When I say that “Orenchi no Furo Jijō” (“The Circumstances in My Home’s Bathtub“) is a real fish out of water show, I ain’t kidding!

It tells the story of Tatsumi, who is a high school boy living by himself. One day, something happened to him in the ocean and he went under, rescued by Wakasa, who pulled him to safety. Yup, he’s a merman (and one problem that I had; the incident just mentioned is alluded to in the credits, but no specifics). Tatsumi brought him home to recover in his bath tub and that was that. Wakasa is not moving out. To make things worse, some of Wakasa’s friends come a-calling and also sit a spell. They include Takasu, or Octopus Boy; Mikuni, the jelly fish; and Maki, a sea snail (Maki is much smaller than that; otherwise, you’d never see him).

The tales revolve around how Tatsumi puts up with all of these moochers (and, yes, they are a caliber of mooch), as he figures out what to do with them and his life. The problem I had is that the guys (with the exception of Mikuni) are really good looking. I mean REALLY good looking, with wispy eyes and strong jaw lines and that metrosexual ideal. The staff tried to make this a caliber of Yaoi, as they are all in firm shape and have devastatingly fabulous looks and are potentially hunkalicious. Even Tatsumi is no slouch. I just wished they did not try so hard for the eye candy, as it can get distracting (you know, they smile and glowing stars appear, right?)

It distracts from a very funny story, as the bathroom is the best place to be (we even move in a small TV). For Wakasa, this is great, as he lived in polluted waters, but the bathtub is so clean and the water so warm and things are so nice. Tatsumi doesn’t mind helping out with things as the host, but, seriously, when is this guy and his friends going to go?

Adding to the mix is Tatsumi’s little sister Kasumi, who not only dotes upon Wakasa, she and he can swap hair care tips (Hey! You always gotta look your best, right?) It’s a goofy little show, episodic, as it did start out as a 4-chan, and put together to not only show how Tatsumi is being put upon, but so you can gaze at all of this delicious fishcake. Although it has a full run, the episodes are four to five minutes each, as we explore one aspect or incident in their daily lives. How do you explain Halloween to sea folk?

This show is nice, but there could have been more. There are far more characters and events in the manga, so the question is why couldn’t they have done more. “Azumanga Daioh” also started out as a 4-chan, but they were able to make that a full run, full episode series. Perhaps they were testing the waters before they invest anything more into it. Just a thought.
On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 8 (Everyone is too marvelous)
Plot 8 (Nice but thin)
Pacing 8 (Moves along consistently)
Effectiveness 6 (Things are left hanging)
Conclusion 7 (It reaches a ‘coupler’, but doesn’t really end)
Fan Service 0 (It’s fan service for the ladies, so I can’t honestly rate it)

Overall 7 (One that got away)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Where’s the shampoo?