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MANGA DramaSayonara Lara
NOVEL DramaSayonara Lara

REVIEWS

• 

  MozillaMudkip

  82/100
  Through Lara's Pursuit of True Love, Sayonara Lara Proves Why We Need More Anime Like This!

  Every once in a while, there will be an anime that will begin airing and will immediately stick out as something truly unique against the seasonals that release alongside it. As soon as I watched the trailer for Sayonara Lara a few months back, I knew that it would be one I could absolutely not miss and as I've watched it weekly, it proved extraordinarily delightful week after week. Truthfully, I don't even feel like I've fully managed to appreciate all that Sayonara Lara has to offer to the extent that some have but I would be remiss if I didn't write this to share with all of you everything that had me constantly coming back for the last 12 weeks of episodes. It made it painfully obvious that, simply put, we need more anime like Sayonara Lara!

  This short review will be free of spoilers and will start out by giving a basic premise of Sayonara Lara. Then, I'll briefly share just what I came to appreciate about the show’s story, characters and production to hopefully encourage those who haven't seen it to give it a shot!

  __Premise__

  Sayonara Lara tells the tale of a mermaid princess named Lara who is given a special potion from a witch after falling in love with a human prince. After taking human form with the potion and failing to secure true love, Lara vanishes into sea foam and the light that brings life to the home of Lara and her family begins to rapidly fade. Now, over 200 years later, Lara reawakens from Lake Biwa in modern day Japan with one final chance at saving her family by once again finding her true love.

  __The Story__

  From its beginning, Sayonara Lara immediately presents itself in a way that is clearly reminiscent of Disney’s The Little Mermaid in terms of its setup but is quickly able to transform the idea in its most simple sense into a very different and starkly unique reimagining in the modern day. The series begins with Lara’s discovery of new to her, mundane to us, aspects of modern life. Things like school and work that not only don’t make sense to a mermaid, but it also doesn't align with the human world Lara came to know 200 years previously. Of course, this leads to a beginning few episodes that were peppered with no shortage of comedic and light hearted moments. As Lara begins to be more comfortable in this world, her core mission of finding true love becomes more and more paramount and the thematic elements of the story really begin to push the story all the way through to the finish.

  

  In an effort not to give away too much, the idea of true love is a concept that seems simple at first but proves to be much less of a straight forward concept that Sayonara Lara is all too willing to delve into. As Lara becomes accustomed to our modern world, she begins to consider what exactly is true love, or at least, what is true love to her? In the people she meets and the experiences she undergoes, Sayonara Lara thoroughly explores the concept of true love and how it will affect her future.

  Over the course of Sayonara Lara’s 12 episode run time, the series is able to create an extremely deep and compelling narrative that left me eagerly awaiting each and every episode to see what would happen next.

  __The Characters__

  The character cast of Sayonara Lara is relatively small but each does a very good job of supporting the role they have in the story. Of course, Lara herself proves to be an excellent main character through which to experience the unfolding of this story. Lara is a very funny and kind girl who is naturally very curious and somewhat naive when it comes to love. Given her previous failure to secure true love 200 years before, Lara meets a number of people in her world that help her build her conviction of what true love is. Playing a major role in this is Mari Ootsu, the other main character of this story. Mari is just about polar opposites to Lara in terms of her personality, being a bit more rough around the edges and is much more rooted in reality than Lara. Given that the two are near opposites, a large amount of depth is given to the two as they begin to influence each other as the story progresses.

  

  Besides the two main characters, the anime has a number of side characters who play very memorable roles. Luca Akizuki, a boy who happens to look very similar to Lara's human prince 200 years before, becomes another character through which Lara is able to develop her feelings towards true love. Given her failure with the prince previously, Luca becomes a very compelling character as Lara is able to face the aspects of love that lead her to fail head-on while also seeing Luca as a very different, more understanding person. Grace, the witch who gives Lara the potion that allows her to become human, is present in the story as Mari’s pet fish. While being an antagonist of sorts, she reveals a number of aspects later on in the story that prove that she seemingly has a lot more in common with Lara than anyone would otherwise assume, once again illuminating an entirely new side to the true love narrative. Finally, Lisa, Lara’s sister, leads much of the momentum in pushing the plot forwards past its initial more light hearted portions. Having experienced a more negative side to humanity, Lisa provides a leading source of skepticism against the naive whims of love that led Lara to her initial failure, forcing Lara into a position where she must be a lot more careful in her decisions to not put not only herself, but her entire family at risk.

  At the end of the day, the anime is called Sayonara Lara and of course, Lara is the main source that moves the story forward here. It's through Mari and these other diverse side characters that Lara is able to experience true love in its many forms, be it the love of a significant other, friends, peers or even through the experiences in the world around her. These characters expose Lara to “love” in its many forms and help her come to her conclusions.

  __The Production__

  The production of Sayonara Lara really blew me away consistently. Sayonara Lara is the 15th anniversary project from studio Kinema Citrus, the studio behind series like Revue Starlight, Made in Abyss and The Rising of the Shield Hero. Directed by Takushi Koide, of Revue Starlight fame amongst other projects, Sayonara Lara contains many aspects that are clearly reminiscent of the visual direction and character dramas found in series like Revue Starlight. Likewise, there are also clearly numerous instances of influence and nods to more classic and modern fantasy driven series, maybe even with a dash of yuri influence, like what is found in Revolutionary Girl Utena and Cosmic Princess Kaguya. For anyone who's a fan of any of those works, I think Sayonara Lara clearly embraces many of the aspects that made these series as memorable as they are.

  Outside of thematic and direction elements, the visuals of Sayonara Lara are fantastic. Sayonara Lara has animation that feels both very modern, sharp and clean while also clearly painstakingly styled to look like a classic anime series pulled straight from the 90s. I truly cannot think of another anime series that has a look quite like this, or that is at least able to pull it off as well as Sayonara Lara has. Featuring many instances of bright, bold colors through its digital animation, Sayonara Lara still maintains that classic look that really boosts the vibe that aligns it so well with the many classic series that influenced it. I personally feel like while modern animation in many aspects is better than it ever has been, the shift further and further away from hand done cell animation loses that sort of inherent “human” connection that comes from hand done work which was once the norm. While Sayonara Lara is done digitally, the series is clearly reverent to those ideals and dutifully incorporated those thoughts into its animation direction. They even did a few hand drawn cell animation portions for the opening sequence! That's so cool!

  

  Aside from the visuals, the sound direction of Sayonara Lara is also very good. The opening theme, performed by Ikimonogakari, has provent to be one of my absolute favorites from this season, perfectly capturing the vibe of the series. Likewise, the ending theme, performed by Hana Hope, feels a lot more somber and relaxed, also fitting the feeling of the show very well, especially once wrapping up an episode. Outside OP and ED, the episodes themselves are ripe with well done songs. Many feel very whimsical in a way that does a good job of fitting the fantasy and maybe a few mystery elements of the story.

  __In Conclusion__

  Sayonara Lara is a modern fantasy story that feels like something pulled straight from anime from 15 to 25 years ago in all the right ways. In the story’s depictions of Lara trying to obtain true love and trying to figure out what exactly true love is to her, the anime captures the classic feel of many series that have come before it through its reverent direction choices while feeling like a truly unique work through its many modern day twists on time-honored ideas. It is through these means that Sayonara Lara is able to separate itself from many other modern day seasonal series in becoming an immediate standout to me as a retro looking modern classic that may have somewhat flown under the radar with many. While many consider modern anime to be better than ever in both production and story telling, Sayonara Lara proves that it's still possible to capture many of the aspects that made many classic anime from the 90s and 2000s as special as they are to many anime fans and that these ideals can absolutely still work in a modern production. As such, Sayonara Lara truly cements the fact that anime as a whole, would really benefit from more series like this!

  

  Thank you so much for reading this somewhat short informal review. While it's not particularly analytical or even just straight up lengthy and informative, the goal here was to encourage people to watch the series and to highlight the importance I found in having productions like this!

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• 

  MadRAM

  85/100
  > A genuinely amazing anime with beautiful art, great characters, and a story I really loved.

  Goodbye, Lara

  8.5/10

  I really loved this anime.

  I mean, the first episode was amazing. After watching the first episode, I was completely hooked, and from there, I just kept enjoying the anime more and more.

  The first 11 episodes were genuinely peak for me.

  One of my favorite episodes is Episode 5, where Lara gets a job. Basically, the entire episode is about her doing the job, and even though the plot doesn't progress that much in that episode, I absolutely loved it. It was just really entertaining, and honestly, it was peak slice-of-life for me. That's still my favorite episode of the entire anime.

  And that's one of the things I really liked about this anime. It wasn't only about moving the main story forward. There were episodes where it was just really fun to watch Lara live her life, and I really enjoyed that.

  Art Style

  I am really in love with the art style.

  10/10.

  It's so good. I genuinely loved how this anime looked.

  Animation

  The animation was amazing as well.

  I'd give it around 9-9.5/10.

  Characters

  The characters were also really good.

  I'd give them around 8-8.5/10. I got really invested in them, and I think that's one of the reasons I enjoyed the anime so much.

  Music

  The music was really good too.

  The background music, the sounds, and everything else worked really well for me. I'd give the music around 8.5/10.

  Maybe someone else would give it a 9 or even a 10, but for me, 8.5 feels right.

  Story

  The story itself is around a 7/10 for me.

  It's not a weak 7 or a strong 7. It's just a real 7.

  I found the story really interesting, especially during the first several episodes, and I always wanted to know what was going to happen next.

  But honestly, the biggest thing for me was the enjoyability.

  Before watching the finale, I would've given the anime a 9/10 just based on how much I enjoyed watching it.

  That's how much I liked it.

  And then we got the finale.

  I was disappointed with it, I'm not going to lie.

  I'd give the final episode around a 7/10. My main problem is that it didn't really feel complete to me. There are two different ways an anime can leave you wanting more. One is by giving you a cliffhanger, where you really want to know what happens next. The other is when it simply doesn't give you enough of a conclusion.

  For me, this anime falls into the second category.

  I wanted more of a conclusion from the finale.

  But even with that, I don't think the finale ruins the anime.

  The way I'm talking about the finale might make this anime sound disappointing, but it really isn't. I genuinely think this is one of the best anime I've watched.

  If the anime had ended on Episode 11, I would've given it a 9/10 without hesitation.

  And 9/10 is a very high rating for me.

  So yeah, the finale is definitely my biggest problem with the anime, but it's still only one part of the whole experience. I spent the entire season enjoying Lara's story, loving the characters, enjoying the art, enjoying the music, and just having a really good time watching it.

  I also don't think you should go into this anime expecting some extremely huge or "peak" ending. Just go into it and enjoy the story.

  Because honestly, this anime is really good.

  I really loved it.

  I would definitely recommend it to most people, and I think it's worth watching even with the problems I had with the finale.

  For me, it's an 8.5/10 overall.

  And honestly, if there is a second season, I really hope it continues the story because I still want more Lara.

  I loved this anime.

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• 

  TheAnimeBingeWatcher

  90/100
  True love deconstructed and reborn brighter than ever; a modern fairy tale masterpiece.

  Let's roll back the clock to the very beginning of 2026. It's January, the new anime season is well under way, and Netflix releases a little movie called Cosmic Princess Kaguya that proceeds to take the anime world by storm. It's an adaptation of a fairy tale, but with three key choices, it makes the old story fresher than ever. One: it's set in the modern world and fully embraces the nuances of the present day. Two: it's in direct conversation with the original fairy tale's tragic ending and sets out to send its characters down a happier path. Three: it is GAY. AS. FUCK. And the end result is a movie that feels like a new frontier for re-imagining fairy tales for modern audiences. Which begs the question: what if we gave someone a full series to turn a fairy tale into something new?

  Well, it turns out we didn't have to wait too long to find out. Barely half a year later, Kinema Citrus has blessed us with Goodbye Lara, a show that uses those same three key points- modern setting, escaping the original's tragedy, Gay As Fuck- to explore The Little Mermaid from a new lens. Only this time, with twelve episodes of runtime instead of a single movie, it's able to push those ideas as far as they can possibly go, and the result is nothing short of a miracle. Goodbye Lara is astoundingly good. It's infuriatingly good. It's not just the best original anime we've gotten in years; it's a genuine work of art. It's one of those shows you can't believe exists while you're watching it, because there's no way mere human hands could craft something this beautiful. Even with my expectations already sky-high going into it- the Revue Starlight team making another original anime? Consider my ass seated- I'm coming out in awe of what I just experienced.

  So what is Goodbye Lara about, exactly? Well, in short, it's looking at the notion of "true love" that so often crops up in fairy tales and asking "Hey, isn't it kind of weird and restrictive that heterosexual romance is held up as the only true version of love when so many other kinds exist?" Yes, much like Frozen, though you're better off leaving the Disney comparisons there. While the titular Lara may share Ariel's red hair, this version of the story is much more indebted to Hans Christian Anderson's original tale than Disney's version. In fact, the first episode is pretty much a Reader's Digest version of the classic Little Mermaid. We see Lara grow up curious about humans, she saves a handsome prince from drowning, a mysterious witch gives her a potion to become human and seek true love with him at the cost of her voice, and in the end, he rejects her upon seeing her true form, causing her to dissolve into foam. It takes 200-year power nap for Lara to re-awaken from this half-death, and it's here that Goodbye Lara hits us with its two big series-reshaping twists.

  Twist Number 1: Lara's failure to find true love didn't just seal her own fate- it doomed the rest of her mermaid kingdom with her. You see, "true love" isn't just some intangible emotion for mermaids: it's quite literally their energy source! A princess finding true love is what keeps their kingdom flourishing. But with Lara's failure, the undersea lights have gone dark, and her entire civilization has sunk into a deep slumber. Now she has no choice but to seek true love again, and this time get it right- or her family is doomed to eternal hibernation. Except, well, with no mermaids left to try locking lips with, she once again must head to the surface and see if she can make things work with a human. And her last experience with the prince ended so badly that her heart struggles to open itself to humans, manifesting as a sinister obelisk that haunts the sky like a sword of Damacles threatening to fall and crush the world that rejected her. Not to mention, like I said, it's now the modern day and this poor girl has no idea why all the palaces and ballrooms were replaced with cars and cellphones. She's alone in a strange new world with a heart as jagged as a knife and an impossible burden forced upon her shoulders.

  And then Twist Number 2 happens.

  Twist Number 2 is Mari Otsu.

  Mari is a human. She's in high school. She's a boxer. She's blunt and reserved to a fault. She's the first person to see Lara and takes her in to live with her family. She knows Lara's a mermaid and doesn't care. She's coping with grief from losing her mother young and doesn't particularly know how to deal with it. She thinks Lara is an idiot who causes nothing but trouble. Lara thinks she's wonderful. Mari can't leave her alone. Lara can't take her eyes off her. None of them have the words to express what's going on between them. But we, the audience, recognize it right away: by some miraculous stroke of luck, Lara has already found her true love. She just doesn't know it yet.

  And she's not going to know it for a while. As Lari slowly integrates into the human world, the story becomes a slow, deliberate unpacking of what "true love" can look like when it's allowed to be separated from its heteronormative connotations. Lari makes new friends, gets a job with supportive co-workers, spends time with Mari's wonderful family, and none of it brings her closer to the "light" she's supposed to be searching for. But why should that make it less valuable? Why is the love we share with friends, family, community, seen as "lesser" than joining with the opposite sex in holy matrimony? The true love the mermaids seek is a curse that chains us to an inflexible definition of relationships, ruining our ability to see love in all its complexity and glory. And it's only by untangling that curse bit by bit that Lara is able to heal the wounds in her heart, to see that love is not a chain or a duty, but a blessing meant to be shared freely with all the people you cherish.

  That said, it's not like romantic love is inherently lesser than platonic or familial. And no matter how many bonds Lara forges with the human world, it's always Mari who makes her light shine brightest. There are so many symbolic layers at play with the various mermaid magics (the Utena inspiration is obvious and unashamed), but it all drives down at a very simple point, articulated in the show's penultimate episode: live not for laws, but for love. Lara and Mari spend so much time ignoring the blatant truth of their feelings for each other because they're so bound to what they're "supposed" to feel. Lara is supposed to find her prince and save her family. Mari is supposed to support her friend even as her feelings left mere friendship long ago. Their chemistry is so infectious it makes your cheeks hurt, but society's idea of "normal" pushes them to sabotage the happiness they so clearly have in each other for the sake of fitting the boxes made for them. And their struggle to accept those feelings, especially in the show's back half, is some good-ass goddamn fucking romantic angst that honestly puts a lot of more explicit yuri anime to shame. Even without a direct confession, the love these two share is a triumph.

  And that's the feeling I walk away from Goodbye Lara with, more than anything: love. This show is a work of love, an expression of love, a more complete portrait of love than most straightforward romances even come close to. Its characters express love in a million tiny ways- cans of hot chocolate, awkward paintings- that communicate more than words ever could. Its animation, modeled after the rich colors and textures of cel shading but with modern animation's dynamism, belongs in an art museum next to Cezanne and Seurat. Its soundtrack is a freight train of emotions that barrels through your heart on a nearly episodic basis. This show is a showcase of love in all its shapes and sizes, both in its story and the fabric of its very creation. It seeks to communicate love not as something small and selfish, but an all-encompassing joy and passion for everything humanity has to offer. And in doing so, it redefines what "true love" can- and should- be. True love shouldn't be a single restrictive expectation. True love should look like Goodbye Lara itself: exuberant, heartfelt, and utterly magnanimous in its affection for all things under the sun. I can think of no better champion.

  If there's anything holding this show back, it's time. At twelve episodes, Goodbye Lara can only just barely fit in everything it wants to say, and even then the yawning desire for more is inescapable. Yes, the fact that so few anime get to be more than a single cours these days is a curse of many a production. But it feels especially cruel for a show like this, where time and patience is a huge part of the message. A big part of Lara's journey is learning that love cannot be rushed or forced: you have to take your time getting to know people, accepting them as part of your life and building relationships naturally. But because of how tight the show's timeline is, we get so little time to actually watch that process in action. Imagine if we got to spend a few more episodes with Lara getting into shenanigans with Mari's family, or her new friend Himeka, or the mysterious boy Luca who enters the narrative halfway through. Imagine if we got to see them just hanging out, making the kinds of memories that define our relationships with each other, instead of most of that having to be implied offscreen interactions. If there was any anime crying out for a classic obligatory baseball episode, this was it. Tell me that wouldn't make this show ten times better. You can't.

  Still, as frustrating as it is seeing a show get this close to perfection, calling something "almost perfect" really shouldn't be a knock against it. Goodbye Lara is a truly singular, one-of-a-kind anime, destined to join the pantheon of all-time greats and inspire the next generation of dreamers. So let its light shine on you; it might just make your heart grow wider than you ever thought possible.

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COMMENTS

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