It plays like such a slice of life with its cute character interactions, focus on everyday activities, and relatively peaceful days. A few flashbacks and choice moments of dialogue help us understand characters’ motivations and passions while most of the story is told by just watching the characters go about their lives. Kukuru’s extreme devotion to the aquarium and the animals that inhabit it is ever-present while we can see the cracks in Fuuka’s collected yet kind demeanor from the start. The more the girls interact, the more they help define and explain each other. Each seemingly mundane task helps us paint a better picture of their abilities and temperaments.

While it seems the perfect slice of life for fans of female main characters and those with a fascination with the ocean, there’s a surprise element that’s immediately introduced yet scarcely elaborated on. We see a strange little creature that walks around Okinawa, unseen by most yet clearly revered by some, known as the kijimunaa. His role is mostly shown by Kukuru praying over fish heads that the kijimunaa later eats. He also creates visions for a couple of characters by episode 3 and while he’s described as a trickster, his visions seem to give his ‘victims’ a sense of peace and certainty in the midst of fear and doubt. We still don’t know just how much he’ll interfere with the characters or perhaps we just don’t yet know how much of the plot advancing is the kijimunaa’s doing.

While cute girl characters are always nice to see, it’s the incredible backgrounds and animal animation that makes this anime stand out above the rest. The penguins appear so real and the beautiful beaches are given such careful detail from the gradient of the sky to the waves in the sand. Most notably, the incredible visions caused by our friend the kijimunaa are trippy and otherworldly until they capture the beauty of the ocean as if we were the ones trapped in the vision. The shimmering scales on the swirling fish and the kind eyes of the whale look so clear and beautiful you’ll find yourself holding your breath as if you were really underwater.