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Goodbye, Lara
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Goodbye, Lara
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Wokeometer Rating
7Woke
Scale: 0 = not woke, 10 = maximally woke
TL;DR Verdict
Goodbye, Lara hijacks the Little Mermaid story with a forced pivot to a same-sex romance between Lara and Mari that dominates the narrative. At a 7/10 wokeness score, the show prioritizes messaging over the original tale—skip it if you want the classic without the agenda.
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Detailed Analysis
Goodbye, Lara is a 12-episode original anime reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, produced by Kinema Citrus.
The core premise follows mermaid princess Lara (voiced by Hana Hishikawa), who drinks a witch's potion to become human in pursuit of true love with a prince, only to be rejected and later resurrected in modern Lake Biwa, Japan, for a second chance. She bonds closely with Mari (voiced by Nana Kawaishi), a boxing enthusiast and schoolgirl who takes her in, leading to school life, bakery jobs, and tournament subplots. The narrative centers on Lara's quest for love, with Episode 12 explicitly having her identify Mari as the one she must 'pierce' or sacrifice for, confirming the emotional pivot to their relationship.
Key Factors
- Prominent yuri subtext and potential same-sex romance between female leads Lara and Mari as the emotional core and finale driver, with creator statements avoiding 'typical yuri' framing yet delivering heavy ship tease across episodes
- Modern retelling layers identity and acceptance themes onto the mermaid transformation and forbidden love, including fan-noted allegorical readings of body rejection and acceptance
- Audience and critic discourse heavily focused on queerbaiting accusations and ambiguous ending that prioritizes subtext over explicit confirmation, creating a reception gap despite strong ratings
Methodology: Each score synthesizes audience discourse, critic and aggregator reception, and press coverage — weighed against the work itself, not any single source.
Detailed BreakdownPro
Identity Politics & Racial Essentialism
Gender Ideology & LGBTQ+ Themes
DEI Casting & Representation Mandates
Preachiness & Message-First Agenda
Corporate & Creator Activism
See how this title scores across all 5 woke subcategories with detailed explanations.
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Is Goodbye, Lara - Season 1 Woke?
We've run a full content analysis on Goodbye, Lara - Season 1 and scored it 7/10 on the woke scale. Read our detailed breakdown above to see exactly what we found.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of woke content is in Goodbye, Lara - Season 1?
Our analysis checks for themes like identity politics, race-swapping, gender ideology, environmental activism, anti-religious messaging, and other progressive agenda elements. The score breakdown above shows which specific categories were flagged and how heavily they factor into Goodbye, Lara - Season 1's overall score.
Is Goodbye, Lara - Season 1 family-friendly?
Wokeometer focuses on ideological content rather than traditional ratings (violence, language, etc.). Goodbye, Lara - Season 1 is rated TV-PG. For a full picture, combine our woke analysis with the age rating to decide if it's right for your family.
How does Wokeometer score tv shows?
We evaluate media across multiple ideological categories on a 0–10 scale. Scores of 0–3 mean story-first, 4–6 have moderate elements, and 7–10 flag heavily agenda-driven content. Learn more about our methodology →
