Between the Sky and Sea

Lore & Background

The franchise centers on a group of young women training to become space fishermen in the city of Onomichi. The main characters include Haru Soramachi, a 17-year-old from Tokyo who moves to Onomichi to pursue her dream; Namino Murakami, a local 17-year-old descended from the Murakami Navy pirates; Ruby Azumi, a 16-year-old Japanese-American from California who claims to be a spy; Maiko Sakura, a shy 17-year-old from Akita Prefecture seeking her missing brother; Makiko Maki, a 17-year-old from Kumamoto Prefecture fond of outdoor activities; and Makoto Mitsurugi, a 16-year-old from Kyoto descended from swordsmiths.

Reader's Guide

Between the Sky and Sea is notable as a cross-media franchise that launched with a smartphone game and expanded into an anime series, manga, and other media. The game, released in September 2017, was developed for Android and iOS, with a planned Microsoft Windows version by DMM that was announced but never released. The game's service ended on May 7, 2019. The anime adaptation, directed by Atsushi Nigorikawa at TMS Entertainment, aired for 12 episodes in late 2018 and was streamed by Crunchyroll, with Sentai Filmworks licensing the series. A manga adaptation serialized in Dengeki Daioh from September 2017 to November 2018 was compiled into two tankōbon volumes. The franchise's premise of space fishing and its focus on a diverse cast of young women from different regions of Japan and abroad gives it a unique place in the media landscape, though its commercial lifespan was relatively short.

Did You Know?

• The franchise was created by Oji Hiroi and owned by ForwardWorks, a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
• The smartphone game was released on September 28, 2017, and its service ended on May 7, 2019.
• A Microsoft Windows version by DMM was announced for Q2 2018 but was never launched.
• The anime series ran for 12 episodes from October 4 to December 20, 2018.

Franchise Origins & Media Lifecycle

Between the Sky and Sea was conceived by creator Oji Hiroi and developed under ForwardWorks, a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment at the time. The franchise first reached audiences as a smartphone title for Android and iOS devices on September 28, 2017, introducing players to the world of space fishing. A Windows version, developed by DMM, was originally slated for a second-quarter 2018 release but never materialized. The mobile game's online service was ultimately shut down on May 7, 2019, bringing the interactive chapter of the franchise to a close. The broader franchise also saw a manga adaptation serialized in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Daioh magazine from September 2017 through November 2018, collected into two tankōbon volumes. The anime television series, announced on July 25, 2017, became the franchise's most widely accessible entry point, airing twelve episodes over the final months of 2018.

The Cast of Space Fishers

The story centers on six young women who train to become space fishers, each bringing a distinct background and personal motivation to the Onomichi-based program. Haru Soramachi, a seventeen-year-old from Tokyo, arrives with a deep bond to her grandmother and a fondness for cats, pursuing her dream with earnest enthusiasm. Namino Murakami, also seventeen, is the most seasoned member of the group and traces her lineage to the Murakami Navy, a sixteenth-century pirate fleet that operated across the Seto Inland Sea. Ruby Azumi, a sixteen-year-old Japanese-American kikokushijo from California, inserts herself into the group after rescuing them during a botched training session, claiming to be a spy investigating Japan's space fishing technology. Maiko Sakura, a shy girl from Akita Prefecture, hides a deeper purpose: she became a space fisher to uncover what happened to her older brother, who vanished on an expedition years earlier. Makiko Maki, from Kumamoto, joined alongside Haru and is revealed to have a complicated connection to Maiko's story through her father's government position. Makoto Mitsurugi, a sixteen-year-old from Kyoto descended from swordsmiths, pushes herself into the program to prove her worth to her family despite her own fear of water.

The Anime Adaptation

The anime television series was announced on July 25, 2017, and produced by TMS Entertainment under the direction of Atsushi Nigorikawa. Takashi Yamada handled series composition while Shūhei Yamamoto was responsible for character designs. The twelve-episode run aired from October 4 to December 20, 2018, on Tokyo MX and affiliated channels. The opening theme, "Sora to Umi no Aida," was performed by Karin Takahashi, Honoka Inoue, and Momoko Suzuki singing under their respective character names, while the ending theme, "Ao no Kanata" (meaning "Beyond the Blue"), was sung by Konomi Suzuki. For international audiences, Crunchyroll provided streaming access, and Sentai Filmworks secured licensing rights for the series. The anime ultimately became the franchise's most prominent and enduring medium, outlasting both the mobile game's service shutdown in May 2019 and the manga's serialization, which ran from September 2017 to November 2018 in Dengeki Daioh and was collected into two volumes.

Interwoven Storylines & Thematic Threads

Beneath the lighthearted premise of space fishing, the narrative weaves together several interconnected personal dramas that give the ensemble its emotional weight. Maiko Sakura's quiet determination to find her missing older brother becomes a central mystery, and the truth is inextricably linked to Makiko Maki's father, a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries employee who concealed the circumstances of the brother's disappearance during the first space fishing expedition. Namino Murakami's initial hostility toward Haru stems from a failed first mission, and her proud heritage as a descendant of the sixteenth-century Murakami Navy pirates adds a layer of historical identity to her character. Ruby Azumi's self-proclaimed spy mission to investigate Japan's space fishing technology introduces an external, almost espionage-like thread into the group's dynamic. Meanwhile, both Maiko and Makoto Mitsurugi carry a fear of water, yet both push forward into the program for deeply personal reasons—Maiko to find her brother, Makoto to prove herself to her swordsmithing family. These overlapping vulnerabilities and ambitions create a tightly knit ensemble where each character's journey illuminates the others.

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