is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Mitsuru Hattori is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his works ''Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō'' and '' Sankarea: Undying Love'', both of which were adapted into anime television series. Works * (2000–2002, serialized in ''Young Magazine Uppe ...

, which has been serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'' from issue 33 of 2005 to issue 21-22 of 2008. It has been adapted into an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series, directed by Kōichirō Sōtome and written by

Mamiko Ikeda is a Japanese scriptwriter for anime. She has worked on such series as '' Emma – A Victorian Romance'', ''Maid Sama!'' and numerous others. Screenwriting * series head writer denoted in bold Anime television series *'' Pokonyan!'' (1993) * '' ...

, which premiered in Japan on numerous television stations from July 2007, and a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Plot

Within the Kanagawa prefecture lies the seaside city of

Umineko is a Japanese dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. Its first episode debuted at Comiket 72 for Windows on August 17, 2007. The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of two da ...

. There, Kaname Okiura, a student in his second year of high school, attends , or ''Umishō'' (海商) for short. He is also the manager of the high school swim team though he himself doesn't know how to swim. In fact, he is afraid of the water stemming from an incident which occurred some years ago. While he was at the beach, he had nearly drowned when a "mermaid" pulled him under the water. He joined the school's swimming club in order to learn how to swim, but the club is filled with weirdos, who don't teach him swimming. One day, a floating house arrives at the shores of ''Umishō'' bearing two persons. One of these is a cheerful, sunny, happy-go-lucky girl named Amuro Ninagawa, a transfer student, and the other is her father. Her incredible swimming speed makes her an instant hit with the swimming club, but Kaname is surprised, as she reminds him of the mermaid he saw only once in his early childhood. After her floating house is destroyed during a storm she moves to Kaname's house. The fictional island of Onoshima (緒ノ島), where the series is set, is modeled on the real island of

Enoshima is a small offshore island, about in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to ...

Fujisawa, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 439,728 and a population density of 6300 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Fujisawa is in the central part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It f ...

Characters

; :Second year student, and a new transfer student from the Daito Islands,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

at Umishō. Despite her being a dedicated and skilled swimmer, she finds difficulties in performing at competitions due to her not being used to the rules and environment of professional swimming (for instance, in her first attempt at swimming in a pool, she bumped her head on the pool's edge on the opposite end from where she started, and cried for some time from the headache, since she was used to swimming in the open ocean). Among her other uncommon habits, she prefers swimming nude, and has no shame of doing so, especially around Kaname. ; :Second year student, and the swimming team's manager. He had a traumatic experience involving a creature he describes as a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

during his childhood, and after which he has been afraid of swimming ever since. However this scenario started to change after Amuro's arrival at Umishō. Always in trouble due to Amuro's unpredictable behavior, he usually denies his growing feelings for her. ; :Third year student, and vice-captain of the swimming team. The most rational and serious character, she serves as the straight man of most characters and can't stand the antics of Masa. ; :A first year student, nicknamed . Too small for her age, she is usually mistaken as a junior high student. Despite being a member of the swimming team, she is still learning how to properly swim by taking lessons from Kaname. ; :Team Captain, nicknamed Ikamasa. Third year, muscle-bound, and obsessed with shaving his and other people's body hair, and with wearing revealing Speedo bikini swim suits. He is, in fact, the most annoying character of the swim team, driving most of the characters crazy from his antics. ; :A second year. Admired by the boys, she is very self-conscious when people stare at her. Her secret promiscuity is a recurring gag in the series: she wears skimpy lingerie under her clothes, she has a collection of

kokeshi , are simple wooden Japanese dolls with no arms or legs that have been crafted for more than 150 years as a toy for children. Originally from the northeastern region ( Tōhoku-chihō) of Japan, they are handmade from wood, having a simple trunk ...

s (Japanese dolls) in her bedroom and although she doesn't like people looking at her, she likes to look at members of the opposite sex or anything that resembles them (ie a giant statue or a large horn). It's revealed when Kaname goes to her house that apparently she got this sexual behavior from her parents, who often engage in sexual roleplay. She is a very skilled swimmer as she almost won the Kantou Tournament in 200 meters the year before the series starts. Her grandfather is the creator of the Shizu Group. She also has feelings for Kaname, however it is uncertain. ; :First year student. A famous swimmer and model who transfers to Umishō in order to get close to Kaname, for whom she has had a crush since childhood. She considers Amuro as a rival and competes with her for Kaname's attention. She has a noticeable small fang and wears a swimsuit different from the rest of the team. Like Maki she has small breasts, and has a huge contempt for girls with big breasts like Amuro and Mirei. She forms an "Alliance" with Maki to help make their breasts grow. ; :A third year student. A co-founder of Umisho's swimming club and Momoko's childhood friend. Usually tends to bring trouble to those around her. She also makes up stories and lies just to tease others, and to also gain other guys attention. ; :A first year. ; :A second year, and one of the members of the swimming team. ; :A second year. ; :A second year. ; :A second year. ; :A second year. ; :A second year. ; :A first year. ; :A second year, and another pervert of the swimming club. Likes girls with big breasts, and out of almost all of the girls in the swimming club, he takes the most interest in Mirei. ; :A second year. ; :A first or second year, and another perverted member of the swimming club. He wears large glasses and is quite intelligent. His choice of swimsuit, like Ikuta, is a speedo(albeit more modest). ;Iori :A manga only character. He is the personal trainer of Maaya and also happens to be a top model featured in weekly column in swimming magazine. He actually happened to only be Maaya's coach so that he could get close to Kaname, her childhood friend because he really wanted to be his coach. He actually has zero interest in girls and those is in truth he is a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

as he says this out loud in front of everyone. ;Taku Ikariya :A manga only character. He is the younger brother of Masa and competes in the same tournament as his brother (even in the same events as him). He has also been said to look like his brother only cooler looking (he even is better at swimming and studying then his brother). He also happened to be on the same swimming team as Momoko and Masa in elementary and middle school. He seems to have a crush on Momoko and they seem to get along as well. He goes to Shogyo all-boys senior high school. He seems to have a rivalry with his brother for Momoko's attention.

Media

Manga

* First volume: released January 17, 2006, * Second volume: released April 17, 2006, * Third volume: released August 17, 2006, * Fourth volume: released December 15, 2006, * Fifth volume: released April 17, 2007, * Sixth volume: released July 17, 2007, * Seventh volume: released October 17, 2007, * Eighth volume: released March 15, 2008, * Ninth volume: released June 17, 2008,

Anime

The series has been adapted into an anime television series, which premiered in Japan from July 3, 2007 on

Chiba TV , doing business as , is a Japanese commercial terrestrial television broadcasting company headquartered at 11-25 Miyako-chō 1-chōme, Chūō-ku, Chiba serving Chiba Prefecture but spill-over is received in the neighbouring prefectures. It is a mem ...

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

, and numerous other UHF television stations. Animated by

Artland is a Japanese animation studio. It has produced numerous noted anime series, including the award-winning ''Mushishi'' and epic ''Legend of the Galactic Heroes''. It is also well known for producing the anime adaptation of '' Katekyō Hitman Re ...

, it is being directed by Kōichirō Sōtome and written by

Episodes

Theme songs

*Opening theme: "Dolphin☆Jet" :Lyrics and composition: Chiyomaru Shikura, arrangement: Kōji Ueno, performance:

Ayane Ayane (/aˈjaˌnɛ/) is the romanization of a feminine Japanese given name. Literally translated it means "colorful sound" (彩音 or 綺音). * or Junko Hirata, Japanese singer-songwriter *, Japanese television personality *, Japanese badminton ...

*Ending theme: :Lyrics and composition: Urara Takai, arrangement: Kōji Ueno, performance:

Ayumi Murata (born on January 12, 1982) is a female Japanese singer and actress from Tokyo, Japan. She has also played the role of Minako Aino in the Sailor Moon musicals from 2001 to 2002. Anime voice roles * Happiness! (Opening theme) * Kappa no Kaikata * ...

Internet radio

internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

version of the anime series, , was first streamed on the Japanese websites Ōnsen and BEWE from May 16, 2007 and June 27, 2007. A continuation, , began streaming on July 4, 2007. The first version of the series featured Hitomi Nabatame, voice actor of Momoko Orizuka, while the continuation featured Nabatame and

Aki Toyosaki is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokushima (city), Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. She had her first major voice acting roles in 2007, voicing Amuro Ninagawa in ''Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō'' and Su (Shugo Chara!), Su in ''Shug ...

, voice actor of Amuro Ninagawa.

Video game

5pb inc. published an Umisho game on PlayStation 2, under the 5gk. (The Five Games and Kid) title.