Nagi no Asukara: A Lull in the Sea

Nagi no Asukara:  A Lull in the Sea is a Japanese anime series. It started with a manga series which was written by Project-118, illustrated by Risō Maeda, and published by ASCII Media Works for the magazine Dengeki Daioh.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Incredible animaiton.
 * 2) All of the characters are incredibly interesting and likable, and watching their coming of age story is very engaging.
 * 3) Very appealing character designs.
 * 4) All of the characters have great chemistry with one another, weather they're just good friends, or they're supposed to be love interests.
 * 5) Beautiful Soundtrack.
 * 6) The series has a lot a large subtext about racism in it, regarding how the above ground humans feel about the undersea people, which is used to full effect.
 * 7) Great voice acting in both sub and dub.
 * 8) The conflict between the two groups of humans is handled in a tasteful and realisitc way.  Neither side is depicted as good or evil, it's a very gray situation.  The racism is of course a bad thing, but the above ground humans are still likable in their own way, and vice versa.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The love triangle in the series can be incredibly obnoxious.