LogFAQs > #969450365

28. Children of the Whales
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34712/Kujira_no_Kora_wa_Sajou_ni_Utau
Fall 2017 (12 episodes)
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 7.17/10
Best Character: Chakuro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5DSs-Qi5-o

Premise: The Mud Whale is a small island floating aimlessly on a sea of shifting sand. The few hundred people living there know nothing about the rest of the world, but that changes when they encounter another island and find a lone, injured girl.

The Good: Children of the Whales is a fantasy anime. The reception most places I looked (reddit, the anime board, etc) is pretty negative on this show. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I watched it, however, and I thought it held up okay on a rewatch. I won't claim that it's flawless. I'll have a few things to talk about in the bad section. Still, the world-building in this is excellent. I liked most of the main characters. The direction the story went also really shocked me. With the beautiful art style and serene life on the Mud Whale, at first this looks like it'll be a laid-back anime. Instead it goes in a surprisingly dark direction. Part of me wonders if that's the reason for the negative reception. Children of the Whales becomes bleak to the point of being hard to watch at times. Even then, I still enjoyed seeing how the characters approached things.

The story takes place on the Mud Whale, a large boat-shaped island that floats on a sea of sand. Only a few hundred people live there, and they've forgotten everything about the outside world. I enjoyed learning more about their society. It had a lot of customs that were interesting. Most of the people are Marked, meaning they have a kind of psychic power but are doomed to a short life. Only a handful of Unmarked grow old, and they move into leadership positions. The main character is Chakuro, the Mud Whale's record keeper. He writes down things about everyone's lives so that, even if the Marked live a short life, something of them will remain for people to remember. The Mud Whale travels aimlessly, and the people have a quiet, serene life. Then they happen upon another island, meet an injured girl named Lykos, and they begin learning just how dangerous the world really is.

The Bad: I thought Children of the Whales told a really compelling story. Sadly, it reached a natural stopping point at around ten episodes. The last two kind of meander, setting up various things that maybe would've paid off if there was ever a second season. Since there wasn't, the story ends on a boring note. I saw a lot of complaints elsewhere that the characters act stupidly, too. I won't claim that they're geniuses, but one of the most interesting things about this anime for me was seeing how a peaceful society faces unprecedented danger. It makes sense, to me at least, that the characters don't always do the right thing.

Overall: Children of the Whales may not appeal to everyone, but it definitely appealed to me. The world-building was excellent. Life on the Mud Whale was interesting to explore, and every little detail they learned about themselves or the rest of the world felt important. I'm sad that the first season ends on a meandering note setting up a second season that never came. The first ten episodes still told a compelling story that went many interesting directions.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/3/4/AAcDcBAAD4ne.png

CHARACTER: Chakuro (Children of the Whales)
https://myanimelist.net/character/149265/Chakuro
Voiced by: Hanae Natsuki
TOP 100 RANK: 96th

SPOILERS FOR CHILDREN OF THE WHALES

(Couldnt find a video for him)

Chakuro is the Mud Whale's record keeper. Since most Marked only live until thirty or so, death is a frequent occurrence. Mentors pass away, lovers outlive their partners, and children die before their Unmarked parents. The anime opens with a funeral rite where they send the body into the sea of sand. They have a custom where people aren't supposed to cry. People need to be strong, after all, because otherwise the pain of this constant loss would break them. Chakuro channels his feelings into writing, leaving a record of everyone they lose so that at least something of them will remain.

Things get a lot darker after they stumble across another island and rescue Lykos. Soon after, the Mud Whale is attacked by an unknown army for reasons no one understands. Since this was a peaceful island and they're caught completely off guard, it's basically a massacre. It only ends when the attackers pull back to regroup, and even then everyone knows they will soon return. Even for an island well-versed in loss, death on this scale is unprecedented. Chakuro even loses his childhood friend and love interest Sami. They need time to mourn, but they don't have it. The residents of the Mud Whale need to train, organize, and prep defenses if theyre going to survive the coming assault.

Chakuro, along with everyone else, is sad. They struggle to make sense of the unfair situation. They never give up, though. When the elders want to sink the island, preferring that quick death over an agonizing execution, Chakuro and others refuse to let it happen. They would rather face the pain and fight. Later on, when he's given a choice by a fantastical creature to remove his emotions, Chakuro refuses this too. Even though it hurts to lose people, that's simply part of life. That pain is also a sign of how much he cared for them, and a part of their lingering presence on the world. Chakuro doesn't want to trade that away. Everyone on the Mud Whale shows impressive resilience given the horrors they go through, and I found that really compelling.