User reviews

I really like this film it isn't as pretty as some Disney films, but it also had a lower budget. The music is terrible, but I love it, even Marina's song where I could never understand what she's saying! This film does have it's issues, the sound cuts out, and the picture is OK at best. It hasn't been treated the best post-production. I really wish there would be a better release with a cleaned up animation, a Japanese tract, a new dub, and the original English dub. And about the dubbing- In America it took a while to really get dubbing decent. It isn't this film exclusively, it's all movies of the period. I recommend this film if you find it anywhere, but don't spend too much the DVD set up is minor at best. Disney didn't perfect the Little Mermaid story they told one version of it. Don't get me wrong, I love Ariel, she just isn't the only fish in the sea.

Loved this movie as a kid and I still love it as an adult. Beautiful music too. Not too many goofy annoying characters. More mature and enjoyable. Looking for more movies similar to this one.

I saw this Anime version of Little Mermaid when I was 8 or 9 years old, long before Disney got there happy little hands on it. I cried my eyes out at the end of it. However, it showed me that you don't always get what you want in life. It also taught me about sacrificing for someone you love. I believe the original version of this movie gets across a poignant message about sacrifice, love and loss. (If you read the story, there is much more to it than that, but as far as the movie goes, that is the message I saw in it.)

I was very disappointed in Disney's version at first. I didn't have to wait to see the ending to be upset at it. Ariel/Marina was not supposed to be able to talk, never mind being able to sing, and she was supposed to have pain when she walked....part of her sacrifice to be with the prince she had fallen in love with. And then, being a Disney version, she gets the prince in the end. I did not like it. Now, there is nothing wrong with optimism and believing things can get better and end happily. However, life does not always end "Happily Ever After" as Disney would have children believe. I think our overindulged children of today would be better off knowing that you don't always get what you want and that there is such a thing as sacrifice.

Well, I have grown to accept and even enjoy Disney's version. It is lighthearted and fun. And that is what Disney is all about.... fun and enjoyment.

In the end, I still love the original Anime version of it better. I didn't actually remember it as being Anime until I started searching for this version. Reading the comments on it helped me to recall the big beautiful eyes of the characters. Yes, this is the version I remember and love from my childhood....tears and all!

To be honest, I have yet to find an animated film that is so emotional and beautiful. I don't have the film anymore, and I am currently looking for one... no such luck so far as it is quite a rare film.

The thing that makes this film so different to the Disney version is the fact that it depicts the true story of the Little Mermaid. Its not embellished with comedy, or soften to provide the audience with gratification, knowing that the mermaid will find happiness... this is not the case whatsoever...

I love the film dearly. There aren't a lot of films that I would go out of my way to search for.... By the way, If you have a copy that you are willing to sell to me, drop me a line..please! lol

When I first saw this movie, I hated it. I was outraged by how the Prince chose someone else over her (the mermaid rescued the Prince from drowning, but ducked away when she saw the other human girl coming, and the other girl sat with him until he fully regained consciousness). He assumed that girl saved his life, and she apparently never had the grace to admit that someone else had done the dirty work of hauling him out of the ocean--she just happened to be hanging out sunbathing, waiting for him to wake up.

So, I was pretty mad at this movie, but then I read the Hans Christian Andersen story years later, when I'd experienced my own first love and loss. I gained a new appreciation for this movie, as it depicts a desperate love, and this mermaid is willing to give up everything to be close to him. The only thing that sucks is that the object of her obsession truly does not deserve it, and the chick he chooses over her does not deserve his love either; he fell in love with her only because he thought she had saved him, but the mermaid was unable to tell him that.

It's sad, and frustrating, but still a good movie overall.

Before Disney, Toei Animation has managed to make an adaptation that respects the original story in many ways. This animated film has not completely modified the original story, it has remained quite attached to it, even though it has been adapted for children. The film respects the essence of the original story and narrates its tragic plot as it is. The tone is childish of course, but its plot remains just as dramatic and tragic, as it is in the story. Marina definitely steals the whole movie and is an endearing enough character to feel sorry for, after all she lives until the end of the movie. His dolphin companion Fritz is a cute and lovable character. In addition, it reflects what one feels when he ends up empathizing with Marina. Toei Animation's animation brings a lot of life and flavor to the film, making it delightful. The soundtrack even helps a lot to create a convincing feeling when the story turns sadder and more melancholy. As an animated film it's hard to say it beats the Disney animated version, so the two are tied. But as an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, this film is undoubtedly the most faithful and for that alone it manages to surpass the Disney version. My final rating for this movie is 9/10.

This is a true Hans Christian Anderson film. I grew up reading Hans Christian Anderson. Not all his stories but The Little Mermaid for sure. I grew up on this 1975 film. I don't ever remember not liking it. Then as I got older I watched it again. I always cry because it is very sad. Life is not always happy.

I think whenever I needed a good cry I would watch this film just to cry. I haven't watched it in years but I do own it on video. And when my little girl is old enough I will show it to her.

This is a Classic Film. I do really like Disney's version, but in a different way.

I would like to defend this movie as user Josephine left a very angry review. I'm sorry if you saw this as a small child and are forever traumatized but your review is very incomplete, not to mention the you speak of things that were never in the movie including saying that the prince "marries another prostitute" the mermaid drowns herself, and that there is beheading in the film. I don't really understand why you would lie about what happens in a movie on the review. Perhaps you just really hate this movie..anger issues?

This movie is early anime. It is not bad anime, the animation simply is not as complex as the animation we see today, after all, the movie was made in 1975. The movie is definitely for older children, I saw it as a little girl when I was five and loved it, however it is important to realize that the end is very tragic. It can be very upsetting for young or sensitive children. There is no happily ever after, nor was there in the original story by Hans Christian Anderson. The movie begins very much in the way a child's movie would..juvenile dialogue, etc. but takes a rather tragic and serious turn. Understand that anime tends to be very different from Disney.

It is not the happy, fictionalized fiction you would see in Disney's Little Mermaid or Aladdin. Clearly, many like this movie, as it is always selling on eBay, sometimes at rather high bids. There was something about this movie that I loved as a little girl, and still do. I can't clearly define what it is. Perhaps it was refreshing to see something so different. It could be a little cheesy at times, but all children's movies are to a degree. I enjoyed it, many of my friends enjoyed it, I certainly would not recommend renting it for your Friday night dinner and a movie. But is it worth seeing? I think so. It depends on what you are looking for.

In my quest to gather more information about Reiko Okuyama, one of the first women to work in the anime field and animator of my favourite movie of all times, the feminist masterpiece Kanashimi No Belladonna, I happen to stumble upon the name of this movie as the first thing she directed alone in the animation department. What I can say? It's simply AMAZING in every regards, animation music voice acting everything has written all over it "anime classic you must watch before you die". The only downside I can find out of this is that if you're the kind of people who go crazy about inconsistencies there's a few of them here, but I don't blame it on the people who did this anime but on the original Hans Christian Andersen's material. Old fairy tales are known to be not particularly spot on in the consistency department, so...other than that, it's SUPER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

If you grew up on bouncy, sanitized Disney videos and slick animation and not written fairy tales, this film may not be your cup of tea. Unlike Disney's happily-ever-after version, this one fairly faithfully recreates the fairy tale written by Hans Christian Anderson. Yes, inevitably, a little of the 70s creep into the artwork but that's not necessarily a bad thing since it gives this film a unique look and feel (which wasn't meant to be anime as we know it now). Like most fairy tales, it can be dark and sad and violent. It's the nature of the genre. But we still read them to our children and our children are still thrilled by them, as we were and as our parents were.

This adaptation is starkly beautiful and tragic. In the early to mid 70s, it aired on TV every Christmas along with other animated shorts like The Selfish Giant and The Happy Prince (two more tearjerkers). Even now, 30 years after I first saw it, it can reduce me to tears...but that doesn't stop me watching it.

In short, if you adore Disney's take on this story, then you'll probably be disappointed by this one. On the other hand, if you loved the fairy tale (or if you enjoyed The Selfish Giant or The Happy Prince animated shorts) then give this a try.

I love Hans Christian Andersen's story, it is charming and beautiful with memorable characters. And this anime film is the closest in tone to the story to any other adaptation I've seen(not many but there are a few). I love the Disney film as well and prefer it just by a small margin, but I find this one just as beautiful and poignant if not more so.

While the animation is not the best there is, it is still quite nice with fluid backgrounds, pretty colours and well drawn characters. The music is tender and gives the film its heart, while the writing is wonderfully poetic and the story still has its magic and tenderness with well-explored themes of love and loss.

The characters are engaging still. Marina is a great protagonist and a beautiful one too, while the Prince, King, Fritz and the Witch are well done too and all the characters are very well voiced in both the original and dubbed versions. I love how there wasn't too much comedy to interrupt the flow or spoil the mood. Oh, and the ending has me in floods of tears every time I watch it.

This anime version of The Little Mermaid isn't completely perfect, some of the sound is a little hazy and the lip synching is occasionally sloppy, but overall it is wonderful. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This movie was great I literally cried at the end when Marina turned to foam. I feel bad for Fritz the most because he lost his best friend in the world *TEAR*. And when she gave up her voice someone she loved who was forced to marry someone he thought saved him but she didn't it was all Marina. If I was Marina I wouldn't have gave up my voice and left the sea for a man who I don't know anything about. Also her sisters were very heartfelt and brave to give their hair to the sea witch to try to save Marina. But I don't get how she can be happy dying instead of getting rid of the prince and returning to the sea. I guess that is what true love is all about. Marina is sweet and I think more people should be like her if everyone was the world would be a better place!

I found this version of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" to be on of the best. If you are looking for the cutsey "Disney-esque" version then please go and rent the Disney version. This story is about the little mermaid told in the original form of Hans Christian Andersen's tale. In his story the little mermaid did not live happily ever after with the prince and she doesn't in this version either. Instead she makes the ultimate sacrifice of her life to save the life and guarantee the happiness of the one she loves. When I first saw this anime as a child I cried my eyes out but even now many years later I can still appreciate that this film does not cater to the "Happily Ever After" cheesiness that most people have come to expect.

This is a very sad and beautiful tale, the way Hans Christian Andersen has intended it to be. Even more sad than this though is that mass audience now knows only the dumbed down Disney version, which actually is a clear case of plagiarism. What else is it if it takes the original story and changes the ending??? Of course the rights to do that were properly purchased, at least I think so. But now we do not even have a chance to see true version ever released on DVD, as it justly deserves.