Things change. Lol.
Story(7/10): I'm not gonna spoil anything, plus it's such a drag to write a synopsis on something most people here already know or are at least a bit familiar with. To be honest, I don't completely understand what the main plot in this series is. Is it saving the mermaids? Or defeating Gaito? Both? Idk, but I was engaged nonetheless. While it was entertaining, the series is 52 episodes long, so some of the pointless filler was not appreciated at all. Leave room for some character development. A lot of the time, I was left wondering what the main focus is, or thinking "where tf are they going with this?".
I also do not appreciate how half the series consisted of the main trio defeating their enemies, and they're all like "dammit I lose again! I will get youuuu".
Reminds me of Dora the Explorer, which is not a good thing. However, the parts of the show which consisted of actually rescuing the remaining princesses were really good. Good enough to save the rating from hitting a 5, which it could have.
Art(8/10): I feel that the characters were drawn really well. Transformation scenes were cool, as well as the design of the mermaids. I liked the vibrant colors, and the diversity of the characters' looks. Nothing wrong here.
Sound(6/10): One might say that this rating is a bit harsh considering how I quite enjoyed this anime and it's sound played a rather significant part in it. Yes the opening and ending themes are nice, and the character's voices are fine. The songs were pretty okay, for teen jpop from the early 2000's. I can say that an impressive effort was put into making each song sound different from the other (no shade there 'Idolm@ster' huh?). Heck, the villain songs were even better.
Given all this positivity, one would think that my rating would be higher, right?
WRONGGG. Here's why...
The songs were repetitive, and I mean REPETITIVE. The same song would be played for the next 10 or so episodes and when my computer has a problem buffering, it becomes my worst enemy. First two times, I'll jam to it. One would think that 100 times would be more than enough. Apparently not, for whoever produced this.
Also, there's something about the conversation part of the sound that puts me off. Maybe its the background music, which I hated btw. I dunno, it just sounded cheap.
Not very impressive.
Characters(2/10): Easily the worst thing about this anime. Main characters are boy-crazy idiots who seem to think with their feet and not their brains. I'm talking about Luchia and Hanon (Don't worry, Rina will get her chance to go completely OOC and blush every five seconds in the second season).
Anyways, if you add all the words spoken throughout the season, and subtract the names "Kaito" and "Tarou-chan" from the two girls' vocabulary, you will be left at about 10. Like come on, these girls were raised in a castle, so they should be expected to have at least a few ounces of dignity! Very painful to watch for the most part. The actual love interests are not very interesting either. The main guy, Kaito, although very important, makes me want to flip a table. You can't search for your mermaid, and lead on a human girl, who is in fact the one you've been looking for, but you aren't aware of that. In the end, he finds out the truth, and everything is all peaches and cream from then on, but here's my problem: why tf are all these characters so stupid?
Luchia has the same voice and necklace as your mermaid! And she's also obsessed with you. Take the hint and at least ask the girl. If she admits it, she won't have to suffer the consequences, and no one gets hurt, because you found out, and she didn't have to tell you. Ugh the cringe.
But then I remember, good decisions are not good for any plot.
Now the villains:
Even more stupid, especially when it comes to recognizing their enemies on land. No wonder they always lose. Their leader, Gaito is no better. He's lazy, and has no reason at all for the things he does do. And you expect me to feel sorry for him in the end because he was lonely? NAH!
Characters were awful. They stunk. I hated them. Bye.
Enjoyment(8/10): Hahaha, I enjoyed this anime for the wrong reasons. I like seeing people dumber than myself get themselves into situations for the dumbest reasons and use their "kawaii popstar powers" to get themselves out. Art was cool. The last three episodes were eventful. Characters sucked. But I enjoyed this.
Confused aren't ya? Hahaha, just go see for yourself. If you like shoujo anime, you'll get a kick out of this. If you are a fan of common sense and logic, as well as character development, I suggest you JUST DONT DO IT!
