Aonagi Island is a small, remote island several hours by boat from the mainland. It has a population of about 300. Most young people leave the island, but Wataru, a young man who stayed behind, works as a fisherman with his grandparents. Having lost his parents at a young age, the sea was the only place where Wataru could find peace of mind. One morning after a storm, he finds a mermaid collapsed in a cove where no one ever goes.

Mermaid Legend of the Island

"Silver Scales"

Silver scales are sometimes found on the beach at dawn. The person who finds them will be blessed with a bountiful catch, but if they sell them to someone or brag about them, not a single fish will be caught that year. Therefore, even if the island's fishermen find them, they quietly return them to the sea.

Mermaid Biology

Scientific name (common name): Umibito (Sea People)

They do not look like a human upper body and a fish lower body, but are creatures that change their appearance depending on the situation.

• In the sea, they take a full mermaid form (tail fin).
• In shallow water, they can transform into legs.
• If they stay on land for a long time, abnormalities occur in their bodies. They are long-lived, grow slowly in appearance, and hardly age. They have both lungs and gills. They can live on land, but if they do not enter the sea for more than three days, their skin begins to dry, their scales peel off, and it becomes life-threatening.

Reproduction

They never change their mate once they have bonded through love. Children are born only once every few decades. Therefore, the population is very small, with only a few dozen existing even in the waters around Japan. Males can also become pregnant.

Love

Mermaids fall in love only once in their lives. They call their partner "Bancho" (Tide Companion), and the bond lasts a lifetime. If they lose their Tide Companion, they will never choose a new partner.

Mermaid Legend "When you fall in love with a human, your scales scatter." When a mermaid falls in love with a human, their scales gradually peel off. When the last scale falls, they become human... return to the sea... become foam... what happens depends on the feelings of the partner. Even the mermaids themselves do not know the ending.