This review is spoiler free.

In a year full of massive disappointment, hidden gems, and wonderful surprises, Aquatope manages to push through it all with its sheer... normality. It's a breath of fresh air after having watched so many shows with countless gimmicks, unworkable concepts, and disappointing characters. Aquatope is nothing groundbreaking, but it's exactly what it needs to be, and makes no attempt to be anything more.

First off, the cast is incredibly strong - each and every character strikes a perfect balance between uniqueness and relatability. It manages a fairly large group, between its two leads, several supporting cast members, and regularly reoccurring side characters. Despite this, none of the characters feel like they trounce another; each has their own purpose, their own personality, and bring their own skills and background to each scene. In terms of consistency, I'd go as far to say that Aquatope has the single strongest cast I've ever seen in a series, there's pretty much no bad characters here.

Even the characters who aren't immediately trying to be likeable or nice manage to find their way into my heart, because they're written so believably that you can begin to see their point of view. This is most obvious with a character like Chiyu, who is a single working mother and its easy to dismiss her rudeness once you find that out. But the same remains true for characters we never get backstories for, like Kaoru and the Assistant Director - both are excellent additions to the series that bolster the cast in ways it was previously lacking.

Obviously Kukuru (and to a slightly lesser extent Fuuka) steals the show - she reminds me a lot of Akko, my favorite character of all time, as both are reckless, devoted, and slightly selfish. Where the two differ is in their actual competence - Kukuru is a legitimately capable character which makes seeing her fail all the more emotional. And she fails a lot. Throughout the show we watch her sink deeper and deeper, and its through true friendship and hard work that she manages to swim back to the surface.

That's the thing: Aquatope's message is fairly basic and cliché, but I think the fact that it takes such a realistic and grounded approach to it makes it feel unique and fresh. There are obviously moments of dream-like wonder unfolding on screen, but those moments are few and because they're so fleeting they're extra magical. At no point, however, does it feel like things are just easy for the main characters. This isn't a fantasy story where everything goes right all the time. Both Kukuru and Fuuka are extremely hard working individuals, but even then both have to face fairly tough hardships and struggles. But it's never overly dark. It's never gritty, it's never depressing, it's never brutal, it's never raw. So many realistic stories get flaunted as such despite being overly grim and gross - how many times have you seen someone say something was realistically just because it had gore and sex? That's not at all how life really is, that's not what realism has to be, and Aquatope is a perfect example of that.

I must admit, I was a bit worried when I found out the show was going to be two cour. Add in a time-skip and marketing that omits one of the main characters from the key art and PVs, and I was sure that the series would stumble and falter like so many others this year. However, that is not even remotely the case - Aquatope's second half in my opinion is the stronger of the two, finally challenging Kukuru and Fuuka instead of holding their hands to the inevitable tragedy.

There are moments of happiness throughout the second cour, some cute and wholesome episodes full of carefree fun - but there's this lingering feeling that all of its going to crumble. It perfectly captures that feeling that I think many young people go through, or at the very least a feeling that I've been experiencing for the past couple years. Everything seems to be going well, I have lots of friends, I'm not broke or homeless, and for the most part I'm fairly happy. But there's that uncertainty of the future, there's this constant fear that everything could break away from one mistake, and I'm endlessly worried that my pretty little fish bowl will shatter, and I'll flounder and flail as I wash away.

But even then, I can't let myself drown. It's in those moments, where the shore looks so far away and you're fully ready to let yourself drift off to sea, that you truly discover who you are. Aquatope knows this, and over the course of its entire run builds up to it to show exactly how it happens, how everything can go wrong, and how everything can return. It isn't sugar coating it - life can suck, but if you stick with those you love, you can push through.

TL;DR: Aquatope is certainly not the best show to come out this year, but it's my favorite. I was expecting a fairly standard "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" show with some classic yuri bait, but it had none of that. Instead it was just a really solid depiction of young adult life. I'm sure I'll return to it at some point, and hopefully by then I'll have pushed through the waves to be my best self.

Also, there's only like 11 scenes with any jellyfish, so 0/100, worst show of 2021 and possibly ever.