I saw this movie as a child and it was very sad but very moving. It left you with a feeling of awe. The ending is absolutely heart-wrenching, watching her little friend jumping out of the see over and over again calling out her name as she turns into the sea foam. I don't think they make animation quite like this anymore. What else can I say? Sure, the Disney version is light-hearted and fun but easily forgettable. This is the true story, and the emotional intensity of it has stayed with me throughout my life. Even as a child I understood to some extent the sacrifices that were made from Marina, and from her sisters in the sea. The sea witch wasn't necessarily 'evil with a vendetta' either (as in the dumbed down Disney version),she was just a sea witch. But none of her magic came without a price. She also made it possible for Marina to come back- if she would plunge a knife into the prince's heart. This scene is very intense in the movie, watching her with the dagger; the prince and his lover entwined and asleep. You can see and feel the torn emotions Marina feels and in the end she cannot do it. A truly unforgettable movie that pulls at your heart strings

Wow! This was the best mermaid movie I have seen, although the animation, not the greatest! This was the absolute original story about the Little Mermaid. The Disney Version has a happy ending, and this one does too! Well its not Happy Happy for the viewer as much as for the main character- Marina! Well her sacrifice for him was the sweetest thing! "Her" happiness is "His" happiness. Awe! It melted my heart! Who would have thought self-sacrifice could be soo sweet and charming and soo beautiful! Romantic Suicide, but not just suicide. I loved this film soo much more than I did the Disney version. The music is so wonderful! I wish I could play the harp! and that song she plays is soo amazing. Wow! It gives me hope! Lots of it! How she could just jump like that into her own conscious mind and soul (the ocean-where she belongs)! My last words are...(speechless)

I saw this Anime version of Little Mermaid when I was 8 or 9 years old, long before Disney got there happy little hands on it. I cried my eyes out at the end of it. However, it showed me that you don't always get what you want in life. It also taught me about sacrificing for someone you love. I believe the original version of this movie gets across a poignant message about sacrifice, love and loss. (If you read the story, there is much more to it than that, but as far as the movie goes, that is the message I saw in it.)I was very disappointed in Disney's version at first. I didn't have to wait to see the ending to be upset at it. Ariel/Marina was not supposed to be able to talk, never mind being able to sing, and she was supposed to have pain when she walked....part of her sacrifice to be with the prince she had fallen in love with. And then, being a Disney version, she gets the prince in the end. I did not like it. Now, there is nothing wrong with optimism and believing things can get better and end happily. However, life does not always end "Happily Ever After" as Disney would have children believe. I think our overindulged children of today would be better off knowing that you don't always get what you want and that there is such a thing as sacrifice. Well, I have grown to accept and even enjoy Disney's version. It is lighthearted and fun. And that is what Disney is all about.... fun and enjoyment. In the end, I still love the original Anime version of it better. I didn't actually remember it as being Anime until I started searching for this version. Reading the comments on it helped me to recall the big beautiful eyes of the characters. Yes, this is the version I remember and love from my childhood....tears and all!

I would like to defend this movie as user Josephine left a very angry review. I'm sorry if you saw this as a small child and are forever traumatized but your review is very incomplete, not to mention the you speak of things that were never in the movie including saying that the prince "marries another prostitute" the mermaid drowns herself, and that there is beheading in the film. I don't really understand why you would lie about what happens in a movie on the review. Perhaps you just really hate this movie..anger issues?This movie is early anime. It is not bad anime, the animation simply is not as complex as the animation we see today, after all, the movie was made in 1975. The movie is definitely for older children, I saw it as a little girl when I was five and loved it, however it is important to realize that the end is very tragic. It can be very upsetting for young or sensitive children. There is no happily ever after, nor was there in the original story by Hans Christian Anderson. The movie begins very much in the way a child's movie would..juvenile dialogue, etc. but takes a rather tragic and serious turn. Understand that anime tends to be very different from Disney.It is not the happy, fictionalized fiction you would see in Disney's Little Mermaid or Aladdin. Clearly, many like this movie, as it is always selling on eBay, sometimes at rather high bids. There was something about this movie that I loved as a little girl, and still do. I can't clearly define what it is. Perhaps it was refreshing to see something so different. It could be a little cheesy at times, but all children's movies are to a degree. I enjoyed it, many of my friends enjoyed it, I certainly would not recommend renting it for your Friday night dinner and a movie. But is it worth seeing? I think so. It depends on what you are looking for.