already made me hooked into the anime. "Why is their fish? How is their fish? What the heck is this world?" I had so many questions just by the first second of the anime and was already so entranced. I could tell by the first few frames that this anime was ... going to have really beautiful artwork. Anyways the storyline is really original. It is about a world in which the world is born from the sea but then people decided to go the surface because of reasons that is better explained in the anime. I don't want to spoil too much of the details but basically four children from the sea gets transferred to a middle school on the surface because their school is closed down. There is a more complex storyline but its hard to explain without spoiling anything.

Now lets talk about the characters. Every single character loves another and just seeing their relationships and dynamics is the best part of the anime. There isn't character plot line that I didn't enjoy. Each of them is unique in its own way. Hikari, the main protagonist of the show, was really a true protagonist. He really drove the show forward. If he wasn't in the anime there wouldn't be an anime at all. All the other characters, Manaka, Chisaki, Kaname, Tsumugu, Sayu and Miuna were also all essential to the story but not as essential as Hikari is. At least that is for my opinion.

The beautiful artwork and sound track is really what brought the story to life and that's something that not a lot of anime does. This anime really was just outstanding. Because of the originality of it's storyline, the amazing development of the characters and the beautiful aesthetics of the anime this anime deserves a 10/10. There is no mistake about what other reviewers say this anime is truly a treasure that everyone must see.

Nagi no Asukara or lull in the sea is a good anime in my opinion. the story has an interesting concept of human living under the sea and it's prejudice to the people who live in the land. It has a complicated love story as you don't know who will end up with one another. It kinda gets bland after the time skip.

The anime's animation is such an eye candy, it has a lot of bright colors that makes it bright.The character's design is simple with characters having big eyes that makes them quite cute.I did like the color of the eyes, ... Since I am fond of color blue.

I also love the OP and ED song of the anime especially OP2 and ED1.

The characters are good. I wish they put more emphasis to Tsumugu because I didn't really get to know him as a characters besides that he is not close to his parents, He loves the sea and fell in love with one of the characters.


Well overall, I enjoyed watching it but It could have been better.

People have told me that Nagi no Asukara is P.A Works' one of -- if not -- their best anime that they have ever produced. Since I'm not the kind of person who jumps in the hype ship right away and that the cover totally put me off because I thought this was going to be some mermaid crap, I ignored this show for a while until I finally decided to watch the series. I can totally say that this is one of P.A Works' best anime ever.


[Story]: (8.5/10)
When I first looked at the cover and read the synopsis, I thought this series was ... going to flop from the start. I mean, I thought this was going to be a high-school romantic drama cliche expect they live underwater. Now that I have finished the series, what I got was different from what I expected. I expected mermaids and shit and what I got was a show that explores themes like racism and a beautiful (but not the greatest) romantic drama that made me shed tears a few times.

To some people, the early first half of the series was extremely boring and honestly, I don't blame them. I understand that they're setting up the world, the characters and a lot of expositions so we can understand why there are people in the surface and in the sea. They surprisingly did a good job explaining the history behind the 2 separated human race. That doesn't make the early first half of the series less boring so that's what you gotta watch out if you're planning to watch this series.

You know how in real life, even though we're all humans, we still hate each other for absurd reasons such as different cultures, different skin colours, and etc? Nagi no Asukara did not ignore that part of our reality. Even though both races in the show are humans, they're still different and are divided because one can breath underwater and one cannot. As such, the underwater people are always frowned upon by the surface people since they think they are a superior race. Just like how the white people, back in the day, thought they were more of a superior race than black people.
Anyways, the show did a great job exploring the strained relationship between these 2 similar yet different human races. For example, when the main characters' underwater school shutdown, they transferred into a school that's in a surface. The students in that school would constantly make fun of/bully the main characters just because they're a bit different than them.

The show isn't afraid to make changes...huge changes to advance the plot and we clearly see this at the second half when a show did a time skip because of what the characters did in the first half. The world around them changes significantly and it looked like they were hit with an apocalypse. Honestly, I have a love and hate relationship with the second half of the series. I love the second half because of how much the characters are explored and developed. Literally every single main characters in the second half was developed to a certain extent and no one, and I mean no one was left behind in terms of character development. I also have a hate.......hate may be a strong word so I'll use; I disliked the second half's love triangles.

If I were asked to summarize Nagi no Asukara's romance in one sentence then I would say something like this:
"Sometimes we love the person who ignores us and we ignore the person who loves us".
I have never seen so much love triangles in an anime before..The maximum amount of love triangles that I have seen is about 2 and that's it. In Nagi no Asukara, most of the main characters are in love with someone and there's like over 5 love triangles..Gah, I don't even know because there's a lot and when I try counting, it confuses the hell out of me. The love triangle isn't as simple as other romantic shows out there like Toradora. Just by looking at one of the love triangle maps for this show, you'll see it's spread out like a goddamn spiderweb and don't even bother trying to trace the line because it will cause you major headaches. I'm actually not a fan of love triangles so I can only handle about 1 or 2 and that's why I was pissed off when they introduced countless love triangles in the second half. There is a reason why I didn't hate it though (Note: There's a difference between me hating something and disliking something). It's because all love triangles eventually got solved at the end, meaning someone will be with somebody. Be it being outright shown to the viewers or are just implied/left to the viewer's speculation.

Another small issue that I have with the show is because of the amount of love triangles in the series, there are melodramatic scenes here that are way too unbearable for me to watch. Unbearable in a sense that I would sometimes skip it because it's way too dramatic and sometimes unnecessary because they could have done it the other way instead of all the shouting and running away. There's only so much drama that I can handle. Nonetheless, they still did a pretty good job with most of the dramatic scenes which is one of the main strengths of the show.
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[Art/Animation]: (10/10)
One of the many things I've heard about this show is its amazing and boner-approved "Scenery Porn". I agree with them..The art looks gorgeous as f*ck, the animation is smooth and it's consistent all the time and the character designs are your usual P.A Works "Character Design style". The surface looks almost realistic and the underwater city and the water itself is simply amazing. The studio is really living up to their name. "Progressive" Animation Works. Progressive....sound's about right.
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[Sound]: (9.5/10)
I don't really have much to say about the show's soundtrack since none stood out for me..Though, they were all pretty decent and they weren't that bad. Especially the OSTs that plays during the dramatic/emotional scenes. Now the OP and ED theme song(s).

The OP theme songs are "lull ~Soshite Bokura wa~" by Ray and "ebb and flow" by Ray . The ED theme songs are "Aqua Terrarium" by Nagi Yanagi and "Mitsuba no Musubime" by Nagi Yanagi. I've heard Ray's songs before and after hearing both OP's, I have now come to the conclusion that most of her songs sounds almost the same but I honestly don't care. The 1st OP is pretty relaxing and captures the atmosphere the 1st half has and the 2nd OP fits with the changes that occurred in Nagi no Asukara's world. It's like you know something sad or dramatic is going to happen. I could care less about the ED theme songs because both are just plain average to me and didn't really catch my attention.
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[Characters]: (9/10)
Just by watching the first half of the series, I can guarantee you that there is a 100% chance, not 99%....100% chance that you will hate the main protagonist of the series whose name is Hikari Sakishima. Honestly, I almost dropped the show because of this little f*cker who has a serious anger management issues and to make things worse, screaming at the girls for absurd reasons. The latter was so uncomfortable to watch because it was like watching a father abusing his wife except Hikky is just shouting and not using his fists at the girls. His over protectiveness over Manaka is also super annoying and this relates to Hikky shouting at the girls which in this case is Manaka. Puberty was hitting him like a bitch in the first half. In the second half, he did turn out to be one of the most likable main characters in the series. In the second half, his character matured, his personality got better and he turned into a guy who will sacrifice (not literally) himself to save the people he truly cares about. He still have some few anger management issues that he needs to deal with but at the end, he turned out to be a great and likable character.

One of the major things I love about Nagi no Asukara is its character relationships. It's evident how much they explored the character relationships in the first half and even more so when a time skip occurred and explored more of the character's relationships. For example, in the first half, they explored Chisaki and Kaname's relationship and in the second half, they explored Chisaki and Tsumugu's relationship. Since the show had 26 episodes and a slow pacing, the show had abundance amount of time to do all the exploring they need.
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[Enjoyment]: (8.5/10)
In the end, I still enjoyed this series even though some of the elements in the first half pissed me off that almost caused me to drop this show. The visuals are really amazing, the story is great and I ended up liking most of the main characters in the second half.
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[VERDICT]
Nagi no Asukara is a visually appealing series that does a good job at both romance and drama even if both aspects have something in it that I disliked. It also does a great job at building and exploring the characters and the relationships between them. The show might not be as sad as AnoHana or Your Lie in April or it might not be as romantically engaging as other romantic shows out there but nonetheless, it's still an anime worth watching if you're interested in a romantic drama series.

[OVERALL]: (8.5/10)


Pros:
+One of P.A Works' best anime that they have ever made
+Does a great job handling subjects like racism
+The show isn't afraid to make huge changes to advance the plot and develop the characters
+One of the best visuals and animation I have ever seen
+Great OP theme songs
+Character development for every single main characters in the series

Cons:
-Too much love triangles
-Some melodramatic scenes
-Hikky is a dislikable main character in the first half

ENGLISH VERSION

Hello everyone again! Today I am going to do the review of Nagi no Asukara. Lets start!
First of all, the introduction, as the main character of all history, we have Hikari, a 15 yeared old boy, which at the end you will really love (no BL, please, seriously, like just as a person ¬¬ ). We have also other main characters, but this one is the guy who (in the future) will change the society. Other main characters like Chisaki, Sayu, Kaname, Tsumugu, Manaka or Miuna are also really important in the timeline, but it could be better done (I don't say It has ... been done badly :P ), but Hisaki is the name I will remember at every day I will live next today.
All the history happens in two "slides", the sea and the "exterior world", and at the middle of the history is really confusing, anyway.
The art is fabulous, and its over 9000 at the sea!
The sound/music is just love ;) .
The enjoyment is lower because you are more interested about what will happen next.
And its a 9 because I didn't cryed at anytime.
Good day!

(You may not be able to read the rest, because is in my other lenguages, please, for my followers, don't report it. Have a nice day!)

CATALAN VERSION

Hola a tothom! Avui parlaré d'un anime que m'ha agradat notablement! Nagi no Asukara! Comencem!
La introducció que us fare serà ràpida. El personatge principal és Hikari, un noi de 15 anys al qual acabareu estimant ;P (No Gay ¬¬ )Tenim altres caracters, pero la historia es desarrolla al seu voltant. Com a altres personatges també tenim a Chisaki, Sayu, Kaname, Tsumugu, Manaka o Miuna, que són igual de impoprtants en la linea temporal! No obstant, es podrien haber fet millor els personatges :P .
L'art és fabulós, i té "més de 9000 unitats de poder" al mar ;) .
Els sons i la música són pur amor.
La diversió o entreteniment és menor ja que t'estas pensant més que passarà després que disfrutant de l'anime, no obstant, al final et queda un buit dins teu increible.
I es un 9 perquè no m'han vingut ganas de plorar, sinò, potser m'ho pensava!
Per cert, Nagi no Asukara significa en català "Un període de calma al mar".
Bon dia!

Don't be dissuaded by the immaturity of the characters upon a first glance: despite their seeming like an annoying bunch of teenagers, things get better. We have Hikari, who starts at a low point but grows significantly throughout the show, while there are several other characters (Tsumugu, Kaname, Sayu) whose initially auxiliary appearance gives way for their gradual blossoming. In fact, I think anyone can find at least one character worth rooting for in this show. But characters aside, the technical icing is what makes Nagi-Asu the gem it is – in terms of visuals it has been one of the most gorgeous series I've ... seen. The creators managed to fill their work with sublime moments through a conjunction of masterful artwork, a good script and a tastefully-employed OST. Each of these is wonderfully used in a way that suffuses important scenes with true anime magic and a special atmosphere. It's a world which is familiar to us but is also unique in its own way, tinged with nostalgic, faded blue hues coating the man-made parts of the world, and a marvellous underwater life that makes for some very pleasurable watching.


The universe isn't the only thing of note. I'll warn that the relationship dynamic is quite the leviathan, with an octagon of unrequited feelings emerging that inevitably won't satisfy everyone once the end is reached – if you are a person who needs a resoundingly conclusive ending in romantic drama, this might frustrate you. However, I was always happy with how the creators explored their characters' feelings when they open up to each other, as unlike in couple-based shows there are plenty of important characters here, and all are treated with respect by the writers. An apt blend of subtleness and direct dialogue is used to let us know what people are thinking. For a good amount of the show there is a real, ominous feeling of threat as we notice that in this world, much like in ours, people have difficulty seeing through barriers imposed between communities and oppose the right of others to pursue love across them. I'll conclude that on the drama front Nagi-Asu managed to be poignant and tasteful in its execution, and is usually brimming with feels and understated, softly brilliant moments.


That being said, the effect of these was often watered down by tears. Yes, Nagi-Asu indulges too much in the trope of having girls break down in tears or start wailing uncontrollably in order to convey drama, which I just roll my eyes at most of the time, personally. This is something distinctly related to the four primary female characters of the show, who possess interesting facets but sadly end up not breaking free of the conventions of being fragile, exaggeratedly sensitive Moe maidens and therefore not feeling as real as they could. The less well-executed drama of the show usually involves them sobbing or running away, though to be fair they aren't universally bad and have plenty of good and endearing characteristics to compensate for Moe blandness – there just isn't a single one of them who breaks free of this uninspired basis, which I found unfortunate.


I'll conclude with the following: Nagi no Asukara is a labour of love that has a lot to offer, and I'd recommend it to people looking to give anime romantic drama a go. It has a strong emotional impact with potent storytelling, memorable scenes and characters who are generally endearing and evolving. The artwork, score and dialogue are all first-class. You might be let-down if you are very particular about resolution, and if a slew of brittle female characters aren't your thing. If you want to watch it, please don't write it off immediately based on initially flawed characters or their age, and eventually the waves of this world might just lull you.

8.5/10

::Short Review - Nagi no Asukara::

::Nagi no Asukara is a romance anime that tackles serious issues between affection, friendship, family, and society. I'm a fan of RomCom anime but this, this anime is a must watch if you wanted to have serious drama mixing with the romance which is actually pretty good in the anime.
::"Love is all about sacrifices." The plot of the anime is great. Love isn't just an affection is this series. It waits, sacrifices, lets go, cares, and protects. We can see the development of the characters as they mature from episode by episode.

::Overall, the anime is best for anyone who wanted ... romance and drama well baked with each other. The story is great, the art is fantastic, the sound became better in the end, the characters are fairly paired (still Chisaki x Kaname for me), and I enjoyed watching this series till the end.

::Short Review End::

What can i say, I watched this anime religiously each week as it was airing and even now when i think about it all the feels come flooding back. The sound, art, storyline, HECK, everything was perfect in this anime for me. This is not just some stereotypical high school slice of life, even if it may appear so at first.
The soundtrack is probably one of the best in any anime i have watched- granted that's not a lot but still. I love how the music echoes the sea themes throughout as well. I fell in love with almost ... every character- and cried with them all too. They are beautifully designed; i just cannot express enough how gorgeous PA Works managed to make Nagi-Asu look.
If all that wasn't enough to convince you (seriously,come on) then if i tell you the storyline is brilliant too you have no choice but to watch it. It isn't just some soppy teenage romance- struggles of all age groups are dealt with. Not to mention the massive plot twist which left me physically awestruck.
So, go ahead, if you like the themes of this anime then i struggle to see why you won't adore it just as much as i did.

I'm so glad I didn't give up on this series.
It's been getting some great reviews so I thought I should see what the fuss was about. At first I didn't understand what all the hype was about. I watched the first couple episodes and got bored with it. I stopped watching it for weeks. Every once in a while I would watch another episode just to try and get the feel of the story.
I was supposed to give up on this show entirely but I decided to give it another chance. I had a Nagi no Asukara marathon from episode four. I have ... to say, it's one of the most beautiful stories out there. Sure there are a lot of angst and the characters can be quite annoying. But as a whole, it's a beautiful beautiful story.

From different kinds of people being able to put their differences aside and get along to showing how to give love to someone unconditionally.

It's about community, family, friendship and romance.

All of the characters have depth, even the supporting ones. The people in the community all feel so present. Usually in anime they are there to serve as a background for the main characters. Not in here. In Nagi no Asukara they play a huge part in the story.

Even though the relationship of the main characters is like a tangled web somehow it worked out in the end. Somehow, it made sense and it felt right in the last episode. None of it felt forced.

Let me just say that the Sea God and Ojoshi-sama's story is really heart breaking. I felt sad for Uroko-sama.

Finally, I don't know any more. I wanted to cry after I finished the last episode. I'm glad that the anime had a proper ending. I'm glad that I pushed through with it or else I might have missed a really amazing anime. All 26 episodes are full of emotions and it draws the viewers in and make them empathize with the characters. I can't remember how many times I cried while watching. Actually, I'm writing this review because I have so much emotions right now and I can't really express it.

So I actually finished watching this anime around a half a year ago, which means I am not writing this anime at the time of my "honeymoon" phase (meaning I just finished it and loved it so much that therefore may make my review bias). One thing I have to say about this show is how well they wrote the story. Nagi No Asukara sets us a story of conflict between the people of the sea and land. Throughout the show we see that Hikari and his friends are accepted by some and discriminated by others. As if this conflict is not enough, we later ... find out theres this giant love triangle (more like a love octagon) going on which makes it that much more conflicting and dramatic (some of us may find this part of the show a bit cheesy). Despite that, I felt like they handled each relationship/friendship quite well in this anime as they experience jealousy and unrequited love, both which are relatable in the real world. We are also shown how different each character handles jealousy and unrequited love, as we have people like Hikari who clearly shows his jealous personality while we have Chisaki who is humble and hides her feelings for the sake of her friends. Or maybe Tsumugu, a person who is not afraid to show his feelings but at the same time is mature about it. What really sets this show apart from other dramas though is the fact they bring in the concept of a generation gap. Even when time passes, will your love always be the same? Or will you move on with life and find someone else? Are they allowed to like someone of the other "race"? These are the questions that are presented to us throughout the show and can be closely related to some of us as in real life.
Even after half a year I still can not seem to find a flaw within this anime that really stuck out to me. I felt like each character had value within the show and served a good purpose to both the theme and the plot. People may dislike a certain character's personality/behavior within this anime, but thats only because thats who they are and thats their purpose within the story.
Overall I actually give this anime a 10/10 mainly because of personal enjoyment and my strong connection towards this anime and its characters outshines the small, small flaws (if any).

First off, I would like to say that the art style of this anime is wonderful and is definitely a high-point; you won't be disappointed. But my problem with this anime is that it is the epitome of "I love y-" syndrome, where a character almost says something affectionate and plot moving and then someone interrupts it all and they go back to square one. This happens about 20 times in various combinations of people, by the end I couldn't take it anymore. The ending was relatively unsatisfactory but I suppose I'll accept it.

Before reading this, bear in mind that a review by its very definition is supposed to include the writer’s opinion. While it is impossible to be completely objective in writing this review, I’ll back up my opinions of this show with appropriate reasoning.



Story 7/10

The premise of Nagi no Asakura is that humans originally began as sea dwellers, having a thin membrane called Ena around them that enabled them to breath underwater. However, some humans started settling on the surface where they discarded their Ena. Thus, two different communities were created. Our story beings in the underwater sea village Shioshishio. The local middle school ... is being closed for some reason, which results in four middle schoolers having to go to school on the surface. They face issues adjusting to the surface, and the interaction shown between them and the surface dwellers seems to be a very clear reflection of the differences between people of different cultures. They even have the equivalents of racial epithets; 'pig' for the land dwellers and 'fish' for the sea dwellers. With the basic synopsis out of the way, lets try to evaluate the story. The premise is quite unique, and the relations between the sea and surface dwellers, and their differences, provide an interesting dynamic in the start.

However, it seems as if the major plot developments only took place to make the already contrived love triangle(s?) even more contrived. Its more of a love hexagon than a triangle. Never have I seen or heard of such a messy and silly love triangle in any form of media. At a first glance, it seems that the anime wanted to drive home the message that change should be accepted, and that some things are beyond our control, but in the end the message devolved into shounen style antics which basically say that screaming and willpower can change anything and everything. The ending was conclusive as far as dramas and romances go.



Characters 5/10

While the anime has multiple main characters, Hikari is very obviously the protagonist. He gets the most screen time, and the viewer gets to hear his inner thoughts. The main reason I’m giving this anime such a low rating in the characters department is Hikari. Hikari was the typical stubborn, loudmouthed, determined protagonist that has been done to death in anime, and frankly, I find myself quite tired of them. The other characters weren’t bad, but they didn’t particularly stand out either, with almost every other main character having the annoying tendency to be a martyr for the sake of others, only to create more misunderstandings. Though Tsumugu did serve as a very good foil for Hikari. One thing very annoying in this anime about the main characters was that when a character would hear anything that they didn’t want to hear, they would … run away. It happened too many times to even count, and it ended up being extremely annoying . While I am aware of the fact that this is a fantasy anime, a drama relies on the characters and the interactions between them being realistic and natural. In this case, they were unrealistic, and felt quite unnatural . Who runs away at hearing something a little uncomfortable?! Yes, they pull it once or twice in drama heavy animes, but it was done wayyyy too many times here. One good thing about the main characters was that they weren't forgetful. Despite having so many main characters, it was surprisingly easy to keep track of them all. Furthermore, the side characters were great. They performed their role of aiding the character development of the main characters quite well.



Sound 8/10

The sound really made this anime seem better than it really was. While I found the rest of the soundtrack to be well done but forgetful, the first ending is one of the best endings that I have ever heard to an anime. During the first half, as the episode would near the end, you could hear the beginnings of this song and given the situation, it just went perfectly with the anime. The voice acting was pretty good though, although I personally found the voice for Manaka to be a bit too childlike and high pitched at times.



Art 8/10

The art was very colorful, and quite beautifully animated. I really liked the underwater sections. However, it was also a bit too cutesy, with the characters having very huge eyes, and the females having an inexplicable, constant blush on their cheeks.



Enjoyment 5/10

By the end, it became a chore to watch this anime. I had to finish it, because I was invested in the story, but I grew increasingly frustrated by the characters by each passing episode, especially by Hikari, which sucked since he was the main character. Oftentimes, it felt that the characters liked Hikari only because the plot required them to like him. I tried to like this anime, but I really couldn’t. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I regret watching this anime, watching it felt somewhat of a waste.



Overall 6/10

Nagi no Asukara is primarily a drama romance, with fantasy only existing to serve both these story elements. It had an interesting story , but the whole love hexagon felt pretty convoluted. There were many cliches in this anime that are unfortunately found way too often in dramas. It has some pretty art and interesting music which serves to make this anime look better than it actually is, but I found some parts of the story and a few character to be lacking in depth. It also suffered from poor pacing in the start. However, viewers who aren't annoyed by your typical protagonist, and generally like drama heavy romances will probably like this anime. I personally think that that the 8.43 avg rating this anime has on MAL is way too generous.

PS: Feel free to pm me if you think I missed something in the anime, or if there was something really wrong with the way I wrote this review

This is the BEST drama/comedy/romance you could ever have. the story goes by so well. smoothly and nothing rushed. also everything gets explained even the cutscenes that we didnt see in the end. 10/10 in everything. it was the perfect anime for me. I also loved how they expressed their feelings since most anime's usually beat around the bush but not this one! really great anime in every factor. There were a good mix of funny and sad moments and also plot twists that you would not expect. The character growth is really balanced and great as well. The only thing you have to get ... used to is the underwater living style. The ending was also absolutely great. This is a must watch anime and would recommend to everyone!!