the Editor says: Many people first learn about a profession through manga — think GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka for high school teachers, or Black Jack for surgeons. Manga can introduce a demanding field in a lighthearted, accessible way, and even if the storylines are over-the-top, they can still be a great gateway into understanding a profession. Special thanks to PPyeah for writing and recommending 【Grand Blue】to us. We hope everyone will follow this series long-term — so that even when we can't get in the water, we can still feel the ocean!
Grand Blue — Learning to Dive Through Manga
In July 2018, Japan launched a new serialized anime titled 【Grand Blue】. It is based on the scuba diving manga written by Kenji Inoue and illustrated by Kimitake Yoshioka. The story follows protagonist Iori Kitahara, who moves to a coastal town to attend university and ends up living with his uncle, who runs a dive shop. There, he encounters strikingly beautiful girls and a group of burly upperclassmen who are equally passionate about drinking and scuba diving. From that very first meeting, Iori's most hilarious and absurd campus life begins to unfold.
Grand Blue
This is a diving anime that our contributor highly recommends. Although the main storyline revolves around the male lead's various laugh-out-loud campus adventures — with actual diving scenes taking a back seat — it has to be said: whenever the plot does turn to diving, the author introduces all kinds of diving knowledge in a witty yet genuinely knowledgeable way. From the start, protagonist Iori is established as an ordinary person who is afraid of water and can't swim. But through guidance, conversation, and instruction from his relatives and upperclassmen, he gradually comes to understand that scuba diving doesn't require you to be a swimmer, and that the underwater world is truly beautiful and exciting. The first step to learning how to dive is to enjoy the feeling of being in the water, and then to understand the safety precautions involved — because most people's fear of diving comes from the unknown.
In the manga, Iori's senior tells him during a diving lesson: "The ocean is indeed a scary place. But it's precisely because we know that, that we prepare so many countermeasures. As long as you confirm your safety and prepare thoroughly, the sea holds a charm you simply can't resist."
When the manga addresses diving, it never reads like a textbook — yet it sincerely covers everything from the right mindset toward the water, to an introduction of dive gear, to the key things to watch out for underwater and basic common sense. It even illustrates a few small mistakes that beginners commonly make while diving — for example: if your scuba tank / cylinder is running low on air, always speak up. Don't worry about holding others back; no one will see it as a burden. Dive safety always comes first. The author also captures the sheer allure of diving with great flair — the sensation of weightlessness, the feeling of being alone in your own world beneath the sea, and the wonder of the extraordinary marine life all around you. These are feelings that even we as divers struggle to put into words.
Although this anime doesn't dedicate a great deal of screen time to diving, whenever it reveals the magic of the ocean, it fills you with an overwhelming urge to get back underwater — because that is precisely the power the sea holds over us, drawing us in to explore its depths. One character even puts it this way: "Even if it's the same stretch of ocean, I could dive it a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times and never get tired of it — because the sea always has unexpected beauty waiting to be discovered, no matter when you visit."
On a side note, in addition to 【Grand Blue】, our contributor would also like to sneak in a small recommendation: for other great diving-related manga, check out the now-completed 【Tokushu Kyuunan-tai】 as well as the ongoing series 【Aoi Shiro / Blue Sea Girl】 — both are excellent choices that our contributor wholeheartedly endorses.
Image source: Internet
Original article authorized by the PPyeah fan page.
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