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This post is for the ladies! Well, moreso than usual.
I may have taken the Mermaid Melody manga to task for the myriad ways in which it sucked, but it did excel in one area: It’s a veritable encyclopedia of shojo fanservice clichés. So let’s count ‘em down, drinking-game style! (Although since this is a kids’ manga, I’ll be imbibing on non-alcoholic lemonade, but y’all can use whatever you want.)
Right out of the gate, MerMelo is built on not just a shojo fanservice cliché, but a cross-cultural-girl-aimed-media fanservice cliché: the little mermaid who sees a cute human boy, rescues him from drowning, and snuggles with him on the beach. MerMelo uses this one twice in the first chapter alone: In a flashback, Lucia rescues Kaito when they’re both little kids, and in the present day, seven years later, she reprises her heroic deed. But since this is a Japanese comic, they combine it with the well-worn Childhood Friends Who Meet Later In Life Except Only One Of Them Remembers Their Previous Bond shtick: human Lucia recognizes Kaito as the boy she saved long ago, but Kaito has no idea that Lucia is his mermaid. Jesus, that’s all worth several drinks and we’ve barely started.
Speaking of Kaito... What do chicks like? Shirtless guys! How do we get the hunky love interest to be shirtless all the time? Have him be a surfer! Genius!
Of course if Lucia wants to visit her surfing boyfriend at the beach, she needs a swimsuit! So Hanon drags Lucia to the mall to try on bikinis (DRINK) which is followed by a Showing Off The New Bikini In Front Of Numerous Appreciative Beach Dudes (DRINK), and when one of said dudes starts hitting on Lucia, Kaito steps in to tell him off (DRINK).
Lucia’s second rescue of Kaito is prompted by one of the villainesses capturing him, and of course she takes the opportunity to villainously cop a feel. This happens a lot in this manga, so it’s definitely worth a DRINK.
And that’s just the first chapter. :|
( Click to watch me drink my way through this entire manga, by God )
I may have taken the Mermaid Melody manga to task for the myriad ways in which it sucked, but it did excel in one area: It’s a veritable encyclopedia of shojo fanservice clichés. So let’s count ‘em down, drinking-game style! (Although since this is a kids’ manga, I’ll be imbibing on non-alcoholic lemonade, but y’all can use whatever you want.)
Right out of the gate, MerMelo is built on not just a shojo fanservice cliché, but a cross-cultural-girl-aimed-media fanservice cliché: the little mermaid who sees a cute human boy, rescues him from drowning, and snuggles with him on the beach. MerMelo uses this one twice in the first chapter alone: In a flashback, Lucia rescues Kaito when they’re both little kids, and in the present day, seven years later, she reprises her heroic deed. But since this is a Japanese comic, they combine it with the well-worn Childhood Friends Who Meet Later In Life Except Only One Of Them Remembers Their Previous Bond shtick: human Lucia recognizes Kaito as the boy she saved long ago, but Kaito has no idea that Lucia is his mermaid. Jesus, that’s all worth several drinks and we’ve barely started.
Speaking of Kaito... What do chicks like? Shirtless guys! How do we get the hunky love interest to be shirtless all the time? Have him be a surfer! Genius!
Of course if Lucia wants to visit her surfing boyfriend at the beach, she needs a swimsuit! So Hanon drags Lucia to the mall to try on bikinis (DRINK) which is followed by a Showing Off The New Bikini In Front Of Numerous Appreciative Beach Dudes (DRINK), and when one of said dudes starts hitting on Lucia, Kaito steps in to tell him off (DRINK).
Lucia’s second rescue of Kaito is prompted by one of the villainesses capturing him, and of course she takes the opportunity to villainously cop a feel. This happens a lot in this manga, so it’s definitely worth a DRINK.
And that’s just the first chapter. :|
( Click to watch me drink my way through this entire manga, by God )
