This was an arm grab away from maybe the closest we will ever get to watching the k-drama HEIRS on the big screen. Not as ridiculous as that, but the idea did cross my mind a few times. In both worlds wealth is overwhelming, everywhere; and the heroine submits herself to this world and suffers a series of humiliations at the hands of the rich guy's family before triumphing on her own terms. There's stray moments of interest when the…

There's a moment in this film, when Lu's dad realizes that she is in danger, where the tone of the film switches completely, the animation becomes ferocious in depicting the violence and desperation of the father to reach Lu. In what's ostensibly a pretty childish film, Yuasa never forgets the pain of death and of violence. Merfolk do present a threat, a strange vampiric element that remains an Other, but one that needs to be understood - the connection between…