Scattered Thoughts #5: Nagi no Asakura
####When my thoughts are too long for the notes section.
(Spoilers present in everything past “Should you watch.”)
 
It’s been almost a full year since I watched this. Here goes nothing.
 
#Should you watch?
Not exactly a top recommendation for a more casual viewer, but if you’re in the mood for a messy romance drama, this one might just be up your alley.

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Story: 7/10
First, let’s talk about the bad.

• Inconsistent worldbuilding. Throughout the runtime of the show, it was hard to ever get a sense of what exactly the wider world was like. Things like a weather forecast showing all of Japan and even the episode where the main group goes into a city explicitly show a larger world outside of the two central towns, one on land, one underwater, but this is never built upon. Either build on and use the world you’ve shown, or stick to the tale of two cities.
• Missed potential with parts of the story and theming. I was frankly impressed by the concept of, put wonderfully by other reviewers, “fish racism,” but was a little disappointed that it didn’t get fleshed out further in places it could have been, such as in the beginning arc with the protagonist group adjusting to the new school. Probably the most disappointing part for me personally, however, was that the show doesn’t commit to the emotional consequences it sets up. (Big spoiler!)

Spoiler, click to view

- Namely, when Manaka is sacrificed at the end of the first half, I thought, okay, it’s sad, but is thematically a really strong choice. And then she gets brought back. Okay, fine. And then it happens again, this time with Miuna. Come ON. I can’t believe this show made me wish characters I didn’t hate stayed dead (or in stasis, whatever).

- Extraordinarily frustrating romance, bordering on nonsensical. A love septagon is bad enough. Kaname’s confession legitimately made me Jose Mourinho. Past the first four characters in the love web, which I was perfectly fine with because it was natural, every addition after that felt like abrupt, shallow, or just plain stupid, added for the sake of more unnecessarily complicated relationships. The “final pairings” didn’t even make any sense except for the most obvious one. Maybe this could’ve been solved if the dead didn’t come back, who knows.

Now, the good.

• There are some really compelling thematic ideas throughout the story. Dealing with the differences between the two types of people was a fantastic theme: although, as mentioned before, it could’ve been pushed further, the conflicts that arose later on that involved this idea were solid. The dynamic of familial and romantic love, tradition versus the new, sacrifice for the sake of others—there’s quite a lot to ponder over.
• The time skip plot is pretty brilliant. To my knowledge, there aren’t too many stories that have touched on the concept in this way, and overall Nagi no Asakura does a commendable job with coming up with interesting interpersonal and internal conflicts that arise from this time skip. Granted, as mentioned before, I was disappointed that the show didn’t commit to the “sacrifices” I thought it was going to stick to, but nevertheless this was an intriguing story setup that I thoroughly appreciated.

While it seems like overall I’m mostly dunking on the story, I honestly think it was still enjoyable as a drama. Often frustrating, sure, but I think the ideas the story explored make up for it somewhat. If I had to sum it up, on the macro level Nagi no Asakura’s story is good and could’ve definitely been excellent, but it fails in several aspects on the micro level.

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Characters: 7/10
The strengths and weaknesses of the characters definitely goes hand in hand with those of the story. On one hand, you have some beautifully conflicted characters, main and side, who are challenged to make the tough choices and grow from it. On the other hand, you also have the characters responsible for instigating some of the weird romance, or ones with arcs and motivations that feel somewhat ham-fisted, or both—again, highs and lows.

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Visuals: 9/10
P.A. Works did quite a good job. The animation style almost has a sort of “sheen” to it, and it works wonders for the seaside setting of the show. Although the animation quality is certainly good, with gorgeous-looking scenes throughout, it also does have a fair share of not-as-good moments upon closer inspection. One point that I will certainly give is the character designs and style, which are fantastic.

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Audio: 10/10
I discovered this anime through its second OP, in a great remix played by Porter Robinson in a DJ set during the pandemic. Fittingly, on the audio front, Nagi no Asakura does not disappoint. The OPs and EDs are wonderful. The OST is beautiful, sometimes hauntingly so. The audio design is also impressive, particularly with its attention to detail: I distinctly remember the soft effects and light echo of the characters walking and talking on the sandy floor of the ocean, in moments of both joy and solemnity.

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Enjoyment: 7/10
It’s difficult to describe this as anything else but an odd mix of genuinely emotional and powerful story beats with unfortunately frustrating, head-scratching moments. Although I did enjoy it, the number of times I had to pause the episode, take my headphones off, and spend a minute facepalming is a little too much to justify above a 7.

Overall: 8.0/10

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####If you’re curious on how I rate, I have a short explanation on my profile, or a much longer, more thorough write-up here.

####I’m always open to debate and discussion, so feel free to message me on AL or Discord (PocketJoker#7740) if you want to agree or disagree.