Anime: Kenkou Zenrakei Suieibu Umishou

Umisho - the show filled with non-nude nudity! That's right, while there is a tag that says nudity, don't expect to see any nipples. However, get your fill of ero with the hot girls in swimsuits!

Umisho comes from the mind of Hattori Mitsuru, serialized in Shounen Magazine (Kodansha). The anime is brought to life by director Soutome Kouichirou (Earl and Fairy), producer Ikeda Mamiko (Himawari, Nagasarete Airantou), character designer Nishino Rie (Now and Then, Here and There, Mamotte Lollipop) and art studio Artland (Legend of Galactic Heroes, Bokura ga Ita, Tytania).

Animation - Panning stills!
Most of the animation in Umisho consists of panning stills while the lead characters move about. In fact, there are very few background characters that move. Some reactions are close ups on the face with speed lines or some other similarily distracting background. Most of the animation is fluid and the lines are crisp. While the backgrounds are adequately detailed in a bland kind of way, it isn't very distracting from what is going on with the characters on screen. As for the character designs themselves, the females look good. While the few men look like other males from other series, the lead resembling Kyon on more than one occasion. There is one male character, whose mere presence infuriates me to no end and that is; Takeda Seito. He has the same look on his face through out the whole series. While it may just be me personally annoyed that he has no other expression than the diamond shaped mouth of teeth.

Sound - I recognize that voice!
The female lead, Ninagawa Amura, is voiced by Toyosaki Aki, who has lent her vocal talents to such characters as; Hirasawa Yui (K-On!), Lisa (Seiken no Blacksmith), Uiharu Kazari (To Aru Kagaku no Railgun), and Nakamichi Kana (Kanamemo). The light and bubbly characters that she has portrayed really play well here. I believe this is the show that she got her start with. Other cast members include; Toyonaga Toshiyuki voicing Okiura Kaname, Nabatame Hitomi voicing Orizuka Momoko and Fukui Yukari voicing Shizuoka Mirei.

The vocal cast comes together well. The way they play off of each others characters is really fun to listen to, even if the jokes get old. It really sounds like they enjoyed their respective roles. It wasn't very often that the characters sounded bland, flat, or stereotypical.

The OP is Dolphin Jet by Ayane, which is a nice pop sound to it. The general feel is uplifting and matches well with the feel of the show that follows. The ED is Splash Blue: Taiyou to Lemonade by Murata Ayumi, it as well has an uplifting sound to it. The vocals sound good and it is a nice end to the show. However, the background sounds aren't anything that stand out.

Story - Not much of a story
There really isn't a story to Umisho. It revolves around Kaname, who in his youth visited Okinawa and was attacked by what he calls, a mermaid. It pulled him under and ever since has instilled a deep seeded fear of deep water. Although he is often ridiculed over his fear of the mermaid, it doesn't stop him from being around water or the swim teams manager.

Amuro is an odd girl, floating onto the beach on a raft house she claims came from Okinawa. She is eccentric and doesn't have a problem with people seeing her in a swimsuit, in her panties, or if she likes you; naked. She is an excellent swimmer which causes a jealousy to form in Orizuka. The majority of the anime centers on the interactions of Kaname and Amuro. While there are some quite comedic moments involving the rest of the cast, the way it unfolds is rather uninteresting and generic. It really comes down to girls in swimsuits unaware that the male student body are gawking at them, except for Orizuka who chases the onlookers away. The ecchi pose/joke of the day gets old rather fast and even though it has the cover/excuse of being a sports show about swimming... it doesn't really do much to keep the viewer interested in the series. Half way through I felt that it was merely an excuse to draw pretty girls in skimpy clothes while not really revealing anything. Seriously, there is more shown in Kodomo no Jikan with Rin's exploits to attract the attention of Aoki-sensei.

Character Development - Seriously lacking
While the characters themselves are quite entertaining with their interactions, there is hardly any character development. None that I would call award winning at least. While there is some very minor development and backstory told, it is really a, "Look, this girl is hot and we'll put her in a swimsuit now"

Value + Enjoyment - Meh, it was a fun show, albeit boring and predictable story wise
While you won't come away from this show with some kind of enlightenment, you might come away with a new found love of swimming. If girls in skin tight swimwear wasn't enough to attract any males attention to begin with...

Value wise there isn't anything to be gained from this show aside from a few mediocre laughs at a few mediocre jokes that get old fast. Enjoyment wise, it is hard to say as it comes down to each person's individual tastes. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, I guess you could say I did. The characters looked nice and it was enjoyable to watch them move about on the screen and show off their bodies in skin tight swimwear. Will I buy the series? No... I didn't it like it that much to warrant spending the money on DVD's.

Normally, anime's with sports in it, have a good story, in this case, it's not. It's revealed later on in the show, but that actually doesn't matter, because Umisho has lots of crazy characters in it who can entertain you before you get to the actual story, lots of things happen, every episode is enjoyable.[br][br]The art is really great, it's kind of realistic, the animation is great to, sometimes there's this 3D vibe, yet it's still 2D, really great.[br][br]I enjoyed this anime very much, and everyone who loves ecchi and a good match of fan-service, this anime if for you guys/girls. But not only for them, this is an anime which is enjoyable for anyone. Of course we still got the comedy and sports genre in it, so it's covered in anyway to be a good anime.[br][br]Overall it's a great manga, it has a nice story, and the other eps where the story isn't introduced yet are hilarious too, it has ecchi and fan-service, come on. Who doesn't like that? And yet it is sometimes serious on the sports, which gets explained rather well, and then we still got the comedy part. And everyone loves comedy right?[br]

Synopsis:

Kaname Okimura, is a student of Prefectoral Umineko Shougyou High ("Umisho" for short), he joined the school’s swimming club in order to learn how to swim, but the club is filled with weirdoes, let alone teach him swimming. Then, a sunny, happy-go-lucky girl named Amuro Ninagawa who was transferred from Okinawa to Umisho joined the club.

Her extraordinary underwater speed and unorthodox swimming style (plus her personal habit of nude swimming a powerful magnet to teenage boys) surprised every club member, especially Okimura, because she reminds him a mermaid like creature he saw only once in his early childhood.

Review:

Well since it is summer and I am dying of the heat I decided on doing review on a “Summer Themed Anime” called “Umisho”. This is a light hearted series filled with loads of comedy commentary on Japanese society and of course good old fanservice.

When people hear the word fanservice they get scared off pretty fast and their is this saying in the Anime community: “More tail less tale” which is pretty much true if u consider a show like Ikkitousen: Dragons Destiny. I have no idea why, but I never get tired of fanservice shows like Love Hina, Girls Bravo and Airgear. And now I can add Umisho to that ever growing list of pervertedness.

Before I continue let me just say the level of fanservice in Umisho isn’t say as high as shows like Ikkitousen: Dragons Destiny rather it is a show that reminded me of a mix between Love Hina and Girls Bravo.

Story:

For those of u who don’t know Umisho it is based on the Shonen jump Manga by the same name, the manga is very similar overall but is less censored than the anime counter part. Also the plot in the Manga is also better defined than in the Anime show. The story follows Kaname Okimura as he trains the local school girls/boys for the inter school swimming championship (they have never won it since they started taking part in it.) Then one day he meets a sunny, happy-go-lucky girl named Amuro Ninagawa who was transferred from Okinawa to Umisho and joins his swimming club.

To complicate matters Kaname is a bit girl shy and this leads to Amuro teasing him about it. She is the complete opposite of Kaname being a totally open person she’s totally unfazed by him seeing her nude and this just complicates matters even further not to mention the fact that he is a swimming coach but he himself can’t swim.

If u are looking for an Anime with deep involving plot looks elsewhere and if fanservice isn’t your thing then definitely give this show a miss. Finally, the jokes in the show made me laugh because I was over thinking those jokes and thinking how stupid they really were. I good example would be why did it take her that long to notice that he’s got his face in her boobs?

Animation:

I really took a likening to the animation if u read any of the Manga u would know what I mean it is like the ripped out some of the pages Manga and used it as reference of the show. I love the drawing style especially the facial expressions and features. And since it’s an Anime that takes place around water the colors are fresh and vibrant and gives u something nice to look at.

Sound/Music:

Like the Animation the soundtrack is vibrant and in your face especially the opening (Dolphin Jet) and ending (Splash Blue) sequences/theme and the rest of the soundtrack consists of upbeat track and acoustic melodies.

Character:

This is definitely the only strong point I can give Umisho credit for is the huge amount of colorful characters that can be found running around during the course of the show. From the big and busty Mirei Shizuoka, who is admired by the boys because of her generous measurements and polite demeanor.

And the there is Masa Ikariya the team Captain, nicknamed Ikamasa. Third year, muscle-bound, and obsessed with shaving his and other people's body hair, and with wearing revealing Speedo bikini swim suits.

The list can go on and on as there is a dozen colorful chracters that make there appearance during the show all of these make up the swimming team of Umisho and saves the show from being totally mediocre.

Enjoyment:

If u are looking to take a break from watching Anime shows that revolves around deep serious plots and character intrigue then this is the perfect show to watch when u need to take a breather, its only 13 episodes so it fits the bill perfectly. If u don’t like silly fanservice shows then give this one a miss, as it would not appeal to you. But if u enjoy a fanservice show every now and then like me then is definitely your cup of tea.