Story 7/10
The premise of Nagi no Asakura is that humans originally began as sea dwellers, having a thin membrane called Ena around them that enabled them to breath underwater. However, some humans started settling on the surface where they discarded their Ena. Thus, two different communities were created. Our story beings in the underwater sea village Shioshishio. The local middle school is being closed for some reason, which results in four middle schoolers having to go to school on the surface. They face issues adjusting to the surface, and the interaction shown between them and the surface dwellers seems to be a very clear reflection of the differences between people of different cultures. They even have the equivalents of racial epithets; 'pig' for the land dwellers and 'fish' for the sea dwellers. With the basic synopsis out of the way, lets try to evaluate the story. The premise is quite unique, and the relations between the sea and surface dwellers, and their differences, provide an interesting dynamic in the start.
However, it seems as if the major plot developments only took place to make the already contrived love triangle(s?) even more contrived. Its more of a love hexagon than a triangle. Never have I seen or heard of such a messy and silly love triangle in any form of media. At a first glance, it seems that the anime wanted to drive home the message that change should be accepted, and that some things are beyond our control, but in the end the message devolved into shounen style antics which basically say that screaming and willpower can change anything and everything. The ending was conclusive as far as dramas and romances go.
Characters 5/10
While the anime has multiple main characters, Hikari is very obviously the protagonist. He gets the most screen time, and the viewer gets to hear his inner thoughts. The main reason I’m giving this anime such a low rating in the characters department is Hikari. Hikari was the typical stubborn, loudmouthed, determined protagonist that has been done to death in anime, and frankly, I find myself quite tired of them. The other characters weren’t bad, but they didn’t particularly stand out either, with almost every other main character having the annoying tendency to be a martyr for the sake of others, only to create more misunderstandings. Though Tsumugu did serve as a very good foil for Hikari. One thing very annoying in this anime about the main characters was that when a character would hear anything that they didn’t want to hear, they would … run away. It happened too many times to even count, and it ended up being extremely annoying . While I am aware of the fact that this is a fantasy anime, a drama relies on the characters and the interactions between them being realistic and natural. In this case, they were unrealistic, and felt quite unnatural . Who runs away at hearing something a little uncomfortable?! Yes, they pull it once or twice in drama heavy animes, but it was done wayyyy too many times here. One good thing about the main characters was that they weren't forgetful. Despite having so many main characters, it was surprisingly easy to keep track of them all. Furthermore, the side characters were great. They performed their role of aiding the character development of the main characters quite well.
Sound 8/10
The sound really made this anime seem better than it really was. While I found the rest of the soundtrack to be well done but forgetful, the first ending is one of the best endings that I have ever heard to an anime. During the first half, as the episode would near the end, you could hear the beginnings of this song and given the situation, it just went perfectly with the anime. The voice acting was pretty good though, although I personally found the voice for Manaka to be a bit too childlike and high pitched at times.
Art 8/10
The art was very colorful, and quite beautifully animated. I really liked the underwater sections. However, it was also a bit too cutesy, with the characters having very huge eyes, and the females having an inexplicable, constant blush on their cheeks.
Enjoyment 5/10
By the end, it became a chore to watch this anime. I had to finish it, because I was invested in the story, but I grew increasingly frustrated by the characters by each passing episode, especially by Hikari, which sucked since he was the main character. Oftentimes, it felt that the characters liked Hikari only because the plot required them to like him. I tried to like this anime, but I really couldn’t. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I regret watching this anime, watching it felt somewhat of a waste.
Overall 6/10
Nagi no Asukara is primarily a drama romance, with fantasy only existing to serve both these story elements. It had an interesting story , but the whole love hexagon felt pretty convoluted. There were many cliches in this anime that are unfortunately found way too often in dramas. It has some pretty art and interesting music which serves to make this anime look better than it actually is, but I found some parts of the story and a few character to be lacking in depth. It also suffered from poor pacing in the start. However, viewers who aren't annoyed by your typical protagonist, and generally like drama heavy romances will probably like this anime. I personally think that that the 8.43 avg rating this anime has on MAL is way too generous.
PS: Feel free to pm me if you think I missed something in the anime, or if there was something really wrong with the way I wrote this review
