Final Thoughts on Goodbye, Lara

Although hundreds of new anime series come out every year, Goodbye, Lara was special. It was a contemporary incarnation of only a few animated shows from the past few decades inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid." It will stand alongside future commentaries about the Disney and Saban series to analyze the impact that this 200-year-old fairy tale had on past generations. Now that the series has ended, I have some thoughts I'd like to share about its impact on "Little Mermaid" lore from the past, present, and future.

Goodbye, Lara is a contemporary take on "The Little Mermaid" that portrays the titular mermaid, Lara, being reincarnated in modern-day Japan. However, it celebrates the story's older roots by taking advantage of the longer lifespan of merfolk and covering several centuries' worth of their lives, beginning with the prince who initially betrayed Lara in the 1800s, when the fairy tale was originally written. The betrayal in the anime was different from the original story. Instead of the prince marrying another woman because he thought she was the one who rescued him, he rejects Lara solely because of her tail, presented here in a rather grotesque transformation sequence.

When Lara comes to the modern world, she meets Mari and Luca, whose interest in her being a mermaid ranges from indifference to fascination. In that respect, the social commentary seems to be that humanity has evolved to become more accepting over the years. That said, I did not personally care for Mari, the tomboyish high school boxing student, as a character, despite her importance to the story. Many viewers hoped for a queer romance between Lara and Mari, which would serve as a callback to the popular theory that Hans Christian Andersen wrote "The Little Mermaid" because of his feelings for another man. In the end, their relationship was left mostly ambiguous, with a similar dynamic to Utena and Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena.

I found this show just as enjoyable as I did frustrating. The uneven pacing frequently spent too much time in the real world, while the richly developed world of the merfolk left too many loose ends and unanswered questions. For instance, why was Lara the only princess whose light could save her family when she had five other sisters? Why did Luca look exactly like the prince who betrayed her but act completely differently? Why did Lara have no choice but to kill the one she loves to spread her light? Why did her pure heart present itself as a giant dagger monster that attacked anyone who came near it?

This adaptation served more as an allegory for racism than any other "Little Mermaid" retelling I've seen thus far. The merfolk's hatred of humans began with the sea witch, Grace, Lara's aunt, who was betrayed by a human prince she fell in love with, and Lara was doomed to repeat her failure. Lara's sister Lisa, spends centuries on land waiting for her to wake up, which continued to fuel her hatred for humanity. Yet, Lara has a completely different experience when she enters the modern world, making the tone more casual and comedic. The show often feels disjointed between the high-fantasy medieval world, highlighted by the whimsical undersea mermaid kingdom, and the more casual modern world with Mari's stoic personality, which serves as a stark contrast to the vibrant and emotional Lara.

Although I'm always happy for a quick binge watch, I think this series could have benefitted from having more than twelve episodes. It didn't seem like enough for the scope of the story they wanted to tell, especially when some of the episodes wasted time on less important matters like Lara learning how to work at a bakery. The mermaid world in this show was beautiful and unique, yet it felt incomplete. I had a hard time accepting that their entire society depends solely on Lara's happiness and light. Didn't they have any interests and abilities of their own? In the end, I suppose that's what made Lara the most human of them all.

This post is already getting pretty long, so I guess I'll wrap it up by saying that Goodbye, Lara is revolutionary for being the first show to place the story of "The Little Mermaid" squarely in the year 2026. Is it perfect? Definitely not. There are many aspects of both mermaid and human culture to be explored in a potential second season, but it was nice to see this show come out at a time when mermaids are making a big comeback in the media. What are your thoughts on Goodbye, Lara and its impact on future adaptations of "The Little Mermaid?" Let me know in the comments below!