The Aquatope On White Sand was in my opinion, a very good anime and I did sincerely enjoy watching it. It follows the two main characters Miyazawa Kukuru and Misakino Fuuka. Kukuru lives in Okinawa with her parents and manages Gama Gama Aquarium. Fuuka has just given up her dream of becoming an idol in Tokyo and to escape her mothers “cheer-up” party ses goes to Okinawa. Sleep deprived and dehydrated, she finds Gama Gama. After going through the aquarium like any regular visitor, she experiences one of Gama Gamas miracles. She soon stumbles upon Kukuru, where the two become quick friends and Fuuka decides she wants to work there for the summer. Kukuru allows Fuuka to stay with her where she helps Kukuru save her dream and the aquarium with it. It chases both of their dreams until they both seem to come together as one.
Characters
The characters for me, were on point. They actually had depth to them and throughout the story they were continually following their dreams and achieving what I would say, the viewer hoped for. I definitely enjoyed this a lot more due to the fact that, I would say, for most of my life, I have loved aquariums. I was able to relate to the characters, because going to an aquarium is honestly an amazing experience. Fuuka and Kukuru throughout the whole anime were constantly admiring the fish and couldn't get enough of them. That's what I felt/feel like when I go to an aquarium. Its definitely an experience like no other and this anime did a very good job at capturing that. There was also a hint of yuri mixed in with it, which for me, made it all the better. The characters were amazing through and through and even at the end you still see the same “spark” that was in them at the beginning.
Story
The story is amazing in the first half and I would say that for me there were no complaints. But as for the second half I would have imagined it better. In the first half everything is established, as a way of the characters slowly achieving their dreams and the hardships they occur while those happen. But at the start of the second half all of those seem to fall apart. While they are still chasing their dreams, it seems that new ones are jumped into that seem to kind of ruin the flow of what was previously established. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and in real life its more or less completely normal, they could've had a better way of expressing it. I feel like if they did a slower transition into it, it might've been a lot better, instead they just jumped right in. This made it feel a tad bit rushed and unneeded but on the other hand I feel like it kept the story going. Because while the first half was no doubt amazing, it was ever so slowly starting to lose its traction. So for me it kind of gave it the push it needed, even though that push may have been to big.
Animation
On the other hand the animation was phenomenal if I’m being honest. I mean it kinda had to be, if you're gonna make an anime that specifically revolves around the water, and fish, it's gotta be good. The fish looked amazing and I mean they looked better than real fish at some points. If they had just rushed it, you would be able to tell and this anime definitely would not have turned out as good as it did. You can tell that there was definitely hard work put into that and it made the anime just that much better because of it.
Music
Isnt really that much to say about music except they did a good job with it. They played the right music at the right times and I don't think they over or under did it. The music also definitely fit the theme/vibe of the anime as well.
So overall I think this was a beautiful anime, with a great cast and a great story that went along with it. While there were a few mistakes, I dont feel that it reduced the quality or experience you got from it. Loved it through and through and will definitely be going in my favorites.
Only Spoiler
Spoiler, click to view
Ep 24 was honestly amazing. It felt rushed but it was still very good and definitely came to a great conclusion. While they could have done more I feel that where they left it was good. Oh in episode 12, there was a poem by Kudo Naoka called “Endless Oceans” I thought it was really good, so I'll put it here -
_The briny ocean, born of human spirit, is endless, always overflowing.
The ocean mixes everything together, and the ocean remains the ocean.
Splashes of happiness melt away and become the ocean.
Lumps of sadness melt away and become the ocean.
Surprise, fear, shame, pride…all things melt away and become the ocean.
When a person peers into the ocean within, strangely, they find peace.
They find peace and they think to themselves:
‘See you tomorrow.’_
