Kari5

       Umi Monogatari was the magical girl show for the Fall 2009 season. I shoud warn any potential viewers that it's a different kind of magical girl series. You may enjoy it's originality, or lament it's not like others in the genre. Personally, I was not a big fan of the series. Perhaps if it was not a 'magical girl' series I migth have looked at it different but I went it with a preconceived notion about what I was looking for in a magical girl series and I know it affected my enjoyment of it. Please keep that in mind when reading my score.

Story:

Umi Monogatari, literally "Sea Story", is about two sisters, Urin and Marin, who live in the ocean. They aren't technically mermaids as they don't have fish tails, but they are otherwise similar. They even need special rings to breath out of water. They decide to visit the "sky world" (land) to return a ring that was dropped in the water. The owner, Kanon, turns out to be an emo teen who threw it away on purpose. The girls then accidently release an evil spirit called Sedna. A talking turtle gives Marin and Kanon the power to transform into the Sea and Sky Maidens, to defeat it. T

This show is a bit more mature than other magical girl shows, which in general works well. What it lacks in sparkles and transformations, it makes up in more original scenes and less repetative episodes. While many magical girl shows have mostly monster-of-the-week episodes, this one was able to have a more complex story.

Characters:

       I didn't really like the characters. Marin, in particular, annoys me to no end as the whiny little sister. She's all clueless, happy, and loves everyone all the time. The others characters are not annoying, however I did find them to be a bit plain. I think this is a disadvantage of a more 'realistic' magical girl show, as they don't go over-the-top making a cast of colorful characters. I did, however, love the design of Kanon's Sky Maiden outfit.

Sound:

       The opening song was very pretty, but it didn't seem to fit the anime in my opinion. Sounds more like a Kino song than for a magical girl show. But then again, I'm probably just expecting a genertic magical girl song. The ending animation is really cute; the sisters are watching the story about the Little Mermaid, which I found was adorable.

Overall:

       Overall, it's not as cheesy as regular magical girl shows. Which is too bad, as the goofyness of magical girls shows is a guilty pleasure of mine. However, I do believe most people would actually find this more enjoyable than something like Pretty Cure. Personally, I found the show to be a bit too dull so I wasn't able to enjoy it. Perhaps one day I'll re-watch it with a better idea of what to expect and it may change my opinion, but for now, 6/10.