Featuring colorful mermaids who can transform into singing idols and defeat evil forces with their voices.
By: Nicole S. Castro on March 10, 2022 at 14:20 PHT
Throwback time!
Sometimes, the best choice for a timeless, no-fail throwback is a singing anime that will have you prepared for any karaoke party.
Get your mics out as we take a trip down memory lane with Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, the 2003-2004 TV anime series full of colorful mermaids who can transform into singing idols and defeat evil forces with their voices.
About
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (Japanese: マーメイドメロディーぴちぴちピッチ) is a shōjo manga and anime series created by Michiko Yokote, with artwork by Pink Hanamori. The manga was originally published in the monthly shōjo manga anthology Nakayoshi. There are 32 chapters published (including two special stories) and they are compiled into seven volumes issued by Kodansha.
The TV anime series aired a total of 91 episodes in Japan from April 2003 to December 2004. The first season, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, was composed of 52 episodes, while the second season, Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure, was composed of 39 episodes.
Okay, before we review the plot, transform into your magical girl idol form!
Season 1 Plot and Throwback
The plot revolves around Lucia Nanami (CV: Asumi Nakada), the mermaid princess of the North Pacific Ocean. She saved a boy from drowning seven years prior to the main storyline and entrusted him with her pink pearl. At the start of the series, Lucia is out to look for that boy who has grown into a teenager named Kaito Domoto (CV: Daisuke Kishio). However, Kaito does not recognize Lucia in her human form, and Lucia is unable to reveal her true identity because legend has it she will turn into bubbles and disappear.
Instead, Lucia tries to convince Kaito into figuring out who she really is (since the legend doesn't say anything about the other person discovering a mermaid's true identity by him or herself).
At the same time, Lucia has been told that a group of water demons have invaded the sea world and she must gather six other mermaid princesses and their pearls to bring back the legendary goddess Aqua Regina (CV: Kumi Yamakado) to stop them.
Alright, break out into song first and sing Legend of Mermaid (7 Mermaid version) with us to save the sea world! See lyrics here.
As a result, Lucia joins forces with Hanon Hosho (CV: Hitomi Terakado) and Rina Toin (CV: Mayumi Asano), the Mermaid Princesses of the South and North Atlantic Ocean, to fulfill their mission. They also deal with teenage girl problems such as school struggles and falling in love with humans.
Okay, for the Hanon fans, here's her first character song, Ever Blue. See lyrics here.
And of course we can't forget about the mysterious lady of the trio, Rina. Here's her first character song, Star Jewel. See lyrics here.
Season 1 ends with the mermaid princesses defeating the main antagonist Gaito (CV: Daisuke Kishio), who turns out to be Kaito's twin brother. Sara (CV: Kana Ueda), the mermaid princess of the Indian Ocean and keeper of the orange pearl, chooses to die with Gaito.
While we're very happy that Sara got over her darkness in the end, her heartbroken character song Return to the Sea was probably one of the catchiest songs in this series. See lyrics here!
Season 2 Plot and Throwback
Pure season focused on Lucia, Hanon, and Rina cementing their romantic relationships with Kaito, Nagisa Shirai (CV: Chihiro Kusaka), and Masahiro Hamasaki (CV: Kiyotaka Furushima) respectively. It also gave more screen time to the other mermaid princesses such as Caren (CV: Ema Kogure), the Mermaid Princess of the Antarctic Ocean/Purple Pearl Voice, Caren's twin sister Noel (CV: Ryoko Nagata), the Mermaid Princess of the Arctic Ocean/Indigo Pearl Voice, and Coco (CV: Satomi Arai), the Mermaid Princess of the South Pacific Ocean/Yellow Pearl Voice.
Throwback to Kodou ~Perfect Harmony~ one of the mermaids' main theme songs for Season 2. See lyrics here.
Michel (CV: Junko Minagawa) acts as the main antagonist for season 2. He is an artificial being who resembles an angel, but possesses a weak body which forces him to steal Kaito's memories as well as the heart of the unborn Seira (CV: Eri Kitamura), the future mermaid princess of the Indian Ocean and successor keeper of the orange pearl. Lucia spends season two retrieving pieces of Seira's heart from Michel's fallen feathers until Seira is born in the finale.
We stan a precious Seira. She definitely puts the "pure" in season 2 with her character song, Beautiful Wish. See lyrics here!
In the end, the mermaid princesses defeat Michel by summoning Aqua Regina. Michal Amagi (CV: Ryoko Shitani), the sickly girl who acted as Michel's vessel, is reborn to be taken care of by her older brother Rihito Amagi (CV: Takahiro Mizushima).
Summary
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch may not be the most award-winning shōjo anime out there, but we find that it has decent plot with enough fantasy and real-life romance to make most pre-teens' hearts swoon. The show excels most for its music, which we continue to sing into adulthood with enthusiasm comparable to that of Disney songs.
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NICOLE S. CASTRO
Author
Nicole is based in the Philippines and works as a freelance Japanese Translator/Interpreter and copywriter (English). She is a JLPT N2 passer who watches anime to "study" for N1. She has a long career history on LinkedIn (with primary focus on media and translation), but her anime watchlist is much, much longer.
