Towa drank the blood of a mermaid many years ago. Instead of becoming a true immortal, she suffered a gruesome deformity that inflicts unbearable pain -- but along with it she has eternal youth, and so she must suffer it forever, helped by an aging doctor and her elderly sister, Sawa, who alone know of Towa's secret. Then the girl Mana falls into Towa's hands. With Mana's life as a trump card, Towa forces Sawa to tell her their family's secret of the woods on their land known as Mermaid Forest, to finally fulfill a revenge that only Towa knows the true depths of.

Domestic printings: Animerica magazine, March 2003 to November 2003 What Animerica published in their pages under "Mermaid Forest" was actually two separate stories: "A Mermaid Never Smiles" and "The Village of the Fighting Fish." I suspect they were lumped together as "Mermaid Forest" because those stories are the first two chapters in the Japanese "Ningyo no Mori" graphic novel. Animerica never printed the actual "Mermaid Forest" story in their magazine. Mermaid Forest, issue #1 (published 1993 by Viz Select Comics, 27 pages) Mermaid Forest, issue #2 (1994, 30 pages) Mermaid Forest, issue #3 (1994, 26 pages) Mermaid Forest, issue #4 (1994, 30 pages) Mermaid Forest graphic novel, with three complete stories Published 1995 by Viz ISBN: 1-56931-083-1; 304 pages Contains "A Mermaid Never Smiles," "The Village of the Fighting Fish," and "Mermaid Forest" Mermaid Saga vol. 1 graphic novel Published July 2004 in the original right-to-left format by Viz ISBN: 1-59116-336-6; 206 pages Contains "A Mermaid Never Smiles," "The Village of the Fighting Fish," and part 1 of "Mermaid Forest" Mermaid Saga vol. 2 graphic novel Published August 2004 in the original right-to-left format by Viz ISBN: 1-59116-484-2; about 186 pages Contains part 2 of "Mermaid Forest"; "Dream's End"; and "Mermaid's Promise" Japanese printings: Shounen Sunday Ningyo no Mori, zenpen, 5/13/87, #22 Ningyo no Mori, kouhen, 5/20/87, #23 Ningyo no Mori wide version: Collection of three complete Mermaid saga stories in a special anthology. Published 1988 by Shogakukan. 260 pages. ISBN: 4-09-121854-7 Contains "Ningyo wa Warawanai," "Tougyo no Sato," and "Ningyo no Mori" Ningyo no Mori bunko: Novel written by Tomoko Konparu, with occasional illustrations by Rumiko Takahashi. Published 1994 by Super Quest Bunko ISBN: 4-09-440241-1; 195 pages Shonen Sunday Comics Special, "Ningyo no Mori": Reprinted collection of three complete Mermaid saga stories. Published 11/15/03 by Shogakukan. 258 pages. ISBN: 4-09-127741-1 Contains "Ningyo wa Warawanai," "Tougyo no Sato," and "Ningyo no Mori" Other editions: Mermaid Forest French edition: Collection of three complete Mermaid saga stories. Published 1998 by Glénat. about 260 pages. ISBN: 2-7234-2514-2 Contains "Les Sirènes ne Sourient Pas" (A Mermaid Never Smiles), "Le Village des Poissons Combattants" (The Village of the Fighting Fish), and "La Forêt des Sirènes" (Mermaid Forest) Mermaid Saga vol. 1 German edition Published 2001 by Egmont. 256 pages. ISBN: 3-89885-323-3 Contains "Meerjungfrauen lachen nicht" (A Mermaid Never Smiles), "Die Heimat der Kampf-Fischerei" (The Village of the Fighting Fish), and "Mermaid's Forrest" (Mermaid Forest) Ren Yu Zhi Sen (Mermaid Forest) (Ren Yu Xi Lie vol. 1) graphic novel Published 10/1/2005. 256 pages. ISBN: 7-5371-0213-9 Contains "A Mermaid Never Smiles," "The Village of the Fighting Fish," and "Mermaid Forest"