With the amount of waifus available in most harem anime, things can get a little bland. I mean, stereotypes, in general, can be so repetitive that it doesn’t really leave much for the character to discern between the multiple choices. And when it comes to choosing the best girl, you need to consider everything, especially if the harem in question is an Isekai, like DanMachi with all sorts of mythical races running about. Speaking of, who’s that mermaid in the newly aired Season 4?
You meet a lot of monster girls in DanMachi, also known as Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? And the mermaid is no exception. Her name is Marie, and she was found by our protagonist, Bell Cranel, in the deep caverns of the 25th floor in the Dungeon. While normally, monsters don’t have any consciousness down there, there are a select few that gain knowledge and become almost amiable, just like our cute fish, Marie.
There are plenty of girls to go around in DanMachi, from Goddesses to Warriors. For a fantasy harem such as this, not having a multitude of waifus in love with Bell would be a disservice to the brand. But a mermaid was a new one. Marie just happens to be a Xenos, a monster that has heightened intelligence compared to the mongrels around her and, therefore, isn’t as hostile either. In fact, she is pretty much the opposite of the foes that Bell fights against.
Instead of being a bloodthirsty predator, she’s just minding her business. Well, that is until Bell stumbles upon her. But is there more to the little fishy cutie from down below? Let’s break it down in Character Analysis! A segment where we take your favorite characters from various manga and anime to analyze what makes them so memorable. And hey, mermaids? They definitely stand out! Today, it’s Marie, the sweet little mermaid from across the (underground) depths!
Marie: Just Your Average Mermaid-Next-Door!
Marie just has it way too hard for someone chilling on her own. Because she’s a Xenos, she has enough sentient knowledge to basically function at the level of a naïve human, but that also means she’s constantly at risk. She’s being targeted both by human Adventurers such as Bell and the other, less friendly monsters. Why?
Because the other monsters just don’t plain like Xenos, and some Hunters are cruel enough to sell her as basically a sentient slave. And there is a huge Black Market for that. Even though Marie is just this gentle, almost child-like creature, she is still actively pursued for her rarity.
However, Marie cares a lot about her fellow Xenos. She actively tries to engage with all of them and is kind to the Hunters that help Xenos. Due to this, she is not afraid to assist them back, holding no restrictions upon healing those she comes across using her blood.
When Bell defeats the Moss High monster that was frightening her, she falls in love with him. It’s this love that helps her persevere against the Juggernaut, aiding her in sneaking past him and to Bell’s battered body, which she then proceeded to heal.
But just because she’s a little too innocent doesn’t mean she doesn’t know her way through the Dungeon. Thanks to being chased around a bunch and having no skill to fight back with, she knows that place, in and out. So, she helps Bell and his fellow Adventurers traverse their way through the cavernous region.
Xenos: Ghosts Of Monsters Past?
But the thing is, Xenos are just non-hostile. All they really want is to go on the surface someday and experience life outside of the dangerous and monotonous Dungeon that they are forced to traverse. They have a strange yearning to move out of their isolated villages and meet with others with whom they can talk.
But it’s hard because Xenos happens to be reincarnations of monsters killed by the very Hunters they aid. They carry the memories of their past lives, using them to further strengthen their consciousness.
They also make use of the Magical stones, which end up giving them a huge power boost, even beyond the levels of their monster counterparts.
