Kujira no Kora wa Sajō ni Utau

Title:Kujira no Kora wa Sajō ni Utau
Children of the Whales
クジラの子らは砂上に歌う
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - JC Staff
A boy named Chakuro lives on the giant vessel Mud Whale that drifts over the sea of sand. Chakuro and his friends have never seen anyone from the outside world, and they spend their days yearning to explore and learn about it. One day, a ruined ship suddenly drifts ashore, and Chakura meets a girl inside.
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


12-episode TV anime that premiered on October 8, 2017.
Animated by JC Staff.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 9 9 8 7 8 8 Ggultra2764 [series:3429#1552]
Children of the Whales focuses on a tribe of people traveling on a whale with some of the populace being Marked, those possessing the power to move objects with a power called "thymia" at the cost of a reduced lifespan. The tribe come at odds with those of the Allied Empire seeking to wipe out the tribe due to seeing them as a sinful existence due to the tribe being allowed to freely express their emotions compared to those among the Empire. For a 12-episode series, Children of the Whales does a mostly solid job setting up its world by establishing the moralities and beliefs of both the Falanian people and the Allied Empire, with the former finding themselves faced with dealing with outside forces intruding upon their land and finding themselves wondering what action to take against this outside threat. A number of characters among both factions get focused on to explore how their upbringing among both factions effect them, especially as some of them are confronted with revelations concerning their factions that affect what actions they take throughout the show's run, the most notable of which include Chakuro tracking records of Falania's struggles and Lykos severing ties with the Empire as she learns more about the flaws of their way of life. It also doesn't hurt that the series sports a great visual presentation with gorgeous scenic shots and fluid movement during battle scenes, most notably whenever thymia abilities are being utilized. A major issue with the series is that it is left open-ended as the conflict between Falania and the Empire is still ongoing, with some new issues coming about with the addition of Siderasia's forces inserting a third faction into the conflict toward the finale of the series. Still, Children of the Whales made for a solid fantasy-adventure series with its focus on the Falania/ Empire conflict and how those among both factions are affected by it. It is a definite recommendation if fantasy-adventure anime titles grab your interest.

Last updated Tuesday, December 26 2017. Created Tuesday, December 26 2017.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:3429#628]
(Three episodes watched):

Well, my first impression was that this show (whose premise reminded me of Dune) was making good use of its time and was rapidly stitching together a complex and interesting story. many shows that reveal as much in one episode would leave me confused and frustrated, but here the storytelling seemed to be being done in a skillful manner which left me with a good grasp of what was going on and what was important. I'd gladly watch more. Episode two didn't give off quite as much an impression of disciplined storytelling although there was nothing wrong with it otherwise. Perhaps I was having trouble perceiving how serious a problem the newly discovered system which feeds off of people's emotions would be. The episode ends with a shocker as the almost idyllic life aboard the Mud Whale is upended.

But whereas the way the basic premise had been clearly explained to us in episode one had impressed me, afterwards the story seems to wander in a confusing and frustrating manner. Murderous attackers wearing clown-like outfits attack the Whale--then call off their assault, even though they were encountering little resistance. Are these supposed to be emotionless people, like Lykos (or whatever her name is), who declined to warn Chakuro and the others that this might happen? But isn't hatred an emotion? It's hard to crystalize exactly why, but whatever interest episode one created within me seems to have been largely trashed by the helter-skelter slaughter of episode three. I lost track of what the message behind this show might be. Everyone needs to have questions that they want answers to in order to maintain interest in a show, but I was having a hard time thinking of any. Apparently some power wants to obliterate the psychic power--thymia, or whatever--that these people possess, but I have little idea why. Maybe what turns me off the most is that the fantastical setting (ships floating on sand?) that the show began with seems to have been thrown away for the sake of raw mayhem. It needed to maintain a sort of philosophical sophistication in order to keep that going, but it didn't. As a result, I decided to drop this show.

Last updated Sunday, August 05 2018. Created Sunday, October 29 2017.

Other Sites
NameURL
Official Japanese Series Web Site http://kujisuna-anime.com/

Community Anime Reviews

anime mikomi org