Long ago, all of humanity lived underwater. However, a portion of them soon left to live on the surface, losing the ability to breath underwater. With this gap between them, the two societies grew apart. A Lull in the Sea tells the story of a group of kids forced to attend school above the water where they come to terms with themselves and the discrimination against them.
While it very well may hold a record for largest unrequited love chain, this unsuspecting series rises above your generic rom-com into something truly special. If you want more anime recommendations like A Lull in the Sea, head on down below.
Anime Like A Lull in the Sea
For Fans of Supernatural Romance
Waiting in Summer
While testing out his filming camera one night, Kaito is blown off the bridge by a streak of blue light. As he is falling, the last thing he remembers is a hand, grabbing his own. When he wakes up, he finds himself mysteriously back in his room, dazed but uninjured. As Kaito proceeds with his summer break, deciding to make a movie with his friends, he takes an interest the new upperclassman wandering the town, Ichika Takatsuki, and she ends up invited to join them.
Clean, crisp, and vibrant animation allows both series to tell an emotional story about love and friendship, all tinged with supernatural beings that aren’t so different from normal humans. Both series also happen to be one of those “flying under the radar” anime series for many.
From the New World
After the sudden outbreak of psychokinesis, the .01% of the population that developed it started using their powers for nefarious means. Far into the future, the town of Kamisu 66 is wholly populated by psychics with the young Saki being one of the most recent to awaken her powers. Finally she can join the rest of her friends at the Sage Academy. However, her school days are plagued with questions that threaten to unravel the dark secrets of her idyllic village.
At a glance, the mer-people and psychics of both series aren’t very different from humans, but both come from a schism between the species in the past. While From the New World has more than just relationships going on, in both you watch the connection between the main characters grow and change over time.
Darling in the Franxx
In the distant future, the land is ruined and humanity now lives in the mobile city, Plantation. Inside, they are defended from massive life forms by children raised from birth to pilot robots called Franxx in boy-girl pairs. This story follows Hiro, once a prodigy, and now a failure. However, just as he was about to be cast aside, he meets a mysterious girl with horns that is a Franxx pilot dubbed The Partner Killer.
While Darling in the Franxx is flush with a little more action, the parts that aren’t about fighting are very much about the relationship between the kids. It develops not only romantic connections, but friendships as well.
For Fans of Feels
Anohana
After the death of childhood friend Meiko “Menma” Honma, Jinta Yadomi and his group of friends grew apart, each trying to deal with grief and guilt in their own way. However, when Jinta starts seeing what he believes to be Menma’s ghost, the group of friends are drawn together to help grant her long-desired wish.
While Anohana has more of a keen sting with its feels, both series are about the tested friendships of a core group of children that have known each other for a long while. There is quite a bit of unrequited love in both, but less tragedy in A Lull in the Sea.
Kokoro Connect
One day, for seemingly no reason in particular, the members of the Cultural Research Club start randomly switching bodies with each other. It becomes utter chaos, especially when members of the opposite sex start switching. However, when you are wearing someone else’s skin, it is hard to keep your most guarded secrets inside.
While the supernatural in A Lull in the Sea comes from people that lived under water, Kokoro Connect manifests it suddenly in the form of body switching. While in Kokoro Connect, the supernatural serves as a catalyst for emotions to come out, the supernatural in A Lull in the Sea serves as a form of prejudice in the series, which is just one element of its many causes for drama.
Your Lie in April
Although once a child prodigy in the music world, pianist Kousei Arima is left in a downward spiral after his mother’s death, unable to even hear the sound of his own piano. Even after two years, Arima has all but left the music world behind, disappointing fans and rivals alike, and living in a colorless world. Then one day that that all changes when he is introduced to the beautiful violinist Kaori Miyazono who brings color into his world once more.
If you liked the wide variety of drama, conflict, and emotion in the friend group in A Lull in the Sea, this is an excellent follow up series. While Your Lie in April tends to focus more on the two main characters, but there is plenty of drama for all and some really hard-hitting feels.
For Fans of Anime By the Sea
Tsuritama
Yuki Sanada is a socially awkward young man that, due to his grandmother’s job, has to move around a lot. He has all but given up on making normal friends until he moved to the town of Enoshima. There he meets a man named Haru who claims to be an alien. It turns out Yuki was right on one account, he would never make “normal” friends.
While Tsuritama tends to focus on more absurd comedy, it is, much like a Lull in the Sea, a show about friendship. It is just less sappy and less dramatic, but it is very much about building friendship by the sea.
Glasslip
Touko, the daughter of a prestigious glass artisan family, has the ability to see fragments and hear voices from the future. One day, these voices lead new transfer student Kakeru to her and her friends.
Both are anime series by the sea in which a friend group interacts and lives out their lives. While Glasslip had a lot of potential to be a good emotional series, it…Well, no progression happens in it. They meet the transfer student and putter around for the other eleven episodes. It is about friends by the sea like A Lull by the Sea, but with less drama.
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
In the distant future, humanity has abandoned a ruined Earth and now lives in the furthest reaches of space fighting their eternal enemy, the Hideauze. During one of their massive space battles, a young soldier named Ledo and his mecha Chamber are flung through a warp hole into space. He crash lands on a strange planet that is covered completely in water. To his surprise, he finds that other humans also live there aboard massive fleets of boats. Found by the Gargantia fleet, Ledo must navigate this strange new world.
While this is a sci-fi mech series, it has profoundly little action compared to scenes where you see Ledo trying to navigate a new society. As the planet is all water, it is very much a seaside anime. Since it is also two cultures interacting bred from a schism in humanity, it actually has a lot in common with A Lull in the Sea as well.
Do you have more anime recommendations for A Lull in the Sea? Let fans know in the comments section below.
