Shinkaigyo no Anko-san (or Anko-san of the Deep Sea Fish) is a Slice of Life fantasy manga by Inuinu, serialized in Comic Meteor from 2012 to 2015.
The story takes place in a town where merpeople have been integrating with humans, using a medicine that temporarily splits their tail into a pair of legs so they can live together with them. High school student Wakasa Otomi, a mermaid enthusiast, is more than delighted by this new environment, and is eager to meet as many mermaids (and spy as many cute tail fins) as she can. One day, she meets a new transfer student, an Atlantic footballfish girl named Tsutsumi Anko. Anko is rather self-conscious about being a deep sea fish, with a drab, warty tail that's so different from her peers' shiny, smooth appendages, but little by little Wakasa helps her get out of her shell. At school, she and Anko deal with various fish problems that intersect with the daily issues of ordinary human high-schoolers.
The manga is a light-hearted, entertaining deal that is sure to please both biology buffs and monster girl fans who need a break from the erotically charged golden boys of the genre like Monster Musume.
This manga provides examples of:
- Alpha Bitch: Suzume has the front of one, but it's really more of an effort to compete with her ex-classmate Touna's academic accomplishments.
- Animal Gender-Bender: Touna Suzuki/Bettako is a betta mermaid with a billowing red tailfin, but normally female bettas have much shorter fins and dull colors.
- Animal Motifs: many examples due to the nature of the series, but most notably Suzume, the Alpha Bitch discus mermaid from a high-glass mermaid private school. Discus are notorious among fish owners for being both expensive and difficult to raise.
- Bears Are Bad News: Summed up in the title of chapter 11, "We Met A Bear".
- Berserk Button: Do NOT pry into the topic of mermaid underwear... if you value your life.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: One morning, Anko mistakenly takes her father's lunchbox to school, which has a romantic "I want to ♥ fuse with you" message written on the rice (referring to anglerfish's method of reproduction).
- Blinded by the Light: Anko can crank her lure's light up enough to stun people. Bettako and Wakasa are regular victims.
- Cardiovascular Love: Conveyed by Say It with Hearts: Anko's father's lunchbox that has a romantic "I want to ♥ fuse with you" message written on the rice (referring to anglerfish's Bizarre Alien Biology method of reproduction).
- Carnivore Confusion: Lampshaded when Wakana notes that Yamame, a cherry salmon mermaid, is fishing for her own species. She seems to regard it as completely normal, though.
- Censor Suds: During Anko's morning bath.
- Chuunibyou: Akame the red-eyed puffer mermaid developed this to cope with the problems her powerful toxin brings.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Madoka the sunfish, who is incredibly spacey and spends most of her time lounging on the roof. Much like regular sunfish, sometimes birds peck at her.
- Conspicuous Gloves: Akame wears gloves to avoid spreading her toxin on everything she touches.
- Dork Knight: Tsubasa, the flying fish mermaid. She may be a self-proclaimed superhero with only a deserted school club to her name, but she's well-liked and her heart is in the right place.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Anko's illicium works on other mermaids—even when she doesn't really want it to.
- It also seems to work on Wakasa.
- Extreme Omnivore: Yamame mentions that her friend Iwana, a whitespotted char mermaid, will eat just about anything (much like the actual fish).
- Face of a Thug: Samejima the great white mermaid, whose glaring look and mouth full of teeth gave birth to rumors about her, making her the idol of a local group of thugs. The truth is her glare is only due to her poor eyesight, a trait typical of most sharks.
- Wakasa even has an Imagine Spot that gives Samejima a Sarashi and Glowing Eyes of Doom as she stands Atop a Mountain of Corpses, to boot.
- Furry Reminder: The mermaid characters will often display instincts typical of their species, from Akame swelling up when threatened or scared to Touna being preening and confrontational.
- The Hermit: Tamao the pearlfish mermaid: as part of a deep-sea species that normally lives inside sea cucumbers, she has deep-seated agoraphobia.
- Luring in Prey: When in a desperate situation, Anko's normally stylized illicium turns into a more realistic shape, with drastically stronger alluring powers.
- Meaningful Name: Wakasa's first name (Otomi) is based on the divine princess of the ocean Otohime
, and her last name on the homeland of Yao Bikuni. - Mellow Fellow: Madoka, the sunfish mermaid.
- Nosebleed: Wakasa is a huge fan of mermaids, and often has this reaction upon catching sight of their tails.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: In the town where the story takes place, merpeople have been integrating with humans, using a medicine that temporarily splits their tail into a pair of legs so they can live together with them.
- Our Nudity Is Different: Asking a mermaid to let you see her tail fin is considered extremely rude. Interestingly, the first time we see any mermaid character's tail fin is usually when their show their true self or otherwise lower their defenses. In fact, we are casually treated to Madoka's tail fin almost immediately because she has nothing to hide.
- Punny Name: The mermaid whose name isn't a pun of the name of the fish she's based upon, or isn't a pun of some popular recipe made with that fish, is because it's a pun of both things.
- Say It with Hearts: For Cardiovascular Love with Anko's father's lunchbox that has a romantic "I want to ♥ fuse with you" message written on the rice (referring to anglerfish's Bizarre Alien Biology method of reproduction).
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Samejima looks positively stunning with just contacts and the right dress.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Iwana and Yamame, the freshwater mermaids the cast meets during a camping trip in the mountains.
- Unknown Rival: Suzume to Touna.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Most mermaids are terrified of cats.
