The Beginning of the Sea Analysis: A Cautionary Tale on Life-Changing Decisions

If you ask me what The Beginning of the Sea is about, I’ll tell you that it’s about the effects of our decisions — how our resolve can influence the lives of others, even of people we have never met before. It’s about allowing ourselves and others the right to make our own decisions and respecting their choices.

However, despite its apparent cuteness and sentimentality, The Beginning of the Sea is a brutal and realistic cautionary tale. It’s a story in which the villain gets what they want and never has to feel guilt or regret. One in which women are made to feel terrible over the struggles of fellow women, and where grief is overlooked, and the dead are automatically canonised as saints.

This review contains some spoilers. Read it at your own risk! You can also pin our spoiler-free summary at the bottom!

Whose Story Is This, After All?

Fuji TV’s The Beginning of the Sea aired from July to September in Japan but has just received international distribution via Viki. Written by Ubukata Miku and directed by Kazama Hiroki and Takano Mai, the same creative team behind Fuji TV’s beloved Silent, this is the story of Tsukioka Natsu (Meguro Ren), a 28-year-old man who finds out he has a 7-year-old daughter during the funeral of his ex-girlfriend.

That’s the official synopsis for it, of course. But a more appropriate synopsis would be: When Nagumo Mizuki (Furukawa Kotone) finds out that she’s pregnant with her ex-boyfriend Tsukioka Natsu (Meguro Ren)’s baby, she asks him to sign an abortion form. Natsu, a sweet and kind young man, is heartbroken but respects her choice. She then changes her mind and decides to have the baby behind his back. She breaks up with him and completely disappears from his life, choosing to raise the child on her own. Seven years later, Mizuki discovers that she’s very sick and dies. When Natsu comes to her funeral, her family informs him about Umi (Izutani Rana), his 7-year-old daughter. Natsu, who now has a stable job and a nice girlfriend, has his life upended by the discovery that he is, in fact, a father.

Observe that “Mizuki” has now become the protagonist of this tale. Despite the Meguro Ren selling point, that’s the core of The Beginning of the Sea: this is Mizuki’s story, around which all other characters are forced to orbit. Does that make for a satisfying watch? It depends on what you are looking for.

The Beginning of the Sea a.k.a The Mizuki Show

Mizuki is a “my-own-pace” kind of girl, in her own words. She’s shown as a strong and independent young woman, openly dogmatic about her own beliefs. Mizuki believes that she has the right to do and say whatever she believes is right — and she also reserves the right to assume what others think and feel. A person with a strong personality, that’s for sure. However, as the story progresses, Mizuki goes from “dogmatic” to full-on selfish, arrogant, and stubborn.

It soon becomes clear that Mizuki is the catalyst for every single event in The Beginning of the Sea, without whom nothing would ever happen.

She fails to understand that the world doesn’t revolve around her: we live in a society where everyone’s rights should co-exist. During her lifetime, she denied her child’s father the right to even know that their baby existed. She denied his right to choose whether or not to be part of her life. She denied her daughter the right to properly know her father. She chose to raise the child on her own, refusing her parents’ help but taking advantage of a colleague’s romantic feelings for her. After her death, she forces Natsu, her parents, and her own daughter to make difficult decisions and adapt to changes that could have been avoided. So incredible is she that she continues to be the absolute talk of the town, making the people outside her immediate circle feel like they are living in her shadow.

And since this is The Mizuki Show, everyone else has to make their decisions according to the consequences of her choices. This is a melodrama in which the most important character is a villain, an egotistical and manipulative young woman who defends her actions behind the facade of “self-reliance” and “feminism”.

Mizuki never bears the responsibility for her decisions. She never learns to respect other people’s right to choose or regrets the fact that her one-sided actions have affected the lives of others. While openly criticising others, she never takes any time to reflect on her own behaviour. The Beginning of the Sea offers no redemption arc because it believes that its villain never needed one to start with. Everyone else continues to worship her as if in a daze, applauding her sense of independence and willingness to “sacrifice” — after all, she only did what she did because she didn’t want to “impose” anything on Natsu.

The Beginning of the Sea and The End of Feminism

At the end of the day, The Beginning of the Sea completely twists feminist messages that need to be openly discussed and explored, not distorted.

Situation #1: Mizuki as the Victim x Natsu as the Criminal

For instance, when Mizuki tells Natsu that she’s pregnant and immediately asks him to sign an abortion form, Natsu tells her that they can discuss different options. She doesn’t have to abort the child: they can find an alternative together, as any supportive relationship would do. Mizuki then tells him that it’s her body and, therefore, her choice. Natsu respects that. Heartbroken, he apologises for not having noticed her struggle before and hesitantly signs the form. He then goes to the clinic with her and constantly asks her if she’s okay — until she breaks up with him by spitting a bunch of hurtful lies. Over the phone, not long after the supposed “abortion”, Mizuki tells Natsu that she’s now in love with someone else and that their relationship is over. Natsu initially tries to talk her out of it, but once again, respects her decision and lets her go.

So here we have a man who respects his partner’s choices, tries to be as supportive as possible, and isn’t a possessive boyfriend who sees women as his playthings. He doesn’t stalk her and beg her to come back. He doesn’t go after her supposed new boyfriend to pick a fight. He doesn’t require “proof” of anything because, technically speaking, they were in a loving, respectful, and trusting relationship.

Mizuki, on the other hand, doesn’t offer him any choices, doesn’t allow him to participate in any decisions involving the child and lies to him. After Mizuki dies, she’s shown as the poor victim, a single mother who struggled, and Natsu is seen as a criminal — an aloof, heartless, immature partner who wasn’t there when she most needed him.

Situation #2: Making Light of One Problem to Glorify Another

It’s also important to mention here that Mizuki has always received unwavering support from her family: they actually wanted her to have the baby and were eager to help her raise Umi.

Meanwhile, it’s revealed that Natsu’s current girlfriend, Momose Yayoi (Arimura Kasumi), went through a very similar process. However, unlike Mizuki, Yayoi wanted the child from the very beginning but didn’t receive any sort of help from her ex-partner or family. When she tried to discuss the pregnancy with her then-boyfriend, he immediately shut her down and took for granted that she was going to abort the child. Yayoi’s mother then told her that, if Yayoi decided to continue with the pregnancy, she wouldn’t receive any assistance from her parents. Yayoi found herself completely alone and ended up aborting the baby. The incident, obviously, scars her and leads to a lifetime of guilt and the dream of becoming a mother someday.

Even though Yayoi’s experience is very much valid, The Beginning of the Sea chooses to downplay it and, instead, focuses on victimising Mizuki as a single mother. Single mothers deserve all the respect and praise in the entire universe — but The Beginning of the Sea fails to celebrate these women and truly show their struggles.

Situation #3: How Mizuki’s Reality Differs From the Actual Reality of Single Mothers

In the real world, millions of single mothers have no support from their families. Many don’t have friends who can help them care for their children. Several of them don’t have workplaces that allow them to take their children to work and keep them there, happily and safely. Their children often don’t have amiable fathers willing to help. And lots of them have more than one child to raise.

But despite adversity, millions of single mothers do their very best to raise their children in warm and healthy environments. They do their utmost to care for them and themselves.

In The Beginning of the Sea, however, Mizuki has loving and considerate parents, a flexible and child-friendly workplace, and friends who can assist her. Of course, her daughter also has a kindhearted father who would very much be willing to help — if he knew she existed. Mizuki is constantly shown as a single mother in profound hardship, as if she were abandoned by the world when she chose to be in that situation herself. Her position is so awfully exaggerated that, at some point, the dialogue even suggests that, because Mizuki was a single mother, she didn’t go to the hospital for routine checks as she should have done, and that’s why she only found out about her illness when it was already too late.

Even worse, The Beginning of the Sea chooses to victimise Mizuki even at the cost of other women. During one particular scene, Yayoi feels bad at the hairdresser when she witnesses another customer, a single mother, say that going to the hairdresser is now a luxury considering the life she leads with her children. Of course, this scene serves as a contrast with the opening scene of the episode, when Mizuki is shown talking to little Umi, explaining that she doesn’t have the time or the money to have a proper haircut. That results in a later scene in which Yayoi minimises her own experiences to, once again, exalt Mizuki’s challenges.

The Consequences of These Storylines

These storylines belittle the efforts of millions of women around the world. Single mothers who never really had a choice and need help. Single women who would like to have a baby but feel alone and helpless. Women who want to have their bodies and choices respected by men. Women who fight to get out of relationships with men who believe they are just a possession.

Instead of commending Natsu’s behaviour as a considerate partner and exploring the individualistic decisions that Mizuki made during their relationship and their fallout, The Beginning of the Sea lets its characters pile criticism after criticism onto Natsu’s situation and make a martyr of Mizuki. Instead of analysing the harsh decisions all women have to make during their lives, The Beginning of the Sea victimises one woman over others.

The Beginning of the Sea and The End of Parenting

These poorly dealt with gender issues don’t stop there. In Episode 7, both Mizuki and Yayoi reprimand Mizuki’s colleague Tsuno (Ikematsu Sosuke) for his “sexist” comments. Both women clarify that society wrongly associates unconditional love with motherhood, expecting it to be a “basic instinct” in women. On the other hand, men are not expected to automatically develop a sense of fatherhood and, even if they do, that image isn’t linked with any sense of care. Even though their speech does make sense (if you want to hear more about breaking these masculinity and fatherhood tropes, please give our Family by Choice review a read!), the overall context doesn’t exemplify their belief.

After all, while Natsu is accompanying pregnant Mizuki to the clinic, she tells him that he “shouldn’t feel responsible because he isn’t a father yet.” So… she’s already a mother, but he isn’t a father? Surely, if unconditional love has nothing to do with motherhood and it’s an emotion that any parent can develop, then men can also feel attached, worried, and responsible for an unborn baby, right? Apparently not.

Even during later episodes, “it takes a village to raise a child” becomes a running theme. Nurturing a child is difficult and requires more than just one person. The show then tries to emphasise that the responsibility of parenting doesn’t lie only on the mother but on both parents. However, for a series in which the mother herself denied the father the right to raise his child, this message falls on deaf ears. Why would the audience believe in a theme that isn’t actively demonstrated by the narrative?

Even in Mizuki’s final letter to Natsu in Episode 12, she says she doesn’t regret her decision at all — therefore stressing the fact that she didn’t find it important for her daughter to have a father. Throughout the show, the father role is completely dismissed, and even at the end, not even once is Umi seen referring to “Natsu” as her father. She perpetually calls him “Natsu-kun,” which would be a friendly way to refer to a young man.

What The Beginning of the Sea Should’ve Focused On

Once again, The Beginning of the Sea dismantles an important message that needs to be conveyed loud and clear.

If men want to become fathers, they should be encouraged to be emotionally open and supportive. Whether the parents are in a relationship or not, fathers should be able to participate in the raising of a child. A woman doesn’t automatically have to become a mother just because there’s a child in her womb — so, men can choose and learn to become fathers in the same way that women can choose and learn to become mothers. Both parents should bear the responsibility for their child, and it’s healthy for both parties to talk, share their experiences, and help each other.

Communication and Grief in The Beginning of the Sea

But communication isn’t the main strength of The Beginning of the Sea. Communication is often broken: the male lead isn’t assertive at all, and most characters don’t make an effort to establish a line of communication with him. As everyone gets carried away with the flow of Mizuki’s decisions, the words they share are often full of pain and anger. They are trying to do their best within the limited knowledge they have of the people and situations around them or within the constraints of their circumstances. However, their heartbreak often stops them from having productive conversations most of the time.

Heartbreak in The Beginning of the Sea is often associated with grief. But, weirdly enough for a show that involves the death of one of its main characters, the grieving process comes as a second thought and only gets brought up when the characters want to “compete” with Natsu as to who is currently suffering more. Grief is also used as an excuse for people’s meanness, as if grieving gave anyone the right to offend others. That seems to be the main message of The Beginning of the Sea: everyone can do whatever they want as long as it makes them happy.

Forget the Message: The Technical Side of The Beginning of the Sea

The Beginning of the Sea, despite the problematic message it delivers, has a sound narrative structure. Melancholic and slow-paced, the story shows a clear three-act structure that focuses on a character’s triumph instead of development. No one in The Beginning of the Sea shows any character development: they start and end the show as roughly the same person. The goal seems to be Natsu’s journey towards fatherhood: Natsu finds out that he’s a father. He needs to adapt and understand how to reorganise his life to embrace this role. He and Umi start a life together as a parent and child.

The dialogue, however, doesn’t flow as naturally, especially in the more emotional and tense ones. The dialogues between adults and the ones between the adults and little Umi-chan have exactly the same pattern as if 7-year-old Umi-chan had the same emotional maturity as all the adults around her.

The Beginning of the Sea is a well-crafted show from a technical point of view. Kazama and Takano’s directing is absolutely stunning, giving the show an extra layer of meaning. The muted colours and detailed set design are two eye-catching elements of the series.

The performances are also magnificent. A special shout-out goes to little Izutani Rana, Meguro Ren (who had to cry non-stop in the latter half), Arimura Kasumi (who constantly had to hide her character’s pain), and Ikematsu Sosuke (whose character mixed grief, kindness, and anger). In a memorable scene, Tsuno is shown receiving the news of Mizuki’s death. The scene is a couple of minutes long and consists of three different shots and one single line (“はい” or “Yes?”). Ikematsu’s performance delivers a whole range of emotions, from fear to despair to profound sorrow.

Looking for our spoiler-free summary? Here you go:

Should You Watch The Beginning of the Sea?

If you’re looking for a melancholic series and you choose to overlook its dubious themes, The Beginning of the Sea might be for you. It is, after all, a realistic tale of how we may all end up wrapped up in other people’s whims — but it also reminds us that our choices affect others. Personally, I see it as a cautionary tale that I won’t be rewatching anytime soon. But you might see it differently — let me know in the comments if you have a different perspective on the show!

If you’d like to give it a shot, The Beginning of the Sea (a.k.a Where Does The Sea Begin) is now on: