.............................INTRODUCTION...........................
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (マーメイドメロディーぴちぴちピッチ Māmeido Merodī Pichi Pichi Pitchi?) is a shōjo manga and anime series created by Michiko Yokote, with artwork by Pink Hanamori. The manga was originally published in the monthly shōjo manga anthology Nakayoshi. There are 32 chapters published (including two special stories) and are compiled into seven volumes issued by Kodansha.
MANGA
The original manga, created by Yokote with illustrations by Hanamori, began serializing in the September 2002 issue of Nakayoshi. There are a total of 32 chapters, with final one published on the April 2005 issue of the said magazine (released March 2005). There are a total of seven tankōbonvolumes by Kodansha, the first six containing five chapters each and final one having two. They were released between March 20, 2003 and April 30, 2005.
Del Rey Manga acquired the rights to publish the manga for the North American audience. It began releasing the manga on April 2006 under the titlePichi Pichi Pitch: Mermaid Melody.[1] The English translations of the seven volumes were released from April 25, 2006 to October 30, 2007. The seventh volume, aside from the final two chapters, also contains two preview chapters from other manga.
ANIME
An anime adaptation produced by TV Aichi, We've, and Synergy SP and directed by Yoshitaka Fujimoto aired in Japan in two seasons. The first season, simply named Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch and covers manga chapters 1 to 20, aired between April 5, 2003 and March 27, 2004. They were compiled into 14 DVD volumes. The second season, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure, which adapts events from chapters 21 to 30, was aired between April 3 to December 25, 2004. Unlike the first season, Pure was compiled into two DVD box sets containing a total of 11 discs.
ADV Films acquired the license to the anime on June 2004 for its North American release, but was eventually dropped due to difficulty in finding backers and securing a TV airing deal.[2] While the acquisition of the license and the production of the English anime predated that of the manga, it is unknown if a release will occur. That is because as of 2009, the anime has been completely dubbed but is being held by TV Aichi.
A total of six theme songs were composed for the anime. The first opening theme, "Taiyō no Rakuen ~Promised Land~" (太陽の楽園 ~Promised Land~?, lit. "Paradise of the Sun ~Promised Land~") by Miyuki Kanbe, and the first ending theme "Daiji na Takarabako" (大事な宝箱?, lit. "Important Treasure Box") by Asumi Nakata, are used in the first 28 episodes. For 29th to the 52nd episodes, "Rainbow Notes♪" by Kanbe and "Sekai de Ichiban Hayaku Asa ga kuru Basho" (世界で一番早く朝が来る場所?, lit. "The Place Where Morning Comes First") by Nakata, Hitomi Terakado, and Mayumi Asano, are the second opening and ending themes respectively. For Pure, the opening theme is "Before the Moment" by Eri Kitamurawhile "Ai no Ondo °C" (愛の温度℃?, lit. "The Temperature of Love°C") by Nakata, Terakado, and Asano is the ending song.
