Without giving your voice to the sea witch, the main mermaid princess in the Japanese animated drama.”ChaO“gets the husband of her dreams. However, their seemingly doomed relationship does not immediately manifest itself in the form of an idealized romance. Instead, it begins by simulating an outdated arranged marriage to ensure a prosperous relationship between humans and merman, and then evolves into a story about coexistence and balancing life and career. While the concept is hardly original, Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo or Masaaki Yuasa's Lou Over the Wall and Ride Your Wave make appearances. to mind – Yasuhiro AokiThe debut feature features unusually stylized and vibrant visuals.
The action of this union takes place not in Japan, but in the Chinese city of Shanghai. The story of this alliance between the kingdoms is based on an interview that a young journalist from the near future gives to the mysterious Stefan (Oji Suzuka), ChaO's human friend, to debunk this reality's history books about how their connection came about. In the first scene, the vibrant production design shows that the densely populated city has been modernized so that the water dwellers can become part of a diverse society. But how did they achieve this inclusive utopia?
Return to a younger Stefan, a crazier and more ambitious engineer than the one who tells the story many years in the future. He works for a shipbuilding company that finds itself at a political crossroads: King Neptune (Kenta Miyake), ruler of the ocean, threatens to end his relationship with humanity unless something is done about the propellers on commercial ships that are harming the population. And although Stefan is working on a plane that will prevent these injuries, his boss has little interest in his expensive idea. The situation changes when ChaO (Anna Yamada) meets him at sea and implies that she has loved him for as long as she can remember. For collective benefit, Stefan agrees to marry her in exchange for resources to further his vision.
The backgrounds in ChaO are rich in detail, reflecting the visual richness of a crowded metropolis like Shanghai. The visual uniqueness of this fantastic image extends to the character designs, which can be immediately distinguished from the designs of most anime, be it feature films or TV series. For example, the eyes of Stefan and most of the characters are minimalist and sketch-like, rather than enlarged and detailed. In contrast to the reserved facial features, there are people who have a large head or an oval-shaped body. And aesthetic extravagance is even more pronounced among merpeople, who take a humanoid form on land and live like sea creatures under water. Only when a merman trusts a human can he retain his anthropomorphic bodies.
Meet ChaO, who seems to have been created with the intention of maximizing her cuteness in fish form. Her round shape, bright salmon-colored skin, large, wide-set eyes and frothy hair create a disarmingly attractive appearance. Underwater, ChaO transforms into a mermaid, which is easier to recognize, but with bluish hair.
The beginning is rocky: ChaO and Stefan move into his tiny apartment, an accommodation for the former, who ignores how people's daily lives go. Charming comedy comes from her impromptu talk about what Stefan likes to eat or even what fireworks are and whether they can be set off indoors. Stefan's friends, scientist Robelt (Yuichiro Umehara) and Mibae (Kawka Shishido), step into the role of ChaO's parent figure of sorts, while Stefan is dismissive of what seems like an imposed partner.
ChaO's artists, particularly character designer and chief animation director Hirokazu Kojima, have decisively created a universe with a cast of characters whose personalities are as memorable as their eclectic appearances—check out the huge child who randomly wanders down Stefan Street, presumably at the same time every day. There are sequences that impress with the kinetic vibrancy of the animation: standouts include a musical moment in which ChaO dances inside a fountain, manipulating the water around him, or an aerial sequence featuring one of Robelt's robots.
When ChaO disappears after angering Stefan, the latter must return to the trauma of his childhood to understand his deep connection with his future wife and reconsider his future. Hanasaki Kino's script may be overloaded with creativity, in keeping with the film's other maximalist qualities, but it's Stefan's evolution to maturity that ultimately becomes the key theme. His desire for professional greatness becomes secondary to his appreciation for a more important fulfillment, namely his own family. Whether visually or emotionally, this journey is an unforgettable experience.
