So I just watched this movie and while the visuals were stunning the story left me confused lol. Let's start with Hibike I have been really interested in Autism and the fact that many autistic people can get sensory overloaded by say everyday sounds or noises the way he was. Many people who have ASD will wear noise-cancelling headphones like Hibiki dud made me think of the representation of Autistic people in movies and tv.
Now onto why I was confused, so in the original little mermaid, she was told that she had to make the prince genuinely love her to become human otherwise she would die. In the end, the prince was never going to be hers as he was already promised to someone else. The sea witch felt sorry for her and turned her into foam instead. Hibiki did love her and was willing to risk his life to save her so going off the story that it was based she should have become real lol. I was like what? That's it? It should have had a happier ending lol.