Mermaid mafia
Seto no Hanayome (TV and DVD)
The spotlight is on the dark world of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) in new romantic comedy Seto no Hanayome (The Inland Sea Bride), a parody of Yakuza movies and television shows.
Seto no Hanayome is an original manga work by Tahiko Kimura whose previous works include Yo no na wa Zushio and Artifact: Red.
The anime adaptation is being produced by GONZO whose anime hits include Gate Keepers, Full Metal Panic!, Samurai 7 and Getsumen Toheiki Mina. The show is currently airing on TV Tokyo in Japan but we should see it soon on Animax.
The story starts out as the Seto family visit Grandma Seto at the ancestral home, near the seaside. San Seto heads off to the beach for a swim. Unfortunately, he gets a cramp and is so far out that nobody hears his cries for help.
As he starts to drown, San starts to lose consciousness. But just before he blacks out, he sees a pretty, young girl swimming towards him. She has a fish tail instead of legs.
San wakes up safely on the shore. He tries to tell his parents that he was saved by a mermaid, but they just laugh.
However, things stop being funny when the mermaid shows up and asks San to marry her in return for being saved.
Things go from bad to worse when the girl's parents send a group of representatives (all stereotypical Yakuza looking characters) to their home.
The Seto family is confronted by the head of the family and ranks of henchmen.
Thoroughly intimated, they realise that this frightening group is the local mermaid clan. They are told that because San saw the girl in her true mermaid form, he must either marry her or be killed.
Enjoy this spoof of a popular movie genre.
