Shiroi Suna no Aquatope | Episode 1 Review

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Episode One thoughts

Being completely honest here, watching a first episode to a new anime that isn’t longer than 40+ minutes feels a little odd but is also very welcomed. Anyway, going into the first episode of Shiroi Suna no Aquatope, I always thought it was going to be something along the lines of Nagi no Asu kara. In large part because to some extent they are both related to the sea. But then MAL had this for an synopsis;

Kukuru Misakino, an 18-year-old high school girl working in an aquarium, meets Fuuka Miyazawa, a former idol who lost her place in Tokyo and escaped. Fuuka will spend her days in the aquarium with her own thoughts in mind. However, the crisis of closing is approaching for the aquarium, as the girls explore their dreams and reality, loneliness and friends, bonds and conflicts.

Source: MAL News, MyAnimeList.net (Quote taken: July 9th, 2021).

Then I thought “hmm, it feels a little like Amagi Brilliant Park“. So going into the episode I thought it was going to be one of those things where the one of the main characters will help bring an failing attraction, in this case an aquarium back to life. Not sure if this will be true when it’s all said and done but that will be my prediction for the anime itself.

Episode one, I thought, was a really nice episode. Something that was made real clear was that our character Fuuka Miyazawa, has had a really tough go as of late, since she wasn’t able to achieve her dream of being an idol. You can tell immediately that this was her dream from the start and was something that she had dedicated a lot of her life towards, so naturally not being able to reach your dream will cause you to rethink a lot of things. Fuuka Miyazawa definitely felt like someone who was lost, wondering without a purpose, looking for something or anything. Watching her get lost in the ruins of a dream she once had at the aquarium was very emotional and powerful. That sense of hopelessness and helplessness, that feeling of drowning in despair. It’s a scene that I’ve many times in anime and has always been something I loved because of how powerful and relatable it is in real life.

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That whole interaction with Fuuka and all the fish in that one scene was very colour, majestic, and the OST throughout the episode and in that scene in particular made it pretty cool (in my eyes). I personally really enjoyed that scene because it had a very calming effect on me. I don’t know why Fuuka experienced the thing she did but I am sure that will be something explored later on in the anime. Given that Shiroi Suna no Aquatope is slated to have 24 episodes. I’m sure we’ll be experiencing a lot of stuff that will feel almost other worldly.

It’ll be interesting to see what is in store for the aquarium and for Fuuka and Kukuru. They’re different people for sure, Fuuka is more quiet and reserved, while Kukuru is very outgoing and determined. I think that will be a friendship and more importantly a dynamic that will work well for this anime. Overall, I thought the first episode of Shiroi Suna no Aquatope, was pretty good. It was definitely one the more laid back, and calmer first episodes I’ve seen in awhile but I personally like that. It’s a 7/10 for me, a solid B.