Anime: Bermuda Triangle: Colorful Pastrale (2019)

Bermuda Triangle: Colorful Pastrale (2019)

This is a new 12 episode anime following 5 teenage mermaids who live in a village in the middle of nowhere under the sea. A storm uncovers an abandoned movie theatre and they decide to renovate it.

When you get over the super cuteness.... and think about this, it is a totally bizarre plot for a mermaid story. There is no reason whatsoever for the girls to be mermaids - The whole thing could easily be set on land with regular teen girls. They spend their time eating cake at the local bakery, helping random locals, cooking, singing, making clothes and babysitting the little mermaids.

Canon was a teen idol in the city who got stressed out and crystallised into a ball which apparently happens when mermaids get depressed or upset. She gets sent to the village because Ardi the shellsis (sister in the loosest sense - mermaid from the same class/close friend) of her guardian lives there and it was thought it might help her recover.

There are 4 mermaids Canon's age living in the village who are close friends:

Sonata, the leader, forever thinking of others before herself.

Serena the somewhat geeky tech girl

Fina the homebody who excels at cooking, sewing and sorting out people's problems. She has a pet.... otter? called Poco who follows her everywhere.

and finally Caro the live wire - she's the outspoken, comic of the group with a temper and obsession for cake.

Canon responds to Sonata's voice and breaks out of her sphere.

She becomes best friends with the 4 girls and  joins in with enthusiasm to renovate the movie theatre. Things go swimmingly until her guardian sends a letter asking her if she wants to return to the city and audition again. She freaks out and she goes back into a crystal. Her friends sing together, shatter the sphere and they all go off to the city together to become a pop idol group.

The only 'mermaid' lore seems to be the turning into a crystal ball when upset. The rest of the 'mer' content is entirely visual - tails, underwater setting etc.  What I particularly like is that it's set (all bar one episode) entirely under water with no mention of humans or the human world. In one episode they take a potion which turns their tails to legs and allows them to go to the surface - but it's to a tiny island inhabited by a single mermaid in human form who wanted to live on land. I loved that the potion reacts weirdly to certain mermaids - so while she does get legs, Serena manifests as a child whilst all the others are normal size.

The lack of humans is rather interesting as is the complete lack of men. There are no mermen - mermaids are referred to as 'shellsis' which suggested to me maybe they are born from shells like Venus.

A mermaid lesbian utopia? It's certainly one interpretation although since this is very child friendly it's implication at best:  Ferma the cake shop owner and Ardi are nearly always together and could easily be a couple. Similarly you get close friendships between our main cast: Sonata/Canon, Fina/Serena. There's definitely fertile ground for fem-slash. The only male characters are Manta - a ray with a deep bass voice and the Seal postman. Oh and Poco I think, though he only squeaks.

Bermuda Triangle: Colorful Pastrale is a total guilty pleasure - the visuals and annoyingly catchy theme song are its main selling point.

Opening Theme

In a way this is almost a precursor to Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch - aimed at a slightly younger audience. I will say it's refreshing to have a mermaid story set entirely under water with no humans whatsoever and no romance plot. This one's all about friendship. It does not however have much plot or explore the notion of a mermaid in any great depth. Still if you want ultra cute, brightly coloured mermaid 'fluff' this is certainly the series for you.

4/10

Eclipse Mints Mermaid Advert

Mermaid advert for breath mints. Love it!

Mermaid Film: Arwah Kuntilanak Duyung (2011)

Mermaid Film: Arwah Kuntilanak Duyung (2011)
Indonesian mermaid comedy horror.

Trailer here. Will post more once I've seen it. Looks fun.

Book Review: Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs (2011)

Book Review: Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs (2011)

Tempest Rising is the first book in a teen paranormal romance trilogy. Tempest has a tough choice to make on her 17th birthday she can become a mermaid and head to the sea like her mother who abandoned the family 6 years previously for the ocean's call or she can stay human. Bitter against her mother, with a loving father, 2 brothers and a hot boyfriend she's certain she'll choose to remain on land, until a hot selkie prince turns up and tells her she's the undersea messiah - thing's aren't nearly as cut and dried as they seem.

At first I thought this was very "beautiful creatures" but with mermaids - we have a heroine who can control the elements who has to choose to be good or evil on her birthday and has an evil witch after her, but this plays out slightly differently.

The characters are OK, but I'm not totally won over by them. I found Tempest quite annoying at times - it was so obvious she's the soul mate of the selkie prince and yet she strings poor human, Mark along. I guess it's to show the two choices that she has to make, but I just found her bitchy but without the bite of say Frederica from Mary Janice Davison books. I also wasn't convinced by the actions of her mother - her letters seem far too cool and collected for someone that's been forced to abandon their family. Kona the selkie prince is a bit too perfect a hero - Tempest cruelly breaks up with him and he still pursues her without any anger or aggression.

What I did like was the scenes undersea and the fact that a mermaid has to earn her tail and manifests unique tattoos.

The best thing however is the use of Tiamat mythology. I'm a massive folklore fan and I was really excited that this fused the Babylonian/Assyrian primordial dragon with the sea witch for the series big bad.

Not my favourite mermaid series, but hums along merrily enough. I will certainly be picking up the subsequent books.

5/10

On a purely aesthetic note I was very disappointed with the UK cover (see top) - no tail at all. BOOOOOOOOOOOO Hisssssssssss. The US and Hardback cover is stunning in comparison:

Mermaid Art

 

 

Two original pieces of art  by my friend Max Bowman who claims there are not nearly enough images of mermen out there. Well I can't argue that one.

 

 

Albrecht Dürer: The Sea Monster

The Sea Monster by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

An engraving showing a woman being abducted by a sea monster.

 

Showing until April 14th 2013 

The Northern Renaissance: Dürer to Holbein

The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace

New Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pichi Figures

New Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pichi Figures

Aren't these just the cutest ever? I have a couple of volumes of the manga, I just wish the anime was readily available. Apparently the last 10 episodes of the 52 ep series aren't even subbed into English. Woe.

Mermaid Music Video: Metsatöll - Küü (2011)

Mermaid Music Video: Metsatöll - Küü (2011)

Viking Metal with a mermaid in the video. Ooh! Found this completely by accident when I was searching for the band. Had to share.

Book Review: Shark Bait by Daisy Harris

Book Review: Shark Bait by Daisy Harris (Ocean Shifters volume 3)

The heroine here is were-sea dragon princess Sophia Aleahar - she's the girl Kai Nasu jilts for mermaid Alara in the previous book Mere Passion.

After 17 mating refusals Sophia is getting desperate. She's about to go into heat and needs to find a mate before then so she's got some choice in the matter. She sets out to find Kai and beg him to reconsider cancelling their engagement (totally unaware he's fallen for Alara). On the way she gets kidnapped by were-sharks.

In the ship's hold she meets another prisoner, the captain's son Raider ShaCrayz - he's held in contempt by the rest of the were-sharks because he is half mere (mermaid) - this is unusual: usually either dragon or shark genes are dominant when mating with mere - getting an actual hybrid is very rare. Raider is the pirate crew's favourite whipping boy when they don't have anyone better to pick on such as Sophia.

The pirates decide to hold Sophia for ransom. Even so a couple of the sharks decide to rape her. Raider saves her by pretending to do the deed himself which instead gets them both rather hot under the collar. Kai arrives to the rescue at this point and Sophia sees his relationship with Alara and realises she has no chance to make him change his mind.

She comes up with a daring plan. She begs Raider to kidnap her and offers him full use of her body until another single dragon comes along and rescues her who will want to mate with her. Raider agrees, but soon finds himself in love with his dragon princess and unwilling to give her up.

The sub plot revolves around Dendric research - the humans who have been kidnapping mere and sharks for scientific research. They are VERY interested in Raider and a dragon in heat just adds to the excitement. As well as our protagonists there's a hunky merman called Nereus in captivity who falls in love with the new research scientist David Webber. Their romance is hindered by the fact that David refuses to give up his research.

The characters are really strong in this one. Loved both the heroes - Raider the hybrid were-shark was both hunky and vulnerable and I liked Nereus too. Sophia with her innate honesty was a decent enough heroine. I particularly liked the mythology/creatures used - I mean off the top of your head can you name me another were-shark hero?  I love Daisy Harris' universe peopled with mermaids, gay mermen, piratical were-sharks and aristocratic were sea dragons its unusual and exciting.

The story was also pretty decent. What I did find odd was the mix of m/f and m/m romance in the same book - in her previous books the two spheres are separate: urban mermen = m/m, ocean shifters = m/f - this might put some readers off. Events happened much slower in this book and there was time for the romance to build which was great.

Criticisms: The writing - lots of mistakes (some really obvious like using mermaid instead of merman and mixing up tenses) also felt all the modernism - email addresses, tweets etc were a bit self indulgent - its fine to use them but we don't need all the addresses and gobbledygook..

Sex scenes weren't as hot as in previous books, but because I really liked the characters I didn't really care that much about that aspect. It was rather refreshing to get more emotional depth. Mer fan wise there's nothing out of the ordinary - our characters all shift to human. Indeed there's very little of the shark side of Raider to be seen.

To conclude, Shark Bait doesn't disappoint. Its a pretty decent erotic romance featuring were-sharks, although there isn't much shark or shifting action going on. A nice lite read that falls perfectly into the realm of guilty pleasure.

6.5/10

Manga Review: By the Sword volume 2 (2005)

Manga Review: By the Sword volume 2 by Sanami Matoh (2005)

I love it when I find mermaids in unexpected places and that's certainly true here. I was reading this series because I'm a fan of the artist Sanami Matoh (yaoi series Fake) and I had no idea that it featured a mermaid at all... and a kappa (Japanese water sprite) in volume 1 as well, so that was a nice bonus.

The plot of the series follows a half-demon bounty hunter called Asagi on his journey to find the wife of the demon trapped in his magic sword. Along the way he meets various creatures who either help or hinder him. The first encounter entitled simply "Mermaid" has our hero encounter Mizuki a mermaid come to land to track down her sea-dragon father's demon orb which has been stolen. She takes a shine to our handsome hero and offers him her body as well as various sea treasures if he'll help her. He refuses anything more than the treasure, being attached to his companion Kaede (daughter of the demon in his sword).



Only two full tail images, but they are gorgeous. I like Sanami Matoh's artwork anyway, but it's so nice to have her draw a mermaid.

 

Mizuki has legs on land and the fluted ears common to most Japanese manga mermaids.

For those interested, you can read both volumes of the series online here

Camp merman Christmas Tree Ornaments

Check out the fabulously camp merman and mermaid Christmas tree ornaments at  Diamonds of the Sea.

Nostalgia: Garbage Pail Kids

Series 3 of Garbage Pail Kids (1986) Had a mermaid character a) "Smelly Sally" or b) Fishy Phyllis

The same character was re-issued with a different design in the new series.

 

 

Thought I'd share.

Short Story - Wet Dreams

 

 

Here's a little short story I wrote inspired by my favourite death scene in a horror film possibly ever - A Nightmare on Elm Street IV: The Dream Master - "Swish, killed a fish" where Freddy breaks out of a waterbed. In this case I've given it a mermaid twist. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Wet Dreams

 

It’s one of those nights; you know the sort, muggy, hot and so damn oppressive that you’re almost praying for the storm to break just so you can get some release from the sticky torment. Even with the window wide open and the covers off, I can’t get to sleep.

 

I curse knowing that I’ll have dark circles under my eyes in the morning. Rox will never forgive me if I look less than perfect tomorrow. She is determined that now that he’s single again, Jason must want a new girlfriend and that girl should be me.

 

Jason. The sandy haired, hazel-eyed god of River High, Captain of the football team, lead singer of the school rock-band, king of the social scene and after his spectacular break up with Libby yesterday, currently single...

 

Nobody could quite believe it. I mean he and Libby had been going steady for months, they were practically engaged! The school’s golden couple, it was a given that they were going to be prom king and queen at the end of the year. 

 

Then suddenly, in the middle of the cafeteria, Libby drops the bombshell that she won’t be going with him to Dave’s eighteenth on Saturday because she needs to revise for Monday’s media exam. This is only the biggest party of the year – Dave is the first of us to turn eighteen. Talk about kiss of death!

 

“Poor Jason, it’s not like she even left him for someone else!” Rox said to me during our free period. “As if anyone needs to revise for media studies!”

“And that gives him the right to call her a frigid lesbian whore?” I asked raising my eyebrow.

“Well, that might have been a tad extreme,” Rox admitted, “But come on, Jay had a right to be angry. She blew him off in front of EVERYONE! That’s so humiliating!”

 

“And she’ll be the one going off to uni in September whilst he’ll be forced to retake the year…” I smiled at the thought of perfect Jason needing to resit.

“Just who’s side are you on?” Rox demanded. “You sound like you almost agree with what Libby did!”

“She can’t be both frigid and a whore that’s a tautology,” I mused ignoring Roxy’s indignation.

“Kath, you are such a geek!”

“And that’s why you love me!” I said teasingly. Rox and I have been best friends for years. In most respects we’re polar opposites and yet that only seems to make us like each other more, her extroverted personality perfectly balances my own reserve. Or had, until now.

 

“You’d better not talk like that in front of Jason,” she warned. “It would be insensitive. After Libby he’s not going to want… well you know…”

“Any show of intelligence. Yeah I get that. But Rox, why would I care what Jason wants?” I asked her.

She looked at me as if I’d just grown another head.

“Well you are going to be his new girlfriend…”

“I am?” I looked at her in astonishment.

“I know I asked you not to show off that brain of yours, but you don’t have to play that dumb!” Rox exclaimed. “You’re next in line, of course you’re going to be Jason’s first choice!”

 

“Next in line…?” I looked at her blankly.

“Oh come on! After me you’re Libby’s closest friend. Of course it’s going to be you. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m with Dave I’d make a play for him myself. Jay is such a total stud muffin! It’s a crime for anyone that hot to be single!” I couldn’t help it, I laughed at that and my amusement instantly dissolved the tension between us.

 

Jason is gorgeous, there’s no denying that, so why aren’t I as ecstatic at the thought of being his girl as Rox obviously is? Switching on the light I grab our yearbook and flip through until I find the picture of him and Libby taken not long after they got together. He looks blissfully happy, arms draped around her in a possessive manner, yet she looks… I don’t know, trapped. Why had I never noticed that before?

 

My head begins to throb with that kind of ache when your body’s telling you you desperately need to sleep and your mind rebels wanting to uncover those niggling little things that are just tantalisingly out of reach. It’s no use arguing. I drop the book onto the bedside table, switch off the light, this time for good and settle down to sleep.

 

I toss and turn for a while finally settling on my stomach. Rox thinks it’s weird that I like to sleep on my front, but as I told her it’s more comfortable as I’ve got more padding that way. The waterbed ripples, moulding itself to my curves, its gentle swish lulling me into a trance. Finally I think, finally!

 

Suddenly I’m jerked out of my doze by a thump to my belly. What the fuck? There it goes again. It’s like the reverse of what I imagine it would be like to be pregnant, kicks and punches coming from the outside... I hold myself perfectly still and the bed begins to ripple around me. Breathing hard I tear at the sheet. And then I see her. Libby? My brain freezes. How is this possible?

 

But there she is, her naked body mirroring mine, separated only by a thin wall of translucent plastic. She opens her mouth as if to tell me something but only bubbles escape. Frustrated she punches the plastic then unfurls her fingers pressing her palms against the barrier. Instinctively I do the same, staring into her wide sea-green eyes, trying to decipher the hidden message there.

 

She glances at our palms, almost touching and smiles at me. Like her reflection I find myself smiling back. Her wheat-ripe hair swirls around her like seaweed. She seems so carefree, so happy and seeing her like this I realise that I’ve never really ‘seen’ her before. Not that she’d ever been miserable… but now she just seems to have this… spark.

 

Something tightens inside me. I want that spark, that indefinable… something desperately. With more strength than I thought possible I break through the plastic and lace my fingers with hers. Tell me, I want to say to her. Tell me what the secret is.

 

Our bodies crash together and her soft, warm flesh moulds to accommodate mine far more satisfying than impersonal plastic. But rather than letting me go, strong arms wind themselves around me, pressing us closer together. I shiver, but not with the cold. Indeed I’m so hot I feel like my insides are volcanic magma, bubbling, bubbling…

 

I feel something cold and slimy slap against my thigh. I look down but my eyes can’t fully process what I’m seeing. Slowly my eyes travel upwards from the splayed fin to where the iridescent scales merge with human flesh. Higher… Higher… She looks at me now with unadulterated hunger. Panic beats a frantic tattoo in my chest. I begin to struggle. Her glossy pink lips seize mine in a kiss that is part lust and all possession. I fight harder, jerking my legs caught in the steel vice of her tail. Eyes glittering she draws me deeper.

 

Down.

 

Down.

 

Drown.

 

The next thing I know it’s morning and mum’s coming into the room with a cup of coffee. She looks at the bed. The cup drops to the floor and coffee splashes across the haphazard rainbow heap of discarded clothes. My eyes stare vacantly up at her from behind their plastic tomb. My naked corpse floats inside the waterbed like some twisted modern art instillation. Mum’s scream is loud enough to wake the dead…

 

Groggily my uncoordinated hand searches for the alarm clock, desperate to stop its incessant beeping. My heart slows to normal as the world around me swims into focus, everything looking as it should: Clothes in a heap, waterbed solid, not a body in sight. After my hurried shower, I stare into the mirror, apart from appearing perhaps a little paler than normal I don’t look any different. But inside… well that’s another story. Picking out an eye-catching scarlet ensemble that yesterday I never would have dared to wear for school, I dress, readying myself to face the sharks.        

Mermaid Music Video - Gutterfly by My beautiful Deadly Children

 

Mermaid Music Video - Gutterfly by My beautiful Deadly Children (2010)

Has a wonderful burlesque carnival mermaid:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch the whole video on youtube.

 

New Mermaid Graphic Novel Sailor Twain

New mermaid graphic novel  Sailor Twain looks really good!

Article about it here:
Sailor Twain

Poem: The ballad of Scurvy Joe

 

 

 

I was ‘quest to write a ballad, “Like ye stories of old

About adventure on the high seas; piratical and bold!

Line structure should be formal, De-dum, de-dum de-dum

Rhyming every second line, Yet keeping the story fun!”

 

The end result is... quirky, like ‘most everything I do,

Did I meet the challenge set? I’ll leave that up to you!

So settle back, assail your ears, for an epic tale of woe

Without any more delay - The ballad of Scurvy Joe!

The Ballad of Scurvy Joe

The hero of this narrative

If hero he be deemed,

Is an old salt named Josiah,

Whom nobody esteemed.

 

A black-patch masked his wooden eye,

The first of many flaws:

He only had two crooked teeth

His gums were bleeding sores,

 

His legs were bowed, his nose was bent

No Johnny Depp was he,

His skin was pocked-marked, yellowish

Tough and leathery.

 

His hair was coarser than his speech,

A squirming tangle of mice,

A minor inconvenience,

But at least they ate the lice!

 

He reeked of rum and rotting fish,

Never bathed nor changed his clothes,

One whiff of Scurvy Joe downwind

Was enough to curl the toes.

 

His age was indeterminate,

Some said he’d sailed the flood!

A truly ancient mariner,

With ocean in the blood.

 

Yet he’d never risen to captain

Or even position of mate,

Forever swabbing the decks

Was poor Josiah’s fate.

 

Decades of faithful service

Gained him nothing but neglect,

Even the whey-faced cabin boy

Garnered more respect!

 

Joe suffered his lot in silence

Or if he did complain,

No-one could understand him,

So it was all the same.

 

All he ever said was “Fishing”

The only word he knew,

And his favourite occupation

When work allowed him to.

 

One day while alone on deck

Joe spied a mermaid on a rock,

He rubbed his good eye in disbelief

And dropped his mop in shock!

 

But there she sat as bold as brass

Comb and glass in hand,

 Catching poor Josiah’s eye

She sang out her demand –

 

“I call to thee, O sailor fair

Come and be my mate

Jump into the wine-dark sea

Eternity awaits...

 

I call to thee, O sailor true

Come into my arms

I will keep thee warm at night,

Safe from every harm.”

 

Heeding her persuasive call

He dived into the waves

But oblivion in murky depths -

Was not to be his grave!

 

Unlike other sirens of the deep

This mermaid kept her vow,

Filled his lungs with healing breath

She dragged him to her bower...

 

Candles flickered within her cave

Where waiting stood a priest,

An earnest man of preaching bent

Thrown overboard for his beliefs

 

He had no love for buccaneers

Or any godless folk

But this mermaid saved his life

And so a debt was owed

 

Besides she wanted honest vows

Before sight of the Lord

A noble undertaking

He did nothing but applaud.

 

And so Scurvy Joe was married

To a maiden of the sea

For better or for worse

In wedded harmony...

 

At first they seemed quite happy

In that cave beneath the sea

Having such a fish-wife

Was quite the novelty

 

But novelties wear off like spells

And love will soon grow stale,

When you wake up one morning

Find your wife looks like a whale!

 

Josiah was no Adonis,

But his wife was truly vile,

Many a ship was wrecked

By sight of her rictus smile

 

Clammy skin bulged with blubber

Her strength could rival an ox

Her hair was twined with tentacles

Her teeth were jagged rocks

 

Her voice could rupture ear-drums

Venom laced her kiss

The glass in her hand wasn’t a mirror,

And she drank like the proverbial fish.

 

Her temper was worse than a sea squall

Grudges she clung to with bile,

In the face of Josiah’s rejection

She became yet more volatile!

 

Frenzied she chased him relentless

Cleaver and glass in her grip,

Right out of the cavern they shared,

And into the ocean’s abyss...

 

Yet again fate intervened

For Josiah did not drown

Along came a lumbering leviathan who

With one gulp swallowed him down...

 

But unlike Jonah in the whale

Josiah did not escape,

In the belly of a kraken

Our hero met his fate.

 

His mer-widow cried her eyes out,

Sober now and contrite,

For she had truly loved her husband

And mourned his ignoble plight.

 

The Kraken was harpooned by some whalers

Caught by mistake in their nets

It’s death-throes of epic proportions

None who survived would ever forget

 

They gutted the beast with sharp daggers,

Shocked to the core when they found,

The Skeleton of poor Josiah

Fleshless yet moving around!

 

“Is that a ghost or a zombie?”

One man was heard to shout,

Lopping the thing’s head with a sword-stroke

The others cared not to find out.

 

Joe picked up his skull with a curse

And screwed it back onto his spine

The sailors knock-kneed in terror,

Jumped head-first into the brine.

 

Alone on the deck of the whaler

Josiah laughed with glee,

He might be dead, but he had a ship

Unchallenged captaincy!

 

Placing his hands on the wheel

He steered into open sea,

Keeping a wary eye out for mermaids

 In case one of them was she....

 

Harpoon always oiled and ready

He fished to his heart’s delight,

There were plenty more fish in the sea!

The future refreshingly  bright.

 

So ends the ballad of Scurvy Joe

Who took a mermaid to wife –

I’m sure that there’s a moral there

But I can’t find it for my life!