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「海の色。大地の色。風の色。心の色。君の色。～Earth color of a calm～」 (Umi no Iro. Daichi no Iro. Kaze no Iro. Kokoro no Iro. Kimi no Iro. ~Earth color of a calm~)
“The Color of the Sea. The Color of the Earth. The Color of the Wind. The Color of the Heart. Your Color. ~Earth color of a calm~”
At last, the lull lifts…
As I sit here pondering all the little nuances of this series, a show I’ve been following for about half a year, I can’t help but feel that was a pretty fitting end in some ways, even if the details might irk here and there for certain parties. I can easily imagine both Miuna and Manaka shippers feeling a little shortchanged (or not, depends on how you take the developments), and I can definitely see how some people would feel discontent about the fairly convenient plot devices used in wrapping the story up. But really, subtlety was never this series’ major strongpoint, and what it had it more or less abandoned by the second half. The last episode basically boiled down to the answer to Manaka’s predicament: is it better to forget about love and its associated pains or is the feeling of loving worthwhile no matter what?
Nagi would argue that yes, it is better to have love and lost. The theme is constantly hammered through in this finale, from the Ojoshi-sama’s story to Manaka and Miuna’s sacrifices and explanations. To love is a wonderful thing, they say, and it’s rather fitting in that sense that Miuna does not get her love reciprocated but moves forward regardless. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel a little annoyed at the convenience in the Ojoshi-sama’s story. It was heartwarming, and hugely interesting (I’ve been dying to see and hear more about the Sea God and his mythos for ages), but I do have to ask if it was necessary to make her reciprocate the Sea God’s feelings at the last minute, especially when we’ve heard relatively little from her in the first place. It’s little conveniences like these (seems all the mixed kids now have Ena too) that didn’t make for top-form storytelling; yet despite this, it still feels like Nagiasu through and through, for better or worse.
There are lots of good things too. Scenery porn aside (which has been consistently gorgeous), this episode didn’t trample too much on the emotions of the piece. Hikari never stopped loving Manaka despite understanding Miuna’s feelings, and though he is desperate to save her, it isn’t out of his character in the least. The return of Manaka’s love and affections felt quite resonant as well, and it was like the color flooding back in at seeing her be her old self once more. Even the Ojoshi-sama’s story, and particularly Uroko-sama’s reactions, held a fair amount of emotional depth. So much so, in fact, that I really do feel that we needed more from that particular camp during the course of the series. Regardless, it was an effective aside and added nicely to the overall theme and presentation of what this finale wanted to be.
It is a bit sad to see the series end after being with it so long, and it can be, for some, a shame to see it slip away from the narrative opportunities they hoped they would see. For others, the finale was everything promised, beautiful and meaningful in its own way. I see it as a bit of both. I do wish some things, like the mythos and impending crisis, were expanded on more in the second half, but I can also accept and appreciate what the series actually became. At the end, seeing Manaka and Hikari discuss the impermance of life and change, I feel satisfied, and that is a merit in and of its own.
Epilogue:
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Final Impressions:
Nagi no Asukara has been a special series for me as a blogger. This has been my first two-cour series on Random Curiosity (as well as the series which marks a full year since I first wrote here), and the first series I have covered here which has held a significant emotional and dramatic pull on me. From the beginning, I was entranced by the sheer beauty of the series, of the apparent simplicity in its premise and lovely world and character building. As Hikari and the others developed in the first half, I grew more and more invested, and more interested in the larger plot at hand. While I, like many others, felt some dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the time skip and the second half, I don’t think I could the experience as a whole as negative in the least. I do express regret at the focus on Miuna and her pining for Hikari, not because it was a bad decision, but because it cut off attention from the larger plot and the development of the sea kiddos in the first half.
There’s nothing wrong in having new characters with their own problems, but it felt like it dragged on sometimes and didn’t introduce many new developments or changes. As Zephyr-senpai said, it’s the “lull” of the title; yet, I do wish there had been a step further with those threads of narrative. I think the series had the ability to reach a greater level of depth and emotional growth for everyone involved, even with the time change, but it didn’t take that risk. Instead, it spent time entrenching those themes it had already set forth, but without necessarily leading them to new places. That split opinions, including my own, but in the end, the fact is that the series is what it is, and you have to take it for what it is than what it could have been. In that sense, the series stayed true to itself, even if it was less satisfying as a result for some.
Despite that, I think I enjoyed Nagi greatly, and though I did hope to see more of the mythos, and more character development, I am still very happy with Hikari’s character and with the world building. The charm and beauty of the series won me over, even if the story was not quite at its zenith, and I hope most of us who invested the time were rewarded in one way or another. After all, it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, right?
A beautiful ending to a beautiful series. This was hands down the best anime of Fall 2013.
This episode is the reason why I love P.A. Works so much. They are very consistent with their work, there is never a drop in quality, both graphic and story.
PS. I really really hoped Miuna ended up with Hikari, though. 🙁
I never really expected Miuna to end up with Hikari, but I always loved her and hoped that she would get a happy ending. Thankfully, she did.
I hoped so too! They were so cute.
And Miuna even “kissed” him xD!
If that’s how you wanna take it then Chisaki and Manaka kissed too. (｀∇´)
This summed up my feelings on the end of Nagi no Asukara. I can see the cliche but truth that is “all good things must come to an end” relating to your words, Kairi. For myself, I have no regrets and am a proud viewer to have watched such a wonderful series.
So sad to see this anime go.
Its personally been a favorite of mine since it started. I was just so into it.
I loved the ending, I loved this episode. It was just so heart warming and really touching.
This is definitely will be a series that will always be special to me and I can easily see myself sitting down watching it all over in like a marathon aha.
This was a fitting end to my favorite series from Fall 2013! It wasn’t the masterpiece that it could have possibly be, but it was a very shiny gem nonetheless. Thanks a lot for your continuous coverage Kairi; I enjoyed reading your daily blogging. Now onto Spring!
Actually, weekly* blogging!
Too much Red Herring in earlier episode.
Ep1 :
“I had witnessed it…”
“The moment when two people have…”
“their special first meeting.”
Ep4 :
Uroko-sama : I know,Lord Sea God.We can’t hand over the people of the sea to the surface “just yet.”
All this time Manaka always blushed for that guy.
.
.
So,I got it all wrong.
Fluctuat, nec mergitur. – Waves toss it, but it doesn’t sink. – Latin proverb.
This is how I can in shortest describe the series. Ship’s metaphore is especially apt when we consider the series description of love “being like the sea”. This means, sometimes calm, sometimes roaring waves, and always full of deep currents under the surface. This also means, love is always in motion, and sometimes can change it’s direction.
It took 26 episodes to disentangle what looked like Battle of Lepanto – a mess of opposing ships fighting desperately for victory. I was actually quite surprised when battered and bruised Hikari X Manaka emerged from the gunsmoke. In the hindsight we could probably have seen the sturdy hull in the first episodes…
Tsumugu X Chisaki and Kaname X Sayu on the other hand were actually sailing steadily to port for few last episodes. One was result of feelings changing steadily during 5 years of ostensibly non-amorous cohabitation, another result of Sayu stubbornly refusing to give up her childhood crush and the convenient time-skip giving her chance to win.
Miuna was always fighting uphill considering extent of ties between Hikari and Manaka, but my hat is off to her for her noble way of supporting both of them. Even when she had some quite natural egoistic thoughts she suppressed them ruthlessly. May she find another love, this guy who confessed to her seems decent enough, and it seems he still didn’t gave up HIS ship.
Last but not least, let’s honour brave little ship Akira X Namaka. It arrived late to the fray, and it went down quickly, but what a courage it has displayed, attacking frontally ALL the ships involving Namaka and probably giving another push to Namaka getting her feelings back.
I started with liking this anime a lot and labeling it the best in 2013 but now I take it back, I think it was a disappointing anime, so I don’t really want to say anything.
Didn’t expect them to use another yanaginagi song for the last episode. Glad I liked the song already. Great endings are always nice, and this show deserves a thumbs up from me…
i probably am one of the few who aren’t disappointed because it didn’t end the way i hoped for, probably because i wasn’t expecting to see a particular ending at all.
@Kairi
I actually find this an interesting twist, mainly because i have always interpreted the Ojoshi-sama myth on a more figurative level. It’s not that the Sea God is some guy who is afraid of change. In fact, he represents change. So. the Ojoshi acknowledging that she cherished her time with him is more of her saying that, yes she has always been willing to accept change, which neatly ties up to the series’ theme of change coming whether you like it or not, and people can always happily embrace it.
For my part, i actually find it great that the writers left this, as well as the world building, for the audience’s imagination to continue, cause it really opens up a lot of different ways of viewing the story, an exercise that i am always delighted to get into. In my case, I have always seen the Sea God not as a deity solely confined to Shioshishio, but encompasses this world as a whole. Thus, i see NagiAsu’s story as just one of the many stories occuring in this world, and the “miracle” made by hikari and co in this ep is not just their working, but also of the countless others around this world who shared their belief. that mindset actually makes this a very gratifying ending to me.
So I get that the Ojoshi-sama was reciprocating the Sea God’s feelings. What I don’t understand then is, why was she crying supposedly about wanting to return to the surface world? Was that just her old self coming back from time to time, to which the Sea God ultimately overreacted to?
She probably loved both?
So even though she did come to love her current life, she had moments of nostalgia and “what if”.
I am probably in the minority and loved the ending. It wasn’t what I initially wanted and certainly wasn’t what I expected (like a good number of fellow viewers I think, I wanted there to be something more concrete in the relationships like a kiss, an official title to their relationships etc that kind of thing)but the whole time I watched the episode, I just found myself smiling and loving how well it tied everything up: humans and sea people can now procreate together, canon pairings are loosely established with everyone being happy (even Miuna moved on) and my favourite was definitely the sea god’s story.
Cheesy? Perhaps. But I for one, loved that the sea god was revealed to not be some jealous antagonist and was actually willing to let go of ojoshi-sama. It definitely wasn’t the right thing to do (ie erasing her feelings of love) but it was well intentioned and quite selfless. In a way, it mirrored the actions of Hikari towards Manaka in that both Hikari and the sea god were willing to let go in order to see their loved ones happy (Hikari telling Manaka that he’ll support her even if she loves Tsumugu). And in the end, it turned out that their respective love interests loved them all along, but the whole theme of growth and change is demonstrated here, in that Hikari gets Manaka back and realises her feelings unlike the Sea God, who never realises until it is too late. Uroko’s confession at the end was just so bittersweet in that he says he’ll love ojoshi-sama forever regardless.
I agree that the biggest shame was that the world wasn’t explored more since it is fascinating, but all in all, I felt it was a very satisfying way to end things. It was nice to see Hikari grow again at the end, with the revelation that having change and having no change are both good things – there is no need to rush in his relationship with Manaka, and having the choice is a form of freedom in itself.
Oddly enough I still love this series despite it’s flaws. Sometimes nagi-asu made it hard but I could honestly not stop anticipating the next episode.
The ending may not have been 100% satisfying but you can’t deny, that a series that enjoys making itself as bittersweet as possible, this ep. was simply sweet 😉
I nominate Hikari as best MC of the year. He’s grown so much throughout this series.
Hmm…
So:
Hikari – knows Miuna loves him and that Manaka too. He loves Manaka but recognizes that things might change and that he’s okay with it.
Manaka – likes Hikari
Miuna – still loves Hikari and is still trying to forget him in favor of Manaka
Tsumugu – loves Chisaki
Chisaki – loves Tsumugu but hasn’t denied that she’s forgotten how she felt for Hikari(and we may never hear the end of it)
Kaname – still likes Chisaki but looks properly at Sayu now
Sayu – still likes Kaname
I don’t know. It’s kinda all wishy-washy ending, what’s with Hikari looking too much at the future and accepting any possible changes.
Let’s hope that an OVA will clear everything up someday.
Series score: 9/10
scratch this part. Tsumugu and Chisaki are pretty much official (the only one in the series in fact) the moment they hugged in ep. 25.
one scene i found amusing was the part where Chisaki meets her parents again. That surprised look on the old lady’s face, she doesn’t know whether to react to the fact that her daughter is all grown up now, or to Chisaki going “Mom, I want you to meet my boyfriend Tsumugu.”
All I saw was her hugging her parents again. While I do think that her parents approve of Tsumugu, as she still lives with Tsumugu what she thinks is still up in the air. She loves Tsumugu, no doubt. But has she really forgotten about Hikari? IMO she hasn’t, just like how Kaname would look at Sayu properly now, but is still in love with Chisaki. Or how Miuna tries to forget, but is still in love with Hikari.
And, just like Miuna’s line near the end says, she doesn’t need to. Chisaki simply chalked it up as a wonderful memory of first love, and continues to move on.
Chisaki definitely is chalking it up but moving on is a bit doubtful: there’s no indication of it.
I think you got it wrong. Hikari is calm about Manaka because he knows she loves him back. He doesn’t feel the need to rush and knows it will flow naturally, that’s why in the last conversation between them he tells Manaka he knows and doesn’t let her confess properly, it’s all there already. They are pretty young for that stuff and know they’ll have time, something like that, because he won’t ever change those feelings, they are too strong already. There’s no open ending with Hikari x Manaka, we wouldn’t have that last shot of them and that type of conversation. No open ending.
As for Chisaki, you can tell by her conversation with Kaname and with the hug scene, that she has forgotten about Hikari, she just couldn’t let herself be happy because she felt it was unfair to her friends and Manaka. Her starting the hug AT LAST is her moving on 100%, she just needed everyone safe and sound, oh and all that “scared to change so I’ll stay attached to Hikari” that went on. She has liked him for all those 5 years as well, you can tell by the flashbacks she has.
Her entire resolution is that she was forcing herself to think and believe she loved him to pretend she didn’t change which was a lie because she felt guilty in snatching Tsumugu from Manaka while she was sleeping. All this time she was secretly hoping Manaka loved Hikari because she loves Tsumugu.
Hikari’s just a long forgotten puppy crush she clung as excuse because she was guilty. Kaname and Tsumugu helped her to be honest with herself.
Up till the end, I can’t help but sympathize with Miuna. Damn, I loved Miuna and how she has affected Hikari’s life and supported him, and also felt bad for Hikari not being able to realize her feelings sooner. Nevertheless, it was a very good series and I loved it ever since Episode 1 aired, up till now, and always will. And yes, I’m going to nominate it as one of my AOTY 2014 which I know is still 9 months from now and even though there’s a HUGE outbreak of awesome anime these coming seasons.
Also, I hope Miuna would reconsider that guy-classmate’s feelings, just like how Kaname reconsidered Sayu’s …
It’s been ages since Madoka Magica and AnoHana that every week we look forward to the next episode of an anime to see what happens, particularly the series’ second half.
Miuna’s love for Hikari may not be going anywhere, but neither does it mean a cruel ending for her, allowing her to cherish this memory and move on to a new future at the same time. As it should be in real life: Losing a romance shouldn’t be the end of the world (nearly literally in this story).
As Minegishi (the guy Miuna rejected) puts it, Miuna’s now more prettier and happier as a result of this experience. Maybe Minegishi might have the courage to try and court her again, but that’s another story altogether.
Sayu is the big winner here, making the most of her chances and winning them. Make sure Kaname doesn’t turn his eyes elsewhere, girl.
Chisaki learns to stop blaming herself and accept her happiness with Tsumugu. Finally having his love returned, Tsumugu becomes a less stoic and a bit more playful.
Tsumugu’s Gramps gets biggest applause for making a cute young lonely housewife want to stay with him instead of returning to her home in the sea. LOLHikari and Manaka take their time, though if they dally about too long, Akira might just swoop in for “Namaka”, giving his step-sister a second chance at winning Hikari’s heart once again. XD
tl;dr It’s actually all the Maiden’s fault, all this time the Sea God was feeling moody and depressed about her loving that other guy, even went through the trouble of sending her back, and it turns out she actually did love him after all. lol(Anyone noticed how the Maiden’s children resemble Hikari and Manaka?)
I think I found an Easter Egg.
The drink Tsumugu drank at the end has a pic of Tanuki… a reference of the The Eccentric Family (Uchōten Kazoku)?
I actually saw the orange juice as symbolic of Tsumugu making the decision to stop over-acting like a “grownup.” It’s been established before that both Tsumugu and Chisaki tried to distance themselves from the middle schoolers with their coffee, and in Tsumugu’s case, he even used it to one-up Kaname. But now that Tsumugu’s finally gotten Chisaki to acknowledge her feelings, he’s loosening up and enjoying his youth.
Though it’s be pretty cool if it was also an Easter Egg. Love Uchoten Kazoku.
Spent a bit chatting on IRC with some guys on the main channel about the episode right after it came out, and I gotta say, I quite liked what they did here with the ending.
It was a bit ironic that it came as a result of Okada Mari easing up on the drama, but there’s something to be said about how none of the cast actually confirmed their relationship in any concrete way. All things considered, it’s a fitting representation of how love isn’t something that needs to or can always be put into words, and it’s nice to see that Hikari and Manaka are essentially taking the time to ease into the feelings they have each other, considering the misunderstandings that have been present throughout the series’ as a whole.
That said, the biggest thing for me was how the series stuck to the main theme it wanted to talk about in regards to the notion of change, and it was great how they ultimately incorporated Miuna into the role. Her push to the forefront at the beginning of the second season could’ve been executed better, but it was clear she had a role to play in the thematic narrative of it all, and this last episode really bought together things quite nicely in this regard.
The series doesn’t end up perfect in any sense of the word (but then again, how many series do?), but the mature story and the top notch visuals make it a series worth remembering. The fact that there haven’t been much in terms of well done stories of this “mature” nature recently just makes Asukara stand out even more, and meh, gonna miss this show.
Can’t help but agree here. Compared to her other works, this is definitely a lot more restrained And this actually made the resolution far more powerful (for me at least).
Which is why I consider this added to my list of recent classics despite its flaws. It never makes the pretensions that it is a “masterpiece” but simply went to tell its intended story, delivering it in a way that is always going to be worth looking back again.
Zephy & I were talking about this last night, so largely agree. One thing to add: I wasn’t surprised that they didn’t explain about the mixed children’s Ena or anything like that. This show has never been a hard fantasy interested in world-building, no matter how much we may have wished (or even if it had been better for it). It’s always been a heartfelt romance, where the fantasy elements are tools used in the service of that. I woulda liked some answers too, but no surprise we never got em. That’s not the kind of story it was trying to be.
Bonus points: Miuna’s development looks better in retrospect when she did many of the same things as the other characters, but got a different result. That says something.
besides, the audience’s own imagination can always take over (as is my case) the world-building process and answering such questions. That I think will always make for a more immersive feel that suits the series’ story, rather than having the viewer go through all sorts of exposition
My sentiments exactly. The story was far from perfect in execution, but it still told it splendidly and clearly. I gave it a 10 because of that. It was a mature story, it stuck to it, and did a marvelous job.
I honestly feel it’s disingenuous and unfair as well to argue that NagiAsu left some narratives on the table and didn’t do anything with them. For starters, those weren’t what the show about. Secondly, the show did incorporate these elements in such a way that they were given proper and should be satisfying closure in the story. There’s really nothing to complain about in this instance.
That was a wonderful ending
Definitely a candidate for the AOTY 2014
PA Works was lazy with the animation of the last episode. There were some inconsistencies here and there.
I feel so empty after watching this last episode. 🙁
The finale was meh, point blank period. No serious consequences like in Shin Sekai Yori. They just gave us the “Well we don’t know what’ll happen in the future, but we don’t really care”. So the future generations of people might still be screwed, but everyone living in the now can live their life in peace.
Hikari and Manaka are pulling a Yuuta and Rikka. The only difference is that Yuuta and Rikka actually had progress in their relationship while these other two bakas are just like “yeah okay, I like you, you like me, that’s cool”.
I loved seeing Kaname run when he saw Sayu. He didn’t even care about going to see his parents though lol.
I still don’t care about Tsumugu, he’s boring for most of the anime, and what happened to his mother? Did they make up or what?! Is she even still alive? I hate unanswered questions!
Nobody mentioned how Ojoshi-sama’s children looked like Hikari and Manaka. The Sea God successfully NTR’d that one dude on the surface to the point where he killed himself. That could’ve happened to Kaname and I’m glad it didn’t.
In the end the only one who is really happy and actually had a relationship in the entire damn anime was Akari. Akira was born and made the anime better.
I half expected Akira to kancho somebody in the water, would’ve made the ending better to me.
If this is a “bad” ending…clearly I haven’t watched enough good ones because I thought this one was fitting. While I wouldn’t have minded the sad and depressing ending…I could tell from the beginning that this wasn’t how the series would end whatsoever.
I loved the ending, loved seeing the ojoshi-sama reciprocate feelings, etc.
It was very good…though anime has taught me to expect a kiss from MCs all over and I was a bit irked.
And HALLELUJAH TSUMUGU HAS A PERSONALITY NOW.
First candidate to AOTY 2014 announced.
I feel stupid but I got high emotion when Tomori (Hikari Dad) talking about hearing him in in hibernation. T-T
The end really was all well that ends well though. But I have to agree that they should have shown more of Ojoshi-sama’s story or just left it int he fairytale they alluded to it through out the series because now I wanted to see more of it. lol
History of NagiAsu:
Ojoshi loves a guy on land
Ojoshi got sacrificed to sea god
Guy Ojoshi loved (i) drowned hoping to save/see her (ii) committed suicide due to broken heart
Ojoshi was heartbroken for not being able to see the guy she loved
Sea god grow to love Ojoshi (and vice versa)
Sea god felt responsible for Ojoshi’s broken heart
Sea god let Ojoshi back to land. In fear that Ojoshi would commit suicide due to feeling heartbroken/responsible (I believe most would feel responsible for causing the person you love and loved you to die) for the guy’s death, with the feeling of not wanting her to die, sea god decided to removed Ojoshi’s feeling for love (Using Manaka as example, Ojoshi most likely also lost the memories of why she lived the guy)
Ojoshi returned to land, fate unknown. I believe that if Ojoshi really lose the memories of the reasons of loving the guy,she would alook lose the love(and memories) of the sea god and her children, resulting in Ojoshi not returning to the sea.
Sea god dissolves into the sea while thinking Ojoshi’s not returning back as her not having feelings for the sea god, the sadness and unfulfilled feelings resulted in the drifting emotions in the sea
Events of NagiAsu
Sea god’s conscious finally realise Ojoshi’s feeling for the god, quelling the god’s desire to love and be loved
Live goes on for NagiAsu characters
Lol a lot of Miuna fans are probably pissed off right now since she got nothing in the end. Honestly this show gave me so much emotions that I haven’t been this interested in a romance anime since Da Capo (first one of course) which is a good thing! It was nice to see Hikari’s dad back though, it felt so long since we last saw the old man haha. Though I can see why a lot of people found this ending a little bland, with all the sugar coating and whatnot. Whatever though, you can’t please everyone 😛
Nah, it was an open end anyway so there’s hope for Miuna to get together with Hikari in the future. Even Hikari knows change is unavoidable. “Whatever is fine.”
It’s the best thing we can hope for. As long as there’s a chance he won’t nd up with a retard like Manaka, who didn’t do anything else in the second cour except be plot device and a candidate for a Flappy-Bird game.
Thanks for blogging this Kairi, it was quite enjoyable to read and follow along with you! (even though I started partway into the second cour)
Personally I thought it was a show with VERY good storytelling for most of the show, excepting from around episodes 15 to 20, where it seems like they had a bit too much time to tell the story and not enough content to do it with, leading to the whole thing being a bit too stretched out and slow for my tastes. Fortunately the storytelling picked back up near the end, and all was good.
Really though, did anyone think that anyone but Manaka would ‘win’ at the end? XD
Im definitely gonna miss Nagi no Asukara!!Enjoyed every episode of it, music, characters.etc
Thanks PA works for a beautiful piece of anime <3
Will look forward to the next one…Glasslip or Gurasurippu~haha
Love is captured in the beauty of this anime. Two more words: Watch this!
d’awwww…my ship made it~ hahaha XDDD i knew Miuna gonna end up with someone better in the future(she still has a lot of unexpected surprise in life). Its just sooo like her character. But nevertheless, im glad everything turns out well especially for Tsumugu and Chisaki. That moment when Tsumugu said “come with me to the station…”, i was like, wow, bossy guy aye! lol…i’d love to see that Tsumugu and Chisaki’s goodbye part, but i guess they leave it to our imagination.
I tear a bit when Akari start crying seeing her dad. And Chisaki too…she must have missed her parents over the 5 long years, i’m so happy for you girl. Hikari and Manaka, just kiss already wont cha! or at least some hug…
all in all, thank you for blogging this Kairi…its been a great time reading over these few months. NagiAsu has been great, but still somehow a bit like Golden Time, i mean how they wrapped up everything. But despite of this, it was good. Otsukaresama P.A Works~
It’s the subs, he just said “Let’s go together to the station” literally.
This show…..i mean what can i say that hasn’t already been said? I was skeptical about this show but seeing the scenery porn made me enjoy it and from the first few episodes i was hooked.
Hikari is the MAN. Watching him grow was so rewarding that i felt anxious at the end as he was throwing himself at the ena encasing Miuna. I honestly wasn’t expecting that ending. But when i think about what i was thinking, this ending just feels a lot better. There are plot holes here and there, and i really wish they elaborated more on Tsumugu. His mama drama would be GOLD in regards to explaining his drastic lack of character until the end of the series…
I wasn’t even mad about the pairings! Sayu still has my vote for best girl (since she is biggest winner here) and i was expecting ManaKari since the beginning. Miuna…I still love you girl! Seriously though good for her. I liked her ending a lot… Tsumugaki…i’ll admit, they’re adorable.
But….all negatives aside (they’re aren’t really a lot), i very much enjoyed this series. Every tear that was shed i may as well have shed with the characters because this was one of the rare shows that i fell in love with the characters. Only other show to do that was Clannad, Angel Beats, and a little bit of AnoHana (i marathoned this after Clannad so i was effectively numb).
Thank you Kairi, for covering this show, and thank you Zephyr, for filling in (i could be wrong…i try to read weekly but sometimes it’s not possible). It’s been another emotional roller coaster and now it’s time to try and find another amazing show. Onto Spring! I have high hopes for Isshukan Friends! The PVs made me tear up. T-T
Ena people are like Underwater Newtypes from Gundam
I love the ending everybody has their good ending other than Manaka and Hikari whose confession seemed bland not even holding hands or a kiss in the cheek if their feelings were mutual at least the author could have given the pairing a little bit of color. MEH
I have such mixed feelings about this show…There are times when I liked and times where I thought it was laughable,namely when so many things were happening for convenience’s sake. Otherwise,I guess it’s just not my type of romance anime. Despite the fact that romance is one of my favorite genres,I can’t seem to enjoy it when it lacks subtlety and when there’s WAY too much crying.
6/10
I don’t regret watching it though.
I think PA works is getting ever so close to that epic anime level. They definitely had some great shows to go that extra mile like this show for example but played it a bit safe. I liked the show but the payoff in the end is a bit less then what I probably hyped it up to be. The show reminds me of another last season ie that’s golden time, really great show but very lacking ending. I think it’s kinda PA works thing considering how Hanasaku Iroha, Tari Tari and red data girl and even another where kinda bland endings. They just can’t seem to close their works of with that bang.
Still excited to see their next anime. Plus it was a good ride.
I think Nagi no Asukara is one of those shows better marathoned. I find the need to drink everything at once to fully appreciate the impact. Otherwise, it’s maddening to wait for every episode knowing full well we might not get answers any time soon. I actually didn’t feel that much of a disconnect because I watched everything in a few sittings.
Anyways, still a pretty great show regardless of its flaws. Okada hits some very valid points emotionally, yet I think she still needs to find a more subtle way to bring them through without becoming overbearing. And of course, hats off to P.A works for yet another wonderfully produced series and hats off to Kairi for blogging it.
I wholeheartedly agree about marathoning NagiAsu. It had a much greater impact when everything just quickly flowed from one thing to the next. Plus, as I mentioned in my other post, watching it a 2nd time made it a lot better. You can piece things together a lot more easily, it gives you more complete perspective, and you get a chance to appreciate things you didn’t catch or didn’t like the first time. I remember initially having gripes with Miuna’s development in the 2nd half, but having the whole story already in the back of my mind let me better get into her shoes, and I ended up liking her much more. The culmination of it all in Ojoshi-sama grave yard scene in episode 26 almost had me bawling. Tsugumu and Chisaski’s relationship felt more natural, too.
I guess this is where NagiAsu’s true beauty lies in. Watch it the first time and you will be tempted to pick out the flaws and issues (story problems, annoying characters). watch it the second time around with a more analytic mindset and you start to see everything differently.
in fact,if you rewatched the first half now and look more closely at Hikari’s, Manaka’s, and Miuna’s relationship with each other at that point, you will start to have a better appreciation for their triangle in the second cour.
After watching the AnoHana movie, I cant help but feel that all of Mari Okada’s magna opus would involve a love chain. That goes the same for Tatsuyuki Nagai and his Ano Natsu.
Originally after the 1st 5 episodes, it felt like Ano Natsu’s love pentagon. But as it goes along, especially after the 2nd cour began, it felt more like Ano Hana bonds between friends who couldnt admit their feelings.
Slowly slowly, these feelings were made known and the MCs have accepted them and can move on. Hikari have accepted that the world will end(change happening) but is no longer worried about it. He has changed from being pushy to a “go with the flow” attitude now.
Manaka can now tag team with Miuna to tease Hikari.
Chisaki and Tsumugu can start picking wedding dates (or just goes straight to making children, 🙂 since Chisaki being a lonely housewife).
Kaname and Sayu can be best couple in Mihama Middle School.
Oh, and Akira can start to kancho his oji-san till no end.
Overall a very good masterpiece of story-telling although not as ground breaking as Ano Hana.
I just hope Glass Slip would be able to matchup to this.
I just watched the whole series again over the past two nights. I gotta say it was a much better watch the 2nd time around (I already thought it was a good watch to begin with).
I caught the greater implications and foreshadowing in words spoken, especially in the first half where I already knew what was in store for the characters later on. Certain visuals became a lot more symbolic and meaningful. I also found myself appreciating and feeling for both Manaka and Miuna a whole lot more. Plus, being able to watch episodes back-to-back eliminated any lulls (heh) that were present in the pacing when having to wait a week between episodes. Not gonna lie, I was nearly constant snivel-fest from start to finish. I can’t even listen to the OPs and EDs anymore without tearing up.
I seriously enjoyed this show, and I seriously enjoyed following your Nagisu posts, Kairi! Thanks for offering your insight and opinions over the past 6 months!
It was a great, emotional, ride.
I enjoyed both the first and the second half of Nagiasu. While the first was about the world and the relationship between the sea dwellers and the land dwleers, and their growing acceptacnce, both the kids and the adults, the second cour was about feelings and, though, more slowly than the first part, it really succeeded in creating characters to care for, such Hikari and Miuna.
I really like Miuna’s developing in the second part, and thus the ending of ep. 25 was like a punch in the stomach, because she feels real. But fortunately she was saved by Hikari, in a very powerful and emotional scene. I was hoping for these two to end together, but it would have feel forced. Miuna knows that Hikari would sacrifice everything for her, and Hikari knows how much she cares for him. It’s time for her to move on and be happy, and I think she’s the character with the most options for the future, because she can choose every path ahead. A life is not only defined by a couple relationship, and she’s not alone, she got her friends, her family, even the guy from her school.
The visual was stunning, both under sea and lands. I also like that they don’t explain everything, like the unfinished bridge pillars, adding a great sense of poetical vagueness. One last observation: Ojoshi-sama’s kids, as someone as just noted, are a smaller version of Hikari and Manaka. Maybe they hint that after many (thousand) years the lineage, via Hikari and Manaka, is reunited, or maybe I’m reading too much into it.
Thanks for covering Nagi no Asukara. This anime will be missed… time to rewatch!
Has anyone stopped to look up the lyrics anf titles of the songs of this shows? They really are thematic and are tailor made for NagiAsu.
Nagi by Ray
lull by Ray
ebb and flow by Ray
Aqua Terrarium by Nagi Yanagi
Mistuba no Musubime by Nagi Yanagi
mnemonic by Nagi Yanagi