Mermaid Sighting(s)--Putri Duyung

Submitted by Gordok on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 20:02

Would you believe . . . Pirates, mermaids and martial arts fighting, all wrapped up together in a 2008 (TV?) series from Indonesia?

Apparently, it is so!!!

There's a bunch of videos that start out with the title "Putri Duyung . . ". The link to the first one is at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yN1mEsLB74&feature=related

And there's a bunch of others. (I take it that it's an anthology show, focusing on different mermaid characters as protagonists.)

The opening sequence of the first video does give a sense of what they were trying to do overall with the series. And, since it's (apparently) from Indonesia, the special effects budget is limited--mostly spent on the fights, so the mermaid scenes are a mixed bag of quality. [Expect lots of matting instead of live swimming etc.]

The mermaids are able to transform at will, though (perhaps) there is some magic focus device involved.

I had little trouble following the story, even though I do not speak Bali. [Lots of fights going on; what more do you need to know?]

Still, it's best that you see this one for yourself; it's not every day you see a mermaid take down a dragon! :-P [Epsiode 3]

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Submitted by seatailsadmin on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 22:47.

Okay, I have to admit, martial arts using, magic wielding mermaids and ... um, a turtle woman and ...

I'm rather speechless. That had to be one of the cheesiest, over the top concepts ever. You have to wonder what the scripting sessions must have been like. The writers gather round the table, the smell of a previous smoked joint or three adding a certain distinct aroma to the proceedings.

"I think we should do a martial arts show with a couple of hot babes kicking the butts of ninjas."
"Dragons would be cool, dont'cha think. Great big firebreathing spell-wielding dragon, call him Ganja or something. Maybe Puff."
"Nah, Ganja - Puff the Magic Dragon sounds like a kids song."
"Maybe the babes are ... like, witches ... you know ... wiggle their butts."
"I thought that was their noses"
"I like them wiggling their butts better, y'know ... like mermaids."
"Do mermaids have butts? I thought they were fish from .. um, about there on down."
"The girls are magical mermaids that wiggle their butts at Ganji the Magic Dragon ..."
"How do they do martial arts, then? Don't you need, like um ... legs?"
"Okay, when they have to do martial arts, they turn into girls."
"Naked? Cool."
"No, can't do naked, never get past the censors. They'd have to wear clothes."
"Mermaids wear clothes?"
"Well, maybe not underwater. Not like they were turtles or something with shells that they carried around so they wouldn't be naked underwater."
"My mother-in-law looks like a turtle."
"So there's this old lady with a turtle shell that also beats up on the ninjas, but she's not quite so good as the mermaid witch warrior ninja girls on account she's so old."
"You never met my mother-in-law."
"Okay, so maybe she kicks butt, too."
"Only if she doesn't wiggle it - leave that to the mermaids."
"Do mermaids have butts?"
"Pass me another toke of that ganja, 'kay?"

Submitted by Gordok on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 16:07.

Actually, I have some small familiarity with Asian mermaid legends (through some other hobby of mine), so I can say that portions of the show were based on existing Asian mermaid lore/stories. For example, a human/turtle character has shown up in anime such as KO Beast Warrior and Dragon Ball (Dragon Ball Z, etc.). Also, the mermaid transforming herself into a fish and getting caught in a net has shown up in print and another live-action Asian show, so I strongly suspect it is a legend/lore.

Bottom line: Perhaps one less "joint" than you expect was present at the scripting table. (That does not mean there were not others. ;-) )

I concede the "cheesy" appearance of the show. Plus, any "depth" the show might have had would be lost within the foreign language (that I doubt any of us knows).

Given the work that went into the choreography of the fight scenes, I'm a tad bit surprised at the limited success they had with the underwater fight scenes: Simultaneously impressed and happy that they tried it at all, yet clearly it was limited by low production values.

There were some (zinc zarconium) diamonds hiding in the rough--e.g., some nicely phographed live (in costume) mermaid shots. The matted shots outnumber them, but mermaid seekers might find some other scenes of interest.

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