Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea

Plot

For a long time, human civilization had lived on the ocean floor, developing a scale-like layer on their skins called Ena which allows them to live underwater. However, there were many humans who wanted to live above the surface and they moved to land creating a fundamental separation between the two. After Nami Junior High School closes down, four 14-year-old students from the sea village Shioshishio have to attend Mihama Junior High School on the surface. What follows is their struggles adjusting to a new environment and the relationships between the land and sea humans, while dealing with their own newfound feelings that have just started appearing with the end of their childhood.

Characters

Main characters

Hikari Sakishima (先島 光, Sakishima Hikari)

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese); Max Mittelman (English)

One of four childhood friends from Shioshishio. He has a short temper and usually scolds Manaka for her mistakes. Despite this, he has deep feelings for her, yet believes she is in love with Tsumugu. He is the son of Shioshishio's Chief Priest who serves the Sea God. By tradition, this makes him the future Chief Priest. At first, he hates all people from the surface, but after learning about the relationships between the land and sea humans (through Akari and Itaru), he gradually understands that there is no difference between the people from the surface and the sea. He goes into hibernation shortly after saving Akari during the Ofunehiki festival. After the 5-year time skip, Hikari reappears during a Tomoebi without any signs of aging, making him the first person to do so. He rejoins Mihama Junior High School as Miuna and Sayu's classmate and lives in the Shiodome home with his sister. In the last scene, Manaka and Hikari acknowledge each other's feelings and start a relationship, looking towards the future together.

Manaka Mukaido (向井戸 まなか, Mukaido Manaka)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese); Michelle Ruff (English)

One of the students from Shioshishio. She is an indecisive junior high schooler who is prone to crying and is highly dependent on Hikari and Chisaki. At first, Manaka appears to have feelings for Tsumugu despite the taboo nature of dating someone from the surface, which Hikari gradually accepts. As time passes, she starts to become more independent. After saving Akari during the Ofunehiki festival and falling into the sea, she enters hibernation and takes on the role of the sacrificial maiden for the Sea God. After the time skip, she is found in the middle of the graveyard of Wooden Maidens near Shioshishio and brought to the surface while losing her Ena. She wakes up one week later and ends up staying with the Shiodome family. She has also lost the ability to fall in love and the associated parts of her memory as a result of leaving her post as the sacrificial maiden. Later, it is revealed that she has been in love with Hikari all along but decided to keep it a secret as she knew about Chisaki's feelings for him. In the last scene, Manaka and Hikari acknowledge each other's feelings and start a relationship, looking towards the future together.

Shioshishio residents

Tomoru Sakishima (先島 灯, Sakishima Tomoru)

Voiced by: Masuo Amada (Japanese); Richard Epcar (English)

The widowed father of Hikari and Akari. He is also the Chief Priest of Shioshishio, who performs religious duties. He cares for his children and wants them to make their own decisions. In episode 26, he wakes up from hibernation and meets his grandson, Akira.

Lord Uroko (うろこ様, Uroko-sama)

Voiced by: Kousuke Toriumi (Japanese); Chris Niosi (English)

The Sea God's messenger and namely the scale from the Sea God's shoulder blade. He appears as a man in his twenties. However, he does not seem to age. He ensures everyone follows the laws of the village. He is perverted and enjoys drinking sake. Despite this perverted attitude, he shows sincere feelings of love to the original Lady Ojoshi.

Oshiooshi residents

Akari Shiodome (潮留 あかり, Shiodome Akari)

Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Erica Mendez (English)

Hikari's older sister who married Itaru, Miuna's father. She was a friend of Miori and grew to love their family. When Miori died, she wanted to be there to support them. After the timeskip, she has a 4 year old son named Akira.

Itaru Shiodome (潮留 至, Shiodome Itaru)

Voiced by: Junji Majima (Japanese), Grant George (English)

Miuna's father. His first wife, Miori was from the sea. After a few years of recovering from Miori's death, he slowly begins a relationship with Akari and eventually marries her. He eventually becomes the father of Akira.

Akira Shiodome (潮留 晃, Shiodome Akira)

Voiced by: Shizuka Ishigami (Japanese); Wendee Lee (English)

Akari and Itaru's son. He is Hikari's nephew who was born during the hibernation of Shioshishio. He is mischievous and only listens to his sister, Miuna. He falls "in love" with Manaka. In the epilogue, like his sister, he also develops Ena on his skin.

Miori Shiodome (潮留 みをり, Shiodome Miori)

Voiced by: Aya Endō

Miuna's deceased mother and Akari's close friend. She was from Shioshishio but moved to the surface to marry Itaru.

Takeshi Egawa (江川 岳, Egawa Takeshi)

Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese); Kyle McCarley (English)

Media

Manga

A manga adaptation, written by Project-118 and illustrated by Risō Maeda, began serialization in the June 2013 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Daioh magazine. The series has been collected in five tankōbon volumes as of September 2015. A second, four-panel comic strip manga titled Nagi no Asukara 4-koma Gekijō: Nagiyon (『凪のあすから』4コマ劇場 なぎよん), written by Project-118 and illustrated by Anko Chatō, began serialization on September 27, 2013, in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Daioh g magazine. It has been collected in one tankōbon volume. Two anthology volumes were released in early 2014.

Nagi no Asukara by Risō Maeda

Volume 1, ISBN 978-4-04-891935-7 (September 27, 2013)

Volume 2, ISBN 978-4-04-866300-7 (February 27, 2014)

Volume 3, ISBN 978-4-04-866699-2 (July 25, 2014)

Volume 4, ISBN 978-4-04-869306-6 (February 27, 2015)

Volume 5, ISBN 978-4-04-865356-5 (September 26, 2015)

Volume 6, ISBN 978-4-04-865870-6 (April 26, 2016)

"Nagi no Asukara" 4-koma Gekijō: Nagiyon by Anko Chatō

ISBN 978-4-04-866700-5 (July 25, 2014)

Anthologies

Four-Panel Official Anthology: Nagi no Asukara (4コマ公式アンソロジー 凪のあすから, Yon-koma Kōshiki Ansorojii Nagi no Asukara), ISBN 978-4-04-866242-0 (January 27, 2014)

Official Comic Anthology: Nagi no Asukara (公式コミックアンソロジー 凪のあすから, Kōshiki Komikku Ansorojii Nagi no Asukara), ISBN 978-4-04-866301-4 (February 27, 2014)

Anime

The anime series is produced by P.A. Works and directed by Toshiya Shinohara. The screenplay is written by Mari Okada and the original character designs are by Buriki. It started airing on October 3, 2013. For episodes 1 to 13, the opening theme is "lull ~Soshite Bokura wa~" (lull〜そして僕らは〜) by Ray and the ending theme is "Aqua Terrarium" (アクアテラリウム, Akua Terariumu) by Nagi Yanagi. For episode 14 to 25, the opening and ending themes are "Ebb and Flow" by Ray and "Mitsuba no Musubime" (三つ葉の結びめ) by Yanagi respectively. The 26th and final episode has 2 insert songs: "lull ~Earth color of a calm~" and "mnemonic", sung by Ray and Yanagi, respectively. An image song titled "Nagi" (凪) by Ray appears on her debut album Rayve. NIS America licensed the streaming and home video rights of the anime in North America. Siren Visual has licensed the series for Australia/New Zealand, and MVM Entertainment has licensed the series in the United Kingdom. NIS America released the complete series on a limited edition Blu-ray set with an artbook and two soundtrack CDs on June 30, 2015, which featured both Japanese and English audio tracks. Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia and streamed on Muse Asia YouTube channel.