A hilarious and fitting conclusion to “My Bride is a Mermaid”. I absolutely enjoyed this second part so much, that I re-watched it again. Definitely recommended!
Image courtesy of © FUNimation Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: My Bride is a Mermaid – Part 2
DURATION: Episodes 14-26 (300 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, English Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: 13+
Release Date: September 7, 2010
Originally created by Tahiko Kimura
Directed by Seiji Kishi
Series Composition by Makoto Uezu
Music by Yasuharu Takanashi
Character Design by Kazuaki Morita
Art Director: Maho Takahashi
Music Director: Satoki Iida
Anime Production: AIC, avex mode, GONZO
Featuring the following voice talent:
Halko Momoi/Alexis Tipton as San Seto (Sun Seto)
Takahiro Mizushima/Todd Haberkorn as Nagasumi Michishio
Daisuke Ono/Eric Vale as Kai Mikawa
Kenta Miyake/John Swasey as Gouzaburou Seto
Rika Morinaga/Caitlin Glass as Mawari Zenigata
Sakura Nogawa/Cherami Leigh as Luna Edomae (Lunar Edomae)
Monica Rial/Natsuko Kuwatani as Maki
Eri Kitamura/Trina Nishimura as Akeno Shiranui
Atsushi Imaruoka/Andy Mullins as Nagasumi’s Father
Noriko Namiki/Lydia Mackay as Nagasumi’s Mother
Eriko Matsushima/Juli Erickson as Nagasumi’s Grandmother
Vanilla Yamazaki/Linda Young as Narrator
Nagasumi’s in hot water after a beautiful young mermaid named Sun saves him from drowning. The deep-sea sweetheart’s dad is a merman yakuza prone to executing anyone who learns his family’s scaly secret! Luckily, there’s a loophole: if Nagasumi agrees to marry Sun, he just might avoid sleeping with the fishes!
He’s doing his best to keep his finned fiancee happy, but a rising flood of rival suitors and gilled gangsters has Nagasumi gasping for air! He’s definitely in over his head, but there’s no denying the mermaid’s allure – Nagasumi’s hooked now that Sun has come ashore!
Since 2002, the manga series “Seto no Hanayome” by Tahiko Kimura has been entertaining readers of Monthly Gangan Wing (published by Square Enix). The popularity of the manga series led to a drama series released in 2004 and in 2007, the manga received a 26-episode anime TV adaptation courtesy of Gonzo and now is being released on DVD in the U.S. courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with the title “My Bride is a Mermaid”.
The anime series was directed by Seiji Kishi (“Galaxy Angel Rune”, “Angel Beats”, “Ragnarok the Animation”) and series composition by Makoto Uezu (“School Days”, “Sola”, “Yumeria”). Character designs were done by Kazuaki Morita (“Nyan Koi!”, “Tentai Senshi Sunred”), art direction by Maho Takahashi (“Bamboo Blade”, “Tokko”, “Cobra the Animation”) and music by Yasuharu Takanashi (“Gantz”, “Hell Girl”, “Eyeshield 21”, “Halo Legends”, “Naruto Shippududen”).
“My Bride is a Mermaid” is an anime series that revolves around Nagasumi Michishino. Nagasumi and his family go on a family vacation near the oceanside where Nagasumi’s grandmother lives. While swimming, Nagasumi drowns but is rescued by a mermaid named Sun.
When Nagasumi comes to, he is found on rocks and when he tells his family that he thinks he was rescued by a mermaid, his mother and father think he is joking around. But his grandmother has heard of the tales of mermaid in the sea and that if a mermaid is seen by a human, the mermaid must die or the human must marry the mermaid.
Of course, Nagasumi and family don’t believe the tale, until Sun makes her appearance and tells him that she wants to be his bride.
Of course, Nagasumi feels that he can’t do it because he’s a young guy but when he meets Sun’s family, he and his family realize that Sun’s family are like the yakuza and if Nagasumi does anything to cause harm to Sun, her father Gozaburo will kill him. Also, her father and the Seto group are not exactly too fond of Nagasumi (because they seem him as a weak person and for Nagasumi taking his daughter away from him).
Nagasumi knows that she saved his life and by doing that, has risked her life by being seen by a human. So, Nagasumi feels that he must do the right thing. To have Sun as his bride.
But of course… life for both Nagasumi and Sun can get a bit complicated as Seto’s father is against the marriage, Sun’s rival wants to marry Nagasumi and the richest boy in Japan wants to marry Sun.
And now in part two of “My Bride is a Mermaid”, a mysterious student named Akeno Shiranui has arrived and her goal…to split Nagasumi and Sun up. Also, other young ladies start to have feelings towards Nagasumi.  With all these obstacles, will Nagasumi and Sun ever get married?
“My Bride is a Mermaid” focuses on the following characters:
Nagasumi Michishio – The main character who drowned and was saved by a mermaid named Sun. Because Sun was seen by a human, tradition is that the mermaid must die unless she becomes the bride of that human. So, Nagasumi does all he can to care for his wife. Unfortunately, the majority of the Seto group are against their marriage.
Sun Seto – A mermaid and the bride of Nagasumi. The daughter of Gozaburo Seto, an underwater yakuza boss. She loves Nagasumi with all her heart and although she doesn’t have the same mannerisms like the other yakuza members in the Seto group, she can show off her fighting skills if need be.
The Michishio Family – Nagasumi’s father is a jealous father when his wife starts to show interest in Seto Yakuza member Masa. They are upbeat parents who tend to get on Nagasumi’s nerves.
The Seto Family – Gozaburo Seto is the boss of the Seto Group (an underwater yakuza group). His love is all about his daughter Sun and hates Nagasumi for taking her away. Ren Seto is the mother of Sun and is the family matriarch and Seto group disciplinarian. She is supportive of Sun’s marriage to Nagasumi.
Other Characters:
Akeno Shiranui – A mermaid and mermaid examiner. She deports mer-people who do fail to qualify as mermaids who resemble humans and not arousing any suspicion that they are mermaids. Also, an excellent in swordfighting.
Masa – A member of the Seto Group and helps to keep Gozaburo’s anger in check. He is responsible in watching over Nagasumi and Sun.
Maki – An assassin of the Seto Group that is only a few inches tall and is fond of Sun and despises Nagasumi for taking Sun away.
Lunar Edomae – The childhood friend and rival of Sun. Because Nagasumi also sees Lunar in her mermaid form, Lunar wants to take him away from Sun and also to one up her by wanting him to marry her.
Kai Mikawa – The richest boy in Japan and the son of the head of the multi-million dollar Mikawa Corporation. He is also from the mermaid group and is a killer whale who wants to marry Sun.
Mawari Zenigata – The daughter of the police chief and childhood friend of Nagasumi. She has always had a crush on Nagasumi and wants to become a police chief when she gets older.
Here is a basic summary of each episode on “My Bride is a Mermaid – Part 2”:
DISC 3:
- EPISODE 14 – Koneko Monogatari (The Adventures of Chatran) – Nagasumi finds a kitten and realizes how the mer-people are terrified by it.
- EPISODE 15 – What’s Your Name?– Nagasumi and Sun, Lunar and Mawari and Saru and Mikawa go on a double date.
- EPISODE 16 – Minority Report – Akeno Shiranui joins Nagasumi’s school but she’s not a normal student.
- EPISODE 17 – Cops vs. Thugs – Due to Akeno’s strength and great body, the thugs at school start to fall for her.
- EPISODE 18 – Gate of Flesh – The whole class goes ona field trip to Kyoto but why did Maki attack Akeno?
- EPISODE 19 – There’s No Business Like Show Business – Akeno continues to try to find ways of splitting up Nagasumi and Sun.
- EPISODE 20 – A Better Tomorrow – Lunar’s father tries to find a way to express his love for his daughter.
DISC 4:
- EPISODE 21 – 10 Things I Hate About You – Nagasumi receives an anyonymos love letter from the class president but to help call him down, Sun’s mother gives him a special drink that has interesting side effects.
- EPISODE 22 – Privilege – Lunar is preparing for part in a drama and asks Sun to play her boyfriend.
- EPISODE 23 – The Man Without a Past – Akeno believes Masa was an acquaintance of her missing older brother.
- EPISODE 24 – Farewell Friend – Kai has a boil in his bottom and Saru accidentally hears wrong information that Kai is dying and spreads the news to everyone.
- EPISODE 25 – The Family Game – Sun feels that Nagasumi doesn’t appreciate her and ends up going to a party held by a noble.
- EPISODE 26 – Antwone Fisher (The Place You Go Home To) – The noble has drugged Sun and plans to marry her, now Nagasumi and friends try to save her before its too late.
VIDEO:
“My Bride is a Mermaid” is presented in Widescreen 16:9. I have to say that the anime series is pretty cool as it features various styles of animation and artwork plus there is a good amount of detail in the artistic backgrounds. Gonzo did a fantastic job with this series and making the animation and surroundings so vibrant and beautiful to look at.
Although I am not too familiar with Tahiko Kimura’s work, I really dig the character designs by Kazuaki Morita and Gonzo staff just having a wild and crazy time with the various and different styles of designs for the characters. May it be in normal mode, chibi mode, etc. Art direction by Maho Takahashi also brings this series to life with the beautiful art backgrounds.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“My Bride is a Mermaid” is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital and Japanese stereo. The series is front and center channel driven. I felt the audio was well-done on both the English dub and the Japanese vocal track. I’m a big fan of Haruko Momoi and it was great to see her play the role of Sun Seto. I enjoyed the Japanese soundtrack but the English dub was done very well!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“My Bride is a Mermaid – Part 2″ comes with the textless opening and ending theme songs (by voice actress Halko Momoi) and FUNimation Entertainment trailers.
“My Bride is a Mermaid – Part 2” continues the hijinks of Nagasumi, Sun and friends as the plot to split Nagasumi and Sun continues with the arrival of mermaid examiner Akeno Shiranui.
If anything, the series continues it’s crazy humor as Nagasumi tries to scare his father-in-law and other mermaids with a kitten and also hijinks that include Sun pretending to be Lunar’s boyfriend, the school president falling for Nagasumi and quite a few episodes featuring Akeno Shiranui, a mermaid with an awesome body but also a no-nonsense character.   And as for Nagasumi, although the women’s feelings towards him are not as pronounced as other harem-based anime series, the number of characters featured in this second part is pretty cool and for the most part, just a fun and enjoyable series to watch.
The series doesn’t get too serious until it reaches the last two episodes but for the most part, I found this series to be a fun, enjoyable and crazy anime series that doesn’t get too dramatic nor does it get too convoluted with all the characters. If anything, the stories are rather enjoyable and you end up getting to know each of the supporting characters this time around.
The character designs showcase the characters in various styles and the artistic backgrounds really do compliment the characters and the voice acting for both English and Japanese soundtracks are well-done. Personally, I love Halko Momoi’s songs and her seiyuu role as Sun, so that was a major plus. But I also watched the whole second part about twice now, in Japanese and English and found myself really enjoying this series a lot. And I think others will as well.
If I had only one major nitpick with the DVD release is the lack of special features and audio commentary but other than that, this is still an anime series for those who enjoy comedy.
If you are looking for a fun, crazy anime series, definitely give “My Bride is a Mermaid” a chance and for those who watched part 1, definitely give part 2 a chance as the episodes do get better and also are much funnier than the first half of the series. As for “My Bride is a Mermaid – Part 2”, definitely a hilarious and fitting conclusion to the series. Definitely recommended!
