Ebb Tide (full title listed as Ebb Tide ~The Friendly Fish of Aquarius Beach~) is another (planned) webcomic by Mochagatari (aka A Patchwork Scholar), third in the Gatari & Friends lineup of original series and a spin-off of the Genjitsutouhi Series.
The series mostly focuses on the two characters Martini the Octopus (who debuted in Genjitsutouhi) and Marlin the Mahi-mahi, two humanoid fish that live at the sunny Aquarius Beach and the nearby harbor. While initially starting with Marlin being determined to finally make a friend out of Martini, it's a mostly episodic Slice of Life comedy about the duo and their relations with the various other fish that live at the beach, as well as the local pirate crew.
While the series is now more-or-less a standalone, it still regularly links and references Genjitsutouhi.
Ebb Tide shows examples of the following tropes:
- Adorably Precocious Child: Bree, especially compared to the rather dense Ellie.
- Affably Evil: The crew of the Poison Urchin. Despite being the most frequent threats to the other fish, Marlin still invites them to beach parties.
- The Alcoholic: Hawaii, who is rarely seen not holding a drink of some kind.
- All-Loving Hero: Marlin, who is stated to be friends with practically everyone in the sea. The only exceptions are Martini and the villains thus far.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Quite a few characters have lightly tinted skin to reflect their actual scale/flesh coloring, with Marlin, Ellie, and Bree being exceptions so far.
- Ambiguous Gender: Martini is officially stated to be genderless. Mai Tai was also stated to be genderless initially, but was revealed to be a female with no preference for pronouns.
- Amusing Injuries
- Animal Motifs: Everyone, being fish.
- Martini is an octopus.
- Marlin (despite his name) is a mahi-mahi.
- Fizz is a jellyfish.
- Shirley is a pink skunk clownfish.
- Rickey is a blacktip reef shark.
- Mai Tai is a dolphin, specifically a bottlenose dolphin.
- Spritzer is a Californian flying fish.
- Hawaii is a yellowtail.
- Ellie is a lionfish.
- Bree is a rainbow trout.
- Gin and Tonic are cuttlefish.
- Manhattan is an angler fish.
- Harmonie is a Siamese fighting fish, also known as a betta fish.
- Shamrock is a green sea turtle.
- Cosmo/Cosmopolitan is a hogfish.
- Schnapps is a crocodile.
- Mary is a lobster.
- Arch-Enemy: Ellie is this to Martini, as most of the actual serious conflict involves the short-lived scuffles between Martini and the Poison Urchin crew.
- Ascended Extra: Martini, since they went from a minor reoccurring character in Genjitsutouhi to having their own series.
- Author Appeal: Mochagatari admired the underwater aesthetics of works like Finding Nemo, Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea and SpongeBob SquarePants, and liked Martini’s character enough to give them their own series. It's humor is also greatly inspired by yonkomas such as Azumanga Daioh or Wagnaria!!, and Deep-Sea Prisoner’s focus on character relationships.
- Ax-Crazy: Everyone thinks Mai Tai is this. How true it is is up to interpretation.
- Badass Adorable: Shirley and Martini, though everyone is to varying degrees.
- Big Eater: Rickey, which is natural since he's a shark.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Rickey and Shamrock.
- The Cameo: Mocha and Tate will sometimes show up to visit Martini.
- Chick Magnet: Marlin. Too bad he's gay.
- Cool Big Sis: Hawaii thinks she's this.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Any attempt on Martini's life at all is guaranteed to end in them curb-stomping whoever tries.
- Denser and Wackier: This series is arguably the most purely comedic and lighthearted in terms of tone and story that in the Gatari & Friends lineup.
- Dissonant Serenity: Mai Tai is fazed by nothing, no matter how horrific.
- Drama Queen: Shirley and Hawaii in different ways.
- Edible Theme Naming: All the characters are named after a cocktail or alcoholic beverage, barring Marlin, Bree and Ellie as of current.
- Martini is obviously a martini.
- Fizz is a carbonated alcoholic drink.
- Shirley refers to a Shirley Temple, a non-alcoholic drink made of ginger ale and grenadine.
- Rickey refers to a lime rickey, a highball drink made of bourbon and lime juice.
- A Mai Tai is a fruity rum cocktail.
- Spritzer is the name of a carbonated wine cocktail.
- Hawaii refers to both the island and the Blue Hawaii cocktail.
- Gin and Tonic refer to the respective drink combo.
- Manhattan refers to the name of a whiskey cocktail.
- Harmonie isn't actually a drink, but is the name of a brand of bright purple liqueur.
- Shamrock refers to a bright green kind of cocktail.
- A Cosmopolitan is a cocktail made of vodka and cranberry juice.
- Schnapps are a kind of flavored liquor.
- Mary refers to a Bloody Mary.
- The Eeyore: Fizz, whom Martini has referred to more than once as the "world's most depressing jellyfish".
- Extreme Omnivore: Rickey will eat anything if he's hungry enough, from Spritzer's notes to Martini.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Rickey, however, will never get Martini as a snack as long as they are still standing.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Spritzer.
- Genki Girl: Shirley and Cola.
- Gentle Giant: Rickey, as temperamental as he can be, never has truly ill intentions and is mostly sweet to everyone.
- There's also Manhattan, who is a very tall and monstrous angler fish but is quite a friendly gentleman.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Hawaii.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Shirley, played both for laughs and drama.
- In Love with Love: Shirley is obsessed with love and finding a husband for herself, specifically in fairy tale fashion.
- Interspecies Romance: Marlin, a mahi-mahi, is dating Rickey, a shark.
- Keet: Marlin and Spritzer.
- Lady Drunk: Hawaii.
- Lethal Chef: Mai Tai can’t cook to save their life, which often ends in more assumptions they’re trying to kill everyone. Truth in Television, as dolphins don’t have as many tastebuds as humans and therefore don’t usually have good taste.
- Mad Scientist: Spritzer, to varying degrees.
- Only One Name: All the characters only have one name, except for Ellie (whose surname is Lionheart).
- Only Sane Man: Marlin is arguably the most normal fish at the beach.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Shirley with Spritzer and Marlin.
- Pirates: Ellie and Bree are pirates on the Poison Urchin that regularly antagonize the other fish.
- Rainbow Motif: Bree, being a rainbow trout.
- The Quiet One: Fizz and Martini both zig-zag this. Fizz is quiet due to their depression but when prompted never shuts up; Martini is very vocal about their disdain towards people but otherwise keeps to themselves.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Ellie.
- Theme Naming: All the characters are named after a certain alcoholic drink or cocktail, making this Edible Theme Naming as well. The only characters who avert the naming scheme are Marlin, Ellie, and Bree.
- Totally Radical: Marlin, Spritzer, and Shamrock all tend to talk like this.
