Review of A Lull in the Sea

I've been recently watching a bit of PA Work's catalogue after loving Shirobako and now Kuromukuro from them. After also watching Kiznaiver this season, Okada's drama grew on me. NagiAsu, with its high rating and writing by Okada, seemed like a decent bet for me. Story (4/10) - Unfortunately I may have overestimated Okada's knack for drama in her earlier works. The story to NagiAsu is certainly an interesting one in theory. It has some compelling themes to explore such as racism, what it means to be an adult, and the value of loss that comes with love. The underwater townvs. the one on land is certainly a rare story that doesn't come up much either, so the show had a real solid setup for success. Unfortunately rather than actually exploring any of its themes in depth, or even explore the lore of such an interesting world, the show saw fit to wallow in teen melodrama and go no further. Compared to Kiznaiver though, it was uninteresting melodrama. I found the first 13 episodes rather difficult to get through because of this, and it wasn't until the 2nd half of the show that I actually found the story somewhat more mature and redeemable as it started to actually deal with some of its themes proper. It's a shame the entire show wasn't more like the last half, as I would have enjoyed it much more.

Art (10/10) - This is one area where NagiAsu absolutely shines and a big reason I kept watching. The backgrounds in this show are absolutely beautiful to behold. Just... stunning. If nothing else was to get your attention in this show, the art is really worth the price of admission. The animation itself isn't too bad, and some of the sea scenes really are quite pretty. I could literally pause some scenes and just sit there absorbing the backdrop for minutes on end. It really pulled you into the world and made you want to learn more about it, which makes it a damn shame that it wasn't explored enough.

Sound (7/10) - The music to this show wasn't anything spectacular, but it was competent at setting the mode and occasionally heart-warming and inspiring. I would often find myself leaving the OP on while I did other things so I could listen to it in the background before the show started in earnest. I was quite productive during it :P. Both the sub/dub are fairly good for this show with the VAs giving it their all, and the sound effects were quite engaging as well. The sea sound effects especially were enjoyable and often unique. That being said, I can't say anything from the sound design ever stood out for me.

Characters (5/10) - I have a difficult time rating this one, as I found some of the characters rather interesting (at least on the surface) and others absolutely irritating. A couple characters especially made it difficult to keep going at times with how frustrating they could be. Oftentimes they would act a certain way just to fit the archetype of their character without and logical reason for behaving as such. Many, many times the dialogue between them especially would falter and make them feel particularly unrelatable and inhuman, directly in opposition to the point of the story; however, occasionally there would be fleeting moments of some truly inspired script work. It was these moments that could occasionally touch your heart and I think why this show is as well-liked as it is. It isn't enough to prop the show up in my eyes, but I do appreciate the show for those rare moments. It may unintentionally have been one of the stronger points of the show, making the characters seem to accidentally have more depth than intended by the script. So often they'd come across as frustratingly stupid/naive children, even the adults, that when they finally managed to break-through to one another, a part of your heart couldn't help but be happy for them. I do think this show really did waste the potential of its characters though, in the same way that it mishandled the premise.

Enjoyment (5/10) - I enjoyed the last half more than the score I give this particular section belies (it really was an improvement), but unfortunately I can't forget that the first half existed. The ride was an interesting one, and I really enjoyed the gorgeous artwork and occasionally pleasing song, but I couldn't help but feel like the show was missing the mark by the end. It almost made me sad because I know this show could have been better, it *should* have been better.

Overall (6/10) - NagiAsu was a story of so much promise. Its premise was ripe with depth, its artwork begged for you to immerse yourself, the pleasant tunes entranced you, but unfortunately it all ended up just being mishandled. It was certainly still enjoyable by the end and I didn't feel like I had wasted my time, but I can't see what blew everyone away about this series either. I really feel like Okada was still trying to figure out her melodramatic writing style here and it shows. All that being said, I do think it was worth a watch still for most anime connoisseurs, especially if teen melodrama is your thing. If it isn't, just relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery and turn off your brain a bit.