Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (マーメイドメロディーぴちぴちピッチ Māmeido Merodī Pichi Pichi Pitchi?) is a shōjo manga and anime series created by Michiko Yokote, with artwork by Pink Hanamori. The manga was originally published in the monthly shōjo manga anthology Nakayoshi. There are 32 chapters published (including two special stories) and are compiled into seven volumes issued by Kodansha.
The anime series was produced by TV Aichi. The first season of which, composed of 52 episodes, was shown on the TV Tokyo Network from April 5, 2003 to March 27, 2004. A second season, entitled Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure, lasted for 39 episodes and was aired from April 3 to December 25, 2004.
ADV Films acquired the license to the anime on June 2004 for its North American release, but was eventually dropped due to difficulty in finding backers and securing a TV airing deal.[1] As of 2009, the anime has been completely dubbed but is being held by TV Aichi. It is unknown if a release will occur. While the anime has not since been re-licensed for an English language distribution, Del Rey Manga acquired the rights to publish the manga for the North American audience. It began releasing the manga on April 2006 under the title Pichi Pichi Pitch: Mermaid Melody.[2]
Plot
Lucia, Mermaid Princess of the North Pacific Ocean, sets out to land to find the boy she saved from a shipwreck seven years before the beginning of the story, to whom she had entrusted with her pink pearl. She eventually finds the boy: a surfer named Kaito Dōmoto. But as the human form Lucia assumed, named Lucia Nanami, bears very little resemblance to her mermaid form, Kaito cannot recognize her. She cannot tell Kaito who she really is; otherwise, according to mermaid folklore, she would turn into bubbles. She tries to convince Kaito into figuring out who she really is (since the legend does not say anything about the other person discovering a mermaid's true identity by himself).
At the same time, Lucia has been told that a group of water demons or suiyō (水妖) have invaded the marine world and she must gather the six other Mermaid Princesses and their pearls to bring back the legendary goddess, Aqua Regina, to stop them. To fulfill this, she joins forces with Hanon and Rina, Mermaid Princesses who came up to dry land, use their pearls, turn into singing idols, and use their voices as an offensive power.
Songs
Although Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch is comparable to any shōjo title, the anime's songs are used not only as opening/ending songs, but are also used as battle songs and image songs. Each episode has at least one battle/image song performance.
Music
- Opening themes
- "Taiyō no Rakuen ~Promised Land~" by Miyuki Kanbe (Episodes 1–28)
Translation: Paradise of the Sun ~Promised Land~ - "Rainbow Notes♪" by Miyuki Kanbe (Episodes 29–52)
- Ending themes
- "Daiji na Takarabako" by Lucia (Asumi Nakata) (Episodes 1–28)
Translation: Important Treasure Box - "Sekai de Ichiban Hayaku Asa ga kuru Basho" by Lucia, Hanon, and Rina (Asumi Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, and Mayumi Asano) (Episodes 29–52)
Translation: The Place Where Morning Comes First
- Mermaid songs
These songs are usually used in battle and as image songs.
- "Legend of Mermaid" by Lucia, Hanon, and Rina (Asumi Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, and Mayumi Asano)
- "Koi wa Nandarō" by Lucia (Asumi Nakata)
Translation: Just What is Love? - "Super Love Songs!" by Lucia, Hanon, and Rina (Asumi Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, and Mayumi Asano)
- "Kizuna" by Lucia, Hanon, and Rina (Asumi Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, and Mayumi Asano)
Translation: BONDS - "Yume no Sono Saki e" by Lucia, Hanon, and Rina (Asumi Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, and Mayumi Asano)
Translation: To the Place After a Dream - "Splash Dream" by Lucia (Asumi Nakata)
- "Ever Blue" by Hanon (Hitomi Terakado)
- "Star Jewel" by Rina (Mayumi Asano)
- "Aurora no Kaze ni Notte" by Caren (Ema Kogure)
Translation: Riding on the Winds of the Aurora - "Return to the Sea" by Sara (Kana Ueda)
- "Kodou ~Perfect Harmony~" by Lucia, Hanon, Rina, and Caren (with Coco and Noel in second version, and with Sara in third version)
(Asumi Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, Mayumi Asano, and Ema Kogure; second version also includes Satomi Arai and Ryoko Nagata; third version also includes Kana Ueda)
Translation: Heartbeat
Other songs:
- "Kuro no Kyōsōkyoku ~concerto~" by the Black Beauty Sisters (Miki Tsuchiya and Noriko Shitaya)
Translation: Concert of Darkness ~concerto~
Sometimes erroneously called "Voice in the Dark" after a repeated (and understandable for English-speaking viewers) line in the song. - "Yami no Baroque" by the Black Beauty Sisters (Miki Tsuchiya and Noriko Shitaya.)
Translation: Dark Baroque
Video games
Three video games (developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan) were released on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance console during the original run of the anime. All the games featured multiplayer capabilities, but required each player to have his or her own copy of the game in order to play.
- Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch - Inspired by Dance Dance Revolution. This included eight songs from the anime.
- Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pichi Pichi Party - A "virtual board game" similar to the Mario Party series.
- Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pichi Pichitto Live Start! - Similar to the first Mermaid Melody game. This included fourteen songs from the anime, as well as several mini-games. Although this game (along with the first one) is a Konami-developed music video game, it is not considered part of the Bemani series.
References
- ↑ Mikhail Koulikov; Christopher Macdonald (2005-06-21). "Anime Next - A.D. Vision, Inc.". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-10-15. Cite uses deprecated parameter
|coauthors=(help) - ↑ "Del Rey Manga Acquires Four New Kodansha Titles". Anime News Network. 2005-10-06. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
External links
- (Japanese) Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch[dead link]: Official website of the anime at TV Aichi
- (Japanese) LIPS: Official website of the manga artist, Pink Hanamori
- Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Pearl Song: A site about the manga.
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