Review of A Lull in the Sea

I watched the series nearly a year ago after reading rave reviews. This was my first P.A. Works anime, and I came in with high-ish expectations that were crushed both quickly and dismally. Some spoilers ahead. Story / World-building (4/10): By and large, the biggest disappointment. Let's start with the world-building: the concept of Nagi no Asukara was definitely intriguing; an underwater community directly adjacent but socially barred from mainland community. Naturally, this opens an opportunity for great world-building and a chance to see a unique take on unfamiliar territory. Unfortunately, nothing is really unfamiliar. The underwater community of Shioshishio almost has no difference with the land world. Itis literally a regular human town - just underwater. The residents have no fishy traits and look like normal land people - just underwater. After a while, it really seems that the only other marker constantly reminding you that Shioshishio is "different" is the constant narrated callback to imposed social barriers.

Next, the plot. The chosen heroes are young children from both Shioshishio and land world. Their fates are tied to the ancient origins of their homes. Normally, this can make for a compelling plot, but the way the series inputted typical slice-of-life with homespun myth and magic just...wasn't satisfying. If anything, I found it melodramatic and at times senseless. The "impending doom" scenario loses its edge. The twists and turns in the plot are presented in a predictable manner; at times, they even seem overly convenient (the end of the first arc and the beginning of second arc was particularly unappealing, even a little confusing). How things "work out" is even more lackluster.

Another major downfall was the **heavy** emphasis on the romantic notions all throughout the series. Never mind the fact that these are children in puberty - the series' take on romance is, in a word, absolutely infuriating. The standard average of the love triangle takes on more dimensions as it turns out everyone in the hero-group has feelings for, you guessed it, the person that doesn't seem romantically interested in him/her. As you observe how the "romantic gestures" are carried out, you might, like me, become angrier at how incredibly shallow, hackneyed, or annoying many of them are. This will be explained more in the "character" section.

All in all, story had great potential, but was not carried out in a way that shows the same level of promise as its concept.

Art (8/10):
The visuals are wonderful. The landscapes and environments glitter and glow. Character visuals are fine and animation is great. P.A. Works seems to have a trend in producing fantastic art.

Sound (9/10):
Fantastic; the soundtrack is my favorite part of the series and its variety is wonderful. You should definitely give the OST a listen even if you choose not to watch the series.

Character (3-4/10):
Whew, okay. This is where most of my upset with the series comes from. Usually, when I watch any anime, there is at least **one** character that I genuinely like or can at least empathize with. Unfortunately, I did not find myself feeling this connection with ANY character in Nagi-Asu.

Each of the protagonists just has some deep flaw that seriously mess with how they interact with each other. Hikari loves Manaka but is in crucial need of anger management classes along with an ego-relief. Manaka is clumsy, silly, frail - another damsel in distress type with nothing much to offer. Kaname is kind and keeps his feelings to himself, which apparently gives him the boot in terms of romantic pursuit. Chisaki is annoying and desperate and her priorities are not well-placed. Tsumugu is a silent and stoic rock which automatically means he must catch the feelings of some foolish girl.

I supported no one in their romances because of how the set romantic pairs interacted with each other. The depths of their innocent friendship is bludgeoned by the frantic pressure of hormonal interests and consistent indecision - while this may be acceptable in some romance anime, it was plainly frustrating to see it played out by the Nagi-Asu characters. Yes, feelings can be confusing, but my goodness they do not have to be as complicated as they appear in Nagi-Asu.

Miuna and Sayu are no different. They first showed up as younger, bitter brats and, by stroke of narrative magic, are shown in the 2nd season at the same age as their respective romantic interests. How wonderfully convenient that time worked in their favor - by progressing for the two girls, and stopping for their boy crushes. Their antics in the 2nd season are unremarkable. Miuna especially felt like a wrench thrown into the love polygon; I disliked her the most because she received so much emphasis as a "side-liner" that you're supposed to sympathize with. I did not at all.

All in all, characters felt one-dimensional and none of them had appealing personalities. No character was really fleshed out in a way that made me appreciate them on a real level. For the most part, their unwavering annoying behavior was all that I saw in them.

Enjoyment (3/10):
I watched the whole series out of both a sense of duty and deep frustration. I just wanted things to play out okay, and was hoping that with each episode SOMETHING will change my opinion of anything. Well, nothing like that really happened.

I did not feel good watching throughout, and did not feel satisfied at the end.

Last comments:
Overall, I can sum up my experience with Nagi-Asu in two words: exhausting and frustrating. The melodrama was painful. The romance was awful. The story was disappointing. Only the art and sound gets points from me, which is sad, because I don't want to contain my positive opinions of any anime to just these two aspects. I believe the biggest issue is with the characters that are chosen to be the bearers of the story. I felt the same way with another PA Works anime, Hanasaku Iroha - beautiful art, but characters lack appeal.

But, this is just my personal take. Perhaps you will more things enjoyable and delightful in Nagi-Asu that I either ignored or couldn't see in my blind rage.