While it may not win any awards whatsoever, Umisho can best be described as this season’s guilty pleasure, as admittedly, fanservice really dictates the flow of this show, but whatever. This week we’re introduced to the latest addition to the swimming team, who comes in a form of a haughty celebrity hottie by the name of Nanako Maaya. We quickly discover that she’s also Kaname’s childhood friend, and while this anime archetype usually means the protagonist(Kaname) would have had fond memories with her(Maaya), it doesn’t ring true this time around.

Emm, delicious gradient hair.

What she remembers.

What probably really happened.

Not me.

As expected, Maaya, the two time middle school champion stirs up trouble at the club with her diva attitude, much to the annoyance of Orizuka, although the boys, save for Kaname, were mesmerized by Maaya’s charms. Look out for the Code Geass reference when Maaya Geass’es the males into building a private changing room for her.

Shit really hits the fan when the the storage room/boy’s changing room collapses after Maaya smacks the wall(what?) and probably also due to the Captain’s sudden “renovation” on it. With no other place to change, the girl’s changing room is put at stake in a between the boys and girls, with the winner obtaining full rights to it. The captain then interrupts the match and declares that if he were to win, everyone would have to strip outside instead. Lawl.

Oh you, Shizuoka-senpai!

Hard to say. Shizuoka, perhaps?

Wise words indeed. Just don’t try what he did.

It all keeps tumbling down.

With no clear winner due to outside intrusion, Maaya is then straightened out by Amuro who talks some sense into the brat. However Maaya is unfazed by it and kicks Amuro into the pool, which would probably mean we’ll get to see more of this rivalry between the two in future episodes. Yup. Shin out.

When someone told me this was on swimming lessons, two things came into mind: This, and the thought of an homo erotic sports anime featuring bishies in Speedos. Thankfully, it was neither, although the show does feature a flamboyant, gay-but-not-quite-there-yet pervert of a swimming club captain.(more on that later).

Yes, it is about swimming, but none of that gay shit. Basically it tells the story of Kaname Okimura, the manager of the school swimming club, who ironically is afraid of swimming due to a traumatic experience he suffered as a child involving a mermaid-like creature he encountered.

All’s well until one day, an eccentric happy-go-lucky transfer student from Okinawa by the name of Amuro Ninagawa joins the club, amazing everyone with her unorthodox swimming abilities and “healthy body”

Damn cover words!

Yes she does!

Obligatory punching-to-sky scene impending…

Yup, as you’ve guessed it this show has lots of fanservice(not so surprising given the nature of the show), which is one of the reasons I like it(obviously), apart from the comedy of course. Amuro never ceases to make my pants me happy with her cheerful and energetic personality. Then of course, there’s the tsundere ace of the swimming club, Orizuka Momoko and the seemingly innocent but in truth “naughty”(to put it lightly) sexbomb Shizuoka Mirei, and Ikuta Maki,a first year student who serves as the loli character for the show(I guess) who are also members of the aforementioned club, in addition to the other girls that have yet to be introduced and the small number of males of the club(including Kaname) who I won’t bother to introduce, other than the captain Ikariya Masa, whose insanely hyped up and perverse nature is worth noting.

Japan sure love their marine wildlife!

That makes two of us, Makio-chan!

The first 3 episodes are just basically character introduction episodes, although the club takes part in a meet in episode 3(which they lost) and it gives insight into how good Amuro’s swimming abilities really are.

Well, that’s pretty much what the show has in store for us so far, and you can bet I’ll be following this series till the end(since there’s so many other girls left in the show to fap to). An interesting subject topic laden with ecchi and comedy makes this one of the better shows for me this summer. Shin out.