Summary:
The video starts off with a boy meeting a
beautiful mermaid. The two develop a bond as they spend happy times together.
However, the atmosphere changes when the boy shows his parents his companion,
only to find that the mermaid is a fish in their eyes. The boy gets imprisoned
and brainwashed to believe that the mermaid is a fish. As stern-faced officers
watch behind him, the boy releases the mermaid―now only
a fish in his eyes too―into the sea. Just before the
fish disappears into the waves, he catches glimpses of the mermaid that he once
loved.
Ending Analysis:
Loss, confusion, and sadness can be felt
from the last few moments of this animation. In the last part, the boy releases
the small fish that used to be the mermaid he shared happy times with. The boy doesn’t
seem to be crying, or in extreme pain. However, it can be said that he looks empty
inside, like he had lost something he cannot replace but also does not exactly know
what it is. The boy catches sights, of just a second or two, of the mermaid in
the ocean waves. I think this shows that the boy still has memories of the
mermaid deep within him, but the memories vanish as soon as he thinks he has
successfully recalled them.
Theme Analysis:
Watching the video, I recalled a television
program I saw a while ago. At one point in the discussion the cast were having
in the TV studio, one person mentioned how children tend to get their colors all
wrong in coloring books. For instance, they would color in people’s faces blue,
or eyes red. However, the man―a professional in a field
related to childcare, if my memory is correct―emphasized
that parents should not scold their children for doing so. He explained to the
cast, listening carefully, that telling young ones what color they should use
to color certain spaces will lower their ability to think creatively and
express freely. I strongly agreed to his points, and considered the possibility
of the parents being the ones taking away from children’s ability to imagine
and create. I felt that this resembles the boy in the video, who was forced to replace
his memory of the mermaid with a fish. Moreover, when I saw the text, “Free
imagination was not allowed in the country” on the screen, I thought about Japan.
Japanese people tend to believe that to be well-mannered, one must stay modest
and quiet. In this kind of environment, metaphorically speaking, we’re expected
to use colors that the majority of people believe is suitable. In other words, we
are expected to agree with and support what most people think. Resistance could
lead to that person getting excluded from a group or bullied. Fortunately, I am
surrounded by people who allow me to have my own opinions. However, we cannot
forget about the people who feel uncomfortable in the tight world of expectations
and unwritten rules. This video is interesting and thought-provoking, because
it can have many different themes and messages, depending on what people perceive
it to be.
