The Rarely Seen Messages in Chiikawa

Under its familiar kawaii surface, *Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island* carries a surprisingly dark question: can a wrongful act be forgiven when someone commits it out of love to save a person they care about?

The story begins with Chiikawa and friends finding a flyer for a secret island. Promises of good food and a summer holiday lead them to the island, where they enjoy a peaceful trip before a giant merperson called the Siren begins attacking residents.

Two islanders, Hitoha and Futaba, ask Chiikawa and the others to help deal with the creature. But the island’s history reveals a deeper crime. The Siren and other merpeople once blessed the island, bringing abundant harvests and prosperity. Hitoha and Futaba later learned that merperson flesh could grant eternal life and decided to hunt one.

Their greed turns into tragedy. When the pair encounter the Siren and its children at sea, their boat is destroyed and Futaba suffers serious injuries. Desperate to save the injured Futaba, Hitoha kills one of the merpeople for its flesh. The Siren loses a child and begins taking revenge on the island’s residents, leaving innocent people as victims while Hitoha and Futaba carry the secret of what they did.

Futaba eventually understands the burden of immortality: living forever means watching everyone around you die. Futaba then forces Hitoha to eat the merperson flesh so they will share that burden.

Chiikawa is the one character who uncovers the truth. After finding merperson scales in Hitoha and Futaba’s home, Chiikawa realizes that they caused the disaster. The discovery raises the film’s most unsettling possibility. If Hachiware or Usagi faced the same danger, would Chiikawa commit a similar act to save a friend? The film offers no answer. Chiikawa chooses to keep the secret, while the cycle of killing, punishment and revenge continues to turn.