Mermaid Forest VHS
There was also an LD edition of Mermaid Forest released by U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media). I don't know what the original store price was. The LD is subtitled, like the tape.
Essentially the "Mermaid Forest" anime is the same story as the Mermaid Forest manga. The only additions are a bit of Yuta's history that was taken from A Mermaid Never Smiles, the first story in the Mermaid Saga.
Mermaid Forest LD
In the beginning of the anime, we see Yuta get shot by some soldiers. What's going on? I used The Anime Companion by Gilles Poitras (Stone Bridge Press, 1999) as a reference. Thanks Peter for lending it to me!
"February 26, 1936: On this date, a military rebellion took place in Tokyo. Many major political figures were killed. There were reports that Prime Minister Okada Keisuke was dead, but it turned out that it was his brother-in-law who had been shot. The rebellion failed, and many of its leaders were executed. The military was given greater power by fearful civilian politicians, and this contributed to the rise of a military dictatorship. - The beginning of Mermaid Forest takes place during the coup attempt. -"
This part NEVER happened in the manga, to the best of my knowledge. Other differences include that we get to see how "Shiro", Towa's dog, gets turned into a "lost soul" (called "the poisoned" in the anime), and the Doctor commits suicide with Towa. Things that WERE in the manga, but were left out in the anime: Towa's being imprisoned in the basement while Sawa married and had children, and Mana gets killed by being hit by a truck (in the anime she falls of a cliff).
