Tinjauan film Chiikawa the Movie: Misteri Pulau Duyung: Ternyata mengejutkan dan sangat emosional!

Ini ulasan berisi spoiler untuk film Chiikawa: Misteri Pulau Putri Duyung.

Saat layar film Chiikawa: Misteri Pulau Putri Duyung mulai menampilkan credits dan lampu teater menyala, saya teringat pada beberapa hal.

Saya ingat bagaimana lagu penutup, Tsukue Sasaru, yang dibawakan oleh pengisi suara karakter Chiikawa, Haruka Aoki, terasa sangat pas saat dipadukan dengan ilustrasi para karakter Chiikawa yang baru saja kembali dari petualangan mereka.

Saya ingat ada tulisan di layar yang meminta penonton untuk tidak bergegas keluar agar bisa menyaksikan adegan post-credits. Setelah lebih dari satu setengah jam di bioskop bersama Chiikawa dan teman-temannya, saya dengan senang hati ingin melihat lebih banyak.

Saya ingat melirik ke kiri dan kanan dan melihat wajah-wajah penonton yang tampak bingung, seolah mereka sedang berusaha mencerna apa yang baru saja mereka saksikan. Rasanya tidak ada penonton dewasa yang keluar bioskop dengan wajah tersenyum.

Kemudian adegan post-credits muncul, dan saya mendengar suara terkejut yang keluar dari bibir para penonton di bioskop.

Apa sebenarnya alasan Chiikawa, Hachiware, dan Usagi diundang ke pulau itu?

CHIIKAWA THE MOVIE: THE SECRET OF THE MERMAID ISLAND ✨
Di Bioskop | 28 Agustus
Nonton petualangan Chiikawa di layar lebar untuk pertama kalinya!🌊 ˎˊ˗#CHIIKAWA #ChiikawaTheMovie pic.twitter.com/2CAr2zW3DX

Bukan Hanya Karakter yang Menggemaskan

Chiikawa (singkatan dari Nanka Chiisakute Kawaii Yatsu, yang artinya ‘sesuatu yang kecil dan imut’) bukan karya biasa. Serial ini dibuat oleh nagano sebagai komik web yang diunggah di Twitter/X, dan menjadi viral sekitar tahun 2020 sebelum diadaptasi menjadi anime pendek pada tahun 2022. Karakter-karakter dari serial Chiikawa juga sangat populer sebagai maskot, dan muncul dalam berbagai bentuk boneka, mainan, serta merchandise. Bahkan di beberapa negara di Asia, merchandise Chiikawa bisa dibilang hampir sepopuler merchandise karakter Sanrio.

Chiikawa also gained a large fanbase because of its deep and surprising storyline elements. The world where Chiikawa and friends such as Hachiware (Makoto Tanaka) and Usagi (Ari Ozawa) live in contains fairly dark and adult themes. Small creatures like Chiikawa must work to earn a living, including jobs like “exterminating” giant monsters with the risk of being eaten. Despite their cuteness, the Chiikawa characters have to struggle to survive in a gig economy, just like many of their fans.

It feels inaccurate, though, to label Chiikawa as purely a “dark” story. While it does contain serious elements, they’re not that different from those found in children’s story collections like Aesop’s Fables or Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Sure, there’s always something frightening behind the scenes, but Chiikawa remains a charming and funny series about small creatures doing their best to have fun and be happy, despite life’s hardships. If it weren’t, the series probably wouldn’t be so popular, and fans wouldn’t eagerly await new episodes each week to be “healed” by Chiikawa and friends’ laughter‑filled tales. Chiikawa is many things: sometimes funny, sometimes cute, sometimes scary, but always leaves a deep impression and makes viewers think.

Chiikawa reminds me of works like Astro Boy, Doraemon, or even Nekojiru. It can also be compared to Dark Souls, not only because both worlds are dark and gloomy, but also because the story contains “negative space” where followers can discover hidden meanings and implications of what isn’t directly shown.

All those elements were already present in the Chiikawa comics and animations. So when Chiikawa launched its first long‑form story arc, later adapted into the film The Secret of The Mermaid Island, audiences thought they were ready for whatever surprises lay ahead.

At least, that’s what people thought at the time.

Tidak Hanya Sebuah Petualangan Musim Panas Biasa

Chiikawa the Movie and its “Siren Arc” storyline differ slightly from previous Chiikawa tales, as the “dark” elements that were previously untouched are now presented in a way that’s hard to ignore. As a self‑declared hardcore Chiikawa fan, I even found it difficult not to leave the theater bewildered and wonder, “What exactly did I just watch?”

Much like Chiikawa, this film is many things. It starts as a summer adventure to an island, but then shifts into a murder mystery. One day, Chiikawa and friends receive an invitation to an island promising food and well‑paid work. Upon arrival, they realize the invitation is actually a distress call from the islanders, asking them to eliminate a Siren (Suzuki Minori), a giant creature who kidnaps and vanishes residents. The situation becomes more complicated when it turns out the Siren is seeking revenge: an islander had kidnapped and eaten one of its fellow merpeople, and it won’t stop until it discovers who the culprit is.

It’s not wrong to think this film feels like a kaiju movie where gigantic monsters punish humans for their actions, and indeed it does. The film tackles common themes found in similar movies, such as who is truly at fault and who bears guilt. Meanwhile, Chiikawa and friends are caught in a dilemma between the Siren’s conflict and the islanders’ quest for justice. Who should be held accountable for what happened? What is the truth behind the conflict, and is that truth worth revealing? Does the aggrieved party have the right and justification to seek revenge? What can be done to resolve all the problems, if they can be resolved at all?

Chiikawa the Movie makes viewers ponder these questions deeply without feeling out of place, and it’s a film that can also be enjoyed by children. From each character’s funny moments, the thrilling chase scenes with the Siren, the colorful rap sequences, to the scene where the culprit is revealed that leaves viewers sweating, everything feels like a fitting part of the same film. Regardless of what I’ve written, the movie is really fun to watch, and many scenes made me smile and laugh. The “Siren Arc” story also marks the first time all Chiikawa characters appear together in one narrative, and as a fan, I was thrilled to see them assemble like an Avengers team. However, the film’s conclusion, as well as the post‑credits scene, still left my emotions in disarray and made me need to reflect.

But maybe it’s not right for me to focus only on the “dark” and heavy parts of the film.

The review of Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island continues on the next page.

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Terimakasih sudah mengunjungi thecuy. 🙂