Ningyo Series

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Excellent manga. Too bad it was discontinued. It lacks a clear goal or an evil antagonist, who needs to be taken down, which is why it has more of an episodic character.
The main characters are rather bland. Yuta is your average good guy, Mana is your average brat - which is surprising since they both have such dark and tragic pasts.
The episodes themselve though are incredibly well structured, engaging and gripping.

TL;DR: the Ningyo series doesn't necessarily offer anything particularly new or exciting, but is still a series that I really really enjoyed.

L;DR:
I've been a fan of Rumiko Takahashi for a while and I decided to read her mermaid series which I had heard so much on. It seems to have a pretty interesting reputation, with people either disliking it greatly or liking it a lot. After the first few chapters it was clear to me that I fell on the "like" side of the spectrum, so here's my review!

I can understand why Mermaid Saga is not one of Takahashi's more acclaimed works. It definitely has ... flaws, yes. But for some reason, I'm really quite attached to it. It's not particularly strong in any one area. Like, the characters. There isn't that much to say about the characters. Yuta is... a guy. And apparently a girl magnet too because holy crap homeboy has had a lot of side flings. Mana is... a girl. The side characters don't stay long enough to matter. But the characters are good enough, and what made me like this manga so much wasn't the characters, but the story itself.

It's not supremely original, or the most action-busting series out there. But it really has its moments. I found myself getting deeply attached to each of the stories in the Mermaid Saga, with a few almost making me cry. Takahashi takes the basic premise and manages to create interesting, haunting mini-stories with fair amounts of intrigue to keep my attention. There's also just enough suspense to make even these immortal characters seem like they are in danger.

I binged the entire series in about one sitting because I couldn't put it down. Oh, I wish there was more to Mermaid Saga than these few chapters. With more time, I think Takahashi could have built up the characters more and given the whole thing an overarching plot with a more conclusive ending. But, maybe it is for the best that it is as short as it is. Mermaid saga is short, sweet, and much more concise than Inuyasha ever was.

For the art, it's some of the more classic Rumiko Takahashi art. It reminds me of her art style in Ranma 1/2, which was my favorite era for her anyway. I also thought there were some really excellent character designs in here. Okay, Yuta and Mana were nothing special, but I liked the design of the Lost Souls as well as some side characters that appear (especially Shingo).

Should you read it? That's a tough question. If you're really a Rumiko Takahashi fan, I think you would find some merit out of this and perhaps enjoy it as much as I did. Or, if you're just looking for a short series to fill in the gaps of your long-running Shōnen, Mermaid saga is a good choice. You definitely don't need to binge it, each story is a few chapters and fits nicely in between arcs of other manga (I assume, at least. Like I said... I binged it!). I may not have come out of this experience as a new, enlightened being, but I certainly did enjoy my time with Mermaid Saga, and maybe you will, too.

Mermaid Saga is one of Rumiko Takahashi's earlier works that has been forgotten as the years go by. When you go back and read it, it's kind of easy to see why it was forgotten. It's not a particularly bad manga, but it's not particularly good either.

This manga doesn't have much in the way of a plot. It centers around two people who are cursed to live forever, and that's really all there is to the main plot. The meat of the manga doesn't come from its main story, but rather its short story arcs, which all together make up a "saga," so to speak. ... Some of these arcs do have some interesting moments, but for the most part, they're forgettable, and some these arcs rely a lot on shock value.

I adore Rumiko Takahashi's art style. A large chunk of this manga came out early in Takahashi's career, and this was a time in which her style hadn't quite found its groove just yet. By the end of the manga, however, the art improves drastically. In fact, this is usually the case with most of Takahashi's older works, such as Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura. The improvement in the art isn't gradual like it is in the other series I just mentioned, however. This manga was on hiatus for a number of years, and when Takahashi finally finished it, the change in art was very sudden. It's difficult to judge the art because for most the manga, the artwork is only okay, and it's really only great for the last few chapters of the manga. The artwork is never unpleasant to look at, however, and it always carries the Takahashi charm.

This series only has two main characters, and neither of whom is very interesting. Both characters also seem to be lacking in the personality department. They aren't characters you're going to hate, but you also won't like them. You do see their relationship grow a bit, but you still don't get an emotional attachment. There are some semi-interesting characters among the story arcs, but they aren't really memorable either.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Mermaid Saga. Kind of. It has some mildly entertaining moments, but it's never exciting, and there are some admittedly boring moments. It's not a bad manga, but it's not really a good manga. I personally wouldn't recommend this manga to anyone except for Rumiko Takahashi fans. Even then, I'd actually suggest watching the Mermaid Forest TV series over reading the manga. It tells the same story, but it's more entertaining in anime form. Really.