I’m so proud of Mari for breaking out of the cycle and the fate that had been forced onto her family. All that “finding true love” stuff started to feel like a burden, like something they were expected to do just so they could fulfil their purpose and keep the family going.

And honestly, does it really have to be romantic love for them to find the light? What was the big deal about the castle not having its light anyway? It just felt like this endless cycle of pressure. Every time one partner died, someone else would eventually take their place as queen or king and inherit the same burden of finding “true love” for the sake of the family. It was like the same expectation would just keep being passed down.

That’s why I’m so glad Lara finally broke away from it. She got to explore the human world, experience life for herself, and figure out what she actually wanted instead of living just to fulfil everyone else’s expectations. The mermaids were so focused on Lara bringing the light back that it became her responsibility to save everyone, when she should have been allowed to have her own dreams and ambitions too.

It honestly reminds me of families who put huge expectations on their children to become successful or follow a specific career because they want them to achieve something for the family. The child is born with a path already planned for them, instead of being allowed to figure out who they are themselves.

I’m really sad that the Witch had to die, though. 😭 I genuinely wanted her to live long enough to see Lara grow and choose her own path. I think it would have been so meaningful for the Witch to watch Lara break the family’s cycle and realise that she didn’t have to repeat the same story.

And honestly, I know Lara was supposed to find “true love,” and the story definitely hinted at Mari, but I personally never really felt romantic love between them. To me, their relationship felt like an incredibly strong bond of friendship. I know a lot of people were excited about the possibility of them being together, and I also know they don’t necessarily need to kiss for their relationship to have romantic or yuri implications, but that’s just not how it came across to me.

I really admire their friendship, and honestly, I’m kind of jealous of how strong their bond is 😭. But I just didn’t see the romantic side of it. Even if the author later confirms that they were meant to be romantic, if the anime itself didn’t communicate that to me, then that’s how I experienced their relationship.

I genuinely love this anime. There’s so much symbolism and so many different lessons you can take from it. The whole story ended up being much deeper than I expected, and I love that there’s so much to interpret from it. 🥹