Review of A Lull in the Sea

P.A works is a well respected anime studio with their ability to create original anime that is not a light novel adaptation like many other studios ( *cough* A1 *cough*) such as sakura quest, shirobako and angel beats. The anime which I will be reviewing today “Nagi No Asukara” (A Lull In The Sea) is no exception with the original story from the studio and an amazing anime overall. Nagi No Asukara (Or NagiAsu from now on) is a story which follows the story of our 4 core characters: Hikari Sakishima, Manaka Mukaido, Chisaki Hiradaira and Kaname Isaki that lives in a village under the seacalled Shioshishio that are forced to study in a school on the surface after their school was forced to shut down. You could say this is a coming of age story with a love HEXAGON relationship but eventhough this is probably one of the most complicated love drama I’ve seen in a long time, P.A Works did this drama right.

Unlike most drama, NagiAsu is one of the few drama anime that I feel attached to every character (except for the extras of course lol). P.A Works has made every character have enough screentime to help develop their character and make us feel closer to them, to know about their feelings and thoughts. This makes the anime has multiple leads with their own story not just one protagonist like most anime. The pacing in the first few episodes was a bit slow but it was to focus on the world-building aspect of the anime, how everything works, the story behind the Sea God, Shioshishio and the town on the surface.

The animation of NagiAsu is phenomenal, within 5 mins of watching the first episode, I was completely in awe of the world that P.A Works have made, the character animation they made is really solid throughout and the water animation was great as well. I really love the attention to details in this anime. Though most people won’t notice it but besides the animation, the sound element plays a pivotal point in the story progression as well. The echo that every character makes under water, the piano, guitar OST of the anime, etc. At first, I skipped the opening and ending sequence, however, the OPs/EDs grew on me after time and became more emotional the more I watch through it.

Overall, this anime is for people want to see beautiful scenery and a drama anime that was done right. It utilized many elements of anime to make the viewers connect to the characters, making them feel for the characters, not only just the main characters but for the world the people living in it.