Ningyo no Mori

It is said that consuming the flesh of a mermaid confers immortality. This certainly proved to be the case for the 500-year-old Yuta and his friend Mana. However, most people who try to become immortal either die or transform into monsters.

Fifty-five years ago, Towa Kannagi was given mermaid blood by her sister, Sawa, in order to cure a fatal illness. Now, Towa maintains her youthful appearance, save her white hair and beastly arm. For years she has dreamed of restoring her body, resorting to blood transfusions from youthful corpses aided by the local doctor, Shiina.

Mana, mistaken for dead by Shiina, is brought in to have her blood used by Towa. When she discovers that Mana is alive, what lengths will Towa go to in order to restore herself? Will Yuta be able to save Mana in time?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mana Main

Takayama, Minami Japanese

Yuta Main

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Kannagi, Towa Supporting

Doi, Mika Japanese

Shiina Supporting

Saikachi, Ryuuji Japanese

Kannagi, Sawa Supporting

Konoshima, Aiko Japanese

Mizutani, Takaya Director

Yamada, Hiroshi Theme Song Lyrics

Takahashi, Rumiko Original Creator

Kawai, Kenji Music

Reviews

Apr 28, 2015

Shura-shurato

Recommended

If you're talking about the horror factor of 3 of the 5 Rumic world ova's ( Maris the choujo and Fire tripper not included) than Mermaid forest is the best one that give's the scare, an raw uncut amethyst, and using a story from an ancient folklore about mermaids has been adapted as a very supersticious subject among pirates and other seamen since the 17th century, it really worked out quite well to use the story 'unlike the sequel ' wich i started to fucking hate!!!!!

The animation looked pleased for its time, tight handdrawn technique without too much pencil overshadowing and a more ... mature look to the charachters.
In 1991 there where still lloads of animation studio's that used cheaper recording/sound tapes and still drew anime like it was 1987, though sometimes VHS also could downplay the production but that was normal the time, still this looked like and uncut , raw amethyst in its respect and good transfer of the pale colours used in the first 10 min or so , to the good indeep colourfull animation.

I din't really had put my attention to the music, though it had some good musictones at action packed or violent scene's , no its not like I LOOOOOOVE 1991 HOUSEMUSIC this is a horroranime for godsake ( not like there was any dancemusic in the anime or something) but if youre ol enough you can maybe recognise some old horror elements

Some of the Charachters where interesting , and that story goes back 80 years before 1991, in 1936, it all began as the ova describe's and basiclly most of the charachters involve themself in the legend of eating mermaid flesh in an attempt to be immortal , even unwanted persona got heavenly tempted by it , thoughout the ova u see the struggles of the familly and the unfaitfull but strongminded Mana and Yuta, to see it all to a bitter end, or at least hoping for the least negative outcome, and others just where not strong enough to eat the mermaids flesh and dies right the next second you choose ur pick.

for me i mostly enjoyed the plot wich u think can go into a general scripted direction, but takes u by suprise and the way how some of the charachters respond to it, and its not the best horror anime i've seen but certainly entertaning enough to keep u going, just something different instead of a lot one way directed digitalized anime these days, i choose my oldskool ova,s any fucking day! enjoy !!!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 9, 2019

matthigh

Mixed Feelings

Rumiko Takahashi's dramatic anime are just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to her much more well-known and more popular humor series. And that's a bit of a shame, because in my opinion her drama stories are more interesting. If you've seen any ten episodes of Ranma 1/2 or Urusei Yatsura, there's no need to go further because you've already seen every joke she knows. But there's a wider range when it comes to her non-humor stories. Like Mermaid Forest.

Except this is one of her more flawed efforts - it has its good points, and yet ... there I have some issues. First of all, the artwork and animation are pretty par for the course - every Takahashi character looks the same, and the animation is decent enough. Where this story succeeds the most is in evoking a mood or feeling, she seems to have a good handle on what makes Japanese horror interesting.

However, it feels like you are dropped into the middle of a much broader story, and in fact that's the case as Yuta has already been around for a few hundred years by the time it gets going (and there is also a flashback to much earlier to help explain things, too). But I never seemed to get a good "feel" for the character, or his motivations (or lack thereof) - it seems like he was just going through the motions. Which, I guess, would make sense for a reluctant immortal - but even so, it's not exactly enjoyable to watch. And I could never understand Mana; the two sisters were not relatable in any way, it seems the only sympathetic character was the long-suffering doctor.

I read the Mermaid stories in manga format a couple decades past, and I recall them making a more coherent story in that format. But this anime feels like just a snippet of a larger tapestry, and there's not enough here to fully grasp the overarching story.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 24, 2024

PierceAllAlone

Mixed Feelings

Spoiler

The concept of eating mermaids to gain eternal life is not one that I am unfamiliar with. I've seen it in other anime such as the kurura mao series, but this is two whole movies versus one episode of a miniseries. While the animation is very basic and bland, and the characters are flat and forgettable, the story did keep me wanting to watch the show the whole way through.

As I always say, when a show is boring I wish for more action just to spice things up a little. I'd say this movie was about half and half with the action and such. ... The plot didn't feel like it had a whole lot of filler, but the fight scenes were rather underdone. I thought the backstory did a pretty good job of explaining what was going on to the viewer, and I followed the plot quite well. As for the voiceover I would say it's not very good. Actors are either robotic or melodramatic, with no in between. When the doctor pronounced that chick dead it literally sounded like somebody got a robot to say it. It's not the worst I've ever heard though.

Like I mentioned before, the animation is very basic for the time. The characters don't stand out whatsoever, and even the villain isn't unique for any reason other than she wears pink when nobody else does.

As with most TV shows in history there are a few twists and turns on the plot. Most of the shocking reveals are not totally obvious, but the melodramatic voice acting is the downfall of any surprise factor there should have been. With all the criticism though, this really is not a bad movie. If something keeps me interested that means it's at least kind of well written (I have ADHD), and I think the story flowed along nicely. It didn't feel overly rushed, but it didn't feel like there was too much filler either. I'd give it a solid 5.5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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