Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
astersatnoon
Goodbye Lara is a beautiful little seasonal, set for the summer season all about hope. And boy oh boy did I have hopes too large for this show.
To preface this, I do believe goodbye Lara is fantastic - in theory - but falls short in execution - the main reason being the 12 episode time constraint that squeezes this show so much it deflates and leave you unsatisfied.
TBH if this show had more episodes, I'm sure it could have been so well executed that it could be considered 'anime of the year', and that was the thought I had before witnessing the horror show that was the ending of ep 11, knowing the far too large chunk of meat episode 12 failed to digest.
The main conflict in the show is Lara, herself, her identity and her relationships, and most importantly of all, her fate!
Goodbye Lara,…
Read at the sourcesss999
Yuri (girls romance)
I was really disappointed by the ending of this show. The marketing only labeled it as a standard 'Romance' and 'Fantasy,' so I expected a traditional story about a boy and a girl. Instead, the creators used the romance tag as a trick to hide a Yuri plotline.
For me personally, I believe that men and women were naturally created for one another, and I prefer watching stories that reflect that traditional bond. I felt misled because the tags didn't accurately warn viewers about the direction of the romance. If you are looking for a standard male-female love story, I highly recommend skipping this one."
So, I really hate this type of anime and manga. I hate the mindset of people who say, “Romance is romance—it can be between two boys or two girls.” I just don’t under…
Read at the source2Rosenblue
Edit: It's ironic that there are people offended by my review yet there is a review where someone expressed disliking this series mainly because the main character was in a yuri-like relationship. I stand by what I said and I won't change my mind on the matter. I find it weird how some people complain about No.6's shounen-ai elements and Gnosia's romantic subtext/undertones yet are defensive of this series. For years people complained that No.6 has BL undertones and two kiss scenes between male characters but now this same community wants to defend one of the worst anime of the year. Good luck with that "trend hoppers". Lmao
Disclosure/warning:
I will try my best not to spoil the series too much but please be aware that there will be some minor spoilers as my review continues.
Unlike maj…
Read at the sourceTRIDIUM
Yuri fans, don't do it. I'm telling you. Just don't.
I'm writing this review as someone who's opinion of a show heavily relies on the ending.
The first 11 episodes are amazing. Art direction is beautiful, it's genuinely the best looking show of this year. I love the soundtrack and it elevates a lot of the emotional moments. All the characters are super charming and just generally oozes with personality.
Unfortunately, the ending is terrible. Truly awful. I won't spoil it but there are several decisions made that I'm just genuinely confused by.
Not only does the last episode suck, it makes the rest of the series feel pointless.
If you're not a romance fan or don't really care about that stuff, then you might get something out of the show. Like I said, everything leading up to the e…
Read at the sourceP_F_V
High production value, exquisitely directed modern fairy tale, an easy recommendation… but not quite everything I wanted it to be?
I have no complaints about the visuals. From beginning to end, it’s colorful and evocative. No expense spared. The lights of summer glow in every shot, from the heavy middays, to the radiant twilights, to the gentle streetlights after dark, only muted in the depths of the deep from whence Lara came. The teardrops and bits of foam linger on the screen, still in motion.
Lara is adorable, of course, running around town with her bright red braid and her reattached tongue. Her quest to self-actualize is starts with the classic fish-out-of-water tropes, but then progresses to the harder questions as the plot progresses. Her arc is a bit slow, but the characters she…
Read at the sourceLesbean
I haven't logged into this site in 3 years, and I decided to do so solely to rate this anime poorly. This was shaping up to be one of my favorite shows of all time - art, storyline, characters were all fantastic, like Ghibli meets Ikuhara - but the ending completely destroyed everything it had spent 12 episodes carefully building up. I genuinely can't believe how botched the final 5 minutes were, my God! Did someone else write the ending specifically? Someone who hates GL and the show's audience? I'm still in disbelief.
I think it's worth watching if you're willing to turn it off 75% through the final episode and make up your own ending, but if you're like me and still have nightmares about the ending of Wonder Egg Priority, I wouldn't waste your time on this slop.
Read at the sourceACertainSilhou
We can't have anything. I am sick of relationships between women not being developed properly or sidelined for a male lead. People don't take our love seriously and see it as a silly game you will grow out of. If this was a yaoi or a BL then I know that Mari and Lara would've kissed and it would be so clear to the audience that they are together but because they're women no one cares.
I am so disappointed by whatever it is I have just seen. I had hopes up to about episode 10 of this anime, thinking we may finally get a yuri love story that is clear to the viewer that the characters are together. Then episode 11 came out and still no yuri. Then episode 12 dropped and it all turned out to be for nothing. We were promised a yuri anime that wasn't generic yet we were served one of the most ge…
Read at the sourceAndrewapps
Story: 3
Characters: 5
Animation: 7.5
Sound: 7
Enjoyment: 3
Overall: 5.1/10
P.S. - Watched with Amp.
Notes: A Ghibli film in practically all regards, with style over substance and magical wonder over properly explaining the world, and love/friendship fixes all problems and hatred/ugly emotions are the source of all strife/evil. Frankly, it's just not my cup of tea. Just like practically all Ghibli films, I was simply... whelmed. It was fine. Mediocre. Consumable. Yet entirely unmemorable, and that is a far bigger insult than being good or bad, in my opinion. Good shows stick with me forever, bad shows entertain me via watching a metaphorical train wreck occur, but mediocre shows just... exist. I will surely go through my list one day in the future, or come across it randomly on a forum o…
Read at the sourceOGKriss88
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. (felt so betrayed we had to leave our first review)
Biggest set up for absolutely nothing to happen. The animation was amazing, but the storyline revolved around Lara finding true love only for her to not love anyone in the end (or at least not say or show that she does). Luca was the most correct about Lara's personality, she's just unpredictable to be unpredictable. No reason behind her final actions whatsoever. Wasted 6 hrs of our lives to be sincerely disappointed at the resolution.
ONLY REDEEMING PLOT IS GRACE'S (although Lara not completing her arc results in Grace not having a resolution either but let's ignore that lol)
Read at the sourceJohn_Banana
My relationship with yuri has been turbulent, to say the least. On one hand, I truly wish yuri would be something more meaningful than just pure fetishism. On the other hand, yuri that focuses on romance tends to be sappy, melodramatic, and pretentious. The latter particularly ends up as shallow, with the main duo being characterized solely by love and nothing else, like Bloom into You. The fetishistic kinds at least pay more attention towards the entertainment value rather than hyperfocusing on the “love” by constantly having acting chummy with each other like an insecure lesbian couple. That’s why the best yuri, to me, incorporates other elements into the show, like Madoka Magica or Flip Flappers to some extent, making the yuri part secondary or as bait. Luckily, this season Goodbye Lara…
Read at the sourcegingerholic
I honestly don't know what I just watched - this show is all over the place with the overarching theme being "finding the light to save the kingdom!" but everything is executed in a half assed fashion. The villain is not as evil as Ursula from Disney's The Little Mermaid and after twelve episodes I still don't get what makes Lara so special; she's more like a wishy washy Ariel dating a weak/femboy Eric that ends up liking her female friend (however the yuri isn't convincing either; Lara seems equivalent to a newly hatched chick who latched onto the first human that was nice to her).
This anime is basically the shoujo version of Seraph of the End with the same inherent flaw where the characters keep repeating the overambitious goal of saving the world/kingdom over and over to instill in yo…
Read at the sourceToastyyyAura
I found my years old account just to leave a review on this whole journey. It was Yuribait to such a high capacity.
Every reddit post I have seen feels the exact same if not very similar, the 11 episodes leading up to the ending were AMAZING. The music, the character/story development, the climax it was hinting towards, and ESPECIALLY THE YURI THAT WAS BEING BUILT UP. Throughout the entire show, it gives signs and supporting details that support EVERYONE'S thought that LaraXMari is going to happen in some capacity. The Epilogue to EP12 destroyed everything that was built up throughout the 11 episodes, not just in the romance between them but with the development of Lara as a character and the life she was building and learning to be apart of with Mari and her family. The ending was great,…
Read at the sourceCaptainKenshiro
Hey Fred! Gimme a Little Mermaid taking place in the contemporary world, but hold the prince, we’ll make it so the mermaid won’t be in love with him.
Hold the prince?
And hold the evil witch, she’s not really gonna be evil but rather misunderstood.
Hold the evil w-?
Hey Jimmy! Gimme a Little Mermaid with nutn!
Nutting??
Ok no, truth is Sayonara Lara does keep the original story but rushes through it in its first episode, and to be honest it doesn’t do a bad job at it, keeping the basics and even featuring moments of silence, letting the visuals do the job. It’s not like it can’t be done in such a short runtime, Russia did it in the 60s with the most serious tone and the darkest aesthetics out of all the versions I’ve seen of it, which is why I consider it the best of all.
The thing is…
Read at the sourceFireSalamander
A truly remarkable show. I went into it with basically no expectations. Just thought it looked fun and would probably make me feel a bit nostalgic. But it truly blew me away. I was in awe of it since the very first episode, and it kept on building on that wonderful premise, yet still managed to positively surprise me at every turn.
Throughout the whole show the visual storytelling was absolutely phenomenal. I don't think I've ever watched a show where the direction had so much... personality? I don't know how to describe it, but it's so vivid. The colors, the framing, the movements. It's all so addicting. It's a show that doesn't just demand your full attention, but captures it seamlessly. And just to reinstate, it's not just a pretty package. It's part of the story. You can't truly appr…
Read at the sourceAleitora
I won't lie and say the anime is terrible. The visuals are beautiful—very reminiscent of the 90s—and it features a great soundtrack, solid animation, and engaging characters and storytelling. The show balances drama, comedy, and moments of reflection very well, making for a truly enjoyable journey; however, the ending didn't live up to the quality of the preceding eleven episodes. The conclusion of Episode 12 felt rushed and lacked clarity, leaving many loose ends—especially regarding Lara's family. Furthermore, the events of the final ten minutes seemed to undo the entire plot, including the confirmation of the "supposed" main couple. It’s as if all her drama and her quest to find and save something ultimately amounted to nothing, you know? I felt the writing took the coward's way out, fa…
Read at the sourcekhaya_ya
the series started off well, i was interested in Lara's character and her relationship with Mari and the other characters, but i personally found the show to be running on a treadmill. running but not *really* going anywhere. i believe it really suffers from the modern day curse of anime and live action shows being 8-12 episodes long, the characters are barely developed enough enough to make something somewhat enjoyable. i was really looking forward to the final episode, and it was good, up until the last like 5 minutes where it left me feeling disappointed and with more questions than answers. i recommend it for the art, Lara and Mari specifically, but be prepared for a mid epilogue
Read at the sourceLuroon
This show opens remarkably well. A recap of the original Little Mermaid mythology, combined with some original storytelling, sets up an inviting show.
However, the viewing experience is inconsistent. Some episodes are genuinely engaging, pulling you in with the characters' backstories and motivations, while others fall disappointingly flat and are, at times, dull. The pacing never quite finds its footing, and the narrative rises and falls, focusing on characters who simply aren't as compelling as others in the cast.
The characters are perhaps the most telling symptom of this inconsistency. Grace and Lisa are the clear standouts: they are compelling, layered, and worth following. It is often difficult to flesh out a character within such a short runtime, but these two were handled very we…
Read at the sourcesss999
Yuri (girls romance)
I was really disappointed by the ending of this show. The marketing only labeled it as a standard 'Romance' and 'Fantasy,' so I expected a traditional story about a boy and a girl. Instead, the creators used the romance tag as a trick to hide a Yuri plotline.
For me personally, I believe that men and women were naturally created for one another, and I prefer watching stories that reflect that traditional bond. I felt misled because the tags didn't accurately warn viewers about the direction of the romance. If you are looking for a standard male-female love story, I highly recommend skipping this one."
So, I really hate this type of anime and manga. I hate the mindset of people who say, “Romance is romance—it can be between two boys or two girls.” I just don’t under…
Read at the sourceabystoma2
Being loosely inspired by Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, this anime offers not just eye-catching visuals, but also an intriguing story.
Sayonara Lara isn’t an isekai, despite said mermaid ending up in modern Japan. It also isn’t exactly a reincarnation, as despite us learning from the start that the heroine has already died once, she is given new chance back in her body, back in her mind and back in the same reality. The one thing Sayonara Lara borrows from these often cliché-riddled subgenres is simply the narrative element of main character being lost in a world she doesn’t understand and having to learn even basic common sense. Okay, one more thing, she gets a mission assigned. But it is no slaying of the demon lord – it’s to find a true love. Alright alright I can already see some of…
Read at the sourceMarinate1016
Let’s make the little mermaid, but make it Japanese and gay. That’s surely the thought process going through Kinema Citrus’ staff heads when they made Sayolara and thank God it was because this was amazing, an absolute masterpiece from start to finish with some of the best direction and most emotionally charged writing of the year. Not a single dull episode in an original anime like this is wild, but it’s a testament to the staff who worked on this because it oozes with love and passion. It’s a visual masterpiece as well as a thought provoking ideological struggle of choosing between one’s past and one’s future that doesn’t really paint either side as right or wrong and requires you to use your brain and come to your own conclusion. Not to mention having one of the more lovable protagonist…
Read at the source