Now it's been a while and I'm sure you missed me explaining my thoughts on Romance to you guys, but I feel it's appropriate. Romance to me has to be done perfectly, or I won't like it. I'll respect it, but I won't praise it anymore than it should. So if I review an anime where two main characters obviously fall for one another and you know how the series ends I won't give that section a good review. So with that being said let's talk about this anime's romance in particular.
Nagi has a very straight forward romance. It's got a very basic love story, but what it introduces is the weirdest love.... pentagon? (Would that be the right word?) I don't know. This is the biggest downfall of the series. It's hard trying to keep up with who loves who, and who has another person to fall back on if they get rejected. It's an original concept I guess, since I've never seen a love story this entangled in emotion and confusion. Watching it was like trying to play Elite Dangerous without autopilot. At moments you get your ship steady, but sooner or later you're going to go spinning in circles and get really confused again. That's the romance in Nagi to a T. Now, is it absolutely the worst? No, I think you could easily sit and watch this and have fun with it.. you also get bonus points if you bring a girlfriend/boyfriend along with you. It's romantic atmosphere really can be appreciated by everyone though. When you aren't confused you kinda can see yourself in some of these characters. If you've ever been hopelessly in love with someone when you were younger you will connect to this series. Obviously, these characters get the unrealistic anime trope ending, but you still relate to those feelings.
So next up let's talk about animation. The animation in Nagi is extraordinary. It's simply eye candy to the eyes and it's all very natural for this anime style. We do have the obvious art tropes with this too. For example, all the characters are insanely beautiful. This obviously isn't a problem, but for this anime in particular the characters are all so attractive that I've ditched real women all together... I'm 100% lines now...hawt! Besides the characters, the scenery is inanely gorgeous. It's like watching a painting come to life. The simple look of the backdrops are insanely detailed. Not as much as a Miyazaki film, but they're damn close. There are also not a lot of panning backdrops, at least not from what I noticed.
What about those tunes? I'm glad to report it's all good. The tunes in the first half is easily what makes the series special. You get calm songs, while at the same time you can feel the emotion and intent behind them. It adds to the romance sub-plot a little in the first half as well. Other than that the second half is either ambient or it's full boar on the string tugging. It's got a lot of soul put into it, and a lot of care where it was placed. If it has a soundtrack I would pick it up if you enjoyed the anime enough. It's not something everyone can get ahold of though. You need to be really into the story and have emotional connection to consider it a purchase.
Overall Nagi no Asukara is special. It's got it's flaws, but that's what makes it so special. Like Angel Beats or Attack on Titan, the flaws in a way help it remain fresh and new. Which is great, because you can watch this on Crunchyroll for free. The Characters are almost blank states at point and are the weakest point to be honest. The story helps flesh them out a lot, but the music helps push their motives forward in dramatic scenes. It also helps that the visuals are insanely beautiful. They remind me of Miyasaki, but in a weird way where you can sense that they used some techniques he made popular. Overall Nagi no Asukara is something you don't want to miss. Nagi no Asukara easily bags an 8/10.
