 O-rin, Yuta |
O-rin is the only child of the chieftan of a small fishing village. Her father became very ill and she was forced to take over the leadership of the village, and to lead the voyages to collect tolls and cargo from passing ships. She dresses as a male most of the time, in a tunic with Japanese armor. However, she also occasionally dresses as a female, especially once Yuta arrives. O-rin's people have an enemy; the Sakagami pirates. | The first story of the Mermaid Saga takes place in the Medieval or "Civil War" period of Japan. |
| Isago is a mermaid who had been kidnapped by and forced to marry the leader of the Sakagami Pirates. She is searching for a mermaid so that she can feed on its flesh to nourish the mer-child growing inside of her. She purposely feeds the mermaid flesh to the Sakagami Pirates, knowing that they will be transformed into monsters (only one person in thousands can become immortal) and also tries to kill Yuta, O-Rin, and O-Rin's father. |  O-rin, shipmates |
|
 O-rin's Ship, Enemy ship |
O-rin falls in love with Yuta and assists him on his quest to find a mermaid with the hopes that if he returned to normal he would be able to marry her and settle down to help lead the village. Yuta says in this story, after being killed, that this was "the fifth time I've come back too life." Yuta falls in love with O-Rin, but he has to leave her because he is immortal and can't stand to stay and watch her grow old and die as did his first wife. |  O-rin |
