KUJIRA NO KORA WA SAJOU NI UTAU

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA AdventureKujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau
SPECIAL DramaKujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Manabu!

REVIEWS

• 

  lecarres

  53/100
  Despite having incredible art direction, Children of the Whales can't quite make up for it's bland plot and characters.

  The Mud Whale, a floating island that sails the sea of sand that covers the world, is inhabited mainly by people known as the "Marked". These people are granted magical abilities (known as Thymia) by the markings that cover their bodies, but are also cursed with much shorter lifespans than their unmarked counterparts who run the island. Chakuro, the young village archivist whose powers are much weaker than many of his companions, joins the scouting group when they sail out to explore a new island and finds a young Marked girl within the crumbling remains. Their meeting changes his destiny and threatens his whole island's way of life.

  Warning: Review contains some mild plot spoilers for Children of the Whales.

  

  Children of the Whales is a visual delight. The soft yet varied colour palettes and fairy tale artwork does much to establish the beautiful, mystical world that the characters inhabit and is fitting for the peaceful and childlike civilisation of the Mud Whale. The animation is fluid, and few times the series does use 3DCG it is with specific intent to show the otherworldly abilities of the Nous that reside within each of its island ships. The unique visual style of Children of the Whales helps to make this series watchable despite its bland, disappointingly executed premise.

  Soon after Chakuro brings Lykos, the girl who he finds on the ruined island, back to their village the Mud Whales' peaceful existence is threatened by the Empire's army. The majority of the series is based around fighting back against the evil empire and staying strong despite losing many of their treasured friends. Or, at least, it is until the last quarter of the series. From that point on the Mud Whale's inhabitants are picking up the pieces, except also there's internal strife, and we still see the villainous Empire talking about how they're going to go back and fight the Mud Whale again. Except they don't, because there isn't enough time for them to actually do that before the series ends. A lot of this could have been fixed by moving some of the events around, so that instead of what feels like the big ending climax happening in episode nine, it actually happens at the end of the series. Instead of ending with a bang, Children of the Whales ends with an unfocused whimper of "read the manga if you want to know what happens next, I guess."

  

  The issues with the plot would be easier to forgive if it was backed up by strong characters. Unfortunately, Children of the Whales falls flat in this department as well. Chakuro isn't especially interesting; he is mainly around for most of the important events because the plot demands it due to his job as the village archivist because the story is vaguely framed as being told from his records. Ouni, who is part of a gang of troublemakers on the island and considered one of its most powerful Thymia users, also doesn't get much character development for the amount of screen time he gets. One of the worst offenders is Lykos, the girl from the ruined island, who is less of a character and more of a walking plot device who is there to get the story from point A to point B no matter how contradictory her actions may be. A lot of the problems with the plot could be fixed if she had any defining character traits, so it's a real disappointment that her character falls so flat. The most entertaining characters are mainly the villains, especially Liontari who livens up any scene he's in with his over the top, scenery-chewing personality. He also comes the closest of any of the characters to having an interesting back story.

  For all of its faults, I still can't completely disregard Chlidren of the Whales. If you go into it not expecting much except for a lot of pretty visuals and an enjoyable soundtrack (the ending theme in particular is beautiful, and it's a shame Netflix kept trying to make me skip it) then you may still find something to enjoy in this flawed yet unique series. Just don't expect an enthralling story that will stay with you long after watching.

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• 

  Olimpea

  80/100
  A mastepiece with an enormous potential we still have to discover

  Let's be honest, we all know how Netflix works. We can rarely find good content in it, and this is one of them. Children of the Whales (Kujira no Kora wa Sajō ni Utau) is a Netflix original 12 episodes lenght anime series, which story still has to be told. The manga is in publication (with currently 17 volumes published). In this review there will be anime spoilers, but surely not manga ones.

  ____STORY: 100/100____

  Chakuro is a boy who can't stop himself from writing. He needs to write, to put his emotions into a piece of paper and telling everything that happens on his bizarre home. A place that the population calls Mud Whale, literally a ship which sails the sea of sand. People in this Whale are devided in 2: the "marked" ones and the "non-marked" ones, that is the capacity of using a power called saimia. The ones who can use it have strangely a very short life, that's why on the Whale the "non-marked" ones rule over the entire population.

  

  "Why are we here?"
  "Why our lives are so short?"
  "What's beyond the Mud Whale?"
  "Why the Whale sails aimlessy?"
  "Are we the only ones alive in the world?"

  The ignorancy is able to block an entire population, making them think something that isn't true, mistaking fantasy from reality, blurring their minds trying to be positive even in their strange situation. But even the smallest sign of rebellion can represent a danger for the peace. Keeping a secret isn't always to hurt people, but to protect them from something bigger than them.
  That's what they will have to find out, through all sacrifices, through pain and death, in a world that emotions aren't tolerated anymore.

  The "children of the whale" are the only ones left to feel emotions. The world rejected them because they created only caos and disorders, such useless things as love and pain are just a weight. The people outside the Whale gave all their emotions to the Nous, the heart of their ship, which gave them a power like the saimia. But the Mud Whale is the only ship whose Nous didn't ask for emotions in return to the power. It took the lives of the inhabitants.

  

  A story where the emotions are perceptible even through the screen, where tears can fall against our will, where characters are so relatable to our modern society.

  Of course, there are some things to point up. The shortness of the series seems to rush the events, most of the times it is hard to understand what's happening, even if it is later fixed with the "episode summary". Still, what we are able to see is only just a little part of the whole story.
  Sadly a season 2 is nowhere to be found, so I myself have to read the manga aswell (I randomly checked some manga panels and the drawing style is so clear and linear, highly recommend).

  ____ANIMATION: 80/100____

  Speaking of animation, even if this is a Netflix production I have to admit it kinda surprised me. The drawing are very soft and the colors are vivid. The animation switches from static to smooth in a blink of an eye. Of course it isn't the best animation I have ever seen, but well done for being from Netflix.

  ____CHARACTER DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT: 60/100____

  Don't get me wrong when I say character design is one of the most importand things in a story in general. It is able to print in our mind a solid image of a character that we will never forget, even if years will pass we'll still remember him/her. Sadly the characters design here is very limited. Only the "main characters" seem to have something that blazes in our eyes, but if you already saw many animes, you will find difficult to remember them.

  Another problem is that the whole development of the single characters isn't shown this much. Most of them just stays the same, playing only side roles, the only ones who get a little of development are Chakuro, who matures his idea on the outside world and on the meaning of emotions even through his enormous lost after Sami's death

  

  and Ouni, who always wanted to escape what he called a prison and he ended up fighting to protect it He totally becomes a different person after Nibi's death, who was his only best friend

  

  We will see if there will be a season 2 what happens next, or else wait up for my manga review :3

  ____MUSIC: 95/100____

  What captured me the most has been the music. My favourite one is surely the ending song, Hashitairo, by rionos, I leave the video link here so that you can check it out!

  The vibes that this song gives me is something I honestly can't express in words, it is something that enters in your heart and stays there, warming it up during the cold days in winter, or covering you gently like an umbrella when it rains, or a sweet hug that makes you smile and why not cry. That's what a song should do, makes you feel emotions you can totally relate on, and when you think of the anime it is the first thing that comes out from your mind. Truly a masterpiece for ears, eyes, and heart.

  ____LAST THOUGHTS____

  If you are searching for an anime that is different from the ones you've always watched, but that still satisfyes you and leaves a mark in your heart, this anime is perfect for you.
  But after that you must switch to the manga.
  An anime with such high potential with such a cut is really a great disappointment, I just hope the manga has all the answers for all the questions I still have.

  ~Olimpea

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• 

  Kalladry

  40/100
  Pretty show that starts intriguing & full of potential only to be derailed by an overcrowded story & lack of resolution

  Some things keep popping up in my Netflix recommendations, so I figured, this looks cool, why not try it? (Why not? Several reasons, it turns out.)

  _Floating on a sea of endless sand, peaceful islanders are divided into “marked” magic wielders whose powers will cause them to die tragically young, and the unmarked who lead the island with their longevity. As a magic wielder, young and curious archivist Chakuro knows his time is short but stable, but everything changes when a girl from the outside appears on his island._

  So. This series. It looks so pretty, with light and bright colors. The first two episodes seem to be setting up a pretty fantasy land. They live on a floating island in a sea of sand. Most people are “marked,” with basically some magic (psychokinesis) abilities, but they die young. An unmarked minority help lead the people, since they live normal lifespans.

  One day, a new floating island comes into view. They go check it out, find it deserted except for a strange girl.
  So far, so good, right? Seems like it’s setting itself up to be a gentle, fantasy almost slice-of-life. Maybe we’ll get answers about this fantasy world. Maybe they’ll find a way that the “marked” don’t have to die young. Maybe we'll get to see pretty new magic.

  WRONG

  Without getting spoilery–which is hard, because the problems with this serious have to do with some serious spoilers–but the series takes a darker turn after a mere two episodes, some people have the audacity to get mad when others don’t want to commit mass suicide and this is treated like...not a huge deal, and one of the main bad guys is a cardboard cutout of the unrestrained delights-in-killing murderer, despite being in an army that supposedly suppresses everyone’s emotions.

  And all that might even be okay, if the series resolved anything, but it can’t figure out what it wants to do in 12 episodes. Explore the secret of the island? Focus on the fighting? Explore outside nations? Heck, an entirely new character set shows up in episode 10. It tries to do too much, and suffers for it.

  Also, they call the mysterious girl on the new floating island “Lykos,” find out it’s not her name–it’s the name of her ship, which she tells them–and then they…just continue to call her Lykos. Never ask her real name. Why.

  Verdict

  English dub? Yes

  Visuals: Lots of lights and colors, especially early on. Nice.

  Worth watching? Not for me. It felt supremely unsatisfying due to the issues mentioned above. Perhaps if another season was available, it’d be different, but they tried to cram too much into 12 episodes and it shows. Also, because they appeared to be trying to set themselves up for another season, there’s no resolution at all.

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