Mermaid Forest Vol-2: Bitter Flesh (2003)
Animation Production: Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.
Released by: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 75 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Today’s subject is the second Mermaid Forest DVD released by Geneon state-side. Based on Rumiko Takahashi’s original manga work, this show examines the dark world that revolves around mermaids and those who seek them so as to eat their flesh and gain eternal life.

Not everyone who eats Mermaid Flesh lives forever however, in fact most people end up becoming monstrosities known as Deformed Ones, mindless savages who are cursed to wander the Earth for eternity. Those who are successful in their quest like Yuta and Mana will live forever, but this in itself ends up becoming a curse that will make normal living impossible for them.

With these three episodes the story of Mermaid Forest continues and brings up back to familiar territory as we revisit the story that was the subject of the first anime OVA based on the series several years ago.

Story

"After being struck by a truck, Mana disappears from the hospital before Yuta can arrive. He searches for her, eventually finding himself in the Mermaid Forest, where a pair of creepy and mysterious women seem to know the secret of the mermaids." -- DVD Box Description

Review

The second volume in Geneon’s release of Mermaid Forest contains episodes four through six in the series, which include:

Episode 4: Mermaid Forest (Part 1)
While chasing after a kitten Mana ends up getting hit by a truck and taken to a local doctor’s office, but her body ends up being taken to a local residence where a mysterious young girl with white hair and an elderly woman live. It seems like they have plans for Mana’s body…

Will Yuta be able to track Mana down and find out what is going on here? It looks like a lot more than meets the eye is behind the actions of these two women.

Episode 5: Mermaid Forest (Part 2)
Mysteries are revealed and story of Mermaid Forest, the old mansion/residence where Mana was taken to in the last episode, is finally revealed, but what exactly has been going on here all these years and will Yuta be able to rescue Mana?

Episode 6: The End of the Dream
A strange looking immortal monster that lives in the mountains has taken Mana after she falls from a cliff! Can Yuta rescue her from this enigmatic beast or is there more to his story than it initially looks like?

With the first volume of Mermaid Forest we were introduced to our two protagonists, how they came to know each other and a little bit of their background, with a particular focus on Yuta’s life. With those basic story elements now set, we start moving forward in the story with the episodes in this DVD and begin the process of developing the character’s relationship with each other and their struggle with the reality of their immortality. This leads our starring duo through two separate events that will put them in contact with other people who have had contact with Mermaid Flash and what that has done to their lives, which puts everything that Yuta and Mana go through in perspective with their experience.

First up is the two-part story, Mermaid Forest, which was as mentioned above the subject of the first Mermaid Forest OVA release several years ago. This storyline has our two heroes come face to face with a young woman, Towa, who many decades ago tried the life blood of a Mermaid, which resulted in her not only overcoming a death-threatening illness but also a result of it sustained physical scarring from the consumption of the Mermaid’s blood, namely having white hair and a deformed arm that needs to be replaced every so many years so as to alleviate the extreme pain that it causes her. This is why Mana’s body is taken to the mansion, so that her arm could be cut off and used as a replacement for Towa.

Needless to say that one thing leads to another and we come to learn that there is a lot more to Towa’s story that is at first apparent. What is revealed and how it all unfolds will give Mana and Yuta much to think about as they continue to wander the Earth in search of a cure for their condition so that they may also age like normal people and die of natural causes. What unfolds during this storyline also serves as a lesson to the two young immortals that challenges the duo’s knowledge on how mermaid flesh affects humans who consume it.

In episode six, after accidentally falling off of a mountain side Mana is taken by a strange looking ogre whose head is completely bandaged except for his oversized eyeballs, which alarmingly pop out of his head. This leads to a classic “Beauty and the Beast” style story that teaches Mana and Yuta that not all deformed ones are mindless creatures, for this one retained a semblance of his humanity. In the end our two heroes come to realize that what comes about as a result of eating mermaid flesh is not as simple as they once thought, and in fact each instance might be a completely unique experience that leads to different results for the person who consumes the mermaid flesh.

This advancement in the story along with the development of the relationship between Yuta and Mana are what’s at the core of the episodes in this volume. In a way you could say that the purpose of these stories is to bring our two protagonists closer together so that they can help each other overcome the loneliness that is attached to life as an immortal human. Yuta knows this better than anyone having lived over 500 years now and outlived so many of the people he befriended and loved in his past. Now, with someone like him by his side, Yuta’s life (as well as Mana’s) may be all that much easier to get through on a daily basis.

On the technical side of things Mermaid Forest is leaps and bound beyond the original OVA releases and really benefits from some beautiful artwork and character designs that are based on Takahashi’s originals. The animation is fluid, colorful and sharp looking, with CGI enhanced visual effects sprinkled throughout for good measure. The background art is quite beautiful as well.

The music soundtrack is suitable for what the show’s premise is and features some beautifu/atmospheric instrumental pieces, but there is a noticeable lack of any one memorable piece or defining theme however. The voice acting was good on both the Japanese and North American tracks. Overall the casts put in a solid performance.

The DVD package is well put together in typical Geneon fashion. The exterior of the DVD case ports a nice portrait of Yuta and Mana in a fashion similar to the first volume's cover.. Inside the box there’s a small insert with the dates of all the other volumes in this release on one side and a mini poster on the other that features the same artwork as the box cover. DVD extras are limited to an art gallery and previews for other Geneon products. The video and audio transfers here are crisp and easy on the eyes/ears. The video portion is particularly sharp and colorful.

Final Thoughts

As dark and macabre as this series can be, you can’t help but want to watch it as they have built such a fascinating story around the Mermaid mythos. This one is very highly recommended for fans of anime with darker themes and for fans of Takahashi that want to experience something slightly different from the popular manga artist.

Very good stuff here!

Jeffrey Couto