u/theon502

Luca has a lot of telltale signs that he is being controlled or otherwise is not who he appears to be. Why does he keep falling over? The inability to walk properly has been tied to the merfolk... Furthermore his brother's plushie is a tanuki, which are known for being clumsy, deceptive shapeshifters. He also has a tanuki statue in his studio and poses with it in his social media profile. Everything about him seems off. Thoughts?

So, we're about to get Luca in episode 6, probably near the end, based on the preview shots shared by Kinema Citrus. With the halfway mark in sight, I wanted to share a prediction for the rest of the series based on some indicators spotted in the trailers.

Something you notice if you look carefully at the outfits in the PVs is that Lara has two versions of her white dress - her current look in the show, which has long sleeves and a tight neck, and a 2nd version, with cropped/rolled up sleeves and a looser neck. This version of her dress appears in several major shots in the PVs (reacting to something on a phone next to Mari, standing on a mound thing with Luca at sunset, looking up at an unknown person in tears) as well as the picture of Mari's tournament win. She's also wearing this outfit in the PV shot where she appears depressed, sitting on the shell she was reborn in (the place where Lisa + Kota visit in Episode 2 post-credits).

With all this in mind, we need to look closely at Mari's trophy. Engraved on it, it says that it was awarded on August 23rd, 2026. This date is the exact release date of episode 8. Given Lara's outfit in the picture next to the trophy, and the matching outfit in those other scenes, we can deduce that these all happen likely in the same episode or story arc. At the very least, it happens within the span of one Lara outfit change. All of that put together, we can assemble a timeline like this:

Episode 6: Lisa's backstory, Lara meets Luca as cliffhanger. Perhaps the post-credits reveals Luca is an agent of the sisters, or something like that. Maybe they just have their eyes on him. Maybe he's even one of the sisters in disguise! His name does line up with the sisters' names, after all...

Episode 7: Lara/Luca get to know eachother, Lara becomes more convinced he is the prince.

Episode 8: Mari's boxing tournament. Mari wins and they all celebrate. Afterwards, Lara meets with Luca. Here's where things can go many ways, all with the same conclusion. The way I see it, there are a few possibilities: Lara gets turned down by Luca, causing her to sink into a deep depression, resigning to the shell chamber; Luca is revealed to be an agent of the sisters, as a means to teach Lara a lesson on why humans are dangerous; or perhaps the sisters kidnap Lara. In any case, Lara goes missing.

Episode 9: Mari notices Lara is missing, finds and confronts Luca on what happened (leading to the PV shot with Mari speaking to Luca under the streetlamp). Probably she realizes her love for Lara around here too, if she didn't in Ep8. She starts looking for Lara, likely assisted by her friends and family, Gon-chan, maybe Luca too.

Episode 10-12: Here's where things start to be unclear to me. However, it stands to reason that there's mutual pining between Lara and Mari here, leading up to Mari finally locating Lara in the lakebottom chamber. All of this will probably culminate in a mutual confession, a kiss, and a restoration of Lara's family... but with the caveat that she can never return to being a mermaid. I could also see (though maybe a bit farfetched) a flash-forward to Mari and Lara living together, possibly married, as an epilogue. Lara did mention in Ep5 that she needs to *marry* a human, after all.

What are your thoughts? Any holes in this prediction? There are definitely things this prediction doesn't answer, like Grace's true motive, what the purpose of the big sky fish is, and some other bits, so I welcome your thoughts.

https://preview.redd.it/dwcib6j5qyeh1.png?width=808&format=png&auto=webp&s=22214e66ba9233438c135eafe9a5cb6987be9f75

https://preview.redd.it/3y8g6ccbqyeh1.png?width=1821&format=png&auto=webp&s=8a2d7927b9cb386c288fda56fe1b95d384caf706

https://preview.redd.it/du206m5cqyeh1.png?width=1826&format=png&auto=webp&s=59ff343c21c7008105feea33df96435f82049a4e

https://preview.redd.it/iqcbct7dqyeh1.png?width=1828&format=png&auto=webp&s=13a3fc2b6403137bf8305995840dd024ca7f464a

https://preview.redd.it/3afj72vgqyeh1.png?width=2258&format=png&auto=webp&s=82425253b6d388d1e98b111fbadb42fb206215a5

https://preview.redd.it/b3f32dshqyeh1.png?width=2260&format=png&auto=webp&s=34d6d194c0212bf253e120c952264bb77f20c726

My predictions:

1. Perhaps Luca actually likes Mari? Or maybe Mari is confronting Luca for something he has done/said to Lara
2. Lara meeting her sister on the surface for the first time. Also this shot is at 34.994113, 135.909794
3. Not really sure here, but it appears to be on Kihanminami Bridge, across the lake from Otsu
4. Seems like something important, but hard to say. I hope it's a LaraMari confession haha
5. Lara and Luca on top of something - I guess this is meant to resemble the tower in episode 1. I imagine Lara will have to come to terms with not truly loving Luca here
6. In the concept PV, the dagger opens up and Lara simultaneously grows a fin. Perhaps she will turn back into a mermaid at some point?