Shiroi Suna no Aquatope

They're back again. After taking a half year break, Shiroi Suna no Aquatope (aka The Aquatope on White Sand) aired as one of the key projects celebrating PA Works' rich body of accomplishments. Or can it be called that? After all, P.A. Works can be a hit or miss sometimes based on their track record. But one thing is for sure, P.A. Works is no stranger in the anime industry. They've produced memorable adaptations and original works all the way back in 2008. Founded since 2000, you can bet that the studio brings their wealth of experience again to Shiroi Suna no Aquatope.

Let me preface ... and say that if you're a familiar fan of P.A. Works, then you can easily tell the show dives into a slice of life story with coming of age themes. There's a bucket list to check off and of course, cute girls is among them. Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is yet, much more about cute girls doing cute things. It's about characters following their dreams and making a difference in their world. It all starts when an eighteen year old Fuka Miyazawa escapes to Okinawa and meets Kukuru Misakino, a high student with a passion for aquatic life. It doesn't take long for the two to become friends and she develops her own passion and finding her place at the Gama Gama Aquarium.

With slice of life stories like this, we have to realize and set expectations clearly. The show tells a realistic story that depicts how characters live. P.A Works is known for both their realism and fantasy naturalism. But for this anime, they decided to go with realism by telling their story, and focusing on the cast with their dreams. To the surprise of no one, Kukuru and Fuka represents characters that met by fate. The director obviously set up this show for the two main cast to meet through chance and added the texture of chasing a dream as part of the plot. Watching this anime made me realize how quickly Kukuru and Fuka became close together from the very start. Despite coming from different backgrounds, it's obvious the show wanted to see how both characters develop as a pair and individually. And let's just say, both characters learn a lot from each other. What's more important is how much the two characters affect each other in their own way. With Fuka's support, Kukuru discovers herself and continues to follow her dream regardless of any obstacles in her own. Similarly, Kukuru is able to show Fuka that there's a life outside of being an idol and that becoming part of the aquarium gives her new opportunities. That's what life is about, seeking opportunities, and following dreams.

With a total set of 24 episodes, the anime is structured in two parts with the first half taking place at the Gama Gama Aquarium. After certain circumstances, we get the second half of the story taking place at the Tingaara Aquarium. Despite the change in setting, the anime still retains its themes and knows no boundary about its love of aquatic life. From taking care of dolphins, nursing sea turtles, to cosplaying to attract an audience, every episode has its passion. To be honest, the anime does have its subtle yuri-tones but the relationship between Fuka and Kukuru eclipses so much more than that.

One thing I want to mention about Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is that while Kukuru and Fuka are the two characters that stand out the most, the rest of the cast seems to be here and there adapting their roles in the most safe way possible. What I mean is, the majority of the cast are introduced as who they are but receive little development overall. This is especially true in the second half of the show when the Tingaara Aquarium is introduced. Characters such as Karin, Chiyu, Kuuya, among others only get some involvement with the plot. After the first half of the show, it seems they are very much overshadowed by Fuka and Kukuru. Now, I don't know how the plot was created from behind the scenes but it became obvious that the director wanted to shift its attention entirely on the two main leads. It's just a shame that there's an overemphasis on Fuka and Kukuru than almost anything else.

But, don't let that distract from the gorgeous chereography and high quality stellar visuals. P.A. Works and their talent of crafting lustrious visuals is once again present in their latest work. It rewards fans with stunning quality of the aquarium waters to natural look of the outdoors. It remains that way throughout the series as there are no episodes with noticable drop in quality .Character designs are also decorated with simple yet mature look for its cast. Human emotions are protrayed with realistic expressions and every episode has its share of its behaviors. From a technical perspective, this is a breathtaking representation of classic P.A. Works anime and you're in for a treat.

If there's an answer to making a solid slice of life anime this year, then it's P.A. Works. From this original TV anime of 24 episodes, we see what their talent bought to us. And with Shiroi Suna no Aquatope, the show proved itself to be a simple yet effective story. It gave us a story that matters, a story that we can find ourselves relatable to, and a story that we can all share about following dreams.

Let me preface this review by saying that if you're expecting some ingenious plot from this show, you're going to be left severely disappointed.

From the studio that made Angel Beats!, Charlotte, Another & Maquia, this is Shiroi Suna no Aquatope.

Story: 6/10

The plot is pretty straightforward. There's no real *excitement* or *twists* that leave you wanting more. It epitomises what we call "slice-of-life". One might call it tedious and generally lacklustre. That said, it's not bad. It's just there.

Art: 8.5/10

Aquatope is one pretty show. The opening scene is gorgeous. Its style (in my opinion) is somewhat reminiscent of Wonder Egg Priority. Colours are vivid ... and just pop out of your screen. It's truly an experience.

Sound: 7/10

It works. The opening is punchy and vibrant. It just screams summer and is so full of life. The ending, on the other hand, is dichotomous. Mellow and soft, like at the bottom of a calm, deep-blue sea. My kind of music. The in-between sounds and tracks fit the atmosphere well most of the time.

Character: 6/10

There's not much character development in this show. We get backstories for our two protagonists, but even then, it's not much. Though, given the context of the show, perhaps thats fine. The side characters do feel cookie-cutter, but I don't mind.

Enjoyment: 6/10

Besides the visuals, it's a rather dull show. You watch this when you don't want to think too hard and wish to relax. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's a show I think I would find hard to recommend.

Overall: 6.5/10

As of writing, 6 episodes has aired. Though something may surprise me, I do doubt my overall score will change. It's an okay watch with spectacular art and good sound.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading my review ♡

This review contains mild spoilers. This is a Slice-of-Life anime. If you're expecting something full of plot progression or action/fight scenes, this anime isn't for you. This anime is suitable for adults who have once felt loss or aimlessness in their lives or still are. However, I would not recommend it to children or teenagers who just want a fast-paced action storyline.

Story: 9/10
The premise is something simple yet philosophical: life doesn't go the way you expect it to, but there are good things ahead. Hard work sometimes doesn't pay off, you start losing your dreams and aspirations as you grow older. Such is the reality ... of growing up, the realities of life. This show illustrates more artistic, poetic and abstract literature concepts in life.

We follow the main character, a young adult who had just failed to debut as an idol because she gave her spot away to a friend. She is too kind and naive, and people like this often lose out in today's world. She went from being on the path to a star, having a pretty idol image, to doing a 'dirty' job at an old, fishy aquarium cleaning dirty tanks. Realities often fall far from expectations, doesn't it?

However, the show rewards our main character as well as the audience, saying that good things can come out of bad things. A failed outcome can lead to good occurrences. Fate encounters can happen, new dreams and aspirations can form. As the anime is still airing, I do not know where the story leads. However, the mood and atmosphere of the show is very well established and I am interested in what happens next and how our characters develop.

Art/Sound: 10/10
The idealistic and hopeful theme of this anime is supported by dreamy AAA art, superb animation and sublime music. The animation is clean and fluid, combining 3D and 2D scenes. I can tell the sincerity of this show through these details. Worth a watch purely for aesthetics.

Characters: 9/10
I'm tired of 2D anime girls honestly, after 15 years of watching anime there are a few memorable characters. At first it almost seemed like this anime is another one of those 2D shows. Bishoujo doing cute things. But no, we see 3D characters even 5 episodes in. The main characters have hopes and aspirations, personality and character motivations. The character's 'weak' pushover personality is strongly written. Weak characters have strong moments when they fight for what they believe in. The stronger, harsher main character reveals a softer side as well. This makes for great character enjoyment.

Enjoyment/Overall: 9/10
If you're stressed and tired of life, this anime is for you to unwind. It is relaxing and soothing with magical art. It is slow yet subtle and intricate and portraying a coming-to-age tale, and a romantic encounter. We all have regrets and failures in life. Someone who understands the loss of a dream can surely understand the ingenuity of this beautiful anime. I'm definitely staying in tune to this hidden gem, full of quaint and meaningful scenes.

A sudden weight on our shoulders comes when taking a decision about our future, the myths of following a straight path to success and happiness infect our decision-making by following a unique dream. The disruption of that dream by an external force is something that is bound to happen to most of us who decided to take a path, breaking the comfort zone of following an established and known path and leaving us in a multidirectional crossroad, obnubilating our sense of future. The Aquatope on White Sand tries to untie this assimilated conflict through the usage of a mysterious yet recognizable common place, the marine ... world. By using a set of parallels coming from the experiences that the animal world can grant to us, while also applying a deeply human form of relationships and communication, the anime delivers a compassionate and warm place to fall into, installing simple yet helpful perspectives of how to confront the different paths, allowing the spectator to break free of judgement and fear to the unknown. Sadly, the anime is far from being perfect, with a concrete problem coming from the inconsistency of its building blocks, which concludes in uninteresting climaxes, redundancy issues, and wasted storylines that didn’t amount to anything.

The first impact from the series come from its appealing and full of life color palette, the white of the sand, the blue of the sea, and the green of the nature. The color palette let the anime to intersect with the common place of Okinawa, and to generalize, with the idea of being in a subtropical island. Okinawa is a place that is heavily affected by human action, coral bleaching has severely affected their ecosystem, and the purposeful intertwining of the story and the setting through the experience of the marine life make some sense out of it, forwarding a wish to protect the wildlife. The full of life landscapes are made so to fully appreciate the beauty of nature, using didactic representations of the biological ecosystems as a manner to express love to the theme and deepening the characters. The animation is sometimes rough, which can be justified by the complex and distinctive designs of the characters. The marine representation is a hit or miss, the penguins, otters and turtles look gorgeous, but the fish tends to pop up too much, getting a sudden contrast that shouldn’t be there and look unnatural. Overall, the intoxicating warm of the first impact provokes a beautiful invitation to deal with the unknown story, melting us up with the green and drowning our view with an intense deep blue.

The story comes then with two main characters, but it can be assumed that Kukuru is the most relevant one, since it grabs most of the screentime. And I could say that Kukuru is the embodiment of the inconsistency of the series, being particularly controversial because of its strange childish wrongdoings, almost like a person that has never been held accountable of anything. Of course, the main character faces the broken dreams mentioned before, through the departure from her childhood place to the capability of facing new issues, dealing with the idea of letting her character absorb new perspectives, breaking the walls of judgement and stubbornness. Many questions come around with her position, like the validity of our past path as the only possible path, or the adversity of the unknown, or the sometimes unavoidable meddle into the wrong conflicts. To do so, the series uses an extravagant metaphorical perspective about the issues, by using parallels between the struggle of the marine life and the struggles of Kukuru, which is one of the strong aspects of the show. The development of the conflicts of her are a fantastic way to study and teach the symbiotic relationships inside the marine life, the complexities of their mystery, and similarities of their behavior to the human nature (Watch the Orangutan School for something like this) and dealing with her problems through fully-fledged emotional impact. Examples like the obvious parallel with the turtles hatching, the lonely dolphin, the meddling crab, the impact of changing to a new environment portrayed by the penguin, it is both educational, entertaining, and provoking. Sadly, the resolutions of her character are either unrealistic or forced, providing just cop outs to keep the plot afloat because there were either no time or no intent to do something more fruitful and credible, which makes the whole experience a double-faced sensation, we have a full of life development, and the climax of the conflict is a montage of words and events, flat as a stingray.

This duality comes with Fuuka and the incorporation of the other characters too, and it is quite amazing how consistently disappointing the development of some of them is. Fuuka has the reverse problem, her conflicts completely pale in comparison to the main character, coming normally from her emotional fragility, and the series doesn’t provide her enough screentime, but her resolutions are always emotionally strong, by intertwining her position with the main character and giving us lyrically expressive conversations, touchy and delicate. The cast has this same issue, some part of the cast, like Chiyu or Tsukimi, have interesting appearances with a purposeful proposition, either by validating the conception of a new perspective and understanding of the unknown, or by being a bridge of communication with a non-aquarium related person, deploying a projection of the struggles in another area. Then, characters like Kuuya or the guy who just talk in marine lingo are just absurd comedy device that barely works, and the later one main feature is being snubbed out of a completely deserved scholarship, which is kind of sad.

The story is then in a limbo. Through 24 episodes we explore the dreams and the parallels, integrating a bland but welcomed ecological message in the way. The first cour is about keeping the dream alive, while the second cour is about dealing with the shattered dream and going forward, and while the idea behind of such structure is alright, the series extended itself way too much, padding some episodes with some redundancy or delivering half-assed narratives or explanations to keep the episode count. The main problem is that the stories are not slowly building but approaching either at full speed or slow-motion. The full speed manifest through the latest episodes, where Fuuka and Kukuru resolved their struggles in the most absurdly rushed way, by imposing a strange sensation of injustice to the viewer. The slow-motion defines the middle part, where barely anything but a good redemption arc was obtained, filled with misery porn that didn’t achieve anything powerful. The full speed also comes in the final part of the first cour, when the hopelessness invaded the story, chaotic but full of expression. The slow-motion defines the mid part of the first cour, when they decided to extend the concept of Gama Gama not being able to stay afloat with the properties of a gum, through a bunch of backstories that didn’t amount anything but maybe a tearjerker or two.

I suppose that the score could be the conclusion of the review, the series is average, doing some excellent episodes and some plain, awkward, or even enraging ones. While the series failed at many points because of its own ambition or rigid structure, the overall feeling is that this is worth to watch if you are into the position that the story tries to explore. If you are lost, nostalgic, or overwhelmed, then the story can fit an interesting niche to allow you to explore your own emotions and have another outlook of life. If you are not into such position, then the story can’t but feel extremely dry, with failing comedy and please cry drama, kind of ironic since the theme is water.

"What do you want to be when you grow up? What is your dream that helps you propel forward to initiate that push-to-shove action?" These 2 questions always comes up when I watch Shiroi Suna no Aquatope, yet another 2-cour long show that's pretty much the standard when it comes to P.A. Works shows, brought to you by the same team that produced Fall 2018's Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara (a.k.a IroDuku). And as much as I like IroDuku to a certain degree of it being the same P.A. Works visual masterpiece works that have been consistent for years now, the story and plot feels ... kinda whack and shallow somewhat that's heavily masked by the visual presentation. That...unfortunately carries over to Aquatope, and that I feel that the in-house director Toshiya Shinohara and his team clearly saw what works with that and amplifies it two-fold here, to hits and misses. And it's very unlikely that this popular formulaic stance that P.A. Works have adopted for years will ever change.

Rightaway, the core plot premise of Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is clearly defined in its title: "The two girls met in the ruins of (a) damaged dream." A story about the realities of growing up and moving on from the dreams that clearly hasn't worked out, and finding new meaning in things yet unseen and unimagined. Not all things are bad, and a life-changing tonal change can be good in the long run. And that's the case of Fuuka Miyazawa, a girl whom was once in the idol scene, only for that ambition to wane out and the internal monologue of running away from all the fame that she has amassed in search for something new for life outside the main city of Tokyo, and wandering into the state of Nanjou, Okinawa, where she met yet another girl named Kukuru Misakino. Like Fuuka, Kukuru is a high school student working for her family's business named Gama Gama Aquarium, which is on the brink of collapsing due to the rancid state of the aquarium and the small visitorship numbers, which is needed to recouperate costs and maintain the pristine shape of the aquarium that's literally quite hidden away from the Okinawan outset. The knife edges deeper because the aquarium is handled by her grandfather whom seemingly didn't know what to do with the place (which became Kukuru's 2nd home), and while his intentions to let go of Gama Gama spells out the disaster quick, the motive to let Kukuru take over the aquarium as a means to revive the place creates a haven for both girls and the characters around them. And that's where the story surrounding both Fuuka and Kukuri in a bubble starts.

For realism's sake for the overall slice-of-life story (since this is a 2-cour), I will divide it into 2 halves of the entire plot of Aquatope: the Gama Gama section, and the Tingarla section. Mild spoilers if you wish, but I won't dive too deep on that end.

The Gama Gama section covers the entire 1st half of Aquatope, and dare I say that if this show was ever only made in a batch of 12 or 13 episodes, this would've been the perfect standard of P.A. Works in achieving some great storytelling for once in a 2-cour setting. The introduction between the two girls that coincidentally met out from their damaged dreams, Fuuka having winded in Okinawa after running away from her idol issues, comes to Gama Gama after being severely dehydrated and found by the tourist manager Karin Kudaka, who transports her to the aquarium to get some recovery assistance. Over there, while Fuuka is recovering, she observes the huge aquarium and receives an out-of-body experience, to which after meeting Kukuru, pleads with her for a job just to get along. And simultaneously over the course of the Gama Gama section, converses with each other about their dreams/ambitions and uncertain futures, together with the other staff of Kukuru's childhood friend Kai Nakamura, fish breeders-cum-attendants Kuuya Yakamashi and Umi-yan, alongside Kukuru's grandfather and the two girls as well. Through the out-of-body supernatural visions experience, both Kukuru and Fuuka initiate sentiment feelings that parallels with the Yuri feeling, because Kukuru has an attachment to her parents that passed away when she was young, and all she had currently is her grandparents to speak of in a familial setting. Fuuka being there for her provides that bit of queerness akin to a family's love, and everything about Gama Gama just feels naturally and magically surreal being Fuuka-centric altogether from its short existence from a family business to a total collapse of demolition. In all, the Gama Gama section is truly the start of the new and beautiful potential of the show.

The Tingarla section section covers the entire 2nd half of Aquatope, and with the term "growing up" comes the major decision route of the show in its direction to shape the entire series as a whole. However, I feel that the 2nd half really wavers on for far too long with everything that's done from the 1st half, making it drag on until the series' core message comes around being about environmentalism and sustainability as the main narrative, then leave everything else behind in the dust: plot narratives, characters that can feel like they're after-thoughts or just only make cameos in wishing that we, the audience, would never catch on. The sad part is that the Tingarla section feels somewhat haphazard with the execution of the themes that were great in the 1st half, made worse with the whole schmup of having your dream to be defined when you don't get what you want. And that's the case of Kukuru, now being hired by Akira Hoshino, an acquintance of Kukuru's grandfather and simultaneously the head honcho Director of Tingarla Aquarium, which Kukuru's assigned position given from him isn't all about being a sea creature attendant, but rather to the marketing department instead. Kukuru, to the chagrin of a rebellious teenager, builds a reputation for being so pent up because she couldn't get her dream job that Fuuka got the position instead, and had to work from scratch with a different view. Remember that change can be good or bad depending on the person, and in this case, the Kukuru-centric plot takes a whirlwind of our emotions and slowly caresses with it until there is no more wind to blow.

The only character of note is Chiyu Haebaru, whom once went over to Gama Gama as an intern, and found that the practices there (such as the "special effects" supernatural visions aquarium experience) aren't so much sustainable from her stint with Tingarla. The real reason is that like Kukuru, Chiyu may come off as arrogant, but that arrogance is supported as she is a young adult struggling to land a job and raising as a single mother after a failed marriage. That in anyway is a far worse shape than what Kukuru felt losing her parents from an early age, and at least that section of the plot is really well done. What comes after that...only disappointment mounts as the staff over at Tingarla, which comprises of sea creature attendants Chiyu, Kaoru Shimabukuro, Marina Yonekura, Eiji Higa, breedmanager Bondo Garandоu, the emotionless no-nonsense assistant director Tetsuji Suwa and Director Akira himself. It just feels like a dysfunctional organization that's reminiscent of Japan's working style of being ordered by management overlords to maintain business, even if minor complaints get seemingly contrived and blown out of comparison. So it's for that reason that with the Tingarla section of the 2nd half, the show really lost its direction and only geared with the main message, which doubled down on the potential that had been lost right up until the final moments. Such a waste of what could've been a great follow-up story plot.

The disorientation of Aquatope only carries on with the characters, and for the same reason above that I've classified both Gama Gama and Tingarla sections, the former feels like a well-knitted close family while the latter is just like your average company-sized ambience. Most particularly with Fuuka and Kukuru, these two girls have been the subject that Aquatope carries the "Yuri-coded" tone wherever they go, and much that we can see that their time together exhibiting much of that Yuri-ness with each other. In actual fact, Fuuka is quite indebted to Kukuru because she helped change her life around to find meaning with being a sea attendant after abruptly leaving the idol scene, to the chagrin of her former members and her mother, while Kukuru is thankful that Fuuka feels like her older sister character that she can act like how siblings would with the whole uncensored, true feelings of vulnerability, much less her only family left alive that is her grandparents. The crux of both characters is that in the case of Fuuka, to "the feeling of being lost and trying to find something" to attach yourself to, and Kukuru as acting as Fuuka's foil, she represents "the feeling of pursuing a vague future you want but can't completely define", capturing the "feeling of being between stages of life, lost but searching." The other characters all serve their purpose to fleet along with the 2 girls gleefully glancing life in their own bubble, but when it all comes down to the main symbolism of the show (which is that magical aquarium "supernatural visions" thingie-a-bob plot device), you can put two and two together to see that overtime, the irrelevancy creeps up when you least expected it. Contrived or not, that's not my decision to make, but I'll let you decide.

Otherwise, everything else is as what you expect of a P.A. Works made anime: nice visuals and backdrops with beautiful artwork that exudes quality (that once again, obfuscates the story plot bit by bit), the one thing that you can never fault the studio for, but is by no means a good way to cover the inherent flaws of the show. The sound design is the same as per the story's tonal shift, and in regards to the OST, Arcana Project's 1st OP is just a simple but great song, only for their 2nd OP to become too busy even with the egregiously long song title. Mia REGINA's 1st half's ED compliments Arcana Project's 1st OP, which I thought was a nice touch all things considered, a duality serving the same purpose. The same however, could not be said for Risa Aizawa's 2nd ED, which is more like visual aesthetics than the upiftling of emotions.

We all love aquariums no matter our age, because it shows the wonder and naturalness of the sea creatures wandering in the sea and living in harmony despite the food chain cycle. Aquatope on the other hand, it's a good show if you want to just relax and watch an unhinged series that leans on the magical part and coping with a coming-of-age story that's all about the difficulties of reality shoved in your face, and learning how to deal with them. But take that away, and what you have is a subservience of a story plot that while manages to stick its core themes from start to finish, leaves some questions unanswered.

Maybe it's me that I'm being patient and tolerant of P.A. Works' original shows for years, and that this problem that has long existed only comes up now to leave a sour taste in my mouth, even if it's a teeny little bit. Don't get me wrong though, I do love when the story plot and visuals go hand-in-hand, especially for one that's an original story. But executions like these just keep me wondering if there's any scriptwriting prowess in P.A. Works shows anymore, and while Aquatope isn't the first, it won't be the last to do so.

Ironically, a great Summer show that by the Fall, it has fallen from grace into decency. A hidden gem from back then, that with the entire material on hand, leaves a mixed bag of an experience. If I have to take a lesson from Aquatope, it's that growing up is part-and-parcel of life, but dreams is what you make of it, so go and achieve it, even if it's damaged dreams and meeting in the ruins of a lifetime partnership.

I usually don't watch slice of life animes like this one, I'm more to action if I'll be honest. But the trailer absolutely captivated me, and soon I found myself absolutely loving this series.

Story: 8.3/10. Your typical slice of life, except it's centered around an aquarium and people wanting to save it. The concept is something you see often, especially with the word 'save.' But i've never heard of saving an aquarium before, so it does sound a lot more personal. I'm hoping that we get to delve really deeply into the mian character's feelings and backstories. Rn on ep 6 they showed us a ... **hint** of mc's backstory, and it made me very, very curious. Currently the slice of life is strong with this one, but I'm hoping that the climax will help the story progress, and not keep the watchers bored.

After watching up til ep 8, I can confidently say that what makes this anime good is the fact that they prioritize the relationships the main characters build. Every single feeling is thoroughly explored, and i have a feeling it's going to get very deep in the upcoming eps. It's not just interesting because of its marine life (though that's fascinating too) but because you can actually see how each person grows and matures. Sure, Kukuru might start out a bit childlish and annoying, but I have high hopes that by the end of this anime she'll have wonderful character development.

Art: 100/10. I can confidently say the art is breathtaking, beautiful, makes me want to visit a beach. The colors pop off, and are very vibrant, suiting the mood of the anime. All the different shades of blue continue to mesmerize me, and the scenery doesn't dissapoint either.

Sound: 9/10. Voice acting's good, sfx is good, the water splashes are good. nothing to worry about here.

Character: 7.6/10. The personas are sort of stereotypical, but the designs are immaculate. Hoping they all progress and develop in some way or other, and not stay stoic. Though it's kinda obvious these two female leads will definitely progress forward. Hoping they don't leave the side characters out. Right now they're doing a great job of centering on everyone.

Enjoyment: 8.6/10. The vibe feels very homey like, even though I've never been to Okinawa before. Makes me miss the ocean and visiting aquariums.

A little extra i like is the little (small spoiler) god that appears now and then. I'm getting the feeling he's going to help out for the female leads' relationship. Besides that the opening's chorus also hits me deep. Like it just suits the imagination and energy of the ocean. Sortof giving me 'Josee the Tiger and the Fish.' vibes.

I would also like to add I've always enjoyed aquariums ever since I was a child, even though I am scared of big fish. Seeing an anime that revolves around taking care of the environment and caring for sea creatures makes me feel... things :D.

Overall: 8/10. If you're easily bored, this is not the type of anime for you. But as for me, I think this is a great change of pace, after watching so much action. I'm looking forward to how this anime progresses, big hopes for it!

CGDCT and Shoujo paradise.
Cute Girls Handle Cute Animals in Cute Scenery. Teenage girls play-acting adults, talk about their dreams, about the future, fight with the Moms and win "adult life" from the Moms by some unexplained magic, make "decisions", and engage in the activities out of the blue, without any development or logic.

The biggest story problem is the creators' intent to please the teenager audience by relating on both "kids can live adult life" trope and at the same time using conflicts that only happen to the kids who have no independence.

If you liked "Asteroid in Love", you would like this one, ... although this one makes much less sense, especially in the area of teenagers living realistic teenager lives.
Can't hold a candle to Bloom Into You or SuperCub, although it really wants to look alike.

Story - 4 "decent", there is almost no story, "Slice of life" to the extreme, entire episodes without any effect on the story. Like going on the beach, fooling around and having decisions which food to eat, entire episode, no kidding.

Art - 10. Ghibli class. A lot of sea scenes are trying to mimic Bloom Into You.

Sound - 7, not annoying but nothing breathtaking.

Characters - 3 "Poor", all characters are driven by some one motivation, one idea, one function, lack any depth, make decisions based on nothing at all.

Enjoyment - 4, "decent", IMHO it is slightly boring. Or more than slightly boring.

Minus point for placing closing credits 4 minutes from the end and continuing the episode after them, forcing you to watch or skip the credits.




!!! A BIT OF SPOILERS HERE

Synopsis of the first episodes.

A wash-out show-biz girl with physics-defying hair travels somewhere without a destination.
Suddenly, a Totoro-class kami-sama tells her something unintelligible and she immediately decides to become a bottom-level scrub in a local marine zoo.
She meets another girl (let's call her "lady X" because she has distinctive hairstyle making an X on her nose no matter how she turns her head) who works as a substitute director of that zoo in lieu of her grandpa, the real director of the zoo, who wants to retire and refuses to go to work while being too busy going out of town for "work".
The show-biz-girl is a total klutz and fails everything she touches.
The director girl has a very bold dream of saving the zoo from bankruptcy, which is going to happen like now. To achieve that she is rude to the potential investors, makes HR decisions based on matching jewelry but otherwise has no plan and not doing anything aside of a breakthrough idea to feed the customers.
While some customers are attracted by the rumors about the show-girl, they are immediately scared away by a threat of legal actions.

To prevent boredom, two girls engage into a touching session out of the blue, without any romance development whatsoever, switch to first name basis and shocked by this, forgetting that everyone is already on the first name basis out of the blue since previous episode, and start talking that all will be good if they will be together.
Yuribait reaches over 9000.

DO NOT WATCH IT
There's is mysterious character that appeared in the first half and was supposed to be a part of the show that just disappeared.
There's is mystery in the aquarium that is just there.
This show should have ended in the first 12 episodes. I watch it week by week and now it's 23 of 24 episodes. My enjoyment has been only declining.
I don't write reviews but I'm so angry that I have to write one.
This is a poor slice of life & I love slice of life genre.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME

I just wish it had been better. Disappointed

Even if you don't plan to watch a slice-of-life anime. I highly recommend you just watching the first episode, it is the most impressive episode as it should be, and can be watched alone just for the sheer amount of quality.
Ironically, I'm going to spoil the first episode now. So you might as well watch it now.
Story starts with Fuuka, a young girl who just quitted her career as an idol, mostly because she isn't fit for it. At first, the atmosphere was quite light, after quitting, Fuuka decided to go on a journey to Okinawa, maybe to lighten the mood, maybe to avoid ... her family. The background art flows vividly as Fuuka travels through different settings, exhibiting the beauty of Okinawa. Although the background art are not too detailed, the variety is still entertaining and the music was upbeat. It felt like a delightful vacation. Until at some point, the piano solo plays, the sun sets and the seaside town quietly goes to sleep, leaving Fuuka alone in the picture. It becomes obvious that Fuuka is lost and didn't know where to go, it did not matter if she was going to Okinawa or home, she just needed time to be alone. This part resonates deeply with me. Unfortunately, the anime doesn't want to soak in melancholy for too long and cuts to the sunny side of the other main girl, Kukuru, who I will totally ignore because I love Fuuka more. The mood was reset, the sun rises and Fuuka starts wandering around once more. She then stops at an aquarium AND THE PIANO KICKS IN AGAIN BUT HARDER WITH VIOLINS sinking into the inner thoughts of Fuuka. Memories of her career begin flooding back, and we learn about her sorrow. As the music plays to its climax, the girl sheds a tear for the death of her dreams.
I always have a soft spot for anime with wonderful soundtracks even if there's only a few of them. It is also rare for me to relate to an anime character as most of them are often unrealistically larger than life. The following episodes are not as stellar and settles for a slower pace. Regardless, the first episode was a touching experience for me.
I'm Reviewholic. I too once wandered alone to a seaside town as an teenager. Difference is, no one tried to rob or harass Fuuka.

PA Works does it again with another brilliant Original anime.

Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is a really great Slice of Life which doesn't leave you with a bucket of salt tear at the end of the show, which is what is now correlated with Slice of Life.

"The two girls met in the ruins of damaged dream" is the perfect tag line for the show, depicting the our two main leads.
The show is all about friendship and working hard for what you believe in, showing it not just with our main characters but side characters as well. We may not always achieve all that we want ... and life may turn onto a different path, but we have to turn it into a correct one.

Fuuka and Kukuru, two girls at different ends of spectrum, one who has left her dreams and the other fighting desperately to keep her dreams alive. But fate had a different path for both of them which they never expected.

As always an Original anime is as good as it's ending, which they totally delivered.

PA Works as always get full points for their Best in Industry Background Animation and Character Design and their in house 3DCG, of which they amongst the pioneer in the industry. The soundtrack does a really good job of complementing the scenes, and the two opening by ARCANA PROJECT is pleasing to the ear.

The in-house director Shinohara Toshiya at this time can be considered as expert at water based anime.

To end things , like I always say
" PA WORKS + 24 episodes = GREAT FUCKING ANIME"

“I don’t agree with writing reviews before the season/series is over because that review would only cover the first few episodes, and these may not be an accurate representation of the rest of the season/series.”

I remember writing these exact words for my Sing "Yesterday" for Me review, and these two sentences were all I could think about when watching the second half of Shiroi Suna no Aquatope or The Aquatope on White Sand. While the story and characters in the first half were good, all be it a bit forgettable, the story and the characters in the second half cycled between boring, frustrating, and confusing. ... The animation was good, but the music was utterly forgettable. I was so frustrated and bored when watching the second half of this show that it took a tremendous amount of effort to press the play button on every episode. This anime was so uninspiring, that even writing parts of this review were an absolute chore. Its only saving grace was the animation and the good first half. 6/10.

*Spoilers beyond this point*

As I said above, the characters in the first half were good. This is because the characters from Gamagama all had distinct, all be it stereotypical, personalities. The bubbly one, the old wise one, the dad, the newcomer, so on and so on. However, at the new aquarium, everyone fits into one of three categories, mean, mean but then they become nice later, and start nice. During the whole “getting to know the new workplace” part of the second half, almost everyone is unlikeable and openly hostile to the newcomers. Of course, not just behind closed doors, they are openly hostile in front of coworkers and in front of the public. This should be 100% unacceptable from “Japan’s best and largest aquarium.” I could go on and on about Chiyu Haebaru, but that wouldn’t be interesting to write or to read. So, I will stick to the larger points. The first one is, why is she so hostile to the people from Gamagama? Does she hold a grudge? If so, why? They didn’t do anything bad to her. If anything, they were nice to her when she came to Gamagama. In fact, she started messing with Kukuru first. When we see her again in the second half, she is working as the lead attendant at the penguin exhibit at the new aquarium. Despite that, she comes and goes as she pleases, pushes her work and responsibilities on to her coworkers, and seems to care very about them and what they have to do outside of work. I understand she has a young kid, but that does not justify and/or nullify all of the abuse and disregard she gives to her coworkers.

Another employee at the new aquarium is Kaoru Shimabukuro. Most of the time she ranges from fine to good, but during the sea slug episode, her character reaches disappointing lows. In a confrontation with Kukuru, she says something similar to, “We use aquariums so people can fall in love with the animals in and out of nature.” This implies that she wants to take care of all the animals the best she can so the public can see the best side of them, right? No. Because soon after saying that, she says that the sea slugs don’t need to eat because finding their specific type of food would require work. Also, in this confrontation, she said, “We can’t return them to the sea because that would be unethical.” Why is that? They are sea slugs that were in captivity for 14 days max. They aren’t domesticated. The last thing I want to say about her is that she calls Kukuru, narrow-minded for wanting to find the correct food source for the sea slugs and not letting them starve to death. This should be the bere minimum required of all attendants, including herself. The final thing I really don’t like about the characters is that there was an attempt at redemption for Chiyu and the director of the marketing department. It’s not like we spent at least nine episodes seeing how abusive they are towards Kukuru and the rest of the Gamagama people. Despite Fuuka being one of the main characters, she takes a backseat in most of the second half. The only time the spotlight is on her again is the last three or so episodes. The rest of the cast is either written to be good or forgettable.

I have nothing to say about the story in the first 12 episodes because the story is good. I get the feeling like most of the characters care about the aquarium, and are fighting to keep it alive. And after it is shut down, all the characters really care that it is gone. The second half however goes downhill very fast. I could write hundreds, and maybe thousands of words on how the second half is not only bad, but also fundamentally flawed. But, as above, that is neither interesting to read nor to write. The first one is that Kukuru is a high school graduate who worked at an aquarium as an attendant and as the temporary director at Gamagama. So why is she assigned to PR? I understand that her grandfather suggested that she should be hired in that position, but any self-respecting employer should say, “What is wrong with you? Her experience and skill set is perfect for a high-up attendant position.” Of course, that couldn’t happen though because then we wouldn’t have a second half.

The management might, and in fact do, defend themselves by saying, “A lot of people work there not everyone gets what they want.” This is where a normal person would respond with “Right, but you should get what you know. Therefore, Kukuru should be an attendant.” Of course, it’s not just management that makes no sense because Chiyu gets to tell her what to do with no pushback. This makes no sense for a few reasons, but the biggest one is that even though she is the head attendant, there would be, at an absolute minimum, six people above her that she would have to answer to before giving a yes or no on Kukuru’s request. The final baffling decision of the management is to have a single person in PR create whole event plans by herself, and then get mad when the plans are not perfect. The final thing I will say is that from a character and story perspective Kukuru’s decision to stay in marketing makes no sense from a character, or story perspective for obvious reasons.

The thing is that the second half could have been done well. There are a few ways to accomplish this, but this would be my plan. First, Kukuru is hired as an attendant. It makes no sense for her to be in PR. Episodes 13-15 would show how different life is from Gamagama at this new aquarium. The new characters would not be openly hostile, but just doing things a different way. This, of course, would be the conflict for these few episodes. 16-18 would be all of the characters becoming friends, so their friendships all feel as natural as possible. 19-21 would be small, self-contained issues. This would provide more depth and deepen the character’s friendships. 22-24 would be the setup, climax, then pay off not only for the Hawaii study trip but also the whole series. I just came up with that on the fly, so tell me why the writers could not think of something better.

I have little to say about the animation because it is good. It has nice shading, color pallet, animation, and attention to detail. The aquarium in the second half feels more alive and well put together than Gamagama. This not only provides scale, and a sense of awe, but it also works well from a story perspective. But, it does have its problems though. The biggest problem is the first half is the main Gamagama tank. It has no plant life, decorations, or anything besides fish. Another example is the use of CG. While not unforgivable, it is a bit overused in my opinion. I get it. Drawing countless fish is not the way I would like to spend my day, but sometimes it needed to be done. Especially in the empty Gamagama tank. There was nothing in there besides CG fish, and it really looks bad.

I have even less to say about the music. Not because it is good like the animation, but because all of the music, from the first track to the last track, are all so okay it hurts. Honestly, it’s as if I fed the blandest, the most uninspired, bog-standard music to a machine and told it to give me an anime OST. Literally, nothing stood out to me after watching the show, and honestly, I don’t even know if I could hum the song that I heard less than ten seconds ago. The only good part of the sound is that the voice actors did a good job.

I catch a lot of crap in my real life for not liking shows like Re: Zero and Log Horizon, but I can at least see why people like them. Their worlds are well built, some of the characters are interesting, and the stories have twists and turns. However, I can not see why people like the second half of The Aquatope on White Sand. The sound is forgettable and both the characters and story are bad. The only good thing about the show is that the art and animation are really nice. With only one of the four main parts of an anime being good, it leaves me unable to recommend. Since the first and second halves are basically different shows, the score breakdown is as follows:

Episodes 1-12:
Story an 8
Art an 8
Sound a 6
Characters a 7
Enjoyment a 7
For a total of 7.2/10

Episodes 13-24:
Story a 3
Art an 8
Sound a 6
Characters a 4
Enjoyment a 4
For a total of 5/10

An average of 6.1/10.

Absolute snore fest. No comedy. No romance. And the conflict in the story is absolute blah; they try to make you feel bad about the aquarium closing by playing soft music every episode, and well....it doesn't work for me. And I feel as if I can skip an episode and not miss anything.

Main characters are hardly anything to get excited about after 6 episodes. I just don't care about any of them or their relationships.

And before you think "oh, he just doesn't understand slice of life." Nonsense. It's one of my favorite genres. This one is just missing that magic for me and not worth ... my time. Maybe if I was bored and had absolutely nothing to watch, I'd go back and finish it. But for now, dropping after 7 eps.

First off, I believe this slice of life is a hidden jewel. Having lived in a slow paced aquatic setting for a number of years, I can attest to how the slow rhythm and pace feels very natural to village life with a splattering of tourists. What I like best about Shiori Suna no Aquatope is:

* the beautiful aqua colored artwork

* the broad set of characters who are broad, believable and like able.

* a full range of young and older adults

* fantastic magical realism that underlies and symbolizes the Aquarian’s purpose and worth. Additionally the magic of the aquarium has a layered ... meaning as the representation of our young protagonists’ hopes and dreams.

'Endless Oceans'
“The briny ocean, born of the human spirit, is endless, always overflowing.
The ocean mixes everything together, and the ocean remains the ocean.
Splashes of happiness melt away and become the ocean.
Lumps of sadness melt away and become the ocean.
Surprise, fear, shame, pride... All things melt and become the ocean.
When a person peers into the ocean within, strangely, they find peace.
They find peace, and they think to themselves:
'See you tomorrow.'”
-- Kudo Naoko
...
A stellar Yashikei P.A. Works series, inundated with love and hope.
Taking place in Okinawa, at two different oceanariums, Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is a Slice of Life about new beginnings. Coalescing the love of youth with the ocean, and its vast life forms, we are taken to a lofty realm, where magic blends with reality, where we are taught how to find our place in this world. Blooming with aspiring passion, Aquatope is presented with a modest, yet distinct panoply of characters, each struggling to attain a fragment of a dream, each working in the hope of a better tomorrow. Pigmented in ultramarine and sea green, the suave animation, joined by the sheet of a luscious piano tune, it’s an elation to our eyes. This is a story about the sea and its immense beauty, a story about friendship and valour, where sadness and helplessness give way to a wave of bliss and happiness. A powerful sense of adoration and respect for Mother Earth enraptures our hearts, with thoughts and idiosyncrasies most pure and joyful – a coming of age tale that can turn a drop of water into an ocean, a beautiful one, with sustenance and serenity.

The Aquatope on White Sand was something I looked up to because I thought a show created by P.A Works could spark back the love for emotional moments that this studio managed to do back in its golden days. But sadly, I didn't feel that way with this one. This show has disappointed me in ways because I know it could have been so much more if it didn't focus on the newer characters.

Story: 4/10
Not going to lie, I was interested to see what the show has to offer during its first half, a high school student coincidentally meets a failed idol on a crisis ... at an old and rusty aquarium. The problem is the synopsis you have read has already ended in the first half. This 2nd half felt horribly stretched out once it all ended. From once was an emotional tale of two girls breaking apart from the challenges in their daily life to a dull show about aquarium workers discussing things that typically don't mean anything to the story. They didn't connect. It lost the charm I once felt during the 1st half. Now it's gone and it could never rekindle that feeling even after a few good episodes in its 2nd half.

Art: 8/10
Let's appreciate the only good part of the show, the art itself. The character designs are superb eye candies and recognizable in a single glance. The aesthetic art and background designs look gorgeous. I am glad that there were backgrounds drawn from a real place and it helps provide information to viewers like me. Though the sound, oh dear. 1st half was great, but 2nd half just felt goddamn boring. I would roll my eyes when the 2nd opening comes up. It just wasn't that great.

Character: 4/10
I hated the new characters, they felt one-dimensional that weren't meant to act out of their one function. Every time they were on screen, I could tell what exact words would come out of their mouth every single time. They had no charm, nothing for me to invest in. The closest there was that gray-haired lady, she stood out, but the writing made her nothing more than a way to make people sympathize with her. The writers thought, "Oh we need a twist to make people like her after all the crap she spouted at the main character."

That's not all. I hated the fact that the older characters that were established earlier in the story somehow get forgotten and receive no character development, their personality is abysmal, rarely does any conflict happen to them right after the 2nd half. I liked these characters, why do they no longer get the writing they once did in the 1st half? There, I found out, it was obvious P.A Works intended this to be a show about aquariums and only aquariums. The characters were meaningless in the plot.

Enjoyment: 5/10
Can't say. It's watchable but if you're looking for a plot-driven anime, I'm afraid you are mistakenly wrong. P.A Works will deceive you into thinking it's one, but very unfortunate that it turned out to be a dull slice of life about workers. Anyone who has plenty of time to take could give this show a shot, but I am clearly not what this show had in mind for its audience.

The sea has always delivered us many beautiful stories, so when I discovered another water-related anime was in production, I couldn´t resist. Another original anime, hopping into the trend of gorgeously animated series with great story that studios have been lately try to make up with huge results. And let me tell you giving this one a try was, in two words, worth it.

Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is a great series that tells the story of Kukuru, the main character and a character I personally like a lot, who is trying to save her family´s aquarium from shutting down and be demolished. In the way ... she meets Fuuka, another great girl who is escaping fame and trying to leave peacefully for a while. Fuuka starts working at the aquarium as a trial, and as they meet many new and local people and unveil secrets, the girls start building a special relationship and growing up, surrounded by mysterious underwater visions that magical aquarium has.

Fortunately, the good points of this anime are many.
The main core of an anime is its story. Aquatope is a series that makes you embrace a constant rollercoaster (ironic). You sympathize with the charming characters, feel what happens to them and want them to succeed at all time. Whether it be Kukuru, Fuuka, Kai, Teruya, Kuuya, Umi or any of their friends, you will never feel an empty character. Their relatonships are very great and diverse, and no character is left out of them. And with those relationships you will experiment a great story marked by the constant message of not giving up, helping each other, teaming up and fighting for what or who you want or like. For me it´s not another anime that will just go by like nothing, but another anime that marks their viewers with the experience and inspires them to chase their dreams.
The first thing that catches your eye are the incredibly stunning visuals it has. Clear blue skies, deep blue waters and light charming sand combine with the entire pallet to bring the series a colorful and both vibrating and darkening style. This beautiful display combines with great character design and detailed animal and wildlife modeling, making this series one of the most catching of 2021.
Another incredibly stunning point are the sound display. One of the things that made me start watching it is its beautiful first opening. Arcana Project brought up a nice, emotive and at the same time enthusiastic song that prepares you for the adventure. As well, the second opening also does it by changing the tempo to a constantly high one. And when the songs combine with the stunning visuals, you get two great OPs. The rest of the soundtrack during the episodes are also fine and fairly good implemented.

There are, of course, some other things that drag this anime down. Many of the things surrounding this world, like the illusions, their goal or even that spirit that appears since episode 1 (anime version enano bostero) does not seem to have a lot or any explanation at all. Lots of things seemed to be rushed up even though they had 24 episodes to develop those things. The series was nice and very charming, but without those, it leaves a bitter sensation at the end. Apart, despite I said the OPs were amazing, the EDs are exactly the opposite. Lame pacing, unintelligible lyrics and lack of nice animation make the endings something skippable and, the first one, one of the worst I have ever heard.

The Aquatope on White Sand is a nice and amazing adventure you won´t regret seeing. The magic of its characters will amaze you, and its story makes inspiration flow. Original anime are growing day after day, and their quality is getting better and better. And this one definitively proves the point.

Story: 8/10
Art: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Character: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10

Overall: 8.5/10 → 9/10
Should I watch it? Yes, if you are prepared to have fun and enjoy.

Spoiler Warning:

When it comes to bringing in nostalgia, this anime has done a perfect job of giving me that feeling. Shiroi Suna no Aquatope was a touching yet beautiful summer anime I've watched during that season. Not only did it bring back memories of watching "Nagi no Asukara," my first official anime, but it made me interested in aquariums more than ever. Combining the typical slice-of-life genre with a tidbit of the supernatural, the two works well together and it made me intrigued to watch more. With that, here is what this anime did right and what it missed during the twenty-four episodes.

The plot had ... a different feel when it came to the events throughout the episodes, and not because it's an anime about aquariums. The central theme that is common during the first half is dreams. The portrayal of those dreams by the characters felt realistic in terms of what they wanted to accomplish. Even though their ambition towards achieving their goals was motivating, but setting unrealistic stands for some of them is impossible to make them come true. That portrayal of dreams was done perfectly, and it sets up the tone towards the second half of the anime. The second half felt slow at times, but the aspect of getting settled in a new area was fun to watch. Character development is a general theme in this anime as it gives the two protagonists the chance to realize what they want to in life and improve in their work environment. Even though I loved the aquarium illusion surrealism during the first half, it felt odd that it rarely showed up in the second half until the final two episodes. Although some may say those illusions need a better explanation, the answer to that is simple. A specific character created them, acting as an island deity.

The story for this anime contained two parts with the two-cour episodes, and it was intriguing to watch. It starts with a former idol going to Okinawa and meets an aquarium-loving girl who allows her to work in a run-down aquarium. From there, it features that idol getting used to working in the aquarium named Gama Gama, while figuring out her new goal there. At the same time, the aquarium will close soon, but the other girl wants to keep it alive. Despite their efforts, she realizes that all things must come to an end, and soon, Gama Gama closes for good. The second half focuses on everyone getting adjusted to Tingarla, while the two girls continue their character development. Overall, the first story was breathtaking and motivating, and it was a strong start for the anime. The second half was slow at first, but it was still enjoyable for the two girls to realize their new purpose in their work environment. The ending finished brilliantly, which anime originals barely do until this year.

I love how diverse the cast of characters are in this series. Their design was a great combination of realism, yet they fit well in their personalities. The two girls, Kukuru and Fuuka, had great chemistry together. Even though this anime isn't in the yuri genre, their support for each other was endearing to watch. Both of their character development fits in well with each of the cours. Fuuka's story was the first half. Even though her dream as an idol ended, her realization of her new goal she developed ties in with supporting Kukuru with her ambition. Looks aside, she's my favorite character in the series. For Kukuru, she was more relatable in her work environment in the second half. Her development might've been rough, but towards the end, it paid off as it showed her change from a naive aquarium lover to a full-fledged working young woman. The other characters were great, but some were dislikeable at first. However, the anime explained their backstories, and it redeemed them in my eyes. On a separate note, that being with the red hair is called a Kijimuna, who is the reason why those illusions were there in the first place. In short, the characters, their personalities, and backstories were perfect and realistic.

The animation for the aquariums was beautiful as it felt like it was a real-life aquarium. The CGI used for the fish is an example of CGI done well, and it makes sense as animating all the fish in 2D would've been difficult. Combined with the realistic character design, the magic surrealism was animated beautifully, bringing aquariums to life throughout the series. Outside of the aquarium environment, the animation for the rest of the work was generic and nothing special. In terms of everything combined, the visuals for this series were breathtaking yet simple during certain moments in this anime.

The music was the second best part of the anime. The soundtrack gave off a rural island-like vibe, eventually transitioning into a more modern-like sound during the two halves of the series. The openings by Arcana Project sound incredible, as both of those songs describe the tone for the first and second half of the anime, which fits them perfectly. Both of the ending songs have a majestic vibe, with sounds like it takes place underwater, fitting in with the aquarium theme had. All of the songs sound beautiful, and it's also the first time I've ever listened to Arcana Project, and I've become a big fan of their music.

Overall, Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is one of PA Works' best anime to date yet. Everything about this anime is done perfectly, from the characters to the animation. The pacing was smooth, and nothing was done wrong with it despite no source material. It inspires you to go to an aquarium in real life and to realize your dream throughout your life. This anime has done a perfect job in portraying those aspects. By understanding how everything in this anime functions, then this original anime is a masterpiece in my eyes. I recommend this anime if you enjoyed watching Nagi no Asukara, and you'll not be disappointed.

Story: 8

Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is an anime about two girls looking for the true meaning of her life. One is an ex-idol, trying to run away from her failure, eventually ending up in Okinawa on a whim. The other one is desperately trying to save the aquarium run by her grandfather, where her deceased parents used to take her when she was a child.
The two girls will learn to let go of what they have lost to bounce back and move forward.

It's a wholesome realistic anime about learning to deal with the hardships in life.

Art: 9

Even though this anime is not the most demanding ... in animation, the art is pretty good. I could almost feel like I was in Okinawa.

Sound: 9

Same as the Art section, the Sound was good, especially the OSTs, which are one of the strong points of this anime.

Character: 9

This anime being about how to deal with the hardships in life, having good characters with great evolving is mandatory. And that's the case, the main characters evolve greatly as the story progresses. The first arc centers on Fuuka while the second is about Kukuru. Both protagonists learn to let go of their past dream and become stronger and more mature throughout the episodes. Sub-characters too have their own kind of evolution even though it's not as developed as for the main characters.

Enjoyment: 8

The journey was pretty good, sometimes I was cheering for the characters, sometimes I criticized their actions, but overall, it was a great show. The beautiful landscapes feeling like we're on holiday makes a great contrast with what the girls have to come through to grow up. It's almost as if I too wanted to go to Okinawa and start working for Tingarla even though I don't know a thing about fish.

Overall: 8.6

The penguins are more entertaining than the cast. In the first cour, there is lots of mystery with the Gama Gama Aquarium though it never gets properly explained. It gives people visions based on their own personal issues. This leads to the mystery of Kukuru's lost twin sister among other nice reveals. This became the most interesting part of the series for many viewers. Sadly, they completely abandoned this for a long while, but kept shoving it in your face with the openings and endings as the viewers wonder, why? For a slow paced series, they sure inexcusably failed to properly develop characters who had ... potential to be much better. Every filler like episode was a waste of time that could have helped with this. Still, this is a series that can make you feel happy with all the irrelevance that goes on in it much of the time. But after the fact, it brings nothing meaningful or amazing. It's a treat of a series when I am looking for something that is more like a main feast.

Speaking of lack of character development, one is Kai, who became the love interest of Kukuru. Sadly, this childhood friend was abandoned by the writers and reduced to an irrelevant punching bag. Regardless, this wasn't even advertised as a romance, but that didn't stop all the theories about him and lesbianism. The other is Kuuya, who was actually funny, but got shafted to the side alongside Kai eventually. On a related note to him, the orientation of the characters is another part of the series that is made unclear on purpose to lure viewers in who theorized about what I mentioned earlier. Then there is the mysterious kid which is something that P.A. Works often does in their projects: They put in a mysterious character that is mostly pointless and is there just to add "mystery." But maybe that spirit was always there since it was implied it's what caused the visions, though it's still tragic this spirit had 0 development.

The animation can be very nice, but the music is forgettable. It's sad to say that one of the few things that stood out was the background art.

The story is deeply rooted with what life working in an aquarium is like. The viewers will learn a lot about what it is and means to be an attendant. It isn't boringly educational; it is interesting at least. Subtly, however, Kukuru's life and struggle is often portrayed through the marine life. In relation to penguins, there is the quote "Someone who courageously takes on risks, like the first penguin that jumps into the water regardless of circumstances. It can be terrifying to be the first person to challenge something new, but once you do, the others will follow. A First Penguin has strength within them to have a positive impact on the people around them." Afterwards, Kukuru reassures the viewers after this quote that is about her is revealed by adding, "Someday, I want to have the courage to challenge myself to something new. I made those with that in mind". Though this is all good and well about her, it would be terribly executed in most of the second cour until the series picks itself back up around episode 20.

Fuuka is a failed idol who ran away from facing disgrace at home. She runs into Kukuru, and the two become best friends. Fuuka joins Kukuru in the Gama Gama, and eventually catches on as an attendant. Their story of friendship and support is all the series really had going after it abandoned the aquarium fantasy aspect, since nothing else seemed too interesting for the most part. The second cour would flip this as Kukuru would become the one in need of help. It's a friendship about uplifting each other after failures, comforting and supporting, overcoming, and ultimately learning to let go.

In the second cour, I understand what it is trying to do, but the series drags on far too long with being aimless, and Kukuru doing painfully boring office work. The viewers also felt the pain of how boring and uneventful this part of the series was. Kukuru would go into marketing, which obviously wasn't something she'd be good at for a while since the lack of that skill is why she couldn't raise money for new equipment for the Gama Gama. This was a futile attempt in the end to save it anyways. As ridiculous as it sounds, she just needed training that for whatever reason she didn't get. As a result, her boss, that hilariously calls her plankton, treats her harshly and expects a lot from her. Her boss is a man that though appears mean, is sincere and passionate about running aquariums, and the rest of the staff don't have too much of an issue with him. Regardless, his development was terribly done and he felt awkward and hollow. T-1000 has more emotion than him. Kukuru struggles and ultimately gives up as he never lowers his standards of her and always expects the best no matter how much he sees her struggling or coming up with bad ideas. She abandons her job and he still doesn't fire her. After some soul searching and support from Fuuka, Kukuru overcomes her flaws and comes back stronger.

I myself wanted to give up after episode 19, and it took me weeks to catch up to episodes 20-22. Amusingly enough, I grew up as a child often being taken to the same aquarium many times over those years. Going in, I always appreciated the aquatic life, how mysterious and beautiful it was, and the excitement of the exhibit where you could get a feel of the sea stars, orchids, etc. Because of this anime, I went back recently after so many years, and this series made me appreciate it a whole lot more. I stared at the huge tanks, remembered this series, and went through the memories of being there as a child.

Fortunately, it was these recent episodes that made the series much more enjoyable by this point. Now that the unnecessarily long "work is hard and painful" arc is over with the terrible "just slave away, you'll be rewarded some day" message, it moves back into Fuuka and Kukuru learning to let go as they have finally found some balance in their lives, partly thanks to their friendship. Fuuka had already accepted this, but Kukuru still struggled to at first. Previously, this had lead to Kukuru running away to a nearby aquarium where the sea turtles were about to hatch. I'm sure she saw herself in those turtles where only 1 in 5,000 make it, as they struggled towards their own goals of reaching the sea.

The ending was underwhelming and mostly didn't feel like one, but at least it was bit enjoyable. Besides how emotionally satisfying that meet up was, nothing else really felt meaningful, relevant, or that it really mattered, as most of this series felt that way.

There are a lot of anime that are ruined by queerbaiting, and Aquatope is another case of this.

This 24-episode-anime has a lot of scenarios, arcs and themes dedicated to develop the relationship of Fuuka and Misakino, being that the main focus of the story. A relationship developed in a way that, if one of the protagonists was male, they would certainly make this a romance. But, since it's two girls, they'll pretend that homoaffective relationships don't exist and force this as a friendship. Well, they actually do it with more than one couple, that makes it more bizarre.

First, I'll talk about the other aspects of ... Aquatope. Its setup is quite simple, a slice of life drama in a coastal small town that spends a significant time talking about aquariums and sea creatures. That's interesting, well, if you're a marine biologist.

Our protagonist Misakino has a plot of trying to pursue her dream and saving the family business. Her non-stopping dedication to fight destiny is what makes her a good, interesting protagonist. Our other main character is Fuuka, a girl who failed being an idol and is now questioning her path in life, so she encounters Misakino, a girl she finds really interesting and who gives her a job and a place to live.

"Sometimes the best way to solve your problems is to help someone else" - Uncle Iroh, Avatar.

Misakino and Fuuka meeting is shown as something fated to happen. Fuuka was ashamed of going home after being cast out of the idol group, and she didn't know what to do or where to go, so finding the Gama Gama Aquarium was a way to start over her life, since she also found a place to be and people she could be friends with, one of them being Misakino.

That one, differently from Fuuka, has ambition and dreams she thinks that will be achieved if she fights for. And that's what Fuuka also wanted to feel and have for her life, but she doesn't have it right now. And she admires Misakino and is interested on her as a person too. We see this construction leading to this being shown clearly after a few episodes.

In the first episodes we focus a lot on their work and that Fuuka is really trying hard to help Misakino and the aquarium. In episode 4, she realizes it. She is dedicating a lot to help Misakino because she wants to know more about her. And Misakino feels the same, and then we have a heartwarming scene of them becoming closer and understanding each other.

And after that they grow closer every episode. It’s really beautiful the way they care about each other, always sticking together no matter the situation and how they demonstrate affection by words and physical contact, teasing that they felt something more. Their relationship was being like this for 9 episodes, until they decided that Misakino saw Fuuka as her dead sister.

They wanted to portrait their relationship as something closer than simple friendship, but at the same time didn’t want to make them a couple because, well, anime producers seem to deny the existence of love between two girls a lot.

So they make Misakino never overcome the death of her parents and her unborn sister, and she starts saying that she likes Fuuka as a sister and wants her to be her sister. This is so weird to watch not only because of the context given but also because it’s unnatural, people in real life don’t talk like this.

And it goes further with Fuuka saying “I can be your big sister” you’re the same age, for god’s sake. So, they had all this development of their relationship, teasing a lot of times that they liked each other romantically to discard it and force them as friends, or “sisters”, call what you like. If one of them was a guy, it would need 10% of this development for the anime to throw them as a romantic pair.

Between the two guys of the anime, Kuuya and Kai, I also saw something like that in a minor level. Mainly Kuuya, who was shown as someone who never liked girls, rejecting someone interested on him for not liking her and later being bullied because of it until he dropped out of school. Not only that, he enjoys the company of men more, specially Kai, the one who understands him the most. And Kuuya will even blush and be timid while next to him, and say things like “drinking is better next to handsome men”. Queerbaiting. Well, this subplot was also discarded, as Kai was thrown as a love interest for Misakino that he barely had scenes with, and Kuuya was just left there.

Aside from the queerbaiting, that isn’t much to say. This anime is sometimes a drama, sometimes a feel-good story, but the arcs by themselves are very standard. Well, if Gama Gama’s supernatural effects and that red-haired kid were well-developed, maybe it would be better in that sense, but it isn’t.

The scenarios don’t actually matter, and you see this in the second half, when the characters change where they work and live and there is a lot of new people and situations in the series. Almost no one is interested on fish or aquariums, and it's not what drove the story either.

It's Misakino's pursuit of her dream, Fuuka's need to find herself and how these two grow close together, having a story of finding your soulmate. The relationships between these characters is what made this anime so special in the beginning. With them having disappointing endings it's just an empty shell of a story about marine biology.

Honestly, what is even the point? Even marine biologists watching this wouldn't like that much focus on their area. If it's just a dump of information without a story you'd rather watch a documentary.

The animation is good, and I like the artstyle. As for the sound, it didn’t have something out of the ordinary and the songs were okay. And the side characters were generally good in the beginning, but later on there were some that were really annoying. I also liked the cute scenes, even when afterwards they meant nothing.

Anyways, making Misakino and Fuuka girlfriends, or giving them a natural development of a friendship, wouldn’t make this anime a masterpiece worthy of a 10, but it would improve it a lot, since they were the main focus. That ending with them being like that and separated because of drama was just disappointing, and a waste of what could’ve been an amazing story.

Once again, if one of them was a guy they surely would've made them a couple.