This is just about the best love comedy anime I’ve ever seen, and definitely one of the best of the last season.
I’m usually negatively biased against this genre, as it generally turns into school “love” story with very little actual romance, superficial harem tendencies, loads of whacky senseless attempted humor and a very hazy semblance of plot. Is this any different?
Not in the very least. In fact, I’ve just described exactly what the show is about. So why am I singing praises? Because, unlike the other five hundred anime that use this formula, SnH is actually very funny. Ok, maybe it’s not exactly the epitome of comedy, but I was really surprised when in the middle of an episode I realized I was actually laughing instead of my usual “pleasantly amused” reaction, which is about as good as most of these shows get from me.
The general gist is: Michishio Nagasumi, a generic highschool kid, nearly drowned in the sea but was saved by a mermaid called Sun (Or San, depending on the translation). By mermaid law, those seen by humans must be immediately executed, however Sun’s family refuses to do such a thing. The only other option is for Nagasumi to become a member of the mermaids by marrying Sun. Oh, did I mention Sun’s family happens to be a yakuza clan?
Though none of this actually matters since that’s almost entirely settled in the very first chapter. The real meat of the story is in the characters. Staring with Nagasumi himself, a generic though charismatic bum, the devoted Sun who’s obsessed with chilvalry and manliness, Sun’s overprotective and bloodthirsty father, the dandy man Masa, a cannibalistic and perpetually jaded shark, an agoraphobic whale, a pervert friend sidekick and a slew of not very original but still extremely charismatic characters, culminating in the goddamn TERMINATOR, the cast is just simply the best there is.
It starts off pretty mediocre but eventually picks up, then it falls into a bit of a lull again until the last six or so chapters when it turns godly. Whatever mediocre parts might be are in any case completely redeemed by the absolutely AWESOME ending that’s guaranteed to make you love every last one of these suckers.
The only bad thing is that GG only subbed up until 16 and doesn’t seem to be updating any time soon, meaning you have to put up with Your-Mom and Philanthropy, just about the worst groups ever apart from Hong Kong subbers. Still, it’s worth it.
