Umi no Misaki

It really is quite a story. Umi no Misaki is very unique and can pull us into this lovely tale with suspicion, mystery, and a slight suspense that enthralls the ecchi and romance that surrounds the main character.

I liked the uniqueness and the suspense built into this manga. I didn't like the various awkwardness that was brought about, even if it added to the story.

There we are, umi no misaki, one of the best romance manga ever written. Open polygamy, god tier characters development, excellent original and mysterious story.

The story is based on the believes and the mythology of the island. It makes everything refreshing and realistic. In this manga, you wont have the cliche plots of slice of life romance and harem. The story is serious, mature, well paced, cute and to enhance everything, there is a LITTLE touch of drama on the last chapters. I can only say this much to avoid spoiling the interesting story.

The characters is the point where I can put everything.

MC is not tense, he's open about his feelings, carefree and he's not stupid. He's the opposite of the MC that you can see in almost every shounen romance without being the perfect tall, handsome, muscular and mysterious cliche man found in shoujo. He's very realistic.

Shizuku is joyful and smart. She's probably the first girl to fall in love with MC. She's the most attached girl to the believes of the island. There is so much to say but it will be spoiling her character development.

Karin, the neighboor of the MC, she's one of the best tsundere I have ever seen. She started being the classical tsundere but the author didnt stretch everything for 100 chapters. She IS NOT the stupid tsundere that will punch MC during 100 chapters. She will quickly fall in love and become adorable, that is the good word. She's the least attached girl to the believes of the island (the total opposite of Shizuku on this point).

Soyogi, like Karin, starts the story as a cliche girl from harem. She's the cold type that only thinks about her duties ans she practices kendo. She has, obviously, no fucking clue about relationship and it will leads to an extraordinary character development with the growth of her love. Once again there is soo much to say but it would spoil the story...

The secondary characters are just necesary. No useless garbage characters added to fill the world. The only useless characters here are rare and present only in 2 panels maximum.

The teacher will push MC during his relationship with girl and will give "external" tips to MC. By external, I mean that she's from abroad like MC, she has not been raised with the island's believes. She will be of a great help throughout the story and at the end.

Rinne, Karin's sister will always root for the MC. She's bound with the story (no explanation because it would spoil) and she will give a great help at the end because of her knowledge (knowledge bound with the story, when reading you will understand)

Keiko, teacher's friend. She appears far in the manga so I wont say much about her but she will HUGELY improve the character development of MC and his feelings and she will hugely improve Shizuku's development.

Overall, this story is probably the best romance I have even read. It's a real mature seinen and not a fake seinen with shounen features like you can find many. It's the best character development I have ever seen, all the girls are litteraly as enjoyable and likable. The romance plot is truly a lesson, 99% of the authors that write harem should learn from umi no misaki. The story is constantly good and straight. The word "useless" is not on author's vocabulary. No useless characters, no useless chapters, no useless drama, no useless filler. It's a must read.

Well, this is my first time reviewing a manga but after finishing this prime example of a harem manga, I thought I should write one.

Story starts with our hero Goto Nagi, who's a highschool kid coming to a remote island where his mother was a local. The background for the manga is pretty generic. "A used playground" is the correct word. Manga is based on that used playground, but it makes a great sandcastle.
For the few chapters, manga makes you think that this is a mystery manga and that the protaganist is trying to solve the puzzle, but that's not it. Not remote. It's a pretty sweet story. We have our climax, our closure, our epilogue. I have something that I can't overlook though. In the first chapter, Nagi's dad tells him on the phone that his company gave him more work and Nagi should live alone for a year. I'm passing the fact that a parent is notifiying his child that he'll be leaving him alone for a year "on the freaking phone", but it is later said that Nagi's mom is a maiden. (Not a spoiler, you'll learn it pretty soon.) Which means that his father knows that the islands traditions, and who Nagi really is. (Again, first chapter, no spoiler.) So he knew the hardships that his child would face. I may not have let my kid go to that... island if I knew what would happen. Or maybe he didn't know jack so he let him go, but it's still a pretty big question not answered.


Art is quite... soft. It's silky. It's what makes this manga this manga. Few panels were badly drawn of course, but that happens in every manga. It was pretty much flawless.


Character is where the manga shines.You see, in many harem mangas/animes, the hero is a wimp. Yes he is. I'll never find out why Japan love their wimp heroes. This manga shows what a harem should be. No, it's the ultimate harem. I've read many harem mangas, and many much better mangas, but no manga or anime could beat the harem in this manga. It's a pretty good example of romantic harem. So far, Nagi is my favorite harem hero, he should be a role model to Keitarou (love hina). I never thought someone could beat Ichika's harem of mecha girls (infinite stratos), but someone did. No nosebleeds, no redness, no beat ups. No bullshit. Nagi is the man, man. He is everything a hero should be. He's there when he's needed, he's super nice, he's smart and most of all, HE CAN HANDLE THE GIRLS. HE-CAN-HANDLE-THE-GIRLS. No one does it. Eventually, the hero breaks down in a harem. No. Not Nagi. He goes 'till the end. He blooms the romance. He's not some pussy who can't even deliver the feeling of a man. (Yes, I'm looking at you Ouma Shu. Fuck you and your Guilty Crown.)

Some might not like him for being equal to all girls, but he's really equal to all. He loves them all. He's indecisive at that. I really loved the character development in this manga, because you literally see Nagi growing up as a person. Same goes for the girls. Each go through with their developments and become the flowers they are. Soyogi is my best girl of course.


It was a while since I've enjoyed a romantic harem manga. No, I didn't enjoy any other harem manga as I've enjoyed this one. Since my expextations was so low, it easily held a place in my mind. If you're a fan of harems, romance, and characters that are grown-ups, look no further. This manga may be in your top 5 after you read it.

This is the harem manga I've been looking for!

So the comment field were full of comments saying things like "this is not your average "harem comedy", and guess what, they are all correct!

My personal theory on how this manga came about is that the author came up with this highly erotic setting; a desolate island in south Okinawa, a mystical and ancient sect, and three maidens who have been trained their whole life to fulfill the desires of the reincarnated Dragon God - if the Dragon God were to reincarnate that is. So when the mangaka was about to get off on this whole thing he realized that the three poor maidens would really have a f***ed up childhood due to this, and instead of going full frontal, he decided let the protagonist actually help out these poor maidens and sort out their issues - while falling in love with all of them.

This concept actually works really well. It is done with warmth and humour, and the setting combined with the art is just wonderful, you can really feel the stingy heat from the mid day sun, the sand between your toes and taste of salt (from the sea - he did not go the hentai route, remember?). So the whole thing is an exercise of indulgence of beautiful girls, good food and a good enough story that you keep reading it. The depiction of the MC kind of suck though, he seriously looks like a mix between Goku (from DBZ) and Gatsu (from Berserk). There's one thing I've realized though, the mangaka loves drawing girls with outstanding ears! It's great! Why is he alone about this?

Character wise I think this is where it really hits the spot. These characters seem like real people. The three maidens have distinct, realistic and interesting personalities that you actually care about and everyone develop very realistic through out the story. You understand why the MC falls for all three of them, and you totally get why he is indecisive and insecure, and the interaction between them have a great flow.

As for the story, it is a harem comedy after all. Misunderstandings, jealousy and very unrealistic premises, of course. It cant really be helped. I'd rather read this than a manga about a polygamist mormon family. What I like with it is that it tries to be somewhat realistic within the premises, with a somewhat realistic take on polygamy. Compared to the generic harem comedies this is very refreshing.

Over all, as an indulgence of girls, sandy beaches and such, it's a refreshing take on the harem comedy that I absolutely recommend.

After being into Anime and Manga seriously for over 10 years now, I can say with confidence that I'm familiar with the medium, as well as the genres. But there isn't a genre that I'm more judgmental of than harem romcom.

In the beginning I was accepting of most harem stories if the main character finally chose one girl by the end. But as I got older, I had more and more expectations and became less tolerable of certain tropes. It's because of this that I've ignored Harem series as of late.

But then I came across Umi no Misaki. I'd seen the series cover on Mangareader many times but never felt the need to read it until recently. The series begins typically for the genre and sets up to be a standard series; depending on the level of sexuality and nudity of course.

I was surprised to find that the series quickly dispatched the typical tropes of the harem genre. Not all of them mind you but a good portion of them. The repetitive demonizing of sexuality and labeling of the main character a pervert doesn't happen; except once at the beginning as a joke. Instead, there overall seem to be a celebration of sexuality and no shunning takes place. This trope has been the main reason to why I don't read harem series anymore. There doesn't HAVE to be sex in the stories, but the demonizing of sexuality, especially for men is insulting and repetitive.

Overall the series is very well written with a great story and developed characters. It still has its share of problems however. By the final act of the series, the story deteriorates leaving you completely confused about what's going on. The Dragon God backstory is never explained, which is a problem since it's the MAIN PLOT. And for a Dragon God, not much magic or godly activities happen, which is very disappointing. Furthermore, Rinne's past life as the lover of the Dragon God comes out of no where and goes no where.

I know I'm supposed to avoid spoilers but I find it impossible to properly review ANYTHING without some spoilers. The ending is abrupt and inconclusive, and the Christmas special right after adds to the lack of closure. According to this website there are 135 chapters, but every Manga hosting site says the series ends at chapter 127. If there are 8 missing chapters, though it wouldn't fix much, it makes sense given the incompleteness of the conclusion.

I want to give the series a higher score, but I honestly can't given how incomplete it feels. It doesn't help that at a certain part of the story, it feels like a horror movie. No joke, it feels like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and just as overrated and confusing. Seriously, no word of a lie I fell asleep while watching that Anime.

In short, Umi no Misaki is a good Manga that breaks the mold well, but the last part can really ruin the experience; it did for me at least. I'm rating it a 5/10, though why this website classes "Decent" below "Mediocre" I don't know.

After following over 500 series (manga and anime) I've finally found the rare pearl I was looking for !

I began reading this by pure chance, I just saw the title in a list and the synopsys made me want to have a look at this manga even if I dislike harem.
But after I began to read, I couldn't stop, the story is really amazing, the folklore of the island is well developed, even if some character can be pretty annoying at some time you'll realise that there story is developed as much as the main character and that they are not just girl, but a character with his own story.

Every character will grow during this story, in terms of maturity, sociability and romance. The Romance is much more present than the harem. This story remebered me my teenage years 3-4 years ago when I was discovering "love", this nostalgic feeling given by the manga is jsut amazing.

Tradition, romance, problem of life, and funny moments, with sad moments will lead you to support and acknowledge every character in this manga. If you like slice of life and grown-up story, this is a must see.

I rated it 10 because 9.8 wasn't available, even if the art is a bit old, you can see the beauty of this island.

Hello guys reading my review, this is my first review so please don't think badly of it.
Now to get onto the grasp of this manga, i have read about 100 chapters so i would have a fair knowledge about this. You might hate this manga for whatever reasons but i give good scores to anime and manga because they are always entertaining in a way whatever the anime/manga is like typical,ecchi,harem,drama.

About: This starts off like some typical harem mangas and animes do, which i fairly like about it, it starts off the main protagonist then meets a heroine in a way, then he discovers a secret or something that would make him a harem king (or a lucky bastard). One thing i do like about this manga is that it has a little bit or more later on of ecchi (e.g. kissing,touching,sex scenes), it mainly focuses on the main characters and a little bit of the supporting ones, but they could of put more story about the main protagonist be known around the island and his classmates, but on the bright side you won't care much about details like this.

Art 8/10: The art is noticeably good, not bad but something over the top to slice it off, i do however like the cutesy act the heroines try to put on,but for chibi fans sorry this series won't have art looking like little people.

Story 7/10: Story is enough to put you on the trail, it won't make you go 'Gasp! what a twist', this series hardly details on the outside of the island like the main protagonist's past or what happens inside island

Character 8/10: The main protagonist, is a easy going and kind guy who isn't oblivious to girl's feelings and responds to all of them ("if you know what i mean -_-" ) However the girls are trying to gain his favor and they all kissed him, but i guess not that many unique characters such as a tsundere or flat chested girl.

Enjoyment 9/10: I pretty enjoyed this manga because of it's comedy side, and how they all are competing for his attention, this did make me curse a lot but like sorta a good curse, like saying lucky bastard to the main protagonist.

Overall 9/10: I would recommend this manga for typical harem,ecchi and romance lovers, it's definitely one of my most read manga.

The story starts out great, you have a fun set of characters and it's beautiful to see their interactions and growth, even if the main character still leaves much to be desired, I would say he still resembles shonen main characters that just go along with the flow without a will of their own.

But by the ending, the story not only took a turn for the worst, it went full speed at it. Disregarding everything we were presented before about the characters, their feelings and resolve.

Too me those final chapters completely destroyed any good mood I had while reading the story, and instead of finishing satisfied, happy and fulfilled, all I have right now is a feeling of disappointment, I feel empty.

I'm tempted to even review this below 5 out of spite, but you might still find enjoyment while reading, so I'll settle for a 6.

It is not often that you'd come across an ecchi harem manga, where the main characters aren't afraid to follow-trough and express their affections for one another, just like any real couple in an actual relationship. Yet that is exactly the kind of manga you've stumbled across. Umi no Misaki being an Ecchi, Harem, Slice of Life, with a greater focus on the Romance to enhance its relaxing story; revolving around an island community, with its own ancient customs and cultural traditions.

Set in the radiant & lush island of Okitsu; a city boy named Nagi Goto travels to such an isolated rural environment, for both family reasons and to visit the "Ocean's Cape" his late mother talked about. It is there he meets a local girl, who he then becomes acquainted with, subsequent to a near-death incident. This is what kicks off a chain of events, whereby he eventually learns of the customs within Okitsu, which involves their traditions surrounding the island deity known as the "Dragon God". And Nagi eventually becomes a major part of it all.

This is what basically occurs during the 1st volume and the volumes that follow just further develop the story, in a slow yet more romantic sense. Now I must say that the romance that occurs in Umi no Misaki is quite remarkable for a harem and will keep a lot of readers hooked, even without much comedy or drama, which a lot of harems can't seem to do without. Even with its sluggish pacing and how it constantly skirts around the major issues, the mangaka seems afraid to address, the well done & tasteful romance is what makes this manga worth reading. Because beyond that, there isn't much to this harem's drawn out story.

Now for this to be recognized as a harem, a male protagonist is usually required and it comes in the form of our young adolescent/young adult (it's never really clear) Nagi Goto. In the beginning there’s not much to him or his personality, as Nagi feels just like one of those blank slates in the beginning of an average visual novel. However he quickly becomes very involved in the plot and to an extent, a rather charismatic character to both the readers and the girls.

The girls in question are not quite the one-dimensional, cardboard cut-outs, with labels like "dandere" & "tsundere" plastered on them. No instead of relying on such generic archetypes, they almost resemble actual girls (almost) that have been born and raised in a closed-off community and it's rather refreshing that it often shows things from their perspectives. The 3 main girls (Shizuku, Karin & Soyogi) all have contrasting personalities and it’s remarkable to see the effect Nagi has on each of them, over time. However it stumbles across the usual pitfalls of having interesting main characters and side characters that range from dull to plain annoying.

Yet one area this manga doesn't falter is in its incredible artwork, with a style that mixes realistic environments and stylistic characters. The scenery is beautifully drawn, with fine detail put into the building architecture, ocean waves and even the foliage. Whereas the characters are much more simple-looking yet well-drawn, with excellent facial expressions. Though their features can sometimes be out of proportion and the blushing cheeks tend look out of place and overdone, but I guess I'm just nitpicking here.

Overall Umi no Misaki is a harem manga I'll remember, not for its fanservice or generic scenarios filled with misunderstandings. But for the way it handled the romance, making it feel like a "true harem". Whereby the characters genuinely feel like they are in a relationship with one another and not just fumbling into each other. The whole island and its cultural traditions, isn't a unique concept in the story, but it is handled in quite the unique fashion and helps spice things up gives the romantic story some direction. Unfortunately the story lacks some much needed tension and even though it tries to shoehorn some towards the end, it comes across as rather sloppy and leads to a rather anti-climactic finish. Yet even with the way things drag on to a point that it could kill ones interest, I'll still recommend Umi no Misaki to anyone who enjoys a good romance or harem.

This is your archetypal 2000's harem manga, 'nuff said.

...The first half is quite good for this genre and deserves at least a 7/10. Unfortunately it progresses in exactly the direction you won't want it to (i.e. nothing happens) and the resolution comes out of nowhere and feels like a step backwards. But the girls are cute, it's kind of funny, it's an easy read, and it (usually) does a good job of just taking itself seriously enough to feel like a real story without getting bogged down in drama.

Let's be honest, you're reading this for the ecchi. Umi no Misaki delivers on that front for sure, by gradually building up the sexual tension and going a bit further in each encounter, throwing in some extra girls here and there, and all around it's a good time. But for some reason, around the 2/3's mark when we're finally getting to see the things we've all been waiting for, it just stops with the ecchi almost entirely and shoehorns in some crappy drama that consumes the rest of the series. It's very disappointing because at that point, the story feels like it's been laying the foundation to a proper ecchi series, where the characters are all in the right setting and states of mind to get some juicy romance. But then it just... doesn't happen. There's a BIG DRAMA that gets quickly resolved and the story ends.

Story-wise, it kinda sucks but it's a quick read, so it's not too bad? Seriously, the dialogue is VERY light and simple, I've never read a ~130 chapter manga so quickly in my life. So even though the plot is paper-thin, it progresses quickly enough that it stays fresh. Honestly didn't find myself bored until the end, mostly because I could get through 10 chapters in as many minutes. The characters are fun and have their own personalities, although Soyogi and Shizuku are basically the same person, and Karin (the most interesting character by far) gets the short end of the stick most of the time. Nagi is about as bland as they come and spends most his time passively observing the girls as they lose their minds with jealousy and try to take his pants off.

Our main dude, Nagi, is the "remarkably level-headed"-type, which is the most tolerable of harem protagonist archetypes. He basically just earns the affection of every girl he comes across, simply by being less insane than they are and also not an asshole. He has no interests, backstory, motivations, or personality. But he's kind of a nice guy and that's enough for three women to spend their lives fighting over him. Whenever one (or all) of the girls start losing their minds with jealousy, he pats them on the head and tells them to believe in themselves, and they transform into a little puppy and go back to fighting over him.

Do I recommend this? If you're already reading reviews for this manga, then you're clearly already the type to enjoy it. So go ahead and read it until you get bored, then stop. There is no satisfying resolution, nothing exciting is revealed towards the end, so you're absolutely free to give up whenever you lose interest. It's fun if you want some summery, nostalgic ecchi, but it's probably not enough to actually crank one out to and you're not gonna find anything particularly memorable. Try it out, it's fun.

So I just finished reading this for the 4th time. This manga did not have me in tears like previous ones, but it is still good none the less. The story was very good, but I believe there could have been improvements to make it fit better. I wasn't a big fan of the art though it wasn't hard to look at. Every character was different and had their own charm. The ending was not what I was expecting. It felt like it was good, but I don't believe it really finished the story. Overall I enjoyed this manga. It was a very good read, and if you have time, I'd say give it a read.

I have a really hard time buying into the premise: falling in love very very very deeply with 3 girls (actually it's more than 3, you know it yourself if you read it) in such a short amount of time.

Story:3
The main point of the story is a folk tradition that forced the MC to have a certain relationship with the heroines. I find this setting to be very clunky, considering that the MC HAVE to choose someone for the sake of ritual. The progress is also boring: encounter-rejection-acceptance-wobbawobba-final date; times three since the flow is all the same for each heroine.

Art:3
Not a fan, just not a fan. The proportion sometimes warped and there's 3 characters that looked too similar to each other. Shizuku, Soyogi, Rinne; sometimes I confused between shizuku and soyogi when she do not wear her glasses. When it comes to Rinne I sometimes confused whether it's a flashback into younger Shizuku or it' s just Rinne.

Character:3
The premise is so focused on the ritual which is tied to the 4 main casts. This makes another characters only functioning as an extra, with exception of the sensei, girl number 4 and girl number 5. And you know what, number 4 and 5 is already out of the loop since they obviously do not have relation to the ritual. Makes me wonder why they even there aside from forcing age diversity. Among the 4 main casts the three heroines are terribly inconsistent. Maybe, the concept is that "the girl change after falling in love with the MC", but the change is too obvious to the point that they feels like a different character. The drastic emotional change from hate-neutral-'terribly fall in love' in such a short timeline also... do not help with their character building.

Enjoyment:3
The three heroines have similar template in character building and story flow, which makes reading this whole series once feels like already three repeat of the same story. Not an enjoyable experience to be honest. And the ending... My god... It's one level below bad harem manga.

Overall:3
If you're familiar with generic visual novel storyline, that is what you'll get. Encounter-rejection-acceptance-competition-wobbawobba. Yes all that in that order times three. You see one heroine in rejection phase, then expect another two to repeat. One heroine in wobbawobba phase, expect another two to do the same. Very predictable and to cbe honest just boring.

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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✦Story
A bit of a nonstandard harem ecchi show. Consist of a guy and 3 girls. Development of strong and mutual love with a certain circumstances. Meaning would be that the girls are a part of a island culture/religion and must serve a certain lord. Obviously our main character is that lord. Main guy wants a simple and honest life and isn't fond of being served and those how the story shall begin sprouting. Slowly uncovering the whole island tradition while living daily lives with 3 beautiful girls. And here their romance and drama adventures go on. There were elements of the story I have mixed feelings about. Starting off that I don't like by principle when girls must serve some random guy who is suddenly a "god", even the "serve" part later on in the manga gave me a benefit of doubt. Whenever it was done through pure love or by the chains of the tradition that are forced upon the main girls from the birth.
But, all things considering it was a beautiful vanilla harem romance Anime. Mutual love by everyone and satisfying enough finale. I love simple and sweet love, if loving couple is intimate or even kinky, It's fine for me. That's why I love vanilla the most, the couple that is presented, doesn't switch and stays together forever. Love and Intimacy are absolute sacred things for me. (that's why I despise with my whole heart our modern culture looseness regarding intimacy, i.e one night things..) So on that part, this Manga was an actual success of a romance harem drama. Not the usual ecchi harem where just exist one guy and bunch of girls and lewd stuff happens or is being done, whereas there is minimal romance development. This manga, delivered.

✦Art
Good enough, nothing amazing, ecchi was satisfying, scenery was pretty, character designs were distinctive.

✦Character
Main guy, our restrained city boy who ended up on a island and met dreamgirls. Got embarrassed when girls were more aggressive, but at the same time pulled himself together when time needed it. A caring fella, with a respectful level of being able to question girls if they do something they might regret.

Then we have our main girls. A tomboyish active girl, who is also shy but grows aggressive. Then we have a intelligent type of a girl, who is strong, but lying to self and wants things to be correct and in a sense be a control-freak, but grows into quite needy girl who simply wants to hog. (and a big hug). Then we have a bit of complex one, one that is a caring, cute, childish yet self-managing and in a sense a big sister of other two girls, but at the same time is someone who bottles stress and is quite hurtful. Those are the gist of the characters with the most importance. There is more to them, but that's the first impression I can give without spoiling anything.

There as well bunch of a side-characters who play a admirable role in character growth and plot progression. Some more than others.

✦Enjoyment & Overall
Did enjoy it a lot, hat lot of hot scenes, a great amount of cute scenes. Actually a bit intriguing yet mixed feelings giving story. Satisfying finale, but I would loved to see some sort of years skip where main character has children.

Anyhow, a very enjoyable manga.

Time well spent. Epic shit.
Some shady stuff went down. Creepy grandmother, creepy boomers.
1 girl ends up mentally deranged, 1 ends up with PTSD, 1 ends up regressing to what another was seemingly saved from (i.e not being fun), 1 ends up being the target of lolicons and 'oni-chan' tropes.

Boy becomes Chad with 3 hoes? 4 hoes? 6 hoes? Maybe 7 if you count the normie begging for threesome? Bro I dont even really know.

Well fire fire fire. I loved this shit. Imma give a 9/10 in my heart because it had a lot of unanswered questions but I enjoyed overall but imma vote it a 10 because its gudshit and gudshit deserves great reviews

Story is a 9

WELL... maybe an 8 because of the somewhat rushed conclusion?? A lot of unanswered shit and somewhat FANTASTIC means to certain ends. Not out to give any spoilers but before the end it was absolutely good. You watch this guy change the lives of these 3 girls and somehow eeryone around them till it extends to the whole society they lived in, realistically.


Art is a 9

I'm a sucker of nostalgic type of manga art. I liked how it paid attention to senseuality but not in the over done manner where you are hard as a rock reading this shit to the point that it distracts you from the point itself. Beautifully drawn scenes, landscapes, facial reactions, everything.

Characters are a 10

You'll definitely fall in love with the main cast. Well since this is a harem you are dealing with ONE guy and a lot of women but this was done correctly. All the girls are absolutely lovable. You watch their character development and fall in love even more. My personal favorite would be the spontaneous sensei that always comes around.
The main character was a breath of fresh air and even though he was dense, he was dense in a way that makes sense and was realistic. He could understand their feelings but due to a lack of experience not know how to react to them. He comes to a place of responsibility and grows throughout the manga. Definitely a 10. This was the best part of the manga

Enjoyment- 10

I absolutely enjoyed it. I was squirming, rolling, anxious, everything!. A mix of emotions. The author really was on to something haha!
Now all that is left is that void that I must now feel by indulging some - ahem!- questionable material.

Overall - 9

It was a great read. If you are a fan of this genre then do check it out. A little over a hundred chapters- Heck i read it in a day. I loved it

Umi No Misaki is seemingly a simple tale about a young man arriving in a mysterious island with strange but beautiful customs, and his interactions with the islanders and specifically the Cape Maidens of the local religion, once his role as that religion's central figure is revealed.


However, that's where simplicity ends. Without spoiling too much, I will say that the plot is contrived, the characters mostly one-dimensional or outright caricatures, with the sole exception of the MC, Nagi, who is alright but nothing to write home about.
The art is mediocre at best. There was no aspect of this story or its presentation that captivated me at any point, hence my overall rating.

Umi No Misaki is a series drowning in disturbing implications, hiding under a veneer of cheer and optimism.

Moving on to spoilers.

Umi No Misaki is a harem manga that takes things up a notch or several from the typical harem protagonist who simply has all the girls like him. In Umi No Misaki, the protagonist is actually romantically and sexually involved with three girls at the same time, all of which are aware and approving.

I have no issue with the harem aspect, itself. In fact, I'd say this is one of the very few cases where a harem is not an issue. In Umi No Misaki, the three cape maidens are part of a cult and have been forcibly removed from their families and brainwashed since birth for exactly these events, so the setup is enough to explain their acceptance of the situation.

The characters themselves are ... disappointing. None of the main girls display more than one facet at a time, and generally have a single personally trait before falling in love with the MC and a single trait after. As I mentioned, the MC is alright. He's a good guy, not a moron, believably insecure but not stupidly so. It's a person that most guys remember from when they were 16-17, themselves.
I'm not going to talk about the three girls separately because they are cardboard cutouts whose small differences have little to no actual effect in the end. They're just there.

The character cast could have perhaps been salvaged if Kisaragi-sensei didn't exist. Kisaragi-sensei is a plot device, appearing at specific points to advance the plot in the most egregious manner possible, imparting 'wisdom' in the most invasive, rude way possible and with everyone just going along with it because the plot needs them to.
The worst part is that all the stuff Kisaragi-sensei forces people to realize could have been explored better without her and made for some interesting introspection.
Ignoring all that though, it was just so unbearably unrealistic for a person to be this way and act that way and still be treated the way she was that any immersion (or, indeed, respect) I had in the manga vanished. I couldn't ignore her either, she was everywhere.

And if you try to consider her as a character, she gets even worse. As the only responsible adult not part of a cult, she stands back and lets a murder suicide proceed, knowing it was going to happen. Any credibility she had, any respect or responsibility as a person and an adult is instantly gone.
"Wait, what?"you might ask. "Murder suicide in a harem manga?"

You see, the cult raises the girls from early on believing that whoever the dragon god (our protagonist) chooses, will have to be drowned along with him in order to ... appease the sea? Maintain prosperity? Or something? It's never explained. However, towards the end of the manga we're shown that some part of the cult is based on reality, as some actual supernatural events appear to be happening, expanding the MC's perception. Of course, it could be him finally buying into the whole thing and convincing himself but for the sake of argument, I'll accept the concept of the dragon god as an actual thing. Even with this, it turns out that the dragon god doesn't actually want child sacrifices. If you're a cultist, please try to contain your gasps of surprise.

The girls are being taken away from their families and brainwashed into sexual activities, suicide and murder. The kindly old grandmother of one of three girls oversees the whole proceedings. The outsider Kisaragi-sensei makes sure that everything goes on its merry way towards the murder suicide.

In the end, of course, our protagonist manages to find a new path, barely saving himself and one of the girls and dictating that, guess what, child sacrifice is kinda not cool and is no longer to be followed.

The author also felt the need to include pedophilia when suddenly the 9y/o sister of one of the girls realizes that she's the reincarnation of one of the past shrine maidens who did end up being drowned. Some quite disturbing images are produced from that. It's not like it ended up having any plot relevance, either. Just sorta sick.

The manga ends about as generically as can be, with the MC continuing life on the island among his three (four, if you count the pre-pubescent girl) girlfriends as everyone lives happily ever after.

Thought specific moments were cute or nice, there is no escaping the dark and disturbing concepts of murderous cult activities, sexually exploited underage children and some pedophilia mixed in there just because.

And if ever there was a chance for me to take this seriously or appreciate its good moments, there is always Kisaragi-sensei to ruin those, too.

3/10 for not terrible art, a normal MC and some -few- enjoyable moments.