Funny enough I got the idea of this review from my friend Gallad, that wrote one of the funniest reviews I've read in a while, and there it is explained *why you should also read the manga* but here I will try to explain why you should, or could, start directly from the manga because in this manga I saw something that very few times I saw in other works which is hard to put into words.
I will put my hands ahead and I will say that I especially know what it means to have to do deal with a disabled person, because my dad has been living on a wheelchair since more than 20 years, and this manga was special for this aspect; for how it shows how someone like that can see the world.
Embrace a sea full of fishes.
The first volume was extremely bright and shiny, it was like watching a wholesome romance slice of life with the nice addition of these two characters that are so different yet complete each other. It was magnificent to see Josee's struggles in the everyday life and it gives an idea of how tough it must've been for her to live such a hard life; on the other hand there was Tsuneo experiencing for the first time her struggles and seeing him defending and helping her really warmed my heart.
Then there is the second volume that completely changes the direction of the manga and goes extremely dark and depressing where everyone is down in terms of emotions and this left in me a big sadness while reading it because you cannot feel the same pace, the same engaging one, of the first volume that kept me smiling all the way to the end of the first volume; however it is not a bad thing if you ask me because the product of this choice brings some incredible final chapters that are written on my heart : the sides got almost completely swapped and Josee grew up a lot in the time and became strong, a lot strong.
As well I am giving some extra words to the side characters because I felt like they were good enough for the pages left and for what the story was meant to be, especially if I take Mai in consideration because the bozo gave a massive help in continuing the second volume, and as well Josee's grandma was really a one of a kind.
It took me some time to understand the title of the manga but once that I got it my love for it only increased : Josee is a fish in a vast sea populated by tigers, and the tigers shouldn't be in the sea that belongs to the fish Josee and yet they are there scaring her off.
And this brings us to the next section of this review.
He replied to me stating that he is different physically, of course, but mentally he is not which comes really obvious from our point of view, why would they ever? However in the manga it is shown differently because Josee gets treated poorly by almost everyone, even Tsuneo, because she needs special help and cannot be like us all.
"There are many things that I would love to do but I cannot" and here, right here, it's the essence of the work because Josee cannot live as she would love to because she wants to travel, explore, experience and feel new things : she wants to know the taste of the water of the sea, she wants to visit the zoo and she has dreams; but everything is blocked from being forced to live in a condition that forces you to need the help of someone or something else, most of the times, which is mentally devastating. I could also touch how poorly your health degrades but it is not the point but just an extra to show how is this life.
"But I am sure that we are some of the toughest people on this planet" and nothing else is more true because it takes an insane amount of soul to overcome these things, as well it takes a lot of strength to accept everything. It was interesting and fun to see how Josee behaved with Tsuneo because they are completely different, from body to brain. The second volume of the manga was completely different from the first and a completely grown up Josee, with a greater mental strength, took over her life and managed to reach not every dream but a big one, a massive one, and it's not something that should be ignored.
In fact, going back to the title, it is appropriate to show the disabled people as fishes and the "normal" ones as tigers because as a normal reaction we are likely to stare at someone like Josee and question us what is going on, who is that person and how did they get in those conditions; and on the disabled's side is is truly devastating to be seen this way and not as a normal person and they feel different, like fish, because the scary normal ones, the tigers, think different of them.
And it is not fair.
To be fair this review is completely different from what I initially expected and even wanted but actually I am really happy with this final result because I managed to speak about the manga itself and also speak about what I think it wants to tell us.
Very few times I've fallen in love this much with a work and Josee truly conquered my heart.
Personal scores :
Story : 8.5/10
Characters : 10/10
Arts : 9/10
Personal enjoyment : 10/10