LogFAQs > #940965928

30. Children of the Sea

Johnbobb: 3
Karo: 23
Jona: 25
Genny: 29
Red: 33
Inviso: 35
Charon: 38

Total: 186

Johnbobb: Ocean man, take me by the hand, lead me to the land, I don't understand
Ocean man, wait what the fuck is happening here, it's a real trip
Ocean man, you left all cohesion back at the shore
But I don't care anymore

Ocean girl, I'm lost in the wonder and amazement of this water world
Ocean girl, I can't take my eyes off the screen and my mind is a swirl
Ocean girl, any criticisms went straight out the door
And I don't care anymore
Ocean girl

Karo: What It Is:
A young girl befriends two boys raised by whales, and a lot of pretty animation and confusing mysticism ensues.

What I Think:
Beautiful as the visuals may be, it feels there is something lacking. None of the characters have much personality, and the story has little depth. Although it is true to the style of the manga, that means everyone looks like a derpy mouth breather and it is hard not to laugh when these fuckers are trying to spout off some bizarre philosophical nonsense ripped right out of some kingdom hearts game.
It is competent, but it is nowhere near being the anime classic that it wants so so hard to be.

Score: 62/100

Jona: What carried the movie for me were the visuals and soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi. Seeing Rukas relationship with Umi and Sora and finding what theyre about is intriguing. I ended up getting pretty lost though around the halfway point. The climax looked amazing even though I was unsure of what was going on. Has a lot of things going for it despite ending up confusing.

Genny: I've gotta say I was digging the first half of Children of the Sea a helluva lot more than the latter. While the animation is gorgeous the entire way through (aside from the eyes I just found a bit creepy), only the front end has a coherent plot. The back end devolved into what I can only describe as Fantasia 2001: A Sea Odyssey and after the point where Sora passes Ruka the meteor I just kind of mentally checked out as the movie only gets worse from there. Part of me wonders if that space rock was actually a mix of LSD, acid, and magic mushrooms; and I truly wonder if that "meteor" represents what the director, writers and animators took because that's the only thing that could really explain the movie from that point onward. I did not enjoy the movie throwing me for a loop every time I tried to guess where the plot was going, and if you told me existential acid trip after I had only watched the first half I would've called you a liar and maybe broke your nose because that's a perfectly appropriate response to being offended.

Red: This movie would have been fine but then it just goes off the rails at the end to the point it really just leaves you wondering why you wasted any of your time getting invested in the rest of it. You go from some weird story about the impending doom of the two fish kids to some pointless connection that I think was supposed to be the creation of the universe. There are some people surrounding it that are made out like they are going to be villains, but they are pointless. In fact, pretty much every single thing this movie introduces ends up pointless. Even the two fish dudes end up pointless. The movie just seemed intent to go completely off the rails, spit on everything it may have introduced at any point, and then mercifully it finally ends.

Inviso: First off, I hate the art style of this movie. I know anime tends to have exaggerated eye sizes, but my GOD this took it to a new level. It was like watching a cast of Funko Pops for fucks sake. Second, on paper, this movie SHOULD have worked. You have Ruka, who is kind of a weird, outcast tomboy on summer breakand she comes across these two boys that are human, but live within the sea. Thats perfect story fodder for a generic, but enjoyable coming of age tale that would make the bullshit ending to this film feel earned. Instead, this movie decides to try and be artistic and deep, and the last likethirty minutes before the ending all revolve around the boys vanishing and Ruka giving birth to a universe or something? None of it is properly explained, none of it is given a reason to happen, and that feels like the movie as a whole. Oh! And also, I should point out that theres a subplot about Rukas mom being estranged and drunkand then that just gets fixed up with one reconciliation scene between her and the dadand it again goes nowhere. This movie is nearly two hours longand its bullshit.

Charon: Welcome to anime 2001: A Space Odyssey! I was shocked by this film because it really felt as if we were getting another coming of age story, perhaps with a love triangle, and some light supernatural elements to play in the background while a larger "slice of life" sort of film unfolded in the foreground. No. Instead this is a bait and switch of the worst sort; it devolved into existential acid trips. I just hate movies like this, and I guess if anyone remembers my feelings on the aforementioned 2001, this isn't a shock how I ranked this film. It's such a shame too because unlike that film, I was actually interested in these characters and to just have it go off the deep end with some faux high-brow mindtrip just didn't set well with me. The more I think about this movie, the more and more I hate it. It's fallen a few more spots as I write this.

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Congrats to azuarc on being really good at predicting stuff