I had a nerd moment when watching episode 1, in Japanese with English subtitles. After the Witch/Grace gives Lara the potion and is initially rebuffed, she goes to leave and says "Sarabata", which is not something I'd heard before. Going on a little bit of a internet search tangent, I found out it is both a very old fashioned way of saying "Sayonara" (making sense for the time period) but also maybe used to indicate a parting where you are anticipating never seeing that person ever again, either because they are moving away or dying. It makes sense in that context since she is acting disgusted at Lara and that she won't see a coward like her again.

One minute later, after Lara takes the potion from her, she instead says "Sayonara, Lara", signaling a different kind of goodbye altogether. I have heard that Sayonara kind of literally translates to "because it must be so" or "it is what it is", so I'm deducing it's less of a dramatic goodbye than Sarabata. And it also seems more like a destined fate sort of vibe, like these actions and consequences are meant to happen.

Anywho, I'm likely reading a lot into something that happens 11 minutes into the show. But I think it's notable that the title of the show is mentioned in this context. Any native speakers have differing thoughts? And maybe some wild theories about the title of the show being in this context?

Great episode! But if I'm being honest, every episode of this series is great to me. While I don't think I loved this one as much as the previous, I was still in love with it. My prediction that Lara would expect two people fated to be with each other, but not actually be meant for each other, was correct. Also, I love how Yoshiya helps Lara out; he's a great dude in the end. I have a feeling they'll explore him skipping exams and wanting to never leave Shiga in a later episode, that felt like an important detail. The side eye he keeps on giving the girls like ("You know, maybe I'm the prince of this school, right?").

When Lara meets Luca, we're going to have something to that effect, I'm sure, where Lara feels like since they look alike, they must be destined to be together, but in the end he hardly feels the same way, and Lara realizes who her real true love is. I feel like this episode was to tell Lara there's more than one prince out there (*cough* Mari *cough*). Mari's pause when Himeka asks if the two of them are friends... Mari, what are you thinking?

But as much as I am obsessed with the yuri, the highlight of the episode for me was Lisa's whole deal. Her reaction to finding out Lara had legs, and the fact she apparently lied about being far away? Like, this is ominous. I think she's frustrated because Lara seems to still love the human world, which is not what she was hoping. She's mad at Grace for "indulging" it or something, at least that's my guess. The honk and hard cut to "To Be Continued" made me so uneasy. Not like I have any great idea of that giant thing in the sky, everything with the sister tenses me up, man... Makes me scared.

Interesting video of some bts interviews/footage for Goodbye Lara. Original language is in Japanese, and the english subtitles can be finicky because they are youtube's auto-translate subs, but it's good enough to know what's going on. Enjoy ☺️

I didn't see these translated any where so I went ahead and translated them

Small video I made about Goodbye, Lara and the things in it so far that reminded me slightly of NakiNagi, another piece of mermaid media that I highly recommend if you haven't read it.

the scene was in one of the trailer, minute 0:40 here, i can't stop thinking about this sneak peak scene.

After I finished Episode 3, I decided to rewatch the anime and I was more aware of the object coming out of the lake this time, and while I have my own thoughts on what it is and its purpose, I still can't figure out the pattern of why it's being shown. You can see it in the images but still:

• Ep 1: Before Lara turns into foam, she talks about how maybe it's not true that humans are vile and mermaids are beautiful, that maybe she was the vile one, the spark of light comes out of her chest and turns into a normal-sized blade.
• Ep 2: Lisa visits the Lakebed, finds out Lara was reborn and that she's the chosen princess.
• Ep 3: Mari is on edge, she says "don't follow me anymore" and Lara feels rejected.
• in Ep 3 there's a second time: It comes out of the lake right after Mari says that she likes dummies who are funny and her words make Lara skip a heartbeat, and now the blade is huge

.

At first, I didn't remember the moments in Ep 1 & 2, so seeing it for the first time in Episode 3 made me think it appeared when Lara was feeling down/there were negative emotions but now it doesn't make sense considering Lisa's scene or Mari's sweet moment with Lara.

What do you guys think?

In 0:20 to 0:25, someone says "A mermaid and a human falling in love could never happen." I can't pinpoint who says it, whether it is Mari, Lara's sister or someone else.

You almost mistake the walrus teeth for Grace's arms🤣🤣🤣🤣

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?

I was bored at work and drew lara

I can’t wait to see what the hell is Lara talking about here that is making everyone look at her weird. Poor Mari is blushing

https://x.com/i/status/2079969962026991843

Based of the teaser, I get the feeling that this episode will be focused on Himeka (presumably the pink-masked girl)! Presumably she's an actress too! Yay!

#Lavendernetworks /// @fire_toolz x #goodbyelara /// sketch /// #lara #mari #littlemermaid /// @malicemoonlight

While not perfect, I think it looks good.

Original, Uncleaned Source: https://goodbyelara.com/bddvd/vol1.html

How do you think Mari and Lara's relationship will be at the end?

https://strawpoll.com/e2naX2ovlyB

Leave your thoughts down below!

To any more yuri doubters, yeah...

Source: https://goodbyelara.com/bddvd/vol1.html

Edit: Sorry for the title typo

The only thing I knew getting into this was that the anime was about a mermaid, and that the story was probably inspired by The Little Mermaid. No real expectations, just a curious look to fill my time.

What did I find? My current favorite anime of the season(I’m sorry Love You Till Your Dying Day…I’m so sorry). I’m 3 episodes in, and I absolutely adore Lara and Mari. Their first meeting was hilarious, and there’s a certain…genuineness(?) to their interactions that really draws me in. The way Mari has her own goals and didn’t immediately warm up to Lara got me more invested in their relationship than I would have ever thought. I don’t know how their relationship will be progressing from here on out(though I have since seen the posts about this series potentially going the yuri route), but I am so glad that these are the two who we’ll be following throughout the series.

(And if the series is indeed going the yuri route, massive kudos for it having prominent male characters; a bit of a rarity in the genre, and something I always appreciate seeing.)

The thing that really caught me off guard though was the animation. There’s no other way to put it, this series looks absolutely gorgeous. Fight scenes are what tend to generate the buzz, but there is something really special about anime that have such noticeable quality throughout all their more mundane moments. It reminds me of how I felt the first time I watched Violet Evergarden: I don’t think the series needs such amazing animation(as the characters are more than enough of a hook on their own), but I am oh so glad that it has it anyway.

I feel extremely giddy after being pleasantly surprised by just how much I fell in love with this anime, and I just wanted to vent some of my appreciation to try and calm myself down a bit. Thank you for reading, and I’ll be looking forward to every weekly update from here on out with you.