WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Aquatope on White Sand, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Anime viewers who have been keeping an eye on The Aquatope on White Sand may have been surprised at the mid-season ‘twist.’ Many likely thought that main characters Kukuru and Fuuka, with the help of the rest of the Gama Gama staff, would somehow pull through and miraculously prevent the closure of the aquarium, possibly aided by the unseen help of the mysterious local deity and/or the spirit of Gama Gama itself, the latter of which granted certain people supernatural visions when they needed it most.
However, this was evidently not to be, and after Episode 12, the series’ halfway point, Aquatope underwent a brief time skip. Now graduated from high school, Kukuru has fully reconciled herself to Gama Gama’s closure and is one of the newest employers at the far larger and more popular Tingarla Aquarium -- although to her surprise and dismay, she has been assigned by the director to work not as an animal attendant, but within the aquarium’s marketing department.
While the former half of Aquatope was therefore heavily based on the drama of attempting to save Gama Gama from financial ruin, combined with a heavy dose of the supernatural given regular shots of the unnamed local god and frequent aquarium-gifted visions, the latter half of the show is shaping up to be primarily a slice-of-life office anime.
What drama there is centers chiefly on Kukuru learning how to select and execute successful campaigns, while more than occasionally butting heads with her department boss and some of the aquarium attendants. There have been no mystical visions of any kind and only one or two extremely brief shots of the unnamed deity, scaling back the supernatural aspects of Aquatope to an absolute minimum.
However, by and large, this can be viewed as a positive thing for the show. As a supernatural drama, Aquatope was intriguing but not particularly unique -- P.A. Works has dabbled in magical realism plenty of times before, often with very mixed success (Red Data Girl, Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea, Charlotte, Iroduku: The World in Colors), and as a whole, the anime medium does not lack for supernatural titles.
Moreover, at the start of Aquatope, both main protagonists were still teenagers -- Kukuru was a high school student and only held her position as interim director of the aquarium due to her grandfather being the owner. Meanwhile, the similarly aged Fuuka was a former idol who was essentially running away from facing her family and a future without any particular aspirations. Both girls were likable, but not necessarily relatable.
It is when Aquatope begins ‘anew’ from Episode 13 onward that the series becomes far more down-to-earth yet also more distinctive. Slice-of-life anime titles that focus mostly or solely on the working lives of its characters are few and far between compared to the innumerous shows that fall into genres such as action, adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, sports and romance.
Needless to say, due to the target demographic of the majority of anime being teenagers, it’s also not as common to have working adults as protagonists -- main characters are far more likely to be in high school, or sometimes junior high school or college. The number of true slice-of-life, non-speculative office anime starring older characters, such as Servant x Service or Shirobako, therefore pales in comparison.
The Aquatope on White Sand may have lost most of its supernatural tendencies (at least for the time being), but it’s clear that this is largely for the better. Watching the teenage Kukuru and Fuuka strive for a supernaturally-aided short-term dream that was likely to lead nowhere in the grand scheme of things was perhaps heartwarming, but neither realistic nor deeply engaging. Witnessing them navigate long-term careers and office politics as newly-minted adults, while also struggling to forge brand new paths for their respective futures, is both of these things.
