Ranking the Mermaid Princesses in Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Nobody is going to read this because the number of people who have seen this show is surprisingly small, but what else do WordPress anime bloggers do?

Mermaid Melody is a classic magical girl/idol show from the 2000s. Now that I think about it, I’m quite puzzled that nobody ever talks about or draws fan art of this show, even though it was pretty big during my childhood and all the songs were apparently translyricized for several dubs. Am I that old?? I don’t think so!?

It took several years of Twitter and Facebook for this anime to come up exactly once on my feed, and now that I’ve been reminded of it, I decided to look back on it properly. And I’m ranking the princesses because judging them makes writing the post more interesting.

This list includes the 7+1 Mermaid Princesses in Mermaid Melody, ranked loosely based on a combination of character, singing, and design (human, mermaid, and idol form). Sadly, it excludes the villains, who are IMO the most exciting part of the show and some of the best singers, because that would make the list too long. Perhaps another post – as I’ve grown used to saying.

8. Coco (Voice: Satomi Arai)

Character: 1.5/5

Singing: N/A

Design: 2/5

Coco, princess of the South Pacific Ocean, is not all that interesting visually or character-wise. She also doesn’t have a solo song, which doesn’t help her leave an impression at all. For some reason, my younger brother had a crush on her when we watched Mermaid Melody on TV together, but he doesn’t seem to remember why anymore. The only comment I have for her is that she reminds me of Japanese convenience store pudding.

7. Karen (Voice: Ema Kogure)

Character: 2.5/5

Singing: 2/5

Design: 4/5

Karen, princess of the Antarctic Ocean, had not been especially memorable to me either, but I like her because I like the colour purple. Upon recent research, it would seem that her character is rather dynamic and that she has an interesting love life despite being a side character.

6. Seira (Voice: Eri Kitamura)

Character: 3.5/5

Singing: 4/5

Design: 2.5/5

Seira, princess of the Indian Ocean, is the latest mermaid to appear, being the successor of another. She’s the youngest princess who is probably also the most resilient, is reasonably adorable, and has a beautiful singing voice. Her place would be much higher on the list if she had more screen time.

5. Lucia (Voice: Asumi Nakata)

Character: 3.5/5

Singing: 2.5/5

Design: 3.5/5

Lucia, protagonist and princess of the North Pacific Ocean, is everything you’d expect of a shoujo protagonist. Her story of secretly being a mermaid idol while in high school is interesting enough, and her romantic struggle in the second half of the series is rather nuanced for a seemingly fluffy magical girl show. I’m not a fan of her voice, but her character design is pleasant, despite the intense twintails.

4. Noel (Voice: Ryoko Nagata)

Character: 3.5/5

Singing: N/A

Design: 5/5

Noel, princess of the Arctic Ocean and twin of Karen, is the big sister of the mermaid princesses. She looks and acts more mature than her peers, and would probably have had a good character song. Noel was my favourite princess when I watched the show at 11.

3. Hanon (Voice: Hitomi Terakado)

Character: 4/5

Singing: 3/5

Design: 2.5/5

Hanon, princess of the South Atlantic Ocean, is one of the members of the main trio. Her design is somewhat generic, but her voice is pleasant and her character songs suit her well. Also, her unrequited love storyline is well-developed, and frames her as the most sophisticated of the main trio.

2. Sara (Voice: Kana Ueda)

Character: 4/5

Singing: 3.5/5

Design: 4/5

Sara, princess of the Indian Ocean and antagonist for a season, is the only mermaid princess in the series who gets corrupted and ends up in the Evil camp. I had a hard time guessing her motives as a kid when I watched the show on and off on TV, but the truth is simply that she wound up in a toxic relationship and made some poor life choices. *Spoilers* Her supposed redemption doesn’t happen until she dies, but still, I appreciate that her character exists in a show seemingly for children, and her character song is a refreshing change.

1. Rina (Voice: Mayumi Asano)

Character: 4/5

Singing: 4.5/5

Design: 4/5

Rina, princess of the North Atlantic Ocean, is another one of the main trio. Her story might be less exciting than many other mermaids’, but it’s hard not to like her for her cool and down-to-earth personality. Even her voice shares these qualities, and is the most power and consistent of the idols. These factors make her the best overall!

Bonus

Gotta drop the best villain song ever somewhere:

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Sure had a lot of fun making this list! So, how many of you have seen this anime? If not, perhaps you still recognize a few of the voice actresses, like Eri Kitamura or Kana Ueda, whose voices certainly stood out in their character songs to me. For what it’s worth, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch is a fun show to check out if you’re into the idol or magical girl genre. I can’t say I am at this point, but it is one of two idol shows I’ve seen (the other one being Love Live!), so it does hold a special place in my heart. As always, drop your thoughts in the comments below if you have any!