Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night is an original anime television series produced by Doga Kobo for its 50th anniversary and directed by Ryōhei Takeshita. It aired from April to June 2024.
This Moe OVA was a real sleeper in the Spring season this year. Going up against some much anticipated and heavy hitting isekai sequels in the form of Kono Suba and Jobless Reincarnation it was easy for anime fans to pass on what appeared to be another run-of-the-mill idol anime.
But those fans of the Slice of Life (SoL) genre who didn’t pass over this original series were treated to a masterpiece of emotional story telling. Following the lives of four highschool girls with vastly different backgrounds, talents, hopes, dreams, and fears JELLE captured a spirit of hopefulness and triumph that has come to dominate the genre and catapult it to prominence among the Anime Right. Speaking to neets, artists, autists, and the rising engagement with anime of the “popular” kids, this anime has the potential to hit as hard as K-On! in giving hope for a brighter future to those whose futures have been stolen from them.
Unfortunately JELLE is let down with some unnecessary lesbian undertones, however they remain firmly in the background and when taken with an understanding of Japanese culture as opposed to the globohomo of the West it can be passed off as nothing more than the true and deep love of friends – although one scene with a minor side character is definitely pure fan service.
In fact JELLE manages to address and dismiss the globohomo view of gender swapped online avatars and friendly love, putting the revolting distortion of the connections people make that is so prevalent in the West in their place and rejecting them for the joke that they are.
I am confident that Weebs everywhere will eventually discover this sleeper and it will become one the most fondly remembered hits of 2024.