Review of the manga Umi no Misaki, which should be turned into an Anime A.S.A.P.
Umi no Misaki is seinen/ecchi/comedy manga by Fumizuki Kou in 2007. It spans 127 chapters, and follows Nagi Goto as he returns to his birthplace; Okitsushima island. Moments after he arrived on the island he met and had a chance meeting with a bright cheerful teenage girl named Shizuku Narumi. After what seemed like the brightest chance encounter with her, he walks into his new house and opens his bedroom and witnesses Karin Nagumo naked. Of course antics ensue, and in the chaos introduced Karin’s little sister Rinne.
Nagi Goto was living what he thought to be a peaceful life until he arrived at school. Not noticing the atmosphere of the classroom he shouts out to Shizuku, which he is then ignored. Prying further into the incident reveals an angry Soyogi Mitsurugi, who reveals that Shizuku, Karin, and herself are revered Cape Maiden’s of the island; and that no one on the island ever talks to Shizuku, or is allowed to approach her or the Cape maidens at all. Things change later at the Dragon God Festival where it is revealed the Nagi is in fact the reincarnated Dragon God, and each Cape maiden has to win his favor by the next Dragon God Festival.
Overall the manga is pretty decent, ranging in from comedic to plain erotic, and the transition of mood page to page flows very nicely and avoids a very jumpy tone. Emotions on faces are done very well, making for some interesting reaction faces. Personally, this is my favorite manga of all time, and has a lot of potential Ecchi, and animation worthy moments that would make it into a great anime. Being set on an island as opposed to not constantly being at school is one of the factors that keeps this manga feeling like it’s own story. The artistic tone feels refreshing as there are plenty of moments and pages that jump out at you, like they need to be animated.
As spoiler free as possible, the contest to win the Nagi’s favor by the Dragon God Festival gets pretty tight, as each girl has their own potential, and is very attractive physically and personality wise in each way. With the exception of an antic driving annoying loli-teacher, every character had a purpose and impact to the plot of the story , and unlike most harems, each girl really has a major chance to win the Dragon God’s favor. Maybe to some the ending did work out beautifully, and during the final events at the festival I can see why. Some actions at the end chosen by Nagi could have been better, and have you screaming at his thought processes a few times.
Now the good part, the Ecchi/Nudity
Well maybe good, this manga suffers from what I call lack of detail on the good part. Essentially the tip of the nipple on several cuts here and there are non-existent. But what matters most to me anyway is the impact, and it had a massive amount on me, since I didn’t expect anything as impacting as a sex scene, the shock/ecchi value of that was perfect. For nudity the series starts out very slow, but you will see it gradually increase as you read further on, and I think the scenes containing the nude shots are worth it given the situation they are put in.
TLDR? Not that this Manga is all perfect as I hype it up to be, but I think this Manga would make a perfect anime conversion for us Ecchi and Nudity lovers, as I feel the plot is very complex but simple to convert, and episodically thinking it wouldn’t be very hard to write and do. Bottom line, if you feel like reading a manga with a high tier plot, but mid tier nudity, Umi no Misaki is the Manga to fa.. i mean read. I give this manga 7.5/10
