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MochiandCookies
Reviews
Mako Mermaids (2013)
Worth watching if you loved H2o
(I'm starting this review at s2 ep20 as I want to write my thoughts so far. Might add to this when I finish the whole series.)
I absolutely love H2o, it was a favorite show of mine when I was younger and I rewatched it earlier this year and feel that it still holds up. So you can imagine my excitement when I learn that there is a sequel and it has 3 seasons!
Starting off, we learn that not only is it possible for humans to turn into mermaids, but there are entire populations of naturally born mermaids living out in the ocean.
We are quickly introduced to our main trio of girls; Sirena, Nixie and Lyla.
Sirena: Easily my favorite of the three, She's bright, happy, a bit of a pushover at the start, but overall a really sweet girl.
Nixie: I liked Nixie a lot more towards the start, she was a fun character and seemed to be the most level headed, but later on began making bad decisions and having moody moments, but I guess it still makes sense as she is only a teenager.
Lyla: I was not a fan of Lyla. She seemed to always be angry and aggressive which could get a bit hard to watch. Although her character does grow up a little and she settles down a bit later in the show.
And then we meet Zac; the boy who goes through the same fate as Emma, Cleo and Rikki when he comes across the Mool Pool on Mako Island.
It was quite interesting watching Zac deal with becoming a merman, it did give me a bit of the nostalgia from seeing the original trio of girls going through it too. I thought that Zac and Cam had great chemistry as two childhood best friends too, the interactions between them always felt really natural.
And then there is Zac's girlfriend, Evie. I have seen Evie getting some hate online which o assume is mostly because of season 1 and I don't agree with the arguments at all. She acted exactly how a real girlfriend would act if they were left in the dark by their partner. Not to mention the fact that for a long time she really tried to be understanding and give Zac space when it seemed he needed it. Of course she would get frustrated when she keeps on being given empty promises of "everything will be back to normal tomorrow" but then being continually avoided while seeing Zac look suspiciously close to the new girl, Lyla. I felt really bad for Evie in a lot of parts of season 1.
I think that she is a great match for Zac and was really happy to find out that she becomes a mermaid and a main character is season 2. I am enjoying seeing her story progress and her character grow more.
Speaking of season 2, that was a very interesting plot twist with Zac actually being not only a natural born merman, but also Mimmi's brother too.
I think that Mimmi has been a good character so far, I find her quite believable, but Ondina is something else.
I thought that Lyla was aggressive but she doesn't seem it at all compared to Ondina. It's not that she's not a convincing character, I have known kids like her, but that's the issue. I've known KIDS like her. She acts very immature and honestly just like a complete brat a lot of the time. It's gotten to some points where I've cringed from just how over the top angry she gets. Moments like these make it hard to sympathize with her properly in her sad moments.
One big issue that I've had with Mako Mermaids from the beginning up till now is "The Pod". The girls who've been banished from the pod spend so much time in the show missing their lives as a part of the pod and fantasizing about it, but we are never shown what makes the pod such a great thing to be a part of. Any time we see it, it's always a group of mermaids just floating in circles at the water surface. Yes, they have their families and friends there, but they just make it look like such a boring thing to be a part of. I know those tails must be very expensive to create, and whoever wears them needs to be properly trained to swim in them, but some underwater scenes of groups of mermaids swimming around the ocean floor would have really gone a long way to show the pod being more of a special thing than just sitting at the surface essentially just looking at each other.
My other main issue with the series is that a lot of the magic spells they do just seems really silly. I think it doesn't help that the special effects used in those moments just don't look convincing at all. It makes the show feel like it's directed at a even younger audience than what H2o was. The use of certain potions I do think is cool, it was just some of the flashy looking spells that didn't work well in my opinion.
It is definitely a lot more cheesy of a show too, with the plot surrounding the trident and the later in season 2 the merman chamber. I can't fault the writing here too much however, as the main plot of season 3 in H2o with the meteorite was starting to get a bit too over the top as well, so I don't think it's too crazy or too out there that they came up with plots like these for Mako Mermaids.
My positives are that despite all the cheesiness and over the top angry characters, if you have the nostalgia for H2o, Mako Mermaids is still a fun watch. Just like in its prequel, the underwater scenes always look gorgeous.
Can I also add in that the hairstyles they added for the girls especially in season 1 are stunning? I feel very inspired to try some of those styles out myself this summer!
I also absolutely love that they filmed up in the Gold Coast the same as H2o, and even used the same high school. It was really cool to see that and I'm happy that this show exists.