Kaikisen
Tropic of the Sea

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Well that was just a little heavy-handed.

Kaikisen: Return to the Sea falls into a classic trap. Is the greedy land-developer character not perceptibly evil enough despite the fact that he literally wears sunglasses indoors? Let's also have his driver almost hit the main character in his fancy car then, just to show that he really isn't someone who cares. It should be enough to let the motives and major actions of your characters speak for themselves, but sometimes authors just can't resist adding that extra little "kick."

Yes, our villain actually kicks a dog.

The absurd portrayal of the people behind the development project ruins what what ... would have otherwise been a relatively reasonable portrayal of the trade-offs between sticking to tradition and accepting modernization. (Well, it would be a little biased still, but we can accept that fiction in general has an inescapable fondness for the days of yore.) Instead, what we get is some hackneyed pseudo-profound mash-up of "respect nature/tradition/something" and "Magic and Miracles are Real!"

The climax and conclusion of Kaikisen, I feel, are similarly poor. A poorly-integrated extended car chase and a gratuitous all-out brawl at a festival might be excused perhaps, but some things are unforgivable. Not only is the age-old (and just absolutely tiresome) trope of Faithful Dog Companion Frees Hero By Attacking Evildoer invoked, but a similarly cringe-worthy moment is when the main villain has a complete change of heart in the space of two pages. And how can we be so sure that he's a good guy now? Well, just look at how sympathetic he looks without his sunglasses! Clearly, the sunglasses had been controlling him all along.

All that said, there is one major redeeming quality. As others have mentioned, the art is superb both technically and stylistically, and the confident linework, solid panelling, and careful shading and texturing can feel like a clinic in how to actually draw manga that looks good. Stylistically it's nothing to write home about, but that's just fine. Not everything needs to look like Gogo Monster or not simple, and if I were to borrow for just a moment that good old MAL system of assigning sub-scores for art, characters, and et cetera, I'd give this a full 10 in that category. First and foremost, the particularly strong art saves Kaikisen from being an unengaging read, but it is also valuable in one other notable respect. The subtly expressive way in which figures are sometimes drawn by mangaka can bring instant yet meaningful characterization to a character if done properly, and some of the best characters of this manga are not the main characters, with the exception of Natsumi, but characters like Yosouke's father, the mermaid, and the less caricatured of the townfolk.

Ultimately, however, it is difficult for Kaikisen to save itself from its heavy-handed moralizing, and while enjoyable enough most of the time due to the excellent artwork, the shallow build-up and entirely empty conclusion will not leave very many readers satisfied.

If I have to sum up Kaikisen in a few words, they would be: Mesmerizing, Serene, Euphoric, Profound, Phenomenal. A modest coastal town, the tranquil sea and an intriguing legend about a mermaid that engulfs the town. It might not be the most original setting or premise but it is done so well, the first few pages were all it took to draw me into the story.

While the manga’s charm without a doubt lies in the mystery surrounding the mermaid’s existence and her ‘egg’, the characters and their portrayal are yet another of its redeeming points. We have our protagonist Yosuke who is ... caught in a dilemma as whether to be rational and shrug off the legend that’s so earnestly accepted by the superstitious town folks or to believe in the whimsical and accept the fact that the mermaid does indeed exist somewhere deep down the vast sea. Then there is Yosuke’s grandfather, a headstrong believer in the sanctity of the pact that has been said to be sealed between his ancestor and the mermaid, and in stark opposition is Yosuke’s father who wants to make quick money by taking advantage of the sensational legend and by complying with the development projects launched in the town. In the midst of it all is Yosuke himself who doesn’t know what to and what not to do.

My only gripe and a small one at that is the way the story is wrapped up. The ending feels a tad abrupt and doesn’t make much of an impression. However, on the whole, Kakisen is a very good manga that is worth your time if you are looking for something intriguing to read. The story is appealing and the art is neat and detailed. Definitely one of the best short manga I have read.

I can't say that this plot is very original, the struggle between breaking tradition and changing for the better. Nevertheless, the story is made interesting by the incorporation of the mythical mermaid, and that is what really kept me going: the hope that Yosuke would get a glimpse of her. The thought of a mermaid egg is also peculiar and original. Otherwise, the plot moves along at a good pace over the span of seven chapters, and it is nonetheless inspiring and intriguing.

Yosuke is obviously the main character here, and he does shine as an individual. He doesn't have the strongest will in the beginning, ... especially since the conflict is within his family, but he begins to develop a backbone of the course of the story. Overall a great character with flaws that he is able to overcome.

It has been a while since I've read a seinen, but I can still recognize good art when I see it. This is an old manga, but tasteful. The characters have real noses and shapely bodies, all as close to human characteristics as possible. I was not so fond of the rectangular panels, but this is probably typical of 90s manga, so maybe it's just my preference. Otherwise nothing else is bad.

The rating I'd give this is 7/10. It isn't the most original story, but mythical creatures gives it a little bit of a boost, and sometimes a classic story like this never gets old. The characters act like real humans and look distinct and have varying personalities. The art is great and incredibly detailed, especially in terms of scenery. It was a pleasant read for a short period of time.

I'm usually a big fan of Satoshi Kon. Some of my favourite movies are his own creations, Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers being prime examples, and I adore his artwork. Kaikisen--or its English 'Tropic of the Sea'--is itself beautiful on paper, yet falls short while trying to convey something significant beyond the pages.

On the surface, Kon divulges a potentially profound story of a seaside town at risk of being commercialized while trying to maintain the tradition of keeping safe a mystical mermaid's egg gifted to them once every sixty years. In exchange for such care, the mer-people bless the village with warm weather and safety all ... year round. Still relevant to Japan to this day, the conflict of modernization and tradition is a significant debate always interesting to explore and see integrated into a manga narrative. Sadly, the story falls flat and fails to explore anything further about the characters themselves beyond their very evident cliches. The protagonist himself is the antithesis of complex and the villain almost painfully predictable. I hate to be so down on something of Kon's, but I admittedly forgot most of the story after I finished reading it. The art is beautiful but I personally feel Kon could've done a lot more with this material.

I Must start by saying I enjoyed this story but I feel as if it lacks a certain effect its like other one and done manga's once its done its just done I feel as if the story had a predictable ending I like the story a lot not many bad things I could say I didn't feel like I'm did to much all they stuck to a core and from beginning to end kept the reader engaged with well designed art work and a equally appealing story I would love to read a story similar to this again this actually surprised me seeing ... as I just picked it up for the fun of it and it turned into a great read for me I believe this story is worth reading again I honestly had fun reading this from beginning to end.

Master Kon is best known for his work in animation, and now I can say that I’m glad I’ve delved into his manga production, because I’ve found a beautiful work that, in contrast to the often dark tones of the aforementioned author, explores the relationship between humans and nature, playing with mystery but never truly becoming dark.

The story, set in the coastal village of Tsunate, tells of the contrast between old and new, where the beautiful natural world is on the verge of being forcefully disrupted by the need to keep up with the world, which involves modernizing the village through the typical intervention of ... an external company offering to invest in new city infrastructure, whether for entertainment and tourism or for things like healthcare.
The contrast is first narrated through the family of the protagonist, Yosuke, who have managed the town’s Shinto shrine for generations. The shrine safeguards the egg of the umibito, creatures that are essentially mermaids, which, according to local legend, have ensured the town's prosperity through the sea's resources in exchange for Yosuke’s family’s promise to protect their eggs: a single egg that would hatch after 60 years, after which another egg would be entrusted to the firstborn of the next generation.
Within the family, you can sense the conflict between the old and the new as Yosuke's father seems increasingly detached from family traditions in pursuit of progress, while the grandfather is predictably still tied to traditions. And then there’s the protagonist, who is somewhere in the middle: he takes care of the umibito egg but also wants to move to the city to attend university.
This same contrast is also evident in the protagonist’s childhood friend, who spent so much time in the city, detached from Tsunate, that she now feels nostalgic for it.

I also found it wonderful how the work uses Shinto philosophy (a theme seen in many works but still worthy of attention) to show the relationship between humans and nature, where the umibito are always depicted as mysterious beings, yes, but never as truly hostile creatures that punish when the pact is broken. At most, what happens, I personally interpret as a warning. And in general, this relationship is something healthy, where nature and humans coexist and help each other.

It’s also interesting to see how such traditions, these fascinating esoteric elements, can sometimes be “devalued” (depending on the situation and point of view) by the same progress that turns these elements into tourist attractions, or sometimes they become something to be directly appropriated for economic purposes.

In its final message, the work does not reject progress, but rather condemns the excess that leads to the destruction of natural heritage, advocating for the classic middle way that allows for peaceful coexistence. This is, in part, what Japan is today, and Kon has depicted it in a fascinating way.

I found Tropic of the Sea to be a beautifully-drawn but tame and not particularly original experience.

Story

"Run of the mill" would be the first phrase that comes to mind for me. While the setting seems well-realized, the plot is a standard call-out of greedy land development that many of us have likely seen in children's or young adult media, and not handled with nearly as much nuance as something like Princess Mononoke.
While the town of Ade feels like a well-realized setting, I came away feeling like it was just a different flavor of something like Hoot.
That's not inherently a bad thing, but there's nothing about ... the story that will leave me thinking or impact my feelings about preservation vs development. I could guess where the plot was going at the beginning and by the end, I was right.

Characters

While the characters presented felt realistic and had the potential for depth, their development was never really explored.

The protagonist, Yosuke, is set up as an indecisive teenager placed in the crossfire between tradition and progress. It's an interesting conflict, and we can see him struggle with wanting to decide his own position, but his mind is ultimately made up by something that happens *to* him to resolve the conflict in this particular situation, rather than newfound conviction coming from internal growth.

The antagonist, Mr. Ozaki, is serviceable in his role but has little depth. He's a literal puppy-kicking land developer of the sort that most of us have likely seen in children's movies. While parts of the story hint at a more nuanced conflict where progress and change might not be all bad, that idea can't really factor in to the plot when one side is headed by such a one-dimensional character.

The other characters, while believable and likeable, are generally static. I feel that there was opportunity to explore some of them further, but it seems that was ultimately not the aim of the story, which is fine.

Art
My highest praise for this manga is for the beautifully detailed artwork.
Characters look realistic while still being expressive and distinct. Every panel has a background that makes the town feel like a living place, and water, in its various states throughout the story, always looks stunning.

A small critique is that panels sometimes seem to cut between different scenes without establishing a change of setting or an action that happened in between. For example, in one panel the antagonist is holding an important item and in the next the protagonist is. I did a double take and then figured "I guess they handed it over between panels." These kinds of cuts were never so distracting that I lost track of the story or couldn't figure out what happened by pausing a moment, but there were enough instances that I noticed and found them to interrupt the flow of the story.



Overall, it was a quick and fun read. Nothing bothered me about it, the pacing was good, and I loved the detailed art, but I doubt anything about this manga will leave a lasting impact.

Tropic of the Sea – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 6,5/10 – 6,5 x 0.275 = 1,7875
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 5/10 – 5 x 0.225 = 1,125
Enjoyment – 7/10 – 7 x 0.3 = 2,1
Total: 6,6125 -> 7

Story – 6,5/10
Tropic of the Sea is a one-volume manga by Satoshi Kon himself. It mainly deals with the debate of progress and tradition and about novelty and familiarity. However, Kon incorporates a mythical element in the plot: mermaids and a mermaid egg. Supposedly, there is a tradition in which a mermaid egg has to be returned to the sea periodically (from ... 60 to 60 years), in order to satisfy the seas and maintain the peace between the sea and the little town, which is experiencing a boom in tourism. Meanwhile, there are other people, who represent progress, that want to use the egg in their own experiences and study it scientifically.
Tropic of the Sea's mythical elements help create an original and engaging story. However, the plot is really simple, and there are no twists and turns. It is foreseeable how it will end, and it (almost) ended the way it was supposed to.

Art – 8/10
Tropic of the Sea’s art style features Satoshi Kon at his best. The art feels unique and does justice to the impeccable character design. Moreover, the cadence of the panels is great. The fact that it is hand-drawn also helps make it feel special.

Characters – 5/10
The characters in Tropic of the Sea aren’t bad, but they are just average. They are archetypal characters that present either progress or tradition, whereas Yosuke – the main character – is caught in the between. In a sense, this manga is bipolar: there is a constant tension between these two opposite poles. And the characters represent just that and play to that tune. It is thus up to Yosuke to find out the secrets that the egg has.

Enjoyment – 7/10
Tropic of the Sea is a quick and enjoyable read with great art. The story is rather simple, but not necessarily dull, and serves more as a way of interrogating the tension between modernity and tradition than in telling a story. It deserves, nonetheless, a non-enthusiastic recommendation.