Goodbye, Lara (Japanese: さよならララ, Hepburn: Sayonara Rara) is an original Japanese anime television series created and animated by Kinema Citrus for the studio's 15th anniversary, announced as one of the studio's two works at the 2024 Anime Central convention in Chicago, Illinois. A modern reimagining of "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, the series follows Lara, a mermaid princess who is resurrected to modern day Japan to rediscover true love and and rescue her kingdom. It premiered in July 2026.
Contents
Plot
Lara, a mermaid princess who is beloved by her father, the Sea King, and her sisters, enters into a forbidden love with a human prince and aspires to live with him on land. She drinks a potion created by Grace to become a human and lives with the prince, while being warned the potion expires if she fails to experience true love. However, the prince rejects Lara after learning she is a mermaid, and she vanishes into foam due to the potion's effects and discovers her kingdom has collapsed. Lara is resurrected in Lake Biwa two hundred years later under a trial set by Grace, and she sets out to find true love again and rescue her kingdom.
Characters
Lara (ララ, Rara)
Voiced by: Hana Hishikawa (Japanese); Brianna Knickerbocker (English)
A mermaid princess who is resurrected two hundred years later in Lake Biwa as part of a trial set by Grace to find true love again to restore her fallen kingdom. Like "The Little Mermaid", Lara rescues and falls in love with a human prince, which leads her making a deal with a sea witch to become a human in exchange for her voice, with the price that she will vanish into foam if she fails to make the prince return her love. Unlike its ending, the anime provides an original continuation.
Mari Otsu (大津 茉里, Ōtsu Mari)
Voiced by: Nana Kawaishi (Japanese); Anairis Quiñones (English)
A high school girl who lives in Ōtsu and is a national-level boxer. She lost her mother at a young age and allows Lara to live in her home. While Mari seems not to care about Lara at first, Mari comes to understand Lara's upbringing as a mermaid and transformation into a human. She teaches Lara how to live as one in the modern world's environment.
Grace (グレイス, Gureisu)
Voiced by: Rica Fukami, Yui Ogura (young) (Japanese); Tiana Camacho (English)
A banished sea witch and Lara's aunt who challenges her in a trial to find true love and has a hatred for authority. In the modern world, Grace has taken the form of a fish owned by Mari and is named "Gon-chan".
Lisa (リサ, Risa)
Voiced by: Minami Tsuda (Japanese); Cat Protano (English)
Lara's caring older sister who is searching for her following Lara's resurrection. She currently maintains a human form, but still harbors doubts and resentments on interactions between humans and merfolk following years of captivity as a museum exhibit, with the extreme trauma following her captivity causing her to develop severe nyctophobia.
Rowan (ローワン, Rōwan)
Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma, Shimba Tsuchiya (young) (Japanese); Brook Chalmers (English)
The Sea King and the father of Lara and her sisters. He greatly resents humans after they had killed Rigmor.
Luca (ルカ, Ruka)
Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Japanese); Kieran Regan (English)
A boy whom Lara meets after her resurrection. He bears a physical resemblance to the human prince Lara loved in the past, though he is otherwise different in personality. He has a younger brother named Leo and spends his free time painting abstract artworks.
Kota (コータ, Kōta)
Voiced by: Kazutomi Yamamoto (Japanese); Jonathon Ha (English)
A devoted acquaintance of Lisa who freed her after a fire engulfed the museum she was imprisoned in. They once took the form of an anglerfish during Lisa and Lara's time as mermaids before turning into a human after stealing the remainder of Grace's potions. They also claim to know Lara, despite the latter not recognizing them.
Yoshiya Otsu (大津 祥弥, Ōtsu Yoshiya)
Voiced by: Tomohiro Ōno (Japanese); John Patneaude (English)
Mari's older brother. He also studies in the same school as her, though he tends to skip classes.
Makoto Otsu (大津 誠, Ōtsu Makoto)
Voiced by: Mitsuaki Madono (Japanese); Bill Millsap (English)
Mari and Yoshiya's father who has a hobby as a freelance photographer.
Ema Otsu (大津 江万, Ōtsu Ema)
Voiced by: Nanae Sumitomo (Japanese); Tara Sands (English)
Mari and Yoshiya's grandmother who works as a church pastor and gently watches over the children with Makoto.
Rigmor (リグモア, Rigumoa)
Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara
The queen of the kingdom and Grace's twin sister. She would marry Rowan and become the mother of Lara, Lisa, and their sisters. She sacrificed herself to protect Grace from vengeful humans.
Production and release
Goodbye, Lara is directed by Takushi Koide with series compostion by Anna Kawahara, Shiori Tani designing the characters and Yuma Yamaguchi composing the music. The series premiered on July 6, 2026, on Tokyo MX and other networks. Shiga Prefecture was used as the basis of the anime's modern day setting, which is Koide's hometown. Koide said that the anime's story was based on "The Little Mermaid". During his talk at Anime Expo 2026, he mentioned that Goodbye, Lara was an original project that he wanted to do.
The opening theme song is "Sayonara Lara" (さよならララ), performed by Ikimonogakari, while the ending theme song is "Hearts Glow", performed by Hana Hope. Portions of the opening were drawn using traditional cel animation.
Crunchyroll is streaming the series.
Screening
The first episode was shown in a special screening event at Otsu City Hall on June 30, 2026. The episode was also shown at Anime Expo 2026.
Casting
During a talk after the screening at Otsu City Hall on June 30, 2026, the casting of Nana Kawaishi as Mari was done to select potential voice actresses who are from the prefecture. This was done to represent Shiga in daily life, including the use of local dialects in the anime.