"Rumic Theater: Mermaid Forest" (2003) "Takahashi Rumiko gekijô: Ningyo no mori" (original title), TV series 2003-

Writers:

Junichi Miyashita (episode)
Megumu Sasano (episode)
(more)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

4 October 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation

Cast

Nao Nagasawa

...

Pitto (13 episodes, 2003)

Series Directed by
Masaharu Okuwaki		(13 episodes, 2003)
Hiroshi Matsuzono		(2 episodes, 2003)

Series Writing credits
Junichi Miyashita		(13 episodes, 2003)
Rumiko Takahashi		(13 episodes, 2003)
Gô Tamai		(4 episodes, 2003)
Megumu Sasano		(3 episodes, 2003)
Daiki Shimazaki		(1 episode, 2003)

Series Produced by
Osamu Kamei	....	planner (13 episodes, 2003)
Noriko Kobayashi	....	producer: TV Tokyo (13 episodes, 2003)
Jun'ya Okamoto	....	assistant producer (13 episodes, 2003)
Ryûzô Shôji	....	planner (13 episodes, 2003)
Satoshi Yokoyama	....	producer (13 episodes, 2003)
Masahito Yoshioka	....	executive producer (13 episodes, 2003)
Hideki Goto	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Chiaki Ishikawa		(13 episodes, 2003)
Kayoko		(13 episodes, 2003)

Series Cinematography by
Mizuru Sugiura		(13 episodes, 2003)

Series Film Editing by
Terumitsu Okada		(13 episodes, 2003)

Series Art Direction by
Jun'ichi Higashi		(13 episodes, 2003)
Toshiyuki Tokuda		(13 episodes, 2003)

Series Art Department
Hiroshi Izumi	....	artboards (13 episodes, 2003)
Naoko Kodama	....	color key (13 episodes, 2003)
Masaharu Okuwaki	....	storyboard artist (6 episodes, 2003)
Junji Nishimura	....	storyboard artist (3 episodes, 2003)
Mitsuko Ôyake	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 2003)

Series Sound Department
Yasuo Uragami	....	sound director (13 episodes, 2003)
Greg Hall	....	sound engineer (unknown episodes)
Rob Landreth	....	sound engineer (unknown episodes)
Jessica Zarate	....	sound engineer (unknown episodes)

Series Animation Department
Masaki Satô	....	character designer (13 episodes, 2003)
Yoshitsugu Hatano	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2003)
Masaki Hyuga	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2003)
Akio Kawamura	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2003)
Ichirô Ogawa	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2003)

Series Editorial Department
Naoko Kodama	....	color coordinator (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Yôko Iizawa	....	literary supervisor (13 episodes, 2003)
Takashi Kumagai	....	supervisor (13 episodes, 2003)
Shin'ichi Mikami	....	supervisor (13 episodes, 2003)
Yunichi Miyashita	....	series story editor (13 episodes, 2003)
Shin'ichirô Tsuzuki	....	supervisor (13 episodes, 2003)
Takeshi Yamakawa	....	production supervisor (13 episodes, 2003)

Production Companies

• Prime Direction
• Shogakukan Production
• TV Tokyo
• Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS)

Distributors

• TV Osaka (2003) (Japan) (TV) (original airing)
• Geneon Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• PolyGram Video (2004) (Italy) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Takahashi Rumiko gekijô: Ningyo no mori" - Japan (original title)
"Mermaid Forest" - USA (video title)

Runtime:

Japan:22 min (13 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Prime Direction

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Ningyo no kizu (1993) (V)

The Little Mermaid gone bad

Whether you like this series or not will depend on how much you favor story over animation. The Mermaid-series harbor a fascinating universe with intense stories and a fairytale like quality. Problem is the animation is very lackluster. It's all done by computer and features none of the gorgeous hand drawn anime we're so used to seeing. Instead everything on screen is kept very simple and the environments have no dept whatsoever. Back in 1991 another version of the 'Mermaid's Forest' tale (also included in the new series, as a new, but lesser two-part take) was made, where both the story and the animation were so much better. Unfortunately this is only available on VHS. The previous version was also much more violent and featured nudity, which gave the story a sharper, more sinister edge. This new take on the saga is more like kiddie matinée stuff in comparison. So, check out this series if you like the work of Rumiko Takahashi, but don't expect too much magic. I'm sure everyone who happen to see the 1991 version will agree.