User reviews

Few years ago i saw H2O Just Add Water and loved it. Now i see Mako Mermaids and finished season 1 on Netflix in 2 days. I'm curious as to see what is going to happen now that their new found friendship has changed. The cast in this new TV series are very good actors/ actresses. Not bad for a very young new faced kids. Very hard to swim like Mermaids/mermen. Believe me I've tried my entire childhood life. I wished to swim like a mermaid but never nailed it. lol. Very good job by this cast. Even though this show is meant for a young group of people, I am a 36 year old woman, fascinated by what will happen next. So anxious. When is season 2 coming out? I really want to know what happened.

After watching the first 26 episodes, I've come away with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was great to have a new mermaid show follow up to H2O: Just Add Water, and this new series has much of the same creative team. On the other hand, the writing isn't as good as H2O and the characters aren't as likable. For much of Mako Mermaids the story just treads water. Secrets get held and characters give the same excuses as to why the truth can't be told. This goes on and on. It wasn't until the last four episodes that the story really came together.

H2O remained fresh because the writers kept surprising us with interesting character arcs and surprising plot twists. Mako mostly misses the boat in that regard. What made H2O special was the appeal of its three leads. Phoebe Tonkin (Cleo), Caribe Heine (Rikki), and Claire Holt (Emma) had real chemistry, and were just enjoyable to spend time with. When Holt left the series, Indiana Evans as Isabel blended in nicely, and though the series remained interesting, some of the original magic dissipated.

That dissipation was magnified with Mako Mermaids. This series is sort of an inverse H2O where mermaids get legs to go on land instead of girls becoming mermaids. The three leads of Mako, Lucy Fry (Lyla), Ivy Lattimer (Nixie), and Amy Ruffle (Sirena) spend a lot of time antagonizing each other and those around them. Lattimer tries too hard to be funny, and the writing of her character doesn't help. It seems the writers didn't know what to do with her. Her only lighter moment is one episode where she befriends a boy who has runaway from his parents.

The three girls are joined by Chai Romruen (Zac), as a boy who accidentally becomes a merman. Once that happens the three girls are banned from their mermaid pod and left to fend for themselves. The plot then focuses on the girls trying to get control of Zac, and Zac coming to terms with his newfound powers. Later in the series a trident becomes the second focus, and this just goes round and round until we reach the last four episodes where the show finally gets interesting.

Other secondary characters are a mixed bag. Zac's best friend, Cameron (mostly well played by Dominic Deutscher) is unfortunately too mysterious for his own good. He doesn't really get in gear until the last four episodes as well. Until then, he alternates between friend and nuisance to Zac and the girls. Rita, the school principal who (for reasons I won't mention) poses as the girls' aunt, is shamelessly used as a convenient plot device when mermaid lore or magic information is needed, but she is nicely played by Kerith Atkinson.

Gemma Forsyth as Zac's girlfriend, Evie, is for the longest time a one-note character. This is due to the poor writing. Later in the series she finally comes to life and actually integrates properly into the story, actually doing something interesting. Until then she just fights and then makes up with Zac repeatedly. Rowan Hills as David, who Sirena falls for, is too syrupy sweet for my taste, but perhaps young girls, the audience for this series, would like him.

Amy Ruffle (like Indiana Evans before her) is the musical side of the series, and she sings a number of songs. She has a nice voice and of the three girls, she's probably the most appealing. I had a hard time warming up to Lyla (Lucy Fry). She started off as the most antagonistic of the three girls, but in the end, she seemed to have the most interesting character arc, and Fry is probably the best actor of the three. Chai Romruen as Zac spends much of the show being annoyed, confused or proud of his powers, and none of this makes him all that likable. He too has a bit of a character arc, but it takes too long for that to happen. Romruen, like the girls, looks good underwater. He is part Thai, and his Asian features add a nice international element to the show, something missing from H2O.

Although I've got problems with this series, I need to say a few things in its defense. Overall, the show retains a sense of aquatic magic that began not only with H2O, but with the show's predecessor, the feature film Aquamarine, also shot in Australia. And as I've mentioned, the last four episodes really work well. It's just too bad it took so long to get there. The background music is similar to H2O, and just as effective. Despite its drawbacks, I looked forward to each episode and I hope they continue to make more. I'm surprised there aren't more comments about this show.

This series seems to have had a much smaller budget than H2O, but in general it doesn't show. The underwater scenes are exquisitely beautiful, and the use of the Gold Coast locations are nicely integrated. What a remarkable area that is!

Where 'H2O Just Add Water' was charming and magical. With characters you could relate to. This series is rather a let down. And is it a prequel or a sequel or a spin off?

This time the mermaids are not accidentally came to be these creatures but are from the pod of mermaids that keep watch of Mako island. So where have these creatures been? In the original there were none. And this time the mermaids have to adjust to live on land. A young man accidentally falls into the moonpool on Mako island during a full moon and thus become a merman. The pod blames the three mermaids and they are banned as the pod leaves for saver waters. The three mermaids Nixie, Serina and Layla must find a way to return Zac (the merman) back to normal and set things straight. It could be a great series bit it lacks the charm of the original and it's mainly because the majority of the characters is very unlikable.

Do you know when you're an adult and you have to give up the TV so the kids can watch children's TV (for you to have piece) and you have to sit there and watch it with them. Well this is what happened when my Niece made me watch Mako. The thing is I'm sad to say I loved it; we both watched the entire series and we sang the theme music together. We were both sad when we realised there wasn't series 5. If you want a family, lovely, sweet and innocent programme to watch with your Children - this is it!

Good for kids but lacks depth for adults

There is much to love about the show, and much to not love. Cute concept, perspective of mermaids, beautiful scenery of The Gold Coast, some fun plot lines...

I love Ivy's acting on the show, Mako Mermaids, she has this quirky confidence and cute expressions she makes, she can also be quite snarky which adds a lot of character to the show. I imagine she will grow up to be great in comedies.

I think the telling of the turtle and the crab story in episode 17 was the best... very funny.

The episode in season 1 (22) When Evie (Gemma Forsyth) and the cat switch places, very funny episode.

I think it's a pretty good show, but if they could develop these aspects a bit and others, it could be even better.

Season 2 starts in 2015! Not sure why it's going to take so long, especially since season 1 answered nothing, like what kind of parent would abandon their kids who make a mistake, kids and adults make mistakes all the time, that's what life is all about, so just abandoning them feels overly harsh. Rita says this is her new home, but she doesn't seem to have friends or a significant other, just a principal job, though she says teaching is her life, she doesn't teach at all? The show has so much potential and some things are done well, but no social issues are introduced even once, at least in H20 they covered fishing abuses, and how it effects turtles, and proper nets etc... they even have dolphins on the show, don't expect to see any interesting wildlife in MM though, which again is a letdown.

I kept expecting more development or back story that never comes.

I enjoyed the show, but I wouldn't watch it again because there's just no substance there.

While the pod moved on in self preservation, no one seems to care about the girls to come back and check on them? The trident is left unguarded? The island of Mako is left unguarded, the moon pool island entry is left unguarded... it seems a lot of power just sitting there unguarded.

I would imagine even if the pod moved on there'd be more of a council of mermaid people who would check up on the girls rather than just leaving them to wander on legs causing who knows what kind of peril and danger.

Basically, they're a little harsh on the girls, who are children, and don't know any better, this is bad parenting just to abandon them for making a mistake.

Overall though, for all its issues, it's an enjoyable show, and I imagine kids will enjoy it even more as they won't be looking quite so deeply into the script logic.

After watching some of H20, I must say it's much better than Mako Mermaids. Mako has a great cast, and a great theme song, but the stories have no social message, and H20 also addresses wildlife, dolphins, turtles, and fishing abuse... probably other important issues as well, and Mako doesn't have this layer of depth.

My Rating for Mako Mermaids: 6/10

I've never felt so at home with a movie or series before. It's fantastic. Everything I've ever wanted from a series. It's great both for girls and boys (at least for me, 'cause I'm a boy). I wish they'll make another season. It would mean the world to me. It's one of those movie which you wish you never forget after having watched it, and one of those movies I'll watch again and again.

Gave up on the series quickly during season 2. On the one hand, all of the concepts I wish I had seen in H2O appear in this show: we get to see mermen, some mermaids lore and magic, mermaids who turn to humans instead of humans turning into mermaids, a mentor figure for the trio of mermaids, and while those elements felt alright, I felt the quality of the writing faltered. The characters and storylines were uninspired and convoluted, especially with the antagonist at the end of season 1 almost entirely forgotten about later on. For me, it was a letdown and if you liked H2O, you may not like it as much either. One positive I have to bring up, strangely enough, is I prefer the blue tail for the mermen over the orange tail given to mermaids as it's a nicer colour in the water.

I have loved watching this series. But I am not sure why it veers off from the original story-line. The series started with a focus on the merman Zac Blakley, but from one season to the next, has consistently changed its focus. Not only has Zac become a side story, the show has also switched the mermaids surrounding him without explanation. Don't get me wrong I love this show, however the story-line from season to season lacks consistency. It's a little hard to keep track of the story when the main characters such as Sirena who reveals her secret to the boy she likes just disappears in the next episode... Anyway I hope they keep making new episodes (because I love this show) I just wish they'd keep to one story-line from one season to the next.. and make Zac or the mermen a more prominent subject as the story-line insinuated in the beginning.

I watched H2O when it came out and I was actually looking forward to Mako Mermaids since it was meant to have everything I loved about H2O and my favorite actress from Lightning Point. The first season of Mako Mermaids was on par with the first season of H2O in my book and I would give it a 7 out 10 if that was the only season. However, the show started to go downhill after they decided to continue it as a sequel to H2O rather than as a prequel like the first season was intended to be. This creates a ton of conflicts, continuity problems and plot holes both between H2O and within the different seasons of Mako Mermaids itself.

I don't know about anyone else but this show is what started my crush on and fascination with Chai Hansen. Also the writing is light hearted with drama free positive messages that allow you to escape the rut of everyday life (as long as you can suspend disbelief for 20-30 minutes and just enjoy yourself)...

The scenarios, the songs, I love the series, good actors, a very good idea to add mermen to the series, there should be more seasons, I think their tails are very real and they look great in the water, one of the best series I've seen, from the first episode to the last, i just love it.

I'm aware that this is a show about mermaids, but even in fantasy there has to be enough realism to make it believable and draw you in; the costumes in this show fail at that so much it's cringeworthy. The acting and plot is usually very cringeworthy as well.

Really loved the original, wish this was a continuation from original but it's more of a reboot. At first really wasn't liking it but I started to enjoy it more as season 1, I hope they do more at some point.

Different plot and good time passing show especially the season one. Season one is really well. Cast did their job very good but you can not say that they acted superbly but yeah..ok..satisfying. Disappointment starts from season two. Season two is completely average if you compare it with season one. Actually, I think Mako has 3 season, not four. Season two consists of 26 episode. I stopped watching the show from episode 2, season 3 (season 4 in IMDb). Btw Amy Ruffle is cute. love her smile <3

Mediocre acting, so many plot loopholes, characters and their behaviour are so pointless that changes from each episode to episode.

Whatever maybe the scene/situation (comedy, suspense, action), every scene is filmed like it's a funeral.

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It's a good show it's not have the charming of h2o but still, the actors was there acting good yeah the actors not teenagers But really i like the actors, the The places where it was filmed better than h2o just add water, the scenario was really great, the events in the series was really better than h2o just add water season 3, i was have just one problem with the show every season they changed the actors, ofc i love h2o just add water more but still mako mermaids was a great show.

Excellent, the plot is amazing, it's lovely and amazing at the same time, where, when and how they shoot underwater, the sea, the nature, the tails look amazing. The colors, the scales and every tiny detail is fascinating. Especially the tails of Zac and Erik. The actors are very professional and talented. The effects are very good and the storyline hooks you from the beginning.