Marin and her younger sister Urin are sea-dwelling people. One day they find a beautiful silver ring near their home. Marin, wanting to return it to its owner, takes the hesitant Urin with her to the surface world. She does this despite her knowledge of the legend of the turtle old man who left the bottom of the sea and never returned.

After finding the ring’s owner, Miyamori Kanon, they learn that she threw it into the sea after her boyfriend dumped her. Despite Marin’s insistence that such a beautiful object should not be thrown away, Kanon rejects it again. In the course of searching for the ring, Urin moves away from the two and accidentally breaks the seal on the stone sarcophagus, releasing the sinister being known as Sedona. Sensing Sedona’s release, the long-lost turtle Matsumoto reveals himself to Kanon and her companions, calling Marin Priestess of the Sea.

Umi Monogatari: Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto (2009) – Audiovisual Design

Video

I really liked the whole thing from the visual side. Truly pretty backgrounds and character design. On the plus side, it was also hard to find 3D graphics here, especially in the foreground. Good color play, which is a treatment that intensifies the emotions in the depicted events. Studio Zexcs did a good job here. This is not a series that I would consider the prettiest I’ve seen, but praise from my side is unquestionably deserved.

Audio

In the cast of the main roles we have veteran voice actresses themselves. Starting with Horie Yui, Asumi Kana, Kotobuki Minako ending with Sawashiro Miyuki and Toyosaki Aki. This made the voice acting stand at a consistently high level and the emotions of the characters came across even more bluntly to me. The Umi Monogatari soundtrack by Muramatsu Ken sensationally emphasized the atmosphere of the depicted events and was strongly memorable. It perfectly fit the atmosphere of a mysterious island with long traditions and beliefs. I know the song used in the ending very well, as I love Itou Masumi’s work. It is 透明な祈り (Toumei na Inori).

Umi Monogatari: Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto (2009) – Plot and Characters

Introduction

Umi Monogatari has been waiting on the watch list for a good 10 years. I don’t know for what reason I waited so long to watch it, but its time finally came. The fact that its popularity is negligible also helped, and I really wanted to find out why it gets such low ratings. Spoiler: I was unable to find an answer. This only further reinforces my belief that paying attention to ratings is a misconception.

A quick look at the plot

Marin and her younger sister Urin find a beautiful ring near their home in the depths of the sea. Marin decides to find the owner in a world on the surface of the sea, where she has never been before. She does so despite her knowledge of the legend of the turtle elder, whose hearing was lost after he left the sea. After making their way ashore to a nearby island, they quickly manage to find the owner of the ring – Miyamori Kanon. Although Marin tries to convince Kanon that such a beautiful object should not be thrown away, she throws it away again.

The siblings don’t give up and devote the rest of the day to finding him. Eventually, Urin succeeds, having earlier distanced herself from the two and accidentally then breaking the seal on the stone sarcophagus, releasing the sinister creature known as Sedona. Sensing Sedona’s release, the long-lost turtle Matsumoto, shrouded in legend, reveals himself to Kanon and her companions, calling Marin Priestess of the Sea.

This is where we really find out what to expect from Umi Monogatari. It turned out to be a rather dark story with a lot of drama and considerable room for our own interpretations. Contrary to my first impressions of it I was dealing with a light slice-of-life series. I wasn’t entirely sure that I would like such a turn of the plot. After a great start, the second episode somewhat lowered my expectations. It seemed to me that I would not be able to watch the whole thing to the end. Fortunately, such thoughts passed quickly. From episode to episode I began to appreciate what the creators wanted to show and the way they did it.

Umi Monogatari has a lot of mahou shoujo influences. The main characters become priestesses (in the original – Miko) of the sea and sky. Here we have scenes of transformation, battles with evil monsters. However, all of this quickly fades into the background.

The main themes used in the anime

Umi Monogatari primarily touches on issues of darkness in the human heart. At first glance, everything seems rather simple and one-dimensional. Quite quickly such impressions pass (this was the case, at least in my case). It is efficiently shown how people cope with their problems, building a rather artistic and metaphorical setting for the whole thing and perfectly combining with this plot device being the release of a dark being called Sedona.

The creators managed to perfectly convey the dark atmosphere. Not in a blunt way by showing scary imagery or caricatured characters. Oh no. Umi Monogatari is one of the few examples of fiction where the darkness is felt in a completely different level, through different senses. The sense of hopelessness of the situation reaches its zenith in the last episode, where the final clash between light (good) and darkness (darkness) takes place.

However, all this does not mean that everything was perfect. It was apparent here and there that there was either a lack of screen time to better portray particular situations or to pull particular plotlines further. Some of the themes that drove the characters also seemed a bit stilted to me, but not so much as to cause annoyance.

The last thing I can complain about is that almost from the beginning I knew who would be the main object of the drama and whom was going to be consumed by the darkness.

Characters

The main focus is on the sisters Marin and Urin and their new surface acquaintance Kanon. Each of them has a rather significantly different type of character. Marin is good-natured, unable to pass by human injustice indifferently. Urin is a shy and intensely jealous younger sister, but she takes things very seriously. Kanon has had a gloomy aura around her since her youth. In addition to them, the turtle Matsumoto and Kanon’s love rival – we only know her name – Ooshima also get a lot of screen time. And Kojima, that is, the boy for whose hearts the two girls are fighting. Here a little trivia, Ooshima (means big island), Kojima (means small island). This, according to her imagination, means that they are destined for each other.

Almost every character mentioned is given an episode where we get acquainted with the backstory or current problems that afflict him. This helps to better understand their motivations behind their actions or simply their way of thinking. In addition, it ties the whole story together well.

Other remarks

It came as quite a surprise to me that the anime was based on a pachinko machine theme manufactured by Sanyo Bussan. Most likely as marketing material, since Sanyo Bussan was the main sponsor of this project. What amazes me even more is that, despite everything, a lot of heart was put into this project. After all, pachinko machines are nothing but money and time suckers.

Umi Monogatari: Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto (2009) – Evaluation and Summary

Despite the few flaws I mentioned and the slight stretching, I had a very enjoyable time watching Umi Monogatari. I especially liked the fact that the darkness was shown here in an unpretentious way. This is a feat, since quite a few stories of this type unfortunately go more for pretentiousness than actual attempts to create a dark atmosphere of uncertainty and helplessness. The atmosphere of the small island town also helped with this. I’ve written about this many times before, but I’ll mention it again. This is one of my favorite settings. The review came out much longer than I initially expected.

As of this post, I am changing the rating style for the series (I will also successively change my previous ratings in earlier reviews). The new system without scores expressed in points will be explained in more detail in the appropriate tab in the top menu of the site. In the meantime, I will only state in brief that it will be a system consisting of four badges relating to how much I recommend (or not) watching or reading.

Finalny werdykt

Final evaluation

Which translation do I recommend to watch Umi Monogatari: Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto (2009)

• Chibi-Formula – The translation is very good, although in places it sticks a little too much to the sentence structure of the original language. As for the video quality – I have the impression that of all the versions available, it is the TV version that looks the best (which unfortunately does not mean good).

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