I'm usually a big fan of Satoshi Kon. Some of my favourite movies are his own creations, Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers being prime examples, and I adore his artwork. Kaikisen--or its English 'Tropic of the Sea'--is itself beautiful on paper, yet falls short while trying to convey something significant beyond the pages.

On the surface, Kon divulges a potentially profound story of a seaside town at risk of being commercialized while trying to maintain the tradition of keeping safe a mystical mermaid's egg gifted to them once every sixty years. In exchange for such care, the mer-people bless the village with warm weather and safety all year round. Still relevant to Japan to this day, the conflict of modernization and tradition is a significant debate always interesting to explore and see integrated into a manga narrative. Sadly, the story falls flat and fails to explore anything further about the characters themselves beyond their very evident cliches. The protagonist himself is the antithesis of complex and the villain almost painfully predictable. I hate to be so down on something of Kon's, but I admittedly forgot most of the story after I finished reading it. The art is beautiful but I personally feel Kon could've done a lot more with this material.