Product Details

• Actors: Artist Not Provided
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
• DVD Release Date: July 5, 2005
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007XBMJI
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,422 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rumiko Takahashi's relatively short manga adventure Mermaid Forest was originally animated in 1991 as an OVA; this broadcast series followed in 2003. An ancient legend says that anyone who eats a mermaid's flesh will remain young forever. Yuta, a handsome fisherman, unwittingly ate some mermaid sashimi 500 years ago, and has spent the last five centuries seeking the peace old age and death can bring. In a remote seaside village, he meets Mana, a young girl who's been raised as a prisoner in a lonely hut. A group of mermaids is planning to kill and eat her to preserve their fading beauty. Yuta rescues Mana, and they begin wandering, searching for a normal life.

Mermaid Forest is considerably darker than Takahashi's longer, more popular works. The story suffers from major inconsistencies: Eating mermaid flesh only makes some humans beautiful immortals. The less fortunate become deformed monsters, but the reason for the differing results isn't explained. Yuta can't end his wearisome existence, although he's repeatedly told that decapitation will do the trick. A minor work by a major artist, Mermaid Forest is not for the squeamish. (Rated 16 and older: violence, grotesque imagery, brief nudity, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

An ancient Japanese legend says that if one were to partake of the flesh of the mermaid, one would be granted eternal life and youth. Yuta ate the mermaid?s flesh 500 years ago and became immortal. Since then he has had to deal with living a lonely never-ending life, watching his loved ones grow old and die. Wishing to have a normal life, to live and to die like others, he searches for a mermaid for centuries, thinking she may be able to tell him a way to become mortal again. When he arrives a village, he meets a girl named Mana, who also became immortal by eating a mermaid's flesh. Together, they start their journey in attempting to find a mermaid and regain their humanity.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quest for the mermaids, July 21, 2005

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

One of Rumiko Takahashi's most successful "side projects" is the Mermaid series, about a pair of immortals struggling to find a way to become mortal again. Don't expect the wacky action of "Ranma 1/2" or the mythic fantasy of "Inuyasha." Instead, this is a gritty, melancholy fantasy story.

It centers on mermaids, and what eating their flesh does to human beings. A tiny number become beautiful immortals who never age and can't die, unless their heads are cut off. But most people either cough up blood and die, or turn into bug-eyed purplish monsters.

In the first episode, Yuta has been wandering the earth for five hundred years, trying to find a mermaid so he can become a mortal again. One day he journeys to a tiny, secluded village, populated by eerie women who stab him to (temporary) death -- and are keeping a pampered teenage girl named Mana hostage. Yuta spirits the naive girl away, finds out that she's an immortal -- and learns the gruesome fate that the women have in store for her.

Later on, Yuta takes Mana on a cruise on the ocean, which brings back memories from a few centuries before. He was washed ashore on a small island, and soon fell in love with the chief's feisty daughter Rin. But a local pirate headman's wife, Isago, is after mermaid flesh, and is willing to kill to get it.

In the second part, Rin is captured by the pirates, and they now have a dead mermaid, which they think will give them immortality. But Isago has secrets of her own, and her own motives for wanting the mermaid's flesh. Now Yuta must save Rin from the pirates, who are turning into monsters -- even if he can't live happily ever after with her.

The first three episodes set up the series, which has Mana and Yuta wandering through modern-day Japan. But "Village of the Fighting Fish" also gives us an idea of how lonely Yuta was before he met Mana. It's a compellingly different look at mermaids and immortality, and Takahashi did it well.

Her series tend to be on the upbeat side, so the melancholy and darkness of the Mermaid Series is a major change. The old woman's lament about wandering forever shows why human beings shouldn't be immortal. But even this dark story is optimistic: Even if Mana and Yuta aren't cured of their immortality, they aren't alone any longer.

The animation is sharp and clear, and the voice acting is definitely well-done: Yuta sounds mature and tired, Isago sounds slimy and seductive, and both Mana and Rin sound a bit bratty but strong. And fans of Takahashi's original comics will be pleased to see that the stories very closely mirror the original writing.

"Mermaid Forest: Quest for Death" is the start of an all-too-short series. Beautifully animated, poignant and intelligent fantasy.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rumiko Takahashi amaze's with her "little" side project, March 10, 2005

By	B. Ackley "jumpstudios" (Douglasville, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mermaid's Forest is an anime adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's Manga "Ningyo no Morii" released stateside as "Mermaid Saga" through Viz Comics LLC. Mermaid's forest was first adapted into anime in the early 90s as two 45 minute OVAs. This latest anime adaptation, released domestically by Geneon, is an 11 episode series which aired in Japan in 2003 on NHK.

Mermaid's Forest TV series is a fairly faithful adaptation of Rumiko's self-proclaimed "side project" Mermaid Saga. The manga (and Anime) are a departure from Rumiko's usual lighthearted romantic comedies and are in fact very dark and at time violently graphic. She has not abandoned her ability to create great believable characters which is truly where this anime shines.

Based around the mythical belief that anyone could be granted eternal life if they eat the flesh of a mermaid, Mermaid's Saga follows main characters Yuta and Mana. Yuta is a 500 year old man who partook of the mermaid's flesh and was granted immortality. He has wondered Japan searching for others like himself and a way to become mortal. Along his way he encounters Mana, a young girl who he soon realises has also ate the flesh of a mermaid. The first episode on this disc shows us the circumstances of the couples first meeting and quickly delves into the mysteries and the darker/terrifying consequences of eating mermaid flesh.

Each episode cross references each other but if viewed alone could easily be enjoyed as a stand alone story. Fans of Rumiko's work will no doubt want to pick up this essential series for their DVD collection. For those otaku out there who really look for great characters in addition to strong storytelling will really want to join Mana and Yuta on their journey through the Japanese countryside. The stories are at times strange and terrifying but always entertaining. HIGHLY Recommended!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Huge Stack of "Rumiko" -- Hold the "Syrup"!, July 17, 2005

By	Ace-of-Stars (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mermaid Forest - Quest for Death (Vol. 1) + Series Box (DVD)

*
Takahashi Rumiko is best known for her silly & wacky antics type of storytelling ("Urusei Yatsura"; "Ranma Nibun-no-Ichi"; "Inu Yasha"). But 'Rumi-chan' has also touched the "Dark Side," and with surprising effectiveness. This presented itself when her publisher agreed to run a series of manga stories by her which came to be popularly known as the "mermaid saga."

In 1991, the first "OAV" ("Original Animation Video") of one of those stories-- "Ningyo no Mori" ("Mermaid Forest") --was released; this was followed two years later with the release of another OAV of a second Rumiko "mermaid" story -- "Ningyo no Kizu" ("Mermaid's Scar"). Ten years would pass before anything new from Takahashi-san's "mermaid saga" would be presented in animated form.

In July of 2003, Japanese television aired an anthology series called "Takahashi Rumiko Gekijyou" ("Takahashi Rumiko Theater") -- a showcase for a collection of her individual story ideas, which were all independent of one another. Three months later, the first episode of "Takahashi Rumiko Gekijyou: Ningyo no Mori" ("Takahashi Rumiko Theater: Mermaid Forest") was aired -- the program title being modified slightly with the added 'tack-on' at the end to distinguish it specifically as the animated adaptation of her "mermaid saga" and that, unlike the earlier "Gekijyou," this sort of 'second season,' if you will, would be an extended run of a series of interrelated stories. Labeling the entire series "Mermaid Forest," however, is a bit of a misnomer, as the title refers to one specific story of that name, but it's really nothing to nit-pick over.

Because the artwork & animation techniques used here are not nearly as refined, and everything feels too rushed (or to put it another way, because everything feels too "televisiony"), this series does not engage the viewer with quite the same degree of dark depression & gloominess that is experienced in the OAVs. Even so, the stories as presented here are just dreadful enough to make you realize that this ain't no "kiddie-fare!"

As with the previous "Takahashi Gekijyou," this series consists of 13 total episodes, although there are in actuality 8 separate storylines adapted for this series -- including brand new animated adaptations of the OAV stories (ironically, it was one of these-- "Ningyo no Kizu" --that was never aired during the series' televised run).

The 'English dubbed' audio track, though not great, is passable, but the original Japanese audio dialogue track seems to better capture the spirit of the main characters, Yuta and Mana.


[[My only real gripe is that Pioneer/Geneon could not have taken the extra time to simply release this entire series (only 4 discs) as a complete box set.]]