"A young boy gets saved from drowning by a mermaid but according to mermaid law, if a human sees a mermaid's true form, both are to executed. The only solution to the problem is for him to marry her and become part of the mermaid family."
General Thoughts: I enjoyed this as an anime. It was pretty good. I think the anime got better as it went on and the conclusion was engaging and thrilling. The manga... I didn't finish because there were so many cliches and it wasn't going anywhere. Once I got into the "I'm forced to work in a Maid Cafe" and it went on for an entire volume, I just put it down.
<< Spoilers Beyond This Point>>
Plot: I think it has a promising storyline. Sun has to go live Nagasumi and be his bride and not get found out that she's a mermaid. Things get worse for Nagasumi when all of her yakuza family starts teaching at their school. What get could more entertaining than that? It had so much promise, but then got to the point where the writer probably didn't know what else to do and it floundered hard. I read on for a while after I wanted to quit, but it just kept going in this maid cafe and just wasn't funny anymore. The humor got lost and I just needed to stop.
Setting: The setting wasn't a really important part of the story so it wasn't given much development. The under-the-sea moments and development could have worked really well, but they let it slide. The other parts on land were a typical Shoujo or Shonen in Japan, sometimes visiting Tokyo or Kyoto, but nothing spectacular.
Characters: I like the fact that Nagasumi tries hard not to be a perverted teenage boy, but I can understand why he fails at times. Sun is alright and I like the rivalry between her and Lunar. (The music in the anime is really good.) Chimp is obnoxious and Lunar is kind of annoying. Neither of them have super redeeming qualities in my opinion. The Seto Gang is kind of funny, but they lost a lot of their humor as the story went on.
Spice: 3/5 Spicy Chilis. I'm putting this one here because panty shots, boob grabs, and "oh no I fell on you in an awkward position" happens often enough to be annoying. There are also moments that are rather inappropriate where he has to help the girls clean off their fins, but it looks like he's touching their butts or touching them inappropriately. The Fan Service is annoying.
Writing/Illustration Style: The illustrations weren't particularly amazing. It's an older style of illustration and it didn't particularly age well. And the narration was bland.
Overall: If I felt inclined to have this story again, I'd go for the anime and leave the manga by the wayside. I didn't get far enough (though quite a few volumes in) for it to get good in the manga. The anime had a better overarching theme of "what would I really do for her?" whereas the manga lacked and floundered. It drowned with no mermaid to actually save it.
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