Anime Review: Muromi-san
Takurou “Takkun” Mukoujima is a quiet lad who enjoys fishing off a lonely pier. (Apparently the fishing is normally terrible, since we never see any other fishermen there.) One day he catches a green-haired mermaid named Muromi. She quickly takes a liking to Takkun, though he’s not as impressed with her, and soon she and her wacky friends are hanging around the pier too.
Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san (“Muromi of the Seashore”) is a thirteen-episode animated series based on a gag manga by Keiji Najima. Much of the humor derives from Muromi not quite thinking the way humans do. Her fish side is very strong within her, and she’s functionally immortal, so she will often say or do things that humans wouldn’t. Even when Muromi is acting human, she’s what the Japanese call “wagamama”, self-indulgent and capricious, and everyone else just has to put up with that.
This mostly leads to funny moments, such as Muromi being helpless in the face of penguins one-tenth her size because she’s a fish. But there’s also some pretty tasteless fanservice jokes dealing with fellow mermaid Fuji’s large breasts, including a protracted breast-mauling sequence from the jealous Muromi. Also, Muromi and the other mermaids have some odd turn-ons.
Despite what might look at first like kid-friendly character designs, this one is for older teens and up. The episodes are only twelve minutes long, so you won’t waste too much time sampling an episode to see if you like it. Currently available on Crunchyroll.
