Someone has asked me to watch Grand Blue Dreaming around this early quarters of this year, I managed to finish it all because I don't like leaving anything, even a movie, halfway. I won't say it was interesting, but it has good comedy, yeah, I like the vibes, especially with the diving lessons they were giving in the series, so yeah, that was what kept me watching.
So Grand Blue Dreaming is a story about Iori Kitahara, who moves to the Izu Peninsula for college, carrying all these big dreams about what his campus life is going to look like, you know the usual script, good grades, cute girls, falling in love, enjoying the so called pinnacle of youth with good friends, he moves in to live above his uncle's diving shop, which is actually called Grand Blue, and he has got his two cousins there too, Nanaka and Chisa, on paper, this sounds like the setup for a sweet, wholesome coming of age story, maybe some gentle romance too, maybe some character growth, that is not what you get.
Because attached to this diving shop is a local diving club called Peek a Boo, and these guys are nothing like what Iori has signed up for mentally, Instead of serious, disciplined divers teaching him the ropes properly, he is met with a group of buff, loud, hard drinking men who are far more interested in partying, stripping, and chaos than actually focusing on diving itself, and somehow, through an absolutely ridiculous strip rock paper scissors battle of all things, Iori gets pulled straight into this madness and ends up joining the club himself.
From that point forward, the show basically becomes one long chain of drunken misadventures, every episode just throws in some new chaotic situation, whether it is the club getting completely wasted, random slapstick fights breaking out, or Iori's poor, normal college dreams getting derailed over and over again by his increasingly unhinged friend group, If you came in expecting a slow romantic college drama, you will be very confused very quickly, because this show leans hard into frat house, animal House style comedy instead.
Now here is where I have to be honest about my own experience with it, I wouldn't call this show gripping in the way some other anime pull you in emotionally, there is no deep plot thread keeping you on edge, no mystery unraveling episode by episode, nothing like that. It's genuinely just vibes and chaos, episode after episode, but I still finished it, because once I start something, I need to see it through, even if I am not fully obsessed with it along the way.
What actually made the watch worthwhile for me was the comedy itself, it is genuinely funny in that exaggerated, over the top way these guys act, drinking way too much, getting into ridiculous situations, somehow always escalating a simple college night into full blown disaster, I found myself laughing more than I expected to, honestly.
But if I'm being real, the parts that kept me actually invested were the diving scenes, underneath all the drinking and nonsense, this show does take time to show actual diving lessons, proper technique, the discipline behind it, what it is like learning to dive step by step, and I genuinely enjoyed that part the most, It gave the show a nice contrast, chaos on land, calm focus underwater, and that balance is what made me stick around episode after episode instead of dropping it halfway.
So like this , does it mean i would I call Grand Blue Dreaming one of my favorite anime ever? no, not really, It didn't leave me emotionally invested or desperate for more the way some other series have done , but it is got really good comedic energy, a distinct vibe, and those diving lesson moments gave it just enough substance to keep me entertained the whole way through, sometimes you do not need a show to be deeply moving, you just need it to be fun enough to finish, and this one managed to do exactly that for me.
IMDB
