Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Industry	Manga, Anime
Founded	September 2002 (2002-09)
Founder	Michiko Yokote (writer), Pink Hanamori (illustrator)
Products	Manga, Anime, Video games
Parent	Kodansha (manga publisher)

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch is a shōjo manga and anime series developed by Michiko Yokote with illustrations by Pink Hanamori. The manga was serialized in the monthly Nakayoshi magazine, comprising 32 chapters—including two special editions—compiled into seven volumes published by Kodansha.

The anime adaptation, produced by TV Aichi, features 91 episodes spread over two seasons broadcast from April 2003 through December 2004. The initial season contains 52 episodes, while the follow-up season, titled Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure, consists of 39 episodes.

Plot

Lucia Nanami, the mermaid princess from the North Pacific Ocean, comes ashore seeking Kaito Dōmoto, a surfer boy she rescued from a tsunami wave seven years prior and entrusted with her pink pearl. Kaito fails to recognize Lucia in her human guise, and disclosing her true identity could cause her to vanish according to mermaid lore. She urges Kaito to uncover who she really is on his own.

At the same time, Lucia discovers that water demons have invaded the ocean realm. To combat this threat, she must join forces with six other Mermaid Princesses and unite their pearls to summon the goddess Aqua Regina. Alongside Hanon and Rina—who transform into singing teen idols using their pearls as weapons—Lucia battles the demons. After defeating them, the Mermaid Princesses face off against and overcome the Black Beauty Sisters.

Manga

The original manga, created by Yokote with artwork by Hanamori, began its run in Nakayoshi in September 2002. It includes 32 chapters collected into seven tankōbon volumes published by Kodansha, released between March 20, 2003, and April 30, 2005.

For North American audiences, Del Rey Manga licensed the series under the title Pichi Pichi Pitch: Mermaid Melody, publishing it from April 25, 2006, until October 30, 2007. The seventh volume features the concluding chapters along with previews of other manga titles.

A sequel series titled Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Aqua, both written and illustrated by Hanamori, started serialization in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine in August 2021.

Anime

The anime adaptation was produced collaboratively by TV Aichi, We've, and Tokyu Agency, with animation handled by Actas and Synergy Japan under director Yoshitaka Fujimoto. It aired in Japan over two seasons: the first season, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, adapting chapters 1 through 20 of the manga, was broadcast from April 5, 2003, to March 27, 2004, and compiled into 14 DVD volumes. The second season, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure, covering chapters 21 to 30, aired from April 3 to December 25, 2004; it was released as two DVD box sets containing a total of eleven discs.

ADV Films secured North American licensing rights in June 2004 but later relinquished them due to challenges in obtaining financial backing and television distribution agreements. Although an English dub was completed by 2009 and remains under Kodansha’s control, it has never been commercially released. Some international dubs—such as Spanish and French versions—were created using this unreleased English dub after Elastic Rights acquired licensing for Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and French-speaking regions of Europe and Africa. Additionally, a separate English dub was produced in Malaysia by an unidentified studio for Top-Insight International; this version aired throughout Asia (excluding Japan and Korea) on channels including TV3 Malaysia, Clan TVE, RTVE, and Telemundo networks during 2006 before moving to TV9 Malaysia with English and Malay subtitles. This Malaysian English dub remains rare due to the absence of any official home video release in Malaysia or other English-speaking Asian markets.

The anime features six theme songs in total. The initial opening theme was "Taiyō no Rakuen ~Promised Land~" performed by Miyuki Kanbe, paired with the first ending theme "Daiji na Takarabako" sung by Asumi Nakata for episodes 1 through 28. From episodes 29 to 52, "Rainbow Notes♪" by Kanbe served as the second opening theme while "Sekai de Ichiban Hayaku Asa ga kuru Basho" performed by Nakata alongside Hitomi Terakado and Mayumi Asano functioned as the ending theme. For the Pure season, "Before the Moment" by Eri Kitamura was used as the opening song with "Ai no Ondo °C" performed by Nakata, Terakado, and Asano as the closing theme.

Additional music

The anime features various other musical pieces, including battle themes performed by the Mermaid Princesses and their adversaries, as well as several insert songs. These compositions are available across character singles, soundtracks, and vocal albums, serving as a complement to the principal theme songs:

Songs by the Mermaids

• "Legend of Mermaid" performed by Asumi Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, and Mayumi Asano
• sung by Asumi Nakata
• "Ever Blue" delivered by Hitomi Terakado
• "Star Jewel" by Mayumi Asano
• "Super Love Songs!" featuring Nakata, Terakado, and Asano
• "Splash Dream" by Asumi Nakata
• performed by Ema Kogure
• "Kizuna" (meaning "Bonds") by Nakata, Terakado, and Asano
• sung by Nakata, Terakado, and Asano
• "Return to the Sea" performed by Kana Ueda
• "Kodou ~Perfect Harmony~" primarily by Nakata, Terakado, Asano, and Kogure (with later editions adding Satomi Arai, Ryoko Nagata, and Ueda)
• "Mother Symphony" by Nakata, Terakado, and Asano
• performed by Hitomi Terakado
• "Piece of Love" sung by Mayumi Asano
• featuring Nakata, Terakado, and Asano
• "Beautiful Wish" by Eri Kitamura
• initially by Nakata, Terakado, and Asano (later versions include Kogure, Arai, Nagata, and Kitamura)
• "Birth of Love" performed by Eri Kitamura

Other tracks

• sung by Miki Tsuchiya and Noriko Shitaya
• performed by Tsuchiya and Shitaya
• sung by Sanae Kobayashi
• performed by Megumi Kojima
• delivered by Masayo Kurata
• "Oh Yeah! Alala" by Masayo Kurata
• sung by Junko Minagawa
• performed by Ryoko Shintani

Video games

During the initial broadcast of the anime, three Nintendo Game Boy Advance titles developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan were launched. Each game supported multiplayer gameplay that required separate cartridges:

• Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (released October 9, 2003): A rhythm-based game modeled after Dance Dance Revolution, featuring eight tracks from the anime.
• Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pichi Pichi Party (released December 18, 2003): A virtual board game akin to Mario Party.
• Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pichi Pichitto Live Start! (released March 18, 2004): Included fourteen songs from the series alongside mini-games; although developed by Konami as music games, these titles are distinct from the Bemani franchise.

Reception

The English-language manga adaptation has received mostly negative critiques. Robert Harris of Mania.com consistently assigned grades of C or lower throughout all volumes and ultimately gave the seventh and final volume an unprecedented F− rating—the only manga series on the site to earn such a mark. In contrast, Melissa Harper from Anime News Network reviewed solely the second volume, praising its impressive artwork but criticizing aspects of its narrative as somewhat juvenile.

External links

• Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: Official anime website hosted by TV Tokyo