My Bride Is A Mermaid: Season 1 Part 1 - DVD Review

"My Bride Is A Mermaid" is a balance of love story with an extent of humor. While sometimes a story like this within the anime structure might point to a boring or undeniably cheesy maintenance, the continuing threat of violence and exceptional outbounded dark humor (which bring to mind certain elements of "Shin Chan") elevate its possibility.Disc 1 Nagasumi by all accounts just wanted to have a quiet summer on the beach. However the fates decided different when a mermaid saved him from drowning. Now it is against the code within this world for a human to see a mermaid's true form. The human or the mermaid must be killed or it will upset the balance. Sun, the mermaid in question, is the daughter of a Yakuza family warlord which, when combined with the underwater lore, actually works pretty well. With a certain dexterity of say "Afro Samurai" with a little bit more lighthearted play, the idea seems to play functionally. The English version plays more flippant than the less sarcastic Japanese audio, though the visual style jumps allows for different funny and emotional textures. After the initial shock and stepping up to the plate to marry this girl (they are both still in school), the subsequent general ideas of dating progress though they could have continued a bit slower. Despite this, the story changes to keep the pace. The young couple goes to the Bon Carnival on their first only date to find that Sun's father is using his henchmen to try to kill him at every point since they moonlight as some of the vendors. A secluded trip to an island reveals a would-be assassin in the pint-sized "Maki The Conch" who is the size of the shell.The remaining second half of the episodes on the first disc revolve around Nagasumi moving back to the city with his parents. Sun, trying to be a good bride but also wanting to get to know her husband a little better, arranges to live with them which forces her father's hand to "watch over her" and not to continually try to kill her beau. Back at school, the secret is kept in terms of their actual bond. Nagasumi's former girl friend, whose father is the Inspector General, becomes suspicious of both of them because of wary details and her affection for her ex, which results in both flirting confrontations but also some dramatic moments. This unforseen gem of an anime works because it understands its subject but also has enough respect to treat it in a modern manner. The ending of the first disc progresses with Lunar, a rival daughter from a neighboring clan who went on to become one of the biggest pop stars in the country, coming back into the picture. For her, is always been about competition with Sun and now she wants what she can't have: Nagasumi. It plays much funnier than its sound. In addition there is always the voice of Masa, the boss' right hand man, who is a ladies man but also the voice of reason and provides an ultra cool sense throughout the series.Disc 2 Because of the mermaid competition where humans cannot resist their allure, the school turns into a war zone. The voices of the two female mermaids striving for popularity bring the hormones of the kids in school to an utter boiling point. Ultimately Sun wins because of Nagasumi's devotion to her which makes Lunar's ambition to have everything that is Sun's completely overwhelming (though the censored element at one point gives question to what the animators were thinking). The next conflict comes in the form of a long lost suitor who is part of a military family and commands a submarine (though he is afraid of wide open spaces). His scenario in later episodes of having to wear a NASA spacesuit to deal with his phobia is funny but the comedic effect of having Chimp (Nagasumi's former best friend) as his manservant really makes the episode whirl (though oddly enough Chimp becomes less of a character through this process).The  crux of the next episode is the aspect of mermaid diets especially when adding two pounds for the girls gives motivation for Nagasmui to drink mermaid juice whereto he becomes a giant (nice pun). Ending up on the moon because of this affliction is a little much. Though the beginning of the disc seems to lose all hold on reality, the latter half finds Nagasumi pursued by Lunar's father (who is patterned on Ahnuld) who wants the boy to take responsibility after he finds the student caressing the rump  of his daughter (even though in actuality he was rubbing her legs to return her to human form). It is all very soap opera. However when Sun takes responsiblity for not being the good wife because she let her man get away, there becomes a bit of a connect/disconnect ideal happening. The idea though that the girls settle the Yakuza Battle by a dance off that forces everyone to drop is just funny enough to be bonkers despite having an air of stupidity. The only thing missing from the second disc is the wonderful long winded freak outs by Sun's dad which were derailed more because of telling of story which is not a bad thing."My Bride Is A Mermaid", all things considered, is actually a surprise in its fun elements. At first a little too cutesy for words, the inclusion of the Yakuza gangs give it edge in a mermaid story that could be "blah". While it does skirt the edges sometimes of losing its throughline and any sort of grounded persistence, the freak out scenarios punctuated by sound effects and a change in visual style keep the ideas fresh despite a dwindling pattern. Out of 5, I give it a 3.