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Do not let the above image fool you. It's far from serious.

"Please laugh along. This is the beginning of young love".

While on a visit to his grandmother's, a schoolboy named Nagasumi nearly drowns in the sea. Before passing out, he catches a glimpse of a young mermaid. Nagasumi is found on the rocks, but no one believes his mermaid story... until that young girl, Sun Seto, appears at his home, asking Nagasumi to take responsibility for what happened by marrying her. Turns out that saving him broke the mermaid code of secrecy and one of them must be executed to preserve it, so Sun chose a third option by proposing marriage.

Unfortunately, Sun is also the daughter of a mermaid yakuza clan, and her fiercely-overprotective father and several other clan members are not happy with the engagement and would rather just have him killed and be done with it. And there is also the matter of keeping it a secret that Sun is a mermaid as she starts attending his school. Then, of course, there's the matter of Sun's pint-sized bodyguard, who would like nothing better than to murder Nagasumi. Oh, and Sun's family decide it's a great idea to off some of the staff at Nagasumi's school and take their place so they can better watch Nagasumi. Do we really have to say it?

My Bride is a Mermaid (Seto no Hanayome, 瀬戸の花嫁; literally translated as "The Inland Sea Bride") is a manga by Tahiko Kimura, which was serialized in Monthly Gangan Wing from 2002 to 2010, and compiled into 16 Volumes. A 26-episode TV series aired in early 2007, and a set of two OVAs followed.

The anime has been licensed by Funimation under the title My Bride is a Mermaid. All 26 episodes of the anime, both subbed and dubbed, can be seen at Funimation's site here and here. The full series is available on DVD.

A character sheet for this series is under construction.


This series provides examples of:

  • Abusive Parents: Nagasumi's parents often show him no sympathy, casually hit him many times, and declare him to be a disgrace when he's standing next to them. That being said, much of their behavior is often Played for Laughs and Nagasumi himself doesn't seem all that traumatized by how they treat him.
  • Accidental Marriage: At the beginning of the show, Nagasumi is proposed to by Sun, because as we find out, Sun (or Nagasumi) would have been executed for breaking the mermaid code, after she saves Nagasumi from drowning.
  • Accidental Pervert:
  • Adaptation Expansion: Episodes 25 and 26 of the anime combine Chapters 29 and 32 of the manga into an epic Grand Finale, though his "The Reason You Suck" Speech comes from Chapter 60.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Minamoto no Yoshiuo, who is a one-shot character in the manga, was turned into the anime's Big Bad. As of Chapter 70, this seems to be the case in the manga as well, as it is revealed he is the one behind the "break Nagasumi and Sun up at all costs" mission.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Episode 17 dealt with Akeno. Nagasumi and Sun notice they didn't get many lines on this one.
    • Episode 15 focuses mostly on the class president, who up until this point was largely a minor character.
    • Episode 24 hilariously gives the spotlight to Mikawa and his terminal illness.
  • Adults Are Useless: All the adult authority figures, barring Masa-san and Ren Seto (Sun's mother).
    • Parodied with the (remaining) school teachers during the club gang war. While the school becomes a war zone they make small talk as if truly unaware of it.
  • Affectionate Parody: Episode 10, which introduces Lunar's dad, is a parody of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Lunar's dad himself is a parody/Shout-Out to Ah-nuld.
  • Always in Class One: Sun's father arranges for all the students to stay in the same class for 3rd year so he won't have to memorize new names.
  • Analogy Backfire: When Runa protests San having a relationship with a human, San counters that there are stories of relationships between mermaids and humans. To emphasize the point, she holds a copy of The Little Mermaid. Runa points out that story has a bad ending.
  • Annoying Arrows: When Mawari challenges Nagasumi to a card game and Sun and Saru join in, after an extremely brutal game, all of the characters are pretty much fine, except for Saru, sitting in the background with an arrow in his back. He's fine afterward for the rest of the episode of course, though.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: The OVAs introduce Satori, Saru's kid sister. Sun bonds with her over a love of action movies, and after Nagasumi rescues her from a collapsing theater, even she begins to think he's extremely manly.
    • She actually appears much earlier in the manga.
  • Another Side, Another Story, Perspective Flip: In the Manga, Chapter 59, "Yakuza Wives: Conclusion" retells part of the first chapter from Sun and the Seto group's perspective.
  • Art Evolution: In the Manga, Kimura Tahiko's art style notably changed over the series' run. Compare the art in Volume 1 to that of Volume 9, and again to even more recent artwork. It's almost hard to believe these were drawn by the same person.
  • Art Shift: Done fairly often by Nagasumi, into a semblance of whatever the show feels like poking fun of at that moment, but particularly to Fist of the North Star (see Battle Aura below).
    • Also done by people swooning over Masa.
    • The characters spend almost as much time art-shifted as they do in normal style; this applies especially to Nagasumi.
    • At the very end of episode 26, Nagasumi seems to have permanently shifted into his Fist of the North Star persona, at least until the OVA.
  • Bare-Handed Blade Block: Lunar's dad does this to Mikawa's blade in episode 10, with just a couple of fingers. Then he snaps the tip off before delivering a Megaton Punch to Mikawa.
  • Battle Aura: Like so. Doesn't it remind you of a certain end of the century anime with a thug that has a mohawk?
  • Battle Discretion Shot: Nagasumi fighting off all the San and Lunar fans during their singing duel. Seems they ran out of money to stage an epic fight scene so everyone was drawn as stick figures.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: The Seto Clan (sans Ren, Sun and Masa) would love nothing more than to have Sun break up with Nagasumi which finally did happen. Then, Sun gets taken away by a noble who doesn't have any of Nagasumi's good traits. Thankfully, Nagasumi stops this in time.
  • Bedmate Reveal - In the middle of episode 7, which introduces Luna.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Sun is generally a nice person, but if you tick her off, usually by picking on Nagasumi, watch yourself.
    • In episode 18, after getting caught spraying water on Akeno/Nagasumi, Sun gives Maki a very stern lecture. Maki seems genuinely scared during that scene.
  • BFG: Several. This show loves 'em.
    • Kai once whipped out a missile launcher from nowhere for personal defense.
    • Ren Seto shot her husband with a rocket launcher.
    • The leading gangster of the run-down school in the OVA curb-stomped the powered-up Nagasumi with an RPG-7.
  • Big Bad: Though the series doesn't really need one for most of its run, it's eventually revealed that Yoshio's the one who sent Akeno to evaluate the Seto gang in an attempt to break up Sun and Nagasumi, so that he can have her for himself, and even then he doesn't make an appearance until the last two episodes. Yoshio is introduced as a minor antagonist fairly early in the manga, and it also takes much longer for this revelation to occur.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Two examples in the last episode. The first by the sub driven by Mikawa, which crashes into Yoshio's underwater palace and allows Sun's family (and Lunar's papa) to escape to do theirs to help Nagasumi a few moments later.
    • Sun does one in episode 13 to stop Lunar's marriage to Nagasumi.
  • Birds of a Feather: Saturn and Maruko. Both had Sun as their only friend when they were children. Both absolutely hate Nagasumi with a passion for daring to marry her (and as such take her away from them). It's no wonder they quickly became allies.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Firstly, we're introduced to Maki, who acts cutesy towards Sun (she even has the tone and Verbal Tic of Suiseiseki). However, aside from Sun and her boss (Sun's dad), she is very hostile towards everyone else, especially Nagasumi.
    • Then, Lunar makes her entrance, and we don't have to wait long to know that her cute persona on stage is merely a facade.
    • Both of them mellow out somewhat as the series goes along.
    • Episode 22 lampshades how similar they are, with Maki as "Chibi Lunar-Chan", subtly pointing out Lunar's flaws while she's putting on her ventriloquist act. They both get into an argument, then end up fighting each other hilariously. Amazingly, the class still thinks Lunar is just putting on a good ventriloquism act.
  • Black Blood: Not exactly black, but in the anime, all visible blood is colored a sparkly rainbow texture.
  • Blatant Lies: "Shibazaki-sensei is... ON MATERNITY LEAVE!". If you're wondering why this counts, Shibazaki-sensei is a man.
    • San's father does this a lot, particularly when it pertains to his feelings about Nagasumi.
    • "I'm Britney, not a fish!"
    • "I'm....not afraid of cats...."
  • Blind Without 'Em: The class president. Because she changed her looks in episode 15, after Nagasumi accidentally stepped on her glasses, neither one of them are able to recognize each other.
  • Blue with Shock: Happens to several characters, usually Nagasumi. Sun's in this mode in almost all of episode 16 when Akeno first shows up.
  • Brain Bleach: Everyone needs this when Lunar's dad starts going around in a sailor fuku.
  • Brand X: "Ningyonet Explorer". Did we mention mermaids have their own online shopping service?
  • Bridal Carry: Nagasumi carries Sun like this whenever she turns into a mermaid on land.
  • Butt-Monkey: Several examples:
    • Nagasumi to Sun's dad, most of her gang (except Ren and Masa), Lunar, and his parents.
    • Sun's dad towards Sun, and especially his wife Ren.
    • Chimp/Saru with practically everyone, but usually Nagasumi.
    • Maki makes Lunar one in episode 22.
    • Lunar's dad to Lunar. She almost never approves of anything he does.
    • Nagasumi's dad to most of the cast, but especially his wife, who's made it quite clear that she's in love with Masa more than him.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Mermaid songs.
  • The Cameo: Goku from Dragon Ball Z appears in the background of a scene in Episode 18.
    • Expies of who are suppose to be Vegeta and Trunks appear in the background together in one class room scene.
  • Carnivore Confusion: Sun and Lunar are disturbed when they take something with fish in it (with Sun asking if that makes them cannibals). But fish do eat other fish...
    • Hilariously invoked with the three fish brothers during the Kyoto excursion.
    • There's also the bit early in the show where Octopus Nakajima is teaching the home-ec class how to cook octopus, with what's heavily implied to be his own severed tentacles. Nagasumi wisely decides not to have a taste.
  • Catchphrase
    • Sun: "The alternate way of reading Ninkyou (Chivalrous Spirit)... is Ningyo (Mermaid)!"
      • Rendered in the dub as "Honor amongst Thieves is Honor under the Seas!"
    • Mawari: "Must Mawari teach you the rules of the *insert location here*?"
    • "Shark" Fujishiro: "Can I eat him/her/them?"
    • Akeno: "How vexing."
  • Cat Smile: Saru has one, although according to the other characters he's supposed to be a monkey. Lunar often has one as well.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: Well not exactly, but the last episodes tend to be more serious...or at least parody the more serious scenes.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The ring from episode 2 plays a very important role in episode 26.
  • Cherry Blossoms: Lampshaded by Nagasumi after a few times of hearing Sun giving her "Honor among Thieves is Honor under the Seas" line.
  • Class Trip: The Kyoto arc (Episodes 18 and 19 in the anime, and Chapters 26-29 in the manga).
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Mawari, Lunar, even Sun has shown this (episode 2, although played for laughs).
    • Mawari even goes so far as to interrogate Nagasumi's relationship with Sun in episode 6 when she sees them leaving his house together.
    • Mawari (again), the class president, Lunar, and Akeno all exhibit this trope after drinking that special potion that makes you act out your innermost desires in episode 19. Hilarity Ensues as they chase him down.
    • At the end of episode 26, after watching Sun and Nagasumi make up, Lunar doesn't seem too happy, and hilariously knocks out her dad to vent her frustration.
  • Compelling Voice: The voice of a mermaid can arouse all sorts of emotions.
  • Conflict Ball: Nagasumi randomly acting uncharacteristically douchy toward Sun sets up the climax for the series.
  • Cool Car: Ren Seto is shown driving a Lamborghini at one point.
  • Couch Gag: The opening poem changes changes slightly every few episodes.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: While it takes 25 episodes for his the full extent of his Badass come out of hiding, in the second episode, Nagasumi suplexes Shark Fujishiro by grabbing him by the teeth.
    • He also manages to erect a "Nagasumi Barrier" when Mawari attempts to throw water at Sun in episode 6 by basically jumping in front of the water before it hits Sun.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Nagasumi vs. Yoshio once the former takes several thousand levels in badass out of sheer rage.
  • Cute Monster Girl: Mermaid appearance here resembles that of western mermaids. The mermen in their true forms tend to resemble traditional Japanese mermaids, which are horrors straight from the Black Lagoon. And no, not that Black Lagoon.
    • Maki plays this even further, being knee-high to a pencil and all.
  • Dancing Theme: The opening. The first OVA's opening is also a dancing theme, but not the show's own. Rather, it's a pastiche of Lucky Star's opening.
  • Dating Sim: "After School Love Heart", played by Sun and Lunar 's fathers and their associates in an attempt to understand how a girl's heart works. What happens next...
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Lunar seems to mellow out somewhat in the second half of the anime series and its corresponding manga chapters.
  • Demoted to Extra: In-universe example, Nagasumi's dad hilariously gets pushed further and further away from relevance.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: A lot of the male characters are often on the receiving end of this, but Nagasumi has it the worst out of all of them.
  • Does Not Like Men: Most of the female members of the school. To be fair, the guys at the school aren't exactly likable.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Shiranui and, later, Sun attempting to resist their spontaneous change to mermaids when their legs are doused with water. Full package of moaning, blushing and easily misunderstood dialogue. The first scene even has severe weakness of the legs (Justified in that her legs are changing, but still can't help but look like something else).
    • In the first episode: "I need you to take responsibility for what happened earlier today!". If a young girl said that, with the same intensity, what is a parent going to think?
    • In the final episode, Sun is wearing a wedding dress, while Nagasumi is wearing a black coat over his school uniform. The resulting visual when they hug makes Nagasumi look like he's wearing a wedding kimono as well.
  • Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Subverted. Abuse of any kind is Played for Laughs, but someone "will" call them out on it and stop them.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Mawari, Mikawa, Lunar, the Class President, and Shiranui all appear in the opening's dance sequence, in some cases long before they appear in the show itself.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Nagasumi keeps swooning over Masa.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The class president, and to a lesser extent, Lunar's dad.
  • Everyone Has Standards: The Seto clan loyally follow many of Gozaburo's schemes but they draw the line when his latest scheme involves crossdressing and acting like high school girls.
  • Evil Plan: Averted for the most part in the anime. The bulk of the series is about Sun and Nagasumi's growing relationship, but once the mermaid exam starts then a continuous plan by a villain shapes the remainder of the series. A merfolk nobleman wants to add Sun to his harem and needs her to break with (or otherwise seperate from) Nagasumi to make that happen. It takes much longer for this to be revealed in the manga.
  • Evolving Credits: The first ending. The picture briefly comes back in the final episode with the additions of Akeno and the kitten.
    • The opening also changes who's dancing from time to time as well, although Sun is always in the front. The ending adds new characters as they're introduced as well.
  • Expy:
    • Lunar's dad practically is the Terminator, albeit with blond hair.
    • Lunar herself seems very similar in both personality and appearance to Etna. In episode 9, she even sprouts an Etna-esque demon tail for a few seconds.
      • One of the OVAs also has her sporting miniature bat wings for a while.
  • Eye Catch: The water color painting of Sun that pops in the middle of the episodes. She looks pretty badass in it as well.
  • Eyes Always Shut: The bartender in the Masa Today segments, which only open once in the entire series.
  • Face Death with Dignity: In the first episode, Sun is perfectly willing to accept death as a result of saving Nagasumi and exposing the merpeople's existence to humans. Fortunately, Ren decides to Take a Third Option.
  • Fan Disservice: Unless you find big, muscle-bound men in tight, school/girl uniforms sexy.
  • Fanservice:
    • Although, admittedly, not as much as you might expect.
    • Special note should be given to the chapter 27 title page. It features San and Akeno standing in an outdoor bath covered only in towels and Censor Steam. It's also the only page in color.
  • First Girl Wins: Although it's something of a Foregone Conclusion, despite the fact that multiple girls from the school express interest in Nagasumi (though not necessarily to his face), and although he does occasionally waver, it's pretty clear from the beginning that Nagasumi has a strong mutual dedication to Sun.
  • First Kiss: Nagasumi's is with Masa (who was giving him CPR), and the anime won't let you forget it.
  • Five-Man Band Concert: The opening has the characters as part of a music band: Sun, the Magical Girlfriend, sings; Nagasumi, the Badass Normal, plays the guitar; Large Ham (and Sun's dad) Gozaburo is on the drums; and Masa, the Only Sane Man, plays the bass. It ends with Sun and other characters (who vary depending on the episode's plot) dancing. It's all very fitting to the manga's comedic tints.
  • Food Interrogation: Nagasume gets interrogated by Mowari Zenigata. She wants to know why she spotted Nagasumi and Sun emerge from the same household that morning. Nagasume ends up getting turned on by her gestures and methods... She eventually breaks Nagasume by tempting him with a bowl of fried pork with rice.
    Nagasumi: I don't know why, but this little act of hers is exciting me... I don't mind this too much. Maybe I'll keep my mouth shut a little longer.
  • Foreshadowing: Episode 21 shows that Nagasumi may not be totally committed to his relationship with Sun which plays a part in the Grand Finale.
  • From Roommates to Romance: Nagasumi and Sun are forced into an Arranged Marriage to save Sun from being executed for letting a human discover she's a mermaid. Sun decides to move to her fiancé's house, and the more they spend time together, the more they come to like the idea of getting married.
  • Gecko Ending: The anime follows the manga with minor alterations up to Chapter 28 and then diverges wildly, with the manga carrying on with zany Slice of Life stories involving Sun's numerous (often-yandere) Forgotten Childhood Friends and the anime veering into a Rescue Arc where Sun is abducted, with some of the new characters from the manga being belatedly introduced in the OVAs. Starting at Chapter 68, however, the manga starts to generally follow the path of the anime's finale.
  • Genki Girl: Lunar and Maki do this from time to time.
  • Giving Up the Ghost: This happens to Chimp Sarutobi on a few occasions.
    • Mikawa does this when he's on the boat with Mawari in episode 15.
      • Also Sun during the "Mermaid Exam"
      Akeno: (as a chibi, winged Sun is perched on Sun's head) Your soul is slowly escaping.
  • Glamour Failure: Any body parts of a transformed sea creature that gets wet will involuntarily revert to its true form until it dries.
  • Golden Snitch: After seeing that his beloved daughter's team is losing the school athletic competition, Sun's father announces that the final race will be worth 333 points. Which also is an Incredibly Lame Pun since 3 is pronounced "san" in Japanese.
  • Gratuitous English:
    • Lunar's dad is a walking factory of this trope. The most memorable being: ''"Masatsu Za Human!! TERMINATE!! ("Kill the Human!! TERMINATE!!")
    • Mikawa's private army fits this trope as well.
    • The "Secret Tail Deluxe" commercial in episode 11 also qualifies.
    • Choco-Banana! OOH GREAT!
    • Lunar's bodyguards (the black pair, not the classmate horde).
    • Saturn's English lesson video. Probably NSFW due to the profanity she teaches, but very hilarious. "Good morning maggots!"
  • Heel–Face Turn: Akeno does a spectacular one in episode 26, and a corresponding one in Chapter 69 of the manga.
  • Heroic BSoD: Sun suffers a particularly brutal one in episode 13, after Nagasumi is forced to marry Lunar. Lunar gloats about it to her, but since she knows what Nagasumi really did, and how he really feels, even she feels a bit disgusted at herself at what's going on.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: Kai and Saru, to the extreme.
  • High-Pressure Emotion: Embarrassment — Sun after posing in front of a mirror with cat ears on, and Lunar after someone hints that she might be in love with Sun.
  • Homage: Lunar's father, who is more or less The Terminator is introduced as an important character in episode 10. Yes, ''really''. There are many other parodies and homages in the series, including UC Gundam, Fist of the North Star, and Neil Armstrong.
  • Hopeless Suitor: Pretty much any girl not named Sun, although Lunar does almost succeed in roping him into a Shotgun Wedding of her own. The class president in particular is a tragic case, as she's incredibly shy around Nagasumi, and in episode 21 of the anime, she finally manages to write a love letter to Nagasumi. But her efforts are both sabotaged by her classmates, and later Sun's dad/Maki. While Played for Laughs, you can't help but feel a little sorry for her making such a fool of herself given how much courage it must've taken her to do this.
  • I Can Explain: "THIS IS JUST A MISUNDERSTANDING!!!" Spoken by Nagasumi, many, many times. He unfortunately always rolls a natural zero in his diplomacy checks.
  • Implacable Man: Lunar's dad for the most part (except if Lunar hits him). Nagasumi in the last episode.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: Maru seems to suffer this from time to time. She's arguably much better now though, than during the time she stayed with the Seto clan.
  • Instant Fan Club: The males at the school are divided into two large, militant, warring fan clubs over Sun and Lunar. Lunar personally leads her club in efforts to take over the school. Mawari is left leading an equally-violent third club comprised of the girls, united under 'restoring order' with the motto "All men are beasts."
  • Interspecies Romance: Nagasumi and Sun mainly, but the series' Love Dodecahedron also contains another mermaid and an orca, and the mermaid noble that captures Sun and tries to marry her against her will at the end of the anime is actually a catfish.
  • Intimate Lotion Application: Near the end of the manga, as Chimp is rubbing sun tan lotion on Kai's back the narration says they both "realized something" for each other, implying the experience has caused them to discover they're attracted to each other.
  • Involuntary Dance: Sun and Lunar can use their Magic Music to control people, but while Lunar likes to send people into berserk rampages Sun prefers making people dance until they're too tired to cause trouble.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: Nagasumi can take an absurd amount of punishment for the sake of comedic gags. Saru fits this trope as well, being able to take various punishments from many characters (usually Nagasumi).
  • It Makes Sense in Context: Applies to probably roughly 80% of this show.
  • Japanese Delinquents: There's an entire class of these who've been held back for who knows how long, taught by Shark Fujishiro. Of particular note is "Mountain King", a husband and father who's been held back in his third year of middle school until he was 32.
  • Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: If a mermaid breaks the mermaid code of secrecy, either she or the human she exposed herself to has to be executed... except if said human is a family member.
  • Kill Sat: Property of NASA.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Done a lot through the series; notably when Nagasumi points out the falling cherry blossom petals that surround Sun when she is getting chivalrous. In one instance he asks where the petals keep coming from (they were on a boat in the middle of the ocean at the time), and in another he waves them away while trying to calm Sun down.
  • Large Ham: Yakuza grunts, their boss Gozaburo, and his daughter Sun. She's not as bad as the rest of the outfit but get her in a "Honor among thieves" mode and watch the cherry blossoms materialize.
    • Nagasumi even lampshades this when he asks Sun where the petals are falling from in episode 3.
    • Sun's dad gets particularly hammy during the Kyoto excursion episodes.
    • Virtually anyone arguing with Nagasumi ends up doing a ham-duet with him, especially Mikawa early on.
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Sun is a big fan of the Hollywood actor Bunta Willis, who has a film coming out in episode 15.
  • Lemony Narrator: "Cops vs. Thugs" has the narrator snarking at events and character's lines.
  • Lethal Chef: Lunar's onigiri (rice balls) in episode 9 doesn't look particularly tasty, despite Nagasumi's mom helping her to make them.
  • Let Her Grow Up, Dear: Compared to her borderline psychotic husband Gozaburo Seto, who has a tendency to send assassins after his son in law Nagasumi, Ren Seto was absolutely delighted when she mistook his drying of her daughter Sun's fins as public sex ("My oh my, kids will do it anywhere these days."). She provides (not so) helpful love potions to speed up their blossoming marriage along with advice and encouragement, when she's not occasionally trying to seduce the boy herself, that is.
  • Literal Asskicking: Seems to be one of Lunar's favorite methods of tormenting Nagasumi. An extreme example, as she grabs his legs to keep him in place & uses her foot like a drill to repeatedly shove it in several times a second during multiple lengthy moments while he's writhing around.
  • Love Bubbles: They tend to show up during lovey-dovey scenes.
  • Love Dodecahedron: Mawari and the Class Rep have crushes on Nagasumi, who is dating/engaged to Sun (but sometimes has to admit that Masa's lookin' kinda cool) while Lunar tries to secure him for herself due to her rivalry with Sun, who — the entire male population of the school in general aside — is also being pursued by Kai Mikawa, one of her childhood acquaintances, who in turn has most of the female student body swooning over him.
  • Love Epiphany: Mawari has one towards Nagasumi in episode 6 when she gets confused as to why she gets a little distraught at seeing him and Sun together.
    • Both Lunar and Sun have one in episode 13 when they both do a Love Confession to him.
    • Akeno realizes she's falling in love with Nagasumi in Chapter 56, though her sense of honour regarding her mission conflicts with it until Chapter 68.
  • Love Letter Lunacy: Episode 21. Practically all of the major characters seem a bit too interested in who wrote said letter to Nagasumi.
  • Love-Obstructing Parents: Because it's traditionally funny that Sun's family either tries to kill Nagasumi or seduce him (or teach him how to seduce); and Sun doesn't notice most of the time.
  • Love Potion: Nagasumi is dosed with one, with the side effect of every guy that sees him hating him, in episode 21. We even get to see what the various females' view of the "ideal man" is... except Maki's, though this is probably for the best. Assuming Maki even likes men.
  • Lover Tug of War: Sun and Lunar do this to Nagasumi in episodes 7 and 9.
  • Made of Iron: Lunar's dad. Played straight for the most part, since he's able shake off things such as being hit with a rocket launcher and a Kill Sat (courtesy of NASA), and even withstands Sun's dad's attacks. It's averted whenever Lunar hits him.
  • Mafia Princess: Sun is the heir of the Seto Gang, as her parents are its leaders. Lunar is technically one too, but doesn't seem to be involved much in her father's business. Maru, another of Sun's childhood friends, is also one of these, except for a family based up in Hokkaido.
  • Magical Girlfriend: Sun is beautiful and sweet and devoted to the protagonist, Nagasumi. She's also a mermaid with a super sonic screech attack.
  • Magic Music: Presumably all mermaids can do this but we only see Sun, her mom, and Lunar. Lunar favors the Tatakai no Uta, which turns whoever hears it into a feral berserker. Sun prefers the Eiyuu no Uta, which empowers a single individual into a One-Man Army.
  • Manly Tears: Episode 24, srsly.
  • Marriage Before Romance: San and Nagasumi's marriage… either they got married, or one of them would have to die.
  • Masquerade: Secret existence of mermaids.
  • Meaningful Name: Nagasumi's pal/Kai's lackey Hideyoshi Sarutobi, whose family name literally means "Jumping monkey", and whose given name is a reference to a Real Life feudal lord who had "Monkey" as his nickname. Guess what he looks like.
  • Megaton Punch: Lunar seems to enjoy giving these out, mostly to her dad and Nagasumi. Sun's mom does this to her husband a lot too.
  • Melancholy Musical Number: In episode 24, a large group can be seen singing sadly after hearing about Kai's "diagnosis".
  • Mêlée à Trois: Sun's Fan Club VS Lunar's Fan Club VS the Displininary Committee (virtually all of the female student body)
  • The Mentor: Masa often gives useful advice to several characters, usually Nagasumi.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: A Not What It Looks Like moment between Nagasumi and Lunar leading to a Shotgun Wedding imposed by Lunar's father. Sun becomes depressed thinking Nagasumi cheated on her with Lunar because she failed him as a wife, but regains her resolve and tries to take him back by declaring war on the Edomae Syndicate.
  • Mistaken for Dying: In Episode 24, some of the students catch Mikawa leaving a clinic. Later Saru overhears an out-of-context conversation between the doctor and a nurse, and assumes that Mikawa must have a terminal illness. Eventually even Mikawa comes to believe he's dying, and seems at peace towards the end. Then they find out what he really had, and everything reverts back to normal, more or less.
  • Mood Dissonance: When Luna begins telling a "sad" story about her failing grades to Nagasumi with melancholy music playing, while she continues drilling his behind with her foot as he's writhing around on the ground in pain.
  • Mood Whiplash: Typically happens about 3-8 times a scene, about as often as characters change art styles, and almost always done for comedy, regardless of the "mood" that is being switched to/from.
    • The end of episode 12, which starts out comical, then suddenly shifts to being serious, as Nagasumi is forcefully taken away from Sun.
  • More Dakka: Maki's conchshell gun seems to operate on this. In one episode, Sun's dad also has a machine gun in episode 8, which served no purpose other than to shoot up Nagasumi's house. Lunar's dad also uses a gun when shooting at Nagasumi in episode 12.
  • Mushroom Samba: Episode 19 has all the girls (and Saru) drinking Uoihatsu, forcing them to "act on instinct". In other words, they got drunk.
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • Akeno has second thoughts about inviting Sun's family to Yoshio's "party" when she realizes how much of a jerkass Yoshio is.
    • Lunar inwardly invokes this trope while outwardly gloating over stealing Nagasumi away from Sun in episode 13.
  • New Transfer Student: Sun, Lunar, Kai, Akeno...and that's not counting Sun's family replacing half the school staff. The cast starts lampshading this after the first few transfers.
  • Nice Guy: Nagasumi for the most part. Which is partly why so many of the female characters, such as Lunar and the class rep, are attracted to him, even if they think he's only average in looks and brains.
  • Night and Day Duo: Sun and Lunar tend to be associated with the sun and the moon for obvious reasons. Sun is an honorable woman and kind to everyone she meets while Lunar has a bit of a rotten side and considers Sun to be her Sitcom Arch-Nemesis.
  • Noble Womans Laugh: Lunar, often with a goofy looking face.
    • Maki hilariously mocks Lunar in episode 22 with this trope as "Chibi Lunar-Chan".
  • "No Peeking!" Request: Nagasumi accidentally sees Lunar's dad changing into a Sailor Fuku outfit through a window across the street while cute music plays, causing him to gasp and close the curtains, shouting at Nagasumi to not look. Nagasumi is clearly not a fan of what just happened.
  • Not What It Looks Like:
    • Early on, Nagasumi tries to dry Sun's legs using a rather compromising position. Later, an even worse case of this almost leads to a Shotgun Wedding with Lunar.
    • When Nagasumi and Mawari saw Sun and Akeno undergoing endurance training together in the bathhouse, the two mermaids looked rather... provocative. This becomes a running gag with Mawari catching them in compromising positions and thinking Akeno is a lesbian.
    • At one point, Nagasumi's dad sees Sun from behind and stares longingly at her, thinking she was his wife. His wife then comes and beats him up for being a pervert.
  • Nun Too Holy: Sun's other childhood friend (she seems to have a lot of these) Maruko Okhotsk, wears a customized nun's habit. Which is odd, considering the religion she follows isn't Christianity at all, but something akin to what the Ainu people of northern Japan believe in.
  • Official Couple: Nagasumi and Sun are very committed to each other, in spite of all the Love Dodecahedron shenanigans.
  • Once an Episode: Masa does something kinda cool, and Nagasumi and/or his mother swoon over him. Sun gives her Catchphrase (or similar) in a dramatic voice in a spotlight amidst falling cherry blossom petals. Nagasumi narrowly escapes death. Not so much in the second half.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: When the gang shows up to save Nagasumi from Yoshio's guards, Fujishiro the shark says that he's the only one allowed to eat Nagasume.
  • Our Mermaids Are Different: Merpeople in this setting can take on human form — though exposure to water can forcibly revert them to their true forms unless they build up a resistance — and possess magic vocal powers that range from Mind-Control Music to Super-Empowering to accelerated healing to sonic blasts.
  • Overdramatic Dating Commotion: After Nagasumi spills the beans on the fact that he's living with Sun, the scene cuts to the world exploding and all of his male classmates being furious that someone like him is living with Sun enough to get into a big comical fight with him twice.
  • Papa Wolf: Gozaburo comes in swinging when he believes that Lunar's Papa is posing a threat to his precious Sun.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise:
    • When Sun pulls a Sweet Polly Oliver and acts like a guy in episode 22, absolutely no one is fooled, from Saru to her dad. In fact they all question why she's dressed like that.
    • Nagasumi sees right through the fish brother's disguises when they first show up, as well as when one of them dresses up like a schoolgirl.
  • Parody Commercial: Some of the wackier situations needs a product from the Seto Mermaid Company itself. To order, dial 000-1425-XXXXXX-74X5-00XX.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: It's a wise choice on the part of the director to not show just how Yakuza really make their money; Sun's family would really be nowhere as fun and lovable to watch if they are drug smuggling, gun running, prostituting extortionists who commit murder on a daily basis. Of course, after the first episode, the entire clan essentially dedicates itself to trying to ruin Nagasumi's life, so they don't have time to do any of that stuff.
    The most villainous thing the Seto Syndicate seems to do is run a shopping channel that seems to be selling "Fin Weights", porn (fish porn at that, for mermaids, see?) and Lance of Longinus copies. There was a goldfish scoop booth at a carnival in Episode 2. Nagasumi reasons that since the guy who ran the booth was an aquatic creature himself, it could possibly count as trafficking.
    • They, at least, hint at the "killing on a daily basis"-business, with assassins such as Maki trying to off Nagasumi on a daily basis.
  • Polar Opposite Twins: Lunar and Sun, get it?
  • Power Nullifier: Maruko's Silent Voice can nullify any of Sun's mermaid songs, including the Song of the Hero she usually uses to buff up Nagasumi.
  • Pretty Freeloaders: Sun, Maki and Lunar are all staying at Nagasumi's house, moving him up to the attic.
    • Partly subverted however, since both their families continually repair damage they cause to his house, and Lunar's father even renovates it while he was it. Nagasumi's mom in particular loves the new kitchen. Gozaburo still deliberately left them with their mortgage, though.
  • Rape as Drama: In the final two episodes of the anime Sun is abducted by a lecherous nobleman who drugs her into a stupor and intends to rape her.
  • Real Men Eat Meat: Invoked by Sun during her Testosterone Poisoning stint.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Dating sim episode. Maki, at least, thinks its very manly to do something like that for one's boss.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lunar gives one to Sun, and Mikawa gives one to Nagasumi as well. Both are jealous that the other seems to have everything while they believe they have nothing.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Ren and Masa are the only adults in the series who are more mature than than the kids are. Masa is basically the only character who performs well in his role as a teacher, and Ren is usually the one to step in when she feels the situation is getting out of control.
  • Rescue Romance: Satori fell for Nagasumi by this.
  • Reset Button: Averted between episodes 11 and 12. At the end of episode 11, the house has been destroyed by Giant Nagasumi. At the start of episode 12, we see everyone in the house like usual...however, it's quickly established that Sun's and Lunar's dads used their connections to have the house rebuilt between episodes (Nagasumi's mom even gushes about how much she loves the new kitchen!) In fact, this indirectly leads into the Wham Episode.
  • Royal "We": Lunar refers to herself as "We" out of arrogance.
  • Rule of Cool: The various fights taking place throughout the series, most notably the intentionally exaggerated Grand Finale.
  • Rule of Funny: This shows runs on this. Only the Father/Daughter and Nagasumi/Sun moments are played even remotely straight, and even then subverted with a good-natured chuckle.
    • I will calm everyone down with the Mermaid Lullaby!! Ralli-Ho!! Ralli-Ho!! Ralli Ralli Ralli HOOOO!! Truly, a yodeling mermaid is something you don't hear very often.
  • Sailor Fuku: Worn by Lunar's dad as part of a misguided attempt to get closer to & better understand his daughter.
  • Serious Business:
    • The Sun vs Lunar fan club war. It almost tore the school apart.
    • The dating sim episode 20. Both Lunar and Sun's dads end up cosplaying and getting a little too in-character with the visual novel they're playing, which freaks both of the girls out.
    • Mawari tends to think of this too when trying to enforce school rules. It's not very effective most of the time.
    • Mawari also takes karuta — a Japanese card-matching game — very seriously, as shown during the match between her, Nagasumi, and Sun.
    • When Sun's dad pulls the fire alarm in episode 14 which causes several firetrucks to show up at the school. Mikawa also calls in some fighter jets. After Ren finds out they both did that simply because of a kitten, she beats them all up for going overboard, while Masa apologizes profusely for wasting the firemen's time.
  • Shotgun Wedding:
    • Having seen Sun in her mermaid form, Nagasumi is given two choices: marry her, or one of them will have to be executed... and Gozaburo ain't gonna let it be his precious daughter.
    • An almost literal example, when Lunar's dad walks in on her naked from the waist down and Nagasumi rubbing her behind with a towel... having just been drying her off after she'd been splashed with water. Lunar takes advantage of the ensuing misunderstanding to try to steal Nagasumi away from Sun. Sun blames herself for Nagasumi's assumed infidelity and becomes depressed, and Lunar goes to clear up the misunderstanding but ends up gloating about stealing Nagasumi instead — while internally berating herself for doing so. Nagasumi almost goes through with marrying Lunar, but Sun crashes the party wearing a wedding kimono and sarashi, carrying a katana, and declaring her intent to take Nagasumi back by force and defect from the Seto gang to prevent a war from breaking out.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Shrinking Violet: The class president.
  • Skinship Grope: "Must Mawari teach you the rules of the bathroom?" to the class rep. Everyone leans against the wall to listen.
  • Sleep Cute: Sun and Nagasumi in episode 13.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: Often used briefly for comedic effect, with cute/angelic music playing over something that is clearly neither of those things.
  • Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Sun crashes Nagasumi's forced wedding to Luna - wearing a white kimono, sarashi, and carrying a katana - in order to take her fiancé back, even if it means renouncing her ties to her family and declaring war on the Edomae syndicate.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Sun/San and Lunar/Luna/Runa are the main cases, though most official material (And the Funimation translations) give their names as Sun and Lunar.
  • Spit Take: Terminator, Saru and Masa-san~, in that order from the lies their kin use for moe appeal while working at a Maid Cafe.
    • Sun's mom Ren does one after seeing giant Nagasumi in episode 11.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Luna's dad does this to Nagasumi several times in episode 10, leading to CassandraTruths and "He was here I swear!"-type situations where his friends don't believe him at first.
  • Storming the Castle: Episode 26.
  • Super-Deformed: Happens regularly throughout the series.
  • Super-Reflexes: Nagasumi has this from time to time. Such as whenever a character attempts to hit one of the mermaids with water, like Mawari on Sun, and later Maki on Akeno (although he fails to completely block her attacks). In episode 21, he also activates a super-evasive mode, allowing him to dodge all the hits from both Sun AND Lunar's fathers. At the same time.
  • Super-Scream: A mermaid's voice can blow your eardrums or your car away. Sun repeatedly blasts Nagasumi through his house for accidentally walking in on her in the bath, Lunar does it often, and Akeno uses her tuning fork-shaped sword to amplify Ren's shout in the finale.
  • Supporting Harem: Other than a close call with Lunar, none of the girls really have a shot at Nagasumi. It's pretty obvious that he only wants Sun.
  • Sustained Misunderstanding: Episode 24 with Mikawa's visit to the doctor. See Mistaken for Dying for further details.
  • Take a Third Option: "You saw my true form and know I'm a mermaid. I don't want to die, but I'd rather not kill you either. I know, let's get married..."
  • Taking the Bullet: "Nagasumi Barrier!"
    • Done more seriously in the final episode.
  • Terminator Impersonator: Lunar's Papa takes the Terminator aspect and plays it for as many laughs as possible. Both English and Japanese dubs give him Schwarzenegger-like mannerisms; he's never seen without his black shades; in his introductory episode, he relentlessly hunts down Nagasumi in his own school while causing a panic among the students; he's completely unfazed when hit with a Kill Sat; and he makes his exit by climbing into a dumpster fire and slowly lowing himself down into it while giving a thumb's up.
  • Theme Music Power-Up:
    • Sun's "Song of Heroes", being Magic Music, actually causes this effect on Nagasumi. Used normally in episode 26, where Nagasumi powers up by himself by virtue of being extremely pissed off and the music just plays as BGM.
    • Lunar's "Song of Battle" has a... less refined sort of similar effect.
  • Theme Naming: Times two yet. Mermaid characters will usually have an important body of water inserted into their family names (Seto Inland Sea, Tokyo Bay (Edomae), Shiranui Sea, Mikawa Bay, the Sea of Okhotsk), and a celestial object as their given one (Sun, Lunar, Akeno (Ake no Myoujo = Venus in the Eastern Sky), Kai (Kaiousei = Neptune)). Saturn in the manga is also added to the celestial list.
  • Third-Person Person: Mawari with her catchphrase.
  • Transfer Student Uniforms: Lunar and Kai.
  • Transformation Exhilaration: Young mermaids grow tails when they get wet. Resisting the transformation results in a tickling sensation, which is pushed all the way into the realms of Fantastic Arousal in one episode when two mermaids practice endurance training.
  • Transformation Sequence: Luna and Sun change from elaborate kimonos into showy stage costumes magical-girl style, as lampshaded by Nagasumi. There's also the Class President's transformation into the "Last Amazoness".
  • Tsundere: Lunar, Mawari at times.
  • Unknown Rival: Lunar is always trying to top Sun out of jealousy, a fact that Sun is usually oblivious to since she just considers them to be best friends (which to be fair, they kind of are.)
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: Mawari towards Nagasumi, Mikawa towards Sun.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The teachers' reactions to the Sun vs. Lunar riot that tears apart the school is surprisingly apathetic.
  • Unwanted Harem: Sun, Lunar, Mawari, Akeno, the class president, Maki, Masa... and that's not even addressing the characters exclusive to the manga.
  • Useless Bystander Parent: Nagasumi's mother and father are extreme cowards, doing nothing but cowering in the corner and pushing their son into marriage when threatened by Sun's father. They are also constantly physically and emotionally abusive toward him (though it is Played for Laughs), and his mother makes no attempt to hide the fact that she has a huge crush on Masa, often making her husband break into bouts of crying whenever she fawns over him.
  • Villain Protagonist: It's REALLY easy to forget that these are Yakuza that we are laughing with.
  • Water-Triggered Change: Young mermaids' legs automatically revert back to tails when they get wet, and revert back when they're dried off.
  • Wedding Smashers: Sun interrupts Nagasumi's Shotgun Wedding to Lunar and declares her intent to take him back, even if it means declaring war on the Edomae clan, and renounces her ties to the Seto clan to avoid dragging them into it. When several Edomae clan thugs attack her, she easily cuts them down with her katana — or at least cuts their clothes off without otherwise harming them.
  • Wham Episode: Episode 12 and 13, which focuses on Sun and Nagasumi's relationship and feelings with each other.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sun's dad, despite being a Yakuza leader, still has his childhood fear of cats. Taken to hilarious extremes when the cat's he deathly afraid of is still a kitten.
    • Most of the mermaids have this, and it's justified in that they are technically fish. And cats love fish.
      • Particularly hilarious with Maki. Although the kitten merely licks her, she acts as if she's going to be eaten alive, though she is bite-sized, making it a legitimate concern.
    • Akeno, despite being a hardened swordswoman, is extremely afraid of ghosts.
  • Wife-Basher Basher: "How dare you point that thing at a girl! How dare you point that thing AT SUN!"
    • This in itself is a reference to Fist of the North Star, pointing weapons at helpless innocents was a good way to get Kenshiro pissed at you.
  • Wig, Dress, Accent: The so-called "shapeshifter", Furiyo.
  • Wrong Bathroom Incident: After Sun started attending the same school as Nagasumi, Chimp called over Nagasumi so they could peek in the girl's locker room. Nagasumi refuses the offer and walks away, unfortunately he's soon cornered by one of the Seto Clan's thugs who attack him, and in a split second, he calculates that the only way to avoid certain death is through the girl's locker room, which he dashes through while apologizing profusely.
  • Yakuza: Mermaid yakuza, at that. The Seto and Edomae clans are rival mermaid yakuza clans whose heiresses happen to be childhood friends.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko:
    • Sun is extremely devoted to Nagasumi, to the point that she decided to follow him to Saitama and live under the same roof as his fiancée. She was even willing to bet herself for her future husband's contest. What truly sells it is when she interrupts Lunar's Shotgun Wedding while wearing a wedding kimono and carrying a katana, which she then uses to great effect. Note that Sun, despite her YN traits, subverts it in the speaking department, at least in English. Instead of the formal speech patterns of more traditional YNs like Belldandy or Aoi Sakuraba, Sun has a more "casual" register, with contracted words and dropped final "g"s.
    • Nagasumi's grandmother is sweet and caring and strangely adaptable to the craziness that has invaded her family.
  • Yandere: Scary, scary Lunar and Maki. Saturn from the manga and second OVA makes Lunar look positively harmless.

Alternative Title(s): Seto No Hanayome, My Bride Is A Mermaid

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