The Aquatope on White Sand (白い砂のアクアトープ, Shiroi Suna no Akuatōpu), or The Aquatope of White Sand, subtitled The Two Girls Met in the Ruins of Damaged Dream, is a Japanese anime television series produced by P.A. Works as the fourth entry in its "Working Series". It aired from July to December 2021.
Contents
Plot
Set in Nanjō, Okinawa, The Aquatope on White Sand tells the story of two girls; Kukuru Misakino, who is chasing her dream by working at an aquarium, and Fūka Miyazawa, an idol from Tokyo who has given up her position and journeyed to Okinawa in search of something new.
Characters
Main
Kukuru Misakino (海咲野 くくる, Misakino Kukuru)
Voiced by: Miku Itō
A high school student who works at Gama Gama Aquarium as its Deputy Director. She is determined to save the aquarium with creativity and hard work. Her love for sea creatures knows no bounds and she is known for being a sea creature geek. She lives with her grandparents as her parents died when she was young. After the closure of Gama Gama Aquarium, she graduates high school and landed a job at Tingarla Aquarium through a recommendation by her grandfather, only to be placed in the PR and marketing department by its director. While working at Tingarla Aquarium she is given the nickname "Plankton" by the vice director.
Fuuka Miyazawa (宮沢 風花, Miyazawa Fūka)
Voiced by: Rikako Aida
A former idol who has given up on her dream for the sake of another member and escaped to Okinawa. Her former fame troubled her, as did her decision of sacrificing her idol career, but Gama Gama Aquarium quickly became her safe haven and her new-found passion. After the closure of Gama Gama Aquarium, she went back to her hometown in Iwate. Although she was offered a movie role to revive her entertainment career, she returns instead to Okinawa to work at Tingarla Aquarium as a caretaker in the Aquatic Animals Department.
Tsukimi Teruya (照屋 月美, Teruya Tsukimi)
Voiced by: Azumi Waki
Kukuru's childhood friend. She helps her mother with running her local diner, Kamee. She is nicknamed "Udon-chan" because her name happens to be a type of an udon, tsukimi udon. After graduation, she works part-time at a diner called Ohana as training, while her mother takes over Kamee.
Karin Kudaka (久高 夏凛, Kudaka Karin)
Voiced by: Lynn
An office lady who is working on helping the city increase its tourists. She is close to Kukuru, and quickly warmed up to Fūka after their first encounter. After the closure of Gama Gama, she decided to quit her job and landed a job at Tingarla Aquarium, being in the same department as Kukuru.
Tingarla Aquarium Staff
Chiyu Haebaru (南風原 知夢, Haebaru Chiyu)
Voiced by: Yui Ishikawa
A staff from Tingarla Aquarium, an aquarium that is scheduled to open in the city center following the closure of Gama Gama Aquarium. She was assigned to train at Gama Gama Aquarium. Having continuously put up with Kukuru's biased behavior, she concludes that the training at Gama Gama Aquarium is ineffective for her, someone who undertook countless hours of training to achieve her dream job. She eventually decides to move to another aquarium to continue her training due to this. It is revealed later on that her desperation towards her job stems from her past experiences where she has lost her job at another aquarium due to her unable to manage her full time job while raising her child as a single mother
Kaoru Shimabukuro (島袋 薫, Shimabukuro Kaoru)
Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu
A fish caretaker at Tingarla Aquarium who used to study together with Chiyu. She is often mistaken for being a man for her tomboyish appearance and behavior. She is also passionate about environmental issues and ends up being selected for the special training course in Hawaii.
Akari Maeda (真栄田 朱里, Maeda Akari)
Voiced by: Kiyono Yasuno
She is a university student who works part-time at the Tingarla Aquarium office and has a friendly personality.
Marina Yonekura (米倉 マリナ, Yonekura Marina)
Voiced by: Nao Tōyama
A friendly girl and penguin breeder. She's a Venezuelan descent who at first has difficulty with speaking in Japanese, so she chose to work at aquarium because she doesn't need to talk to communicate with the sea creatures.
Others
Ojii (おじい, Ojī)
Voiced by: Hiroshi Yanaka
The director of Gama Gama Aquarium and Kukuru's grandfather. When he took over Gama Gama Aquarium, he never knew what to do with the place. While intending to let go of the aquarium, he also considered letting Kukuru take her chances at reviving the place.
Production and release
The Aquatope on White Sand was announced on January 15, 2021. The series was directed by Toshiya Shinohara and written by Yūko Kakihara. It features character designs by U35 and Yuki Akiyama, and music by Yoshiaki Dewa. It aired from July 9 to December 17, 2021, on Tokyo MX and other channels. The first opening theme, "Tayutae, Nanairo" (たゆたえ、七色; lit. 'Sway, Seven Colors'), was performed by Arcana Project, while the first ending theme, "Tsukiumi no Yurikago" (月海の揺り籠; lit. 'Moon Ocean's Cradle'), was performed by Mia Regina. Arcana Project also performed the second opening theme "Tomedonai Shiosai ni Bokutachi wa Nani o Utau darō ka" (とめどない潮騒に僕たちは何を歌うだろうか; lit. 'What We Sing in the Unstoppable Tide'), while Risa Aizawa from Dempagumi.inc performed the second ending theme "Shingetsu no Da Capo" (新月のダ・カーポ; lit. 'New Moon's Da Capo'). Crunchyroll streamed the series outside of Asia. Muse Communication licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia. The series ran for 24 episodes.
Reception
Reviews of the series have been positive. David Lynn of Collider, described the series as ringing true, in the case of Fūka, to "the feeling of being lost and trying to find something" to attach yourself to, and praised Kukuru as acting as Fūka's foil, saying she represents "the feeling of pursuing a vague future you want but can't completely define." He concluded that the show captures the "feeling of being between stages of life, lost but searching." Mercedez Clewis, reviewing the show's first two episodes, wrote on Anime News Network that she enjoyed the episodes, believing that the show can deliver on its combination of various elements, and saying she has "high hopes for this series", and thought that the show has "the potential to be one of the most beautiful new series this season." She also argued that she considered the series to be "yuri-coded". In reviews of episodes 3–5, Clewis praised the magical realism of the series, how it "captures living in a rural part of Japan," is optimistic, the well-done story, and reads the cast as having "bits of queerness."
Christy Gibbs of CBR argued that the series "leans hard on themes such as environmentalism and sustainability," with the aquarium playing a big part in this narrative. Gibbs also said that the series uses "friendly environmentalism, small-town nostalgia, and ...[a] close-knit community" to its advantage, with viewers seeing the aquarium as the center of the series and a "magical place that brings people together and grants supernatural visions."
Franchise
Local promotion
The Nanjo Sightseeing Information Center in Nanjō, Okinawa, Japan and souvenir shop across the street have cardboard cut-outs of the show's characters, with the shop including an "entire Aquatope corner."