Umi no Misaki

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It is not often that you'd come across an ecchi harem manga, where the main characters aren't afraid to follow-trough and express their affections for one another, just like any real couple in an actual relationship. Yet that is exactly the kind of manga you've stumbled across. Umi no Misaki being an Ecchi, Harem, Slice of Life, with a greater focus on the Romance to enhance its relaxing story; revolving around an island community, with its own ancient customs and cultural traditions.

Set in the radiant & lush island of Okitsu; a city boy named Nagi Goto travels to such an isolated rural environment, for ... both family reasons and to visit the "Ocean's Cape" his late mother talked about. It is there he meets a local girl, who he then becomes acquainted with, subsequent to a near-death incident. This is what kicks off a chain of events, whereby he eventually learns of the customs within Okitsu, which involves their traditions surrounding the island deity known as the "Dragon God". And Nagi eventually becomes a major part of it all.

This is what basically occurs during the 1st volume and the volumes that follow just further develop the story, in a slow yet more romantic sense. Now I must say that the romance that occurs in Umi no Misaki is quite remarkable for a harem and will keep a lot of readers hooked, even without much comedy or drama, which a lot of harems can't seem to do without. Even with its sluggish pacing and how it constantly skirts around the major issues, the mangaka seems afraid to address, the well done & tasteful romance is what makes this manga worth reading. Because beyond that, there isn't much to this harem's drawn out story.

Now for this to be recognized as a harem, a male protagonist is usually required and it comes in the form of our young adolescent/young adult (it's never really clear) Nagi Goto. In the beginning there’s not much to him or his personality, as Nagi feels just like one of those blank slates in the beginning of an average visual novel. However he quickly becomes very involved in the plot and to an extent, a rather charismatic character to both the readers and the girls.

The girls in question are not quite the one-dimensional, cardboard cut-outs, with labels like "dandere" & "tsundere" plastered on them. No instead of relying on such generic archetypes, they almost resemble actual girls (almost) that have been born and raised in a closed-off community and it's rather refreshing that it often shows things from their perspectives. The 3 main girls (Shizuku, Karin & Soyogi) all have contrasting personalities and it’s remarkable to see the effect Nagi has on each of them, over time. However it stumbles across the usual pitfalls of having interesting main characters and side characters that range from dull to plain annoying.

Yet one area this manga doesn't falter is in its incredible artwork, with a style that mixes realistic environments and stylistic characters. The scenery is beautifully drawn, with fine detail put into the building architecture, ocean waves and even the foliage. Whereas the characters are much more simple-looking yet well-drawn, with excellent facial expressions. Though their features can sometimes be out of proportion and the blushing cheeks tend look out of place and overdone, but I guess I'm just nitpicking here.

Overall Umi no Misaki is a harem manga I'll remember, not for its fanservice or generic scenarios filled with misunderstandings. But for the way it handled the romance, making it feel like a "true harem". Whereby the characters genuinely feel like they are in a relationship with one another and not just fumbling into each other. The whole island and its cultural traditions, isn't a unique concept in the story, but it is handled in quite the unique fashion and helps spice things up gives the romantic story some direction. Unfortunately the story lacks some much needed tension and even though it tries to shoehorn some towards the end, it comes across as rather sloppy and leads to a rather anti-climactic finish. Yet even with the way things drag on to a point that it could kill ones interest, I'll still recommend Umi no Misaki to anyone who enjoys a good romance or harem.

For 7 straight years, this manga continued its magical run until it got its formidable climax and conclusion.

Also for 7 straight years (or 7 days, AKA the time it took for me to finish reading it), we got the ugliest hairstyle of any male MC I've ever seen in my entire life. I've read over 10k chapters worth of shounen, romance, comedy, drama and action manga, and I've never seen a man with hair so unbelievably distracting that I wanted to snip them off myself through the screen.

But anyways, let's get to the actual review.

Story - 8
Umi no Misaki was as creative as it was ... powerful in its world-building and story progression. Seldom did I witness a chapter diverging away from the main plot, and even if it did, the next chapter ensured we were right back on track. This could've EASILY been a two-hundred-chapter manga if we slipped off the beautiful pace the story was written in. Additionally, the lore made things even more creative, especially compared to your typical harem rom-com. However, I felt that it definitely needed better foundations before being injected into the plot, as we didn't exactly get an answer on "WHY" Nagi was who he was (I'll avoid spoilers).

The story itself walked to a climax in linear fashion, making everything easy to follow. It was in this aforementioned climax where readers were thrown drama after drama, right in their faces; a satisfying experience for some, and a deteriorating read for others. I see both sides: a dramatic climax only enhances the already creative plot line, but it also runs the main happy atmosphere (established in the first half of the manga) completely off-course.

Finally, one thing I want to point out is that after the story’s climax, the conclusion is quite short-lived. A few more chapters to really linger out the resolution would’ve been a nice follow-up.

Art - 8
I’m not even going to jump back into the issue with Nagi’s hair. Like I said: grab a pair of scissors, and cut that sh*t off. I’ll focus on everything else now.

Fumizuki-sensei’s art is quite unique in the manga world. He draws his characters distinctively and with a unique style: larger eyes, detailed clothing, classic blush lines on the cheeks, and beautiful backdrops for scenery. The one component distracting me at times are the eyes - sometimes they may appear bigger than they need to be, but that’s a minor aspect (and obviously a preference-based comment).

Characters - 8
To sum this part up: there are both good and bad sides to describe, but the good outweighs the bad.

The good: I loved Nagi’s character development - it followed the pace of the story itself well. I could even argue that the story’s progression was dependent on Nagi’s growth (a regression coefficient of almost 1, if you will). While obviously his indecisiveness probably bothered readers as much as it did for me, his confidence visibly grew as the chapters went on, and - for someone traumatized by the typical indecisive “wimpy” male harem MC, Nagi was perfectly fine with me. Another thing I loved was the initial development of the three maidens (AKA Nagi’s harem). What started in hate, confusion or refusal quickly turned into love, and the maidens showed their growth exponentially near the beginning.

The bad: Depth of characters was alright, but breadth of characters went into the bin. Besides the introduction of Keiko (Mike) around the middle of the story, hardly anyone else got any spotlight. The supporting characters weren’t exactly there to add diversity, and Tama-chan didn’t get much screen time for an in-depth look into her past. Why is she so interested in island folklore? Where’s her conclusion in this story? Heck, what are the primary characters going to do in the long-term future as well?

Overall Enjoyment - 8
The most memorable moment for me was when I began reaching the climax. I couldn’t stop flipping through the chapters - the story dropped the ball on a wholesome and happy vibe, and completely flipped the script. It made me excited to see something different within the harem genre, on top of what was already a pretty interesting story.

Obviously the manga has its faults: a rushed conclusion without a look into a long-term road, lack of supporting characters, and some island lore that needed more foundations before jumping into action. Yet as a reader, the story was interesting none-the-less, and I genuinely think it deserves at least a 8/10.

Last but not least - sensei, please… don’t draw someone with Nagi’s hair ever again. Please.

Umi No Misaki is seemingly a simple tale about a young man arriving in a mysterious island with strange but beautiful customs, and his interactions with the islanders and specifically the Cape Maidens of the local religion, once his role as that religion's central figure is revealed.


However, that's where simplicity ends. Without spoiling too much, I will say that the plot is contrived, the characters mostly one-dimensional or outright caricatures, with the sole exception of the MC, Nagi, who is alright but nothing to write home about.
The art is mediocre at best. There was no aspect of this story or its presentation that captivated ... me at any point, hence my overall rating.

Umi No Misaki is a series drowning in disturbing implications, hiding under a veneer of cheer and optimism.

Moving on to spoilers.

Umi No Misaki is a harem manga that takes things up a notch or several from the typical harem protagonist who simply has all the girls like him. In Umi No Misaki, the protagonist is actually romantically and sexually involved with three girls at the same time, all of which are aware and approving.

I have no issue with the harem aspect, itself. In fact, I'd say this is one of the very few cases where a harem is not an issue. In Umi No Misaki, the three cape maidens are part of a cult and have been forcibly removed from their families and brainwashed since birth for exactly these events, so the setup is enough to explain their acceptance of the situation.

The characters themselves are ... disappointing. None of the main girls display more than one facet at a time, and generally have a single personality trait before falling in love with the MC and a single trait after. As I mentioned, the MC is alright. He's a good guy, not a moron, believably insecure but not stupidly so. It's a person that most guys remember from when they were 16-17, themselves.
I'm not going to talk about the three girls separately because they are cardboard cutouts whose small differences have little to no actual effect in the end. They're just there.

The character cast could have perhaps been salvaged if Kisaragi-sensei didn't exist. Kisaragi-sensei is a plot device, appearing at specific points to advance the plot in the most egregious manner possible, imparting 'wisdom' in the most invasive, rude way possible and with everyone just going along with it because the plot needs them to.
The worst part is that all the stuff Kisaragi-sensei forces people to realize could have been explored better without her and made for some interesting introspection.
Ignoring all that though, it was just so unbearably unrealistic for a person to be this way and act that way and still be treated the way she was that any immersion (or, indeed, respect) I had in the manga vanished. I couldn't ignore her either, she was everywhere.

And if you try to consider her as a character, she gets even worse. As the only responsible adult not part of a cult, she stands back and lets a murder suicide proceed, knowing it was going to happen. Any credibility she had, any respect or responsibility as a person and an adult is instantly gone.
"Wait, what?"you might ask. "Murder suicide in a harem manga?"

You see, the cult raises the girls from early on believing that whoever the dragon god (our protagonist) chooses, will have to be drowned along with him in order to ... appease the sea? Maintain prosperity? Or something? It's never explained. However, towards the end of the manga we're shown that some part of the cult is based on reality, as some actual supernatural events appear to be happening, expanding the MC's perception. Of course, it could be him finally buying into the whole thing and convincing himself but for the sake of argument, I'll accept the concept of the dragon god as an actual thing. Even with this, it turns out that the dragon god doesn't actually want child sacrifices. If you're a cultist, please try to contain your gasps of surprise.

The girls are being taken away from their families and brainwashed into sexual activities, suicide and murder. The kindly old grandmother of one of three girls oversees the whole proceedings. The outsider Kisaragi-sensei makes sure that everything goes on its merry way towards the murder suicide.

In the end, of course, our protagonist manages to find a new path, barely saving himself and one of the girls and dictating that, guess what, child sacrifice is kinda not cool and is no longer to be followed.

The author also felt the need to include pedophilia when suddenly the 9y/o sister of one of the girls realizes that she's the reincarnation of one of the past shrine maidens who did end up being drowned. Some quite disturbing images are produced from that. It's not like it ended up having any plot relevance, either. Just sorta sick.

The manga ends about as generically as can be, with the MC continuing life on the island among his three (four, if you count the pre-pubescent girl) girlfriends as everyone lives happily ever after.

Thought specific moments were cute or nice, there is no escaping the dark and disturbing concepts of murderous cult activities, sexually exploited underage children and some pedophilia mixed in there just because.

And if ever there was a chance for me to take this seriously or appreciate its good moments, there is always Kisaragi-sensei to ruin those, too.

3/10 for not terrible art, a normal MC and some -few- enjoyable moments.