A young fisherman from Callao struggles to live up to his father’s expectations. Frustrated, he decides to go out fishing determined to get better. After hours of waiting and many failed attempts, he finally gets a big catch, just not the one he expected. Instead he finds himself face to face with a mermaid.
​
My purpose for this film is to create a lighthearted, comedic animated story that takes place in Peru. The purpose of this story is not only to be a love letter to part of my culture, but also to address achieving our dreams and goals. Fishing requires patience and so does achieving our dreams and goals. Fishing serves as the metaphor for it. The core of the film is about Mihiro desperately wanting to achieve his dream, and come into his individuality, and when Rena comes into the picture, he thinks he’ll achieve it faster. But Rena can only do so much, and by helping him get better at fishing, she also teaches him to be patient with himself.
The Characters
Mihiro is an only child, born in Peru to a Japanese-Peruvian mom and Japanese dad who immigrated to Peru. His relationship with his dad is a bit strained as he expects Mihiro to take over the fishing business but he has learned that he’s not that great at fishing. Mihiro is better at cooking, and receives a lot of praise for his ceviche and other dishes. As a result he figures one day he’ll open a cevicheria.
Rena is a spontaneous, outgoing and very animated young woman. She has the ability to transform between human and mermaid and has traveled to the surface many times just to eat ceviche. She's had great ceviche, bad ceviche and decent enough ceviche, but nothing quite like Mihiro's. She's very encouraging and really wants him to achieve his dream and decides to help him as much as she can.
