Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Review

First Review of the New Year 2019! If you have been reading my blog and its reviews you may have recalled in my other reviews of several different magical girl anime I mentioned I would watch and review Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch or just Mermaid Melody for short. Well I just finished it so I am going to review it now! Mermaid Melody started as a 7-volume 2002 manga written by Michko Yokote. If she sounds familiar she is primarily a screenwriter for anime many of which I've reviewed. The first 52-episode season Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch was released in 2003 by Actas Inc. and SynergySP. Then we get a second 39-episode season Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure in 2004 from the same studios. Mermaid Melody is a magical girl romance anime. Again I'm a grown man who listens to rock music, works out, and used to played hockey so I'm definitely embarrassed about reviewing this girly magical girl anime but it's not the first anime I'm embarrassed about reviewing (and liking) and won't be the last. I'm anonymous to most of you reading this anyway! I got nothing to lose! Mermaid Melody has some pretty mixed reviews. I absolutely really love Mermaid Melody and I recommend this for anyone who likes music or magical girl anime. It's kind of a mix between The Little Mermaid and Sailor Moon. I will be talking about the ending too so...

**************************!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!**************************


Summary
Pichi Pichi Pitch
As the mermaid princess of the North Pacific (one of the seven mermaid kingdoms), 14-year-old Luchia Nanami entrusts a magical pearl to a boy who falls overboard a ship one night. Luchia must travel to the human world to reclaim her pearl and protect the mermaid kingdoms. Using the power of music Luchia is able to protect herself and the mermaid kingdoms from a growing evil force.

Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure
After the final battle against Gaito, Sara had given her life to remain with him. The sea world is now at peace, but only with six mermaid princesses.
While Karen, Noel, and Coco have returned to their kingdoms, it should be time for Luchia, Hanon, and Rina to do the same. After all, Tarou Mitsuki is leaving for Germany, and Kaito Domoto is heading to Hawaii. Luchia is devastated, and when things couldn't get any worse, Kaito is lost at sea! Worst of all, a strange angel named Michel has appeared, wanting the mermaids to join him. But on the lighter side, Sara's spirit tells Luchia of Sara's successor, a young mermaid named Seira. The mermaids are in for another adventure!


My Thoughts
It is a guilty pleasure anime of mine and while I'm embarrassed to say it, I loved Mermaid Melody. As you may have guessed this anime was inspired by the original story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson with differences though. I know there are mixed reviews on this series but I really enjoyed it. Luchia must retrieve her pearl but also falls in love with Kaito as well. She cannot tell Kaito or else she'll turn into bubbles so Kaito has to figure it out himself as he is in love with both the human Luchia and mermaid Luchia not knowing they're the same person at first. I definitely loved the characters in Mermaid Melody. We have seven mermaid princesses from different parts of the seas. To me Luchia, Hanon, Rina, Kaito, and Hippo are unique and lovable in their own way. The other characters have some interesting qualities as well including some of the villains and while some may find them a bit cheesy I was pretty entertained by them and found them very interesting, cute, and lovable. I kind of wish we got to see more of Seira in the second season. I also enjoyed the music to Mermaid Melody as well as I felt it fit the story and really was a mix of emotion and Luchia's so cute with her looks and voice. Seira's song, "Beautiful Wish" really did shoot many people through the heart. While it's sad it also gives you plenty hope and courage!


Also, "Kibou no Kane Oto (Love goes on)" really gave me the nice warm, fuzzy, hopeful, optimistic feelings that a romantic magical girl anime should give you! This reminds me of the ending songs in any childhood flick (usually by Disney) that comes with the happy ending.


Romance Aspect  (***************SPOILER ALERT***************)
Romance plays a major part in Mermaid Melody and there are some major themes about love and hope in the story. Of all anime I watched Mermaid Melody definitely has the most kissing (excluding ecchi and fanservice). I know there are 91 episodes total but, I mean there were probably at least 11 kissing scenes with Luchia and Kaito alone and 14 total in the series, IDK I lost track! First, we have Luchia who likes Kaito but he does not know the human Luchia and Mermaid Luchia are the same. Once, Kaito realizes Luchia is both the mermaid princess and human he knows he can love Luchia regardless. I mean it was pretty obvious Luchia was the mermaid as there were some pretty clear signs. In the second season we are given a love triangle along with Kaito having amnesia in the mix. However, our mermaid princesses do not give up hope. While I did not mention it in my Valentines Day Posts of 2017 or 2018, Luchia and Kaito are definitely the OTP of Mermaid Melody. Additionally, Hanon likes a much older Taro Mituski but in the second season begins to fall for a slightly younger boy Nagisa Shirai. Rina also has her love story with Masahiro Hamasaki. Even Hippo too falls in love with Yuri while in his human form. While Luchia and Kaito are guaranteed a happy ending, we are unsure about what will become of Hanon and Nagisa's romances but hope for the best. However, I loved the way the story ended as well and I mentioned Mermaid Melody in My Endings Rant as a good ending. It left me very satisfied with a warm fuzzy feeling that the ending of any romance anime should give you.


My Conclusion
I would give Mermaid Melody 5/5 stars or a 10/10 score. While there may have been a few kinks it did not ruin the anime for me at all and I just loved it so much that I couldn't give it anything lower than 5 stars. I would recommend Mermaid Melody for anyone who likes magical girl, music, or romance anime. If you liked The Little Mermaid or Sailor Moon then you'll probably like Mermaid Melody too. I will be watching and reviewing another magical girl anime Nanatsuiro Drops in the future so keep enjoying my blog!


1 comment:

  1. So much nostalgia! I really adore and love this anime because I love the story, the songs and the characters. I never thought that a man would love this anime as much as I do. 10/10 for me too! Thank you for bringing back childhood animes I've watched.

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