Fantastic Children

Title:Fantastic Children
Fantajikku Chirudoren (Japanese)
ファンタジックチルドレン (Japanese)
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
Notables: SAKAMOTO Maaya
In the end of 15th century, there was a tragedy on the Greece which was the planet 200 millions light years away from the Earth. There was Princess Tina who was treated as an ultimate weapon, because she had an overwhelming power, and there was a civil war for her power. After numerous sacrifices, Tina used a reincarnation machine made by the latest technologies of the planet.

Successfully, Tina could reincarnate as an Earthian. However, her memory of the previous life was hidden deep in her mind. She continued “natural reincarnation”, and she was born as an orphan, Helga, in 2001 when 500 years after her arrival.

When Helga was 11 years old, she had a fateful encounter with a boy, Toma, on a small southern island. Toma began to be attracted by the girl who was silent and put a mysterious air.

However, the chasers from Greece were approaching to search for Helga who had reincarnated. They were seven scientists who wanted to get back her spirit, Geolca who wanted to obtain the overwhelming power, and Duma who was the son of Geolca. Toma fought against them for his life to protect Helga.

What had happened on Greece far away from the Earth 500 years before?
What were true aims of seven scientists, Geolca, and Duma?
What did the encounter of Helga and Toma imply?
The complicated mystery would be cleared up.

(taken from Animenfo)

Anime production by Nippon Animation.
26 TV Episodes.
R1-License by Bandai
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 7 7 6 8 9 10 Ggultra2764 [series:960#1552]
Don't let the old-school, simplistic character designs fool you. Fantastic Children is a serious drama that interweaves several story arcs that become more closely connected to one another as more details are unveiled concerning those connected with Helga, the Befort Children and the GED Organization. The series creates enough mysteries surrounding the motivations and origins of many of the characters in the series to the point where when a plot twist comes around, you genuinely wouldn't see it coming. The main cast gets a good amount of development in terms of knowing the type of people they are and their pasts, as well as some powerful character chemistry as they face their ordeals in this series. About the only blemishes that I could find with the Series Story would be the 'recap' episode in the middle of the series and the lack of details on what was going on Greecia following the events that led up to the start of the series. Otherwise, Fantastic Children makes for a great title to look into if you like epic-style dramas.

Last updated Sunday, February 21 2010. Created Thursday, February 18 2010.
Buy 7 8 7 5 9 10 Cyhirae [series:960#1964]
I have seen up to episode 25 of FC now, and I can safely say this:

I love it. The series plays with your head on some points, and the story contained therein is far more complex than the initial episodes hint. As a fair warning- despite the light hearted tone of the first handful of eps, this is not a happy little series. Expect drama, heartache, and many other little plot twists that you may think you see coming....

And promptly turn out to be something completely different from what you expected.

This is a true gem of storytelling in anime. If this existed previously as a manga or novel, I sincerely hope it finds it's way into translation. Do not let the old school art style or, in all honesty, old school way of telling a tale scare you off. Every episode is a mini-epic in and of itself (save for the evils of 'recap' eps- ep 14 in this instance), each giving just the right amount of story to keep you guessing.

With one ep left to go, theories are still running wild and the many fans are simply waiting to see what becomes of the cast. I warn again, this is not an uplifting anime designed to brighten your day and raise your spirits- but it's a fine example of human drama with enough science fiction and plot twists inherent to it to keep it from becoming repetative- even a touch of mystery in some instances, if only to the viewers.

If you haven't given this series a chance- I suggest doing so either while it's available as a fansub or when the DVDs start coming out. If you gave up early in- sweet gods, pick it back up- if you left before the recap ep, you have no idea what you were really missing.

--

On a purely technical analysis- the variety of character design is simply amazing when you consider how simplistic it is. Though the style is undeniably old school, all the characters are very distinctive and could not be mistaken for another member of the cast (or another anime) even when viewed at a distance/during a fast moving scene.

The animation is very smooth- CGI is used at points, mostly in dealing with machines, but effort was made to combine them smoothly with very good results. Some scenes I had to check back on to be sure they truly were CGI and not very highly detailed hand-drawings. There are one or two spots where the mix is rough- but no one can be perfect.

To me, the only failing is the music-and then it's not much of a failing. The opening and ending are beautiful and greatly stick to the mind- but sadly, that is the only music from the show that does. The BGM mostly accomplishes it's job of setting the background for a scene- but at some points seemed illfitting to the moment at hand. Unless you're thinking of the opening or ending music for the series- don't expect any of it to stick to your mind. It's not bad- but it's not great either.

I've raved about the story up above, so no need to evaluate that in this part, eh? Just give it a try- you may be surprised at what you find.

Last updated Monday, May 16 2005. Created Monday, May 16 2005.
Unevaluated Jan-Chan [series:960#967]
A very strange series currently being fansubbed by <Mahou>.

Last updated Wednesday, February 02 2005. Created Wednesday, February 02 2005.

Other Sites
NameURL
Series Web Site http://www.f-children.com/
Official Japanese Series Web Site
Wiki-entry (English) for this series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Children
(Warning - this site includes plot spoilers)

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