There are also two things I hate in anime: inconsistency and pointless overdramatizing. Much alike part 1 of the review, those things can also be found in Nagi no Asukara. Which is also the reason why it didn't make it into my top 10... and also made me question putting it into TSR, despite the obvious good points about it. All in all, I decided to go the safe way and put it in both places at once. Why? You're about to know.
Now, it's not a full, legitimate review. It's an expansion of the original review, which can be found here.
I AM AN OCEAN, I AM THE SEA
As much as I liked the visual aspects of this anime, I have to admit, it's very inconsistent. The eye candy and nice character designs being one thing, the frame errors and misplaced things seem to find their way into this anime, too. And while I praised the creators' way of settling things at a certain point in the anime, it's still a cheap way to get out of it, so there's that. Things don't change where they should, and those who watched it, will probably agree with me. It doesn't limit to the visual aspects only, mind you. The problems the teenagers face in this anime are all over the place, but said teenagers don't make the logical choices where they should. There's a whole load of stuff going on in the second part of the anime, but the things all seem to fall onto their original place, which should make no sense... or it's just me being oversensitive looking for this kind of details.
THERE IS A WORLD INSIDE OF ME
I remember watching an anime called Hatsukoi Limited. It was a very fun ride, and during it, I decided to try and put on paper all sorts of romantic feelings going on screen as a schema to keep up with it. Turns out, it was very complicated task. Nagi no Asukara reminded me of that anime, but in this case, it's not nearly as enjoyable - mainly because most of the changes seemed forced. Namely, the anime has been overdramatized, and nothing justifies it. Angel Beats taught me how much an anime can mislead from its original course of action and still feel enjoyable, Plastic Memories solidified this opinion and Nagi no Asukara... just didn't want to follow suit. From a fun blend of comedy and drama it made an U-turn for the worse, each episode getting more and more serious. In the end, I didn't even know what to treat seriously - so much was going on the screen and not all of it has ever been tackled.
LOST IN THE ABYSS, DROWNED IN THE DEEP
This paragraph will contain spoilers, so don't even uncover this bit if you wanted to see the anime - and you have all kinds of reasons to do so.
[spoiler]Nagi no Asukara has earned my great respect. It used something that can't be found in your ordinary anime - namely, time skip. After the ceremony in the middle of the anime, we're left with a huge cliffhanger. The next episode everything seems strangely normal... but, it's already five years later. And it's no ordinary time skip, either. Some of the characters haven't aged or changed in any way because of something else going on, the calamity is still happening (and, connected to it, is my question regarding the plot that hasn't been answered, namely - why did the students wake up if the calamity wasn't meant to end soon?) and drama keeps on getting pushed because of our love polygon that got modified a great deal. And it's my biggest problem with the anime. Nothing seems to ever end, even if the ending of the anime seems to close a few chapters, if not all. The anime doesn't treat all of the characters equally fair, either. The very last episode made me, legitimately, scream in agony to the wall, worrying the neighbors. I couldn't believe such a good anime, that made me wait in anticipation for each consecutive episode (even though I haven't been watching it ongoing), got so royally screwed towards the end. Wasted, if you will.[/spoiler]
NO SET OF LUNGS COULD SALVAGE ME
All in all, I liked Nagi no Asukara. I liked it so much I refused to write a review right after watching it not to disrespect it - and, trust me, I was really light on this one; I initially wanted to write a 10-page long article on how much I hated the way they ended it. I think it's a good watch, if not for the few things that take away from the original focal. Will definitely live up to your expectations... at least, until the last episode comes and makes you feel otherwise.
Oh, also. I hate doing spoiler-free reviews. I didn't mention the characters nearly at all because of that. I might edit it. Sometime.
And, yes, no score for this one. Because it went from a strong 10 to a weak 5 in a matter of one episode, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to objectively judge it.
Judgement: THERE IS A HEAVEN, LET'S KEEP IT A SECRET