, abbreviated as , is an original

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

television series produced by

Doga Kobo is a Japanese animation studio formed by former Toei Animation members Hideo Furusawa and Megumu Ishiguro, located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. The studio was established on July 11, 1973, and is a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation. Although the st ...

for its 50th anniversary. Set in

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

, this series follows four Japanese girls, one of them is a illustrator, an idol, a music composer and a VTuber that forms a band named JELEE, to make into a global phenomenon, freeing themselves of their acrimonious past. The series was directed by Ryōhei Takeshita and aired from April to June 2024. A

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation illustrated by Niko Fujii was serialized on

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''Magazine Pocket'' manga website from April to December 2024. The series is licensed in North America and Australia by

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC (or simply Sentai) is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios. The ...

and is streaming through its

Hidive Hidive (stylized in all caps) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service was launched in June 2017 after the dissolution of The Anime Network's online service, which survived after the liquidation ...

platform.

Plot

Four girls, Mahiru Kouzuki, an illustrator who stops drawing, Kano Yamanouchi, a former

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a devotional image of a deity or saint used during puja ...

who wants to prove herself with singing, Nox Ryūgasaki, the self-proclaimed "strongest"

VTuber A or is an online entertainer who uses a virtual Avatar (computing), avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated i ...

, and Kimura-chan, a mysterious composer who wants to support her favorite person, together form an anonymous artist group, JELEE.

Characters

JELEE

; / : :A 16-year-old high school student who loves drawing but stopped out of the fear of being ridiculed. She returns to drawing after meeting Kano, and serves as JELEE's illustrator. ; / : :A 17-year-old former member of Sunflower Dolls who worked as its center but was forced to retire after a scandal. She has been working as a cover singer, and serves as JELEE's vocalist and lyricist. ; / : :A VTuber and childhood friend of Mahiru who lives as a shut-in after realizing she cannot fit in with her prep school. She lends her talents to JELEE as its video editor and mixer. She publicly expresses her

gender fluidity Gender fluidity (commonly referred to as genderfluid) is a non-fixed gender identity that shifts over time or depending on the situation. These fluctuations can occur at the level of gender identity or gender expression. A genderfluid person may ...

in the eleventh episode, criticizing those who want her to behave in a "normal" manner, unashamed for embracing what she likes. ; / : :A 17-year-old high school student who takes up professional piano lessons and is a super fan of Kano as she helped her go through her social anxieties. She serves as JELEE's composer.

Entertainment industry

; / : :An underground idol singer who has been working for 14 years and is a single mother to Ariel. ; : :The new center of Sunflower Dolls after Kano's retirement. ; : :A member of Sunflower Dolls. ; : :A member of Sunflower Dolls. ; : :The producer for Sunflower Dolls, who is also Kano and Mion's estranged mother.

Other characters

; : :Mahiru's younger sister. ; : :Kano's older sister. ; : :Shizue's daughter who passionately supports her mother's activities. ; : :A woman who Kano and Kiui met at a motorcycle riding school and has gone through multiple plastic surgeries. ; : :The manager of the bar Mahiru and Kano work part-time in.

Production and release

On March 24, 2023,

announced it was producing an original television

series titled ''Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night,'' which would be scheduled to premiere in 2024, with its story taking place in

. Later, three more batches of teaser PVs and teaser visuals were released on May 12, July 28, and October 23, 2023, respectively. According to director Ryōhei Takeshita, the teaser PVs were produced in

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

, mainly because he did not want to strain the resources from the production of the anime series, and partly because he wanted to attempt to create something in live action. On November 1, 2023, its first fully animated PV was released, together with cast and staff announced, as well as the series' premiere in April 2024. On February 7, 2024, the second PV was released, as well as the series' premiere on April 7. An advance screening of the first two episodes was held on March 3, 2024, at Marunouchi Piccadilly,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, with live broadcast in four cinemas in Saitama,

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, and Miyazaki respectively. The screenwriter, Yūki Yaku, the art director, Yūji Kaneko, and the editor, Kashiko Kimura were all invited by Ryōhei Takeshita to the crew. Ryōhei Takeshita said the production of the anime has been completed already on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

on April 11, 2024.

Media

Anime

The series is created by JELEE, and takes place in

. Produced by

, it is directed by Ryōhei Takeshita, with series composition by Yūki Yaku, original character designs by popman3580, and designs adapted for animation by Junichirō Taniguchi. The series aired from April 7 to June 23, 2024, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

and other networks. The opening theme is , performed by KanoeRana, while the ending theme is , performed by Anna Tsurushima. The series is licensed by

in North America, Australia, and British Isles.

Muse Communication Muse Communication Co., Ltd. (also known simply as Muse) is a Taiwanese distributor and licensor that specializes in the distribution of Japanese animation. Based in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, the company also distributes Asian and E ...

licensed the series in Asia-Pacific.

Episodes

Manga

adaptation illustrated by Niko Fujii was serialized on

's ''Magazine Pocket'' manga website from April 7 to December 1, 2024. Four ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes have been released.

Light novel

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

adaptation, written by Yūki Yaku and illustrated by popman3580, was published in three volumes under

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

Gagaga Bunko is a light novel publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Sho ...

imprint from May 20 to July 18, 2024.

Reception

The anime series' first episode garnered generally positive reviews from

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

's staff during the Spring 2024 season previews. James Beckett gave high praise to Yoru and Kano's "immediately compelling relationship" and the overall production for displaying the characters' "weight and heft" during the musical and dramatic scenes. Richard Eisenbeis praised the overarching plot involving Yoru's crippling peer pressure and her interactions with Kano, saying "all signs point to this being a journey worth watching." Rebecca Silverman was critical of the show's "meandering conversations" over "highly symbolic images" and unsure if it can sustain this storytelling style, but was optimistic for Yoru's artistic rediscovery and relationship with Kano. Nicholas Dupree was critical of the show spelling out its characters' problems by hammering them with "blunt metaphors", but gave praise to the visual artistry for its nighttime Shibuya backgrounds and showing "elastic vibrancy" in the character designs, saying "''Jellyfish'' is playing with ideas and themes that I love and clearly has the artistic ambition to make the journey a pleasant one. I can forgive a few fumbles when a show is this earnest and delightful." Zhang Yi from '' The paper'' stated that after the "stunning" first episode, "the plot of the whole anime steadily declined in quality." He criticized the anime is trapped in an awkward position of being "dreamy, yet not dreamy enough" that failing to deliver pure relax while rendering the narrative conflicts overly superficial, describing the first episode of the series as a "fraud".

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Magazine Pocket 2024 anime television series debuts 2024 Japanese novels Anime with original screenplays Doga Kobo Gagaga Bunko Japanese webcomics Kodansha manga LGBTQ-related anime and manga Light novels Muse Communication Music in anime and manga Sentai Filmworks Shōnen manga Television series about social media Television shows set in Tokyo Tokyo MX original programming Transgender-related anime and manga