In a world covered by an endless sea of sand, there sails an island known as the Mud Whale. In its interior lies an ancient town, where the majority of its inhabitants are said to be "Marked," a double-edged trait that grants them supernatural abilities at the cost of an untimely death. Chakuro is the village archivist; young and curious, he spends his time documenting the discovery of newfound islands. But each one is like the rest—abandoned save for the remnants of those who lived there long ago.
For the first time in six months, another island crosses the horizon, so Chakuro and his friends join the scouting group. During the expedition, they find vestiges of an archaic civilization. And inside one of its crumbling remains, Chakuro discovers a girl who will change his destiny and the world inside the Mud Whale as he knows it.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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EnZanity
If you asked anyone to describe Children of the Whales, they would probably call it a tragedy. The people that enjoyed it would say it’s a heartbreaking tragedy filled with death and agony, a show packed with emotion. The people that disliked it would call it a tragedy in a more literal sense, and personally I agree with them. With boring and unexplored characters, predictable and badly paced drama, and a dollop of plot armour to top it all off, Children of the Whales manages to mess up almost every part of what could have made it an interesting watch. Our MC for the show Chakurofeels like a misplaced side character given a slight power boost. He doesn’t do much but survive the whole ordeal and worry about everything, making him completely irrelevant to the story. Our converted enemy Lykos is only around for plot progression, occasionally rising up to be important and then shrinking back into a somewhat empty cast member. The real MC Ouni is the one that holds the most importance and gets explored more than every other character, but for some reason, the show continues to brush him aside so our two less interesting mascots Chakuro and Lykos can take over.
The rest of the cast are only around to create drama, make stupid decisions, and die when needed. I can’t count the amount of faceless blobs of mass that have lost their lives in a desperate attempt to suck out some fragment of despair from its audience. It tries to make us feel attached to people while making no attempt to actually allow us to get to know any of them. There are a few people that the show deems to be of some worth for whatever reason, so it keeps them alive with the wonderful power of plot armour and convenience. Instead of enemies killing them instantly like they do with every other unlucky soul, they take their time to have a little conversation to reveal some plot points, allowing our good guys to make it out alive so they can again be unimportant.
Talking about dying, the drama is a collection of the most predictable situations I have ever seen. You can see almost everything coming from a mile away, and when the show does try to surprise you, the horrid pacing stops you from giving a single shit about each lacklustre episode. Add in the already mentioned plot armour and character stupidity and you are left with massacre after massacre that carry no meaning other than to be a cheap emotional scene for us to sigh over. The only parts that carry any impact are centred around Ouni dealing with his history as a mole rat and him trying to protect his friends. However, the pacing and plot armour still brought it down quite significantly. The story could have made a comeback if it had just played its cards right. To make it even worse, the story ends right when everything is building up for a major arc, just to throw the cherry on the mess that was supposed to be a cake.
Now the two biggest problems I have with this anime are the plot holes and singing. The show states that the Allied Empire, the antagonists of the show, is a country filled with emotionless citizens for reasons explained in the show. Emotionless characters are a tough thing to write so many opt to go with characters that start off emotionless and slowly learn to have human feelings, with even Children of the Whales trying (and failing) this with Lykos. However, the supposedly blank slates that our good guys fight against sure seem to be pretty human to me. Showing signs of fear, desires, and ambition, it’s really frustrating having the show keep telling you that they are emotionless when they are clearly not.
And the bloody singing. Why does the show think it’s alright to break out into songs during the middle of a battlefield? Are they trying to make the show seem more deep and dark with a random sad musical playing over some the serious scenes of the anime? I’m trying to find a reason to like this show but it decides to make up for its terrible drama by distracting us with a little singalong. What the legit fuck? It annoys me so much to see something so out of place in an already bad anime.
Children of the Whales is a show that deserves little praise. It is a massive disappoint that it’s only redeeming point is that it looks nice. No one cares about how good a show looks if the story going alongside it is subpar. Avoid this show, move past it and find something that’s actually worth putting your time into, because this show is just a waste of time.
Stark700
Watching shoujo fantasy adventures these days feels like taking a dive into a video game world. When Kujira no Kora Wa Sujou ni Utau (Children of the Whales) began airing, I had a strange instinct about the show. It felt like an anime that really wanted us to really embrace its ideas but fell short on capitalizing on all of them. Created by Abi Umeda, few people probably heard of the author’s name. Taking a close look at their resume, some of their work consists of horror genre series. Crafting a shoujo fantasy adventure sounded like a challenge. However, I will say this: the author decidedto mold a variety of themes together that felt different from some of the other shoujo fantasy series I’ve seen in the past. To be clear, I think this show is suited for an audience beyond just the female demographic.
Are you the target audience? Let’s test that theory. Do you enjoy watching a show with colorful world fiction? How about a show with a large cast of characters? Or conflicts involving a utopia certainly thrown into turmoil? If any of these are on your bucket list, then definitely give it a try. That being said, the main attraction on paper is so far the setting. Mud Whale is really a unique dynamic that will draw attention. In an endless sea of sand of the Sand Era, Mud Whale is a moving vessel composed of an unique civilization. There are the “marked ones” who are individuals with psychokinetic powers but have a short life span. On the other hand, there are the “unmarked ones”, individuals who possesses no powers but have longer life spans. It’s interesting to note that these people live in isolation so they know nothing about the outside world. The plot involves a mysterious girl named Lykos as she changes the lives of everyone on Mud Whale.
As a 1-cour adaptation running for 12 episodes, I was a bit worried. Before even watching, I had to be less optimistic because it meant the likely event that the show will omit content and also leave questions for the viewers. Unfortunately, that came to be the case after this series ended. It felt like an advertisement of the manga and wants the audience’s hunger for more. As a manga reader, I am thankful that the anime adapted the story consistently with what the overall tone of the setting. But for the overall story, it really felt lacking. My early impression of the show kept me wanting for more though. The first few episodes established the setting and really gives a feel of a shoujo fantasy adventure. We have the characters living their lives in harmony as part of a utopia. Despite being isolated, they behave like humans and have their own system like the council, battle platoons, and recreational services. That changes after Lykos makes her appearance with Mud Whale while bringing attention from outsiders. It transformed the show from a harmonious story into one with dramatic conflicts. This elevates into bloodshed, pain, and even death.
Now as I watched more of this series, I accepted that only the main core characters will get their spotlight. The ones you see on the key visuals includes Chakuro, Lykos, Ouni, Suou, Ginshu, Ryodari, and Sami. Chakuro is the main guy who bears a gentle personality. This is a contrast to characters such as the emotionless Lykos and cold hearted Ouni. While I can’t say Chakuro is an impressive protagonist on paper, he is able to influence others such as Lykos throughout the show. The two forges a unique bond after the two begins to understand each other more. However, the anime doesn’t go too far into developing their relationship nor does it explore them individually as characters. It’s sad to realize this but I think omitting characterization makes the characters harder to accept. For the others, they play a variety of roles such as Suou becoming a leader, Ouni as the rigid combatant, or Ginshu as a guard of Mud Whale. It’s also noticeable that even deceased characters in the series has some influence on the present story. This is especially true when applied to characters like Chakuro as death affects his mentality. Meanwhile, I can’t say the antagonists of the series are appealing. The most noticeable one to point fingers at is Ryodari, the pink haired child soldier. We only see a glimpse of his past but it’s shown that he is clearly unstable and has a thirst to kill for the thrill of it. It lacks any depth in characterization and really doesn’t make him feel believable as a character. Indeed, the characters in the show is a mixed bag. As I watched more and more of this series, it felt like the creator didn’t really put too much thought into making them.
On the other hand, the experience I got from watching this anime felt rather memorable at times. The drama brings a reality to death and there’s a sense of tragedy that can send chills down the spine. While character chemistry isn’t always meaningful, it does have a way to express itself and evoke emotions. The vulnerability of the characters is clear and it shouldn’t take long for viewers to discover how death affects them. While it is also a shoujo, don’t expect romance to actually develop though. It serves more as a genre to carry the style of the story. The mystery elements develops more and more as the story progresses but don’t expect answers to everything. It’s explored through some background storytelling but will still leave viewers to their imaginations.
Adapted by J.C. Staff, this anime really stood out in the artwork department. A utopia like Mud Whale is depicted as a perfect society and before the events of Lyko’s encounter, it really does look like one. From the simple character outfits to natural spectacles, it’s a sight to feast eyes on. Mud Whale itself is also decorated with colorful features such as the sand particles, atypical structure, and natural aesthetics. The world fiction gives the impression of what a fantasy shoujo should be with the endless sand. It feels like a vast open world video game. Character designs also makes quite an impression as a majority of the cast are children. It gives off a sense of innocence, vulnerability, and youth. There’s also violence so do expect action to pick up once the conflicts really gets going. The amount of blood isn’t presented as shock value but more as a way to illustrate the reality of death. Fan service isn’t explicit but does also exist with bath scenes so be on the lookout for that.
Beautiful and harmonious. That’s how I’d describe the theme songs of the show and overall tone of the OST. The technical elements of the soundtrack is outstanding to fit with the genres of this anime. Sound director Jin Aketagawa (known for his work on some other fantasy series) impressed me with the overall direction. The synchronization of the soundtrack with some of the more emotional scenes made them feel impactful. Not to mention, there’s also harmonious singing in the show that really took my attention. Character voice mannerism can be a mixed bag at times. Lykos is too emotionless to be memorable while most of the younger characters all sound the same. Ryodari takes his personality often too far to be declared impressive.
Adapting a shoujo fantasy adventure isn’t easy but the final product that came to be felt like it’s missing something. Whether it’s the weak characterization or underdeveloped plot is up for you to decide. It definitely has visual splendor though and sells its setting convincingly to viewers. I just wish they took more time to expand the story and characters to really capitalize on this series as a whole. To me, this is a show that needed more passion to bring audience for appreciation.
2life
This anime is so unique it could be one of a kind Not really anime, not really Chinese cartoon, this story sail between being weird and great. Children of the Whales is a story which could not be for anyone. It appeals and please quite a niche group of people. Nevertheless it did really please me with its unique story and world. §§§§ STORY §§§§ So I cant really go deep in the story without spoiling it so I won’t. That would lessen the fun of watching it yourself. Children of the Whales is told form the perspective of Chakuro who occasionally narrates some of his thoughts. Itgives the feeling like you’re being told an tale or good story by the mc himself. For just 12 episodes this anime feels deep and convinces me that there is a lot of lore behind the real storyline. They have funerals, festivals, laws, culture. It all adds up to interesting world building while simultaneously laying the foundation for future events. It really conveys a story rich world and shows that the Whales is more than just a plot device. It is something that lives and breathes. Something where obviously more happened, before we got to see it. I feel it was unjustified to be just 12 episodes and feels like it could have been easily 3 seasons long with the amount of lore unexplored.
The characters aren’t abused up to the point they will just be for tear jerkers or comic relief. They have more purpose, like in the real world. It makes each of the characters stand more out, even if they don’t get much screen time.
I’ve got to say that the pacing is fast but well justified. It doesn’t go in to deep in the history of the Whales, what was disappointing, but it does create a new story for us to be a part of. Luckily it doesn’t drag out unnecessary parts as it feels like you will always move along the story while watching. The fast pacing does leave some information left desired.
§§§§ ART §§§§
The background felt like Chinese art style with anime characters popping in. It felt so fresh. The easy-going background gave my eyes plenty of rest while still being appealing. I would say that it is one of the strong points of Children of the Whales. I noticed some CG was used for sand and some other effects, but it was blend in so well that it made the anime better looking, rather than an abomination (like most CG scenes).
The character design was simple yet attractive. It fulfilled the role of “simple looking” on an island without too much tech.
The way thymia was handled was very beautiful. A simple depiction of power while still being very appealing. The rules are simple, more thymia means more power. Luckily there is no stupid thing like instant powerup with mad effects. It was simple and appealing.
§§§§ CHARACTERS §§§§
We see multiple characters developing and adapting to a changing world. Reactions and actions were taking accordingly if you would think about how the characters were before the invasion. Emotion plays a big role, but that doesn’t really seem prominent at first. It gradually evolves and opens up. You might re-watch it for the sake of understanding the first few episodes. Because I didn’t really understand the world and the characters yet, their reactions ticked me off and I was almost ready to drop it. But when I look back, I think it was really well done.
Im happy the characters don’t act “out of character”. The characters have their own treads and their own strengths and weakness. We get to see Chakuro evolving from slow mc to better mc. Suoh/Souo changes his thinking and decision making, but still remains kind and gentle. Ouni stays badass.
I’m a bit puzzled by Lykos, she wasn’t really easy to read and the story didn’t really support her choices and motivation. I guess she is a nice addon but I feel like she wasn’t really needed. To bad she had to replace a character.
Because the story deviates real quick I’m not discussing the characters in detail, as that would spoil most moments. I would say that they won’t be new characters at the end of the season, but you get to see what makes them move and what moved them. On the other hand, if this would be 24 episodes, they could flesh out just a bit more of character.
§§§§ MUSIC §§§§
The music is beautiful and does a great job at expressing scenes, guiding the pace and supporting the art in general. The ambient tones fluently changes to upbeat battle style with each changing scene. The scene where Neri (purple lil girl) sings and dance was beautiful but very alienated from the story. It felt theatrical and soothing. It did add some element, yet I puzzled what it exactly added.
The music felt in a way nostalgic, reminding me of something spacious, worldly, yet very close and cozy. I don’t know if this is personal, but I liked it.
§§§§ FINAL THOUGHTS §§§§
This anime sails between being good and mediocre. Some moments were bright and other were really frustrating. As mentioned earlier I was ready to drop this anime on episode 3 but something etched me to really finish the story and I’m glad I did. It wouldn’t be an anime for many people but in a way it is really artistic. I had some moments where I could see the skill of the story writer, how things turned out or how things are handled. It didn’t feel like there was plot armor and most things played out very natural. Sacrifices are made and somethings are gained from it. I would ship Chakuro and Sami and I hope they will be happy together.
If you would love unique painteresque anime with unique premise and a beautiful evolving story, I would recommend you Children of the Whales! If you like mc who do crazy ass pulls and always push through or clear and predictable story, this isn’t your call. I hope for a sequeal.
NotAnElk
Children of the Mud Whale is a beautiful show with an interesting world that is a complete waste of time. Most of us watched it for the pretty background art and fascinating concept, but it fails miserably to deliver on these. Story: 3 3 is a bit generous and is there solely because of 1) a death early on that caught me by surprise, and 2) the world building. Mud Whale has an interesting world, with whale/ships powered by grotesque monstrosities on a sand ocean. There's an evil empire and other kingdoms scattered around, it all seems like it should be really entertaining but it just isn't.The direction is awful, it feels like they didn't take their episode numbers into account at all. A third party that intends to ally with the Mud Whale shows up at random in one episode and just hangs out with them for the rest of the series, not affecting anything. Information is doled out whenever the show feels like it and characters are introduced and killed off in bulk.
Art: 8
The art is where this show excels. The background art is beautiful, the world looks interesting and fun. You want to learn more about the unique society on the mud whale, their specific customs that they've developed from their years in isolation, the world they inhabit. Where it fails is the action direction. Emotionless enemy soldiers wait their turn to attack the helpless and allow themselves to be mowed down for no reason. There is a scene where a weakened old man is able to kill two soldiers by stumbling into them off a cliff, after they'd already cut a gash into his chest. Why they didn't get out of the way is behind comprehension. The show doesn't look bad necessarily in motion but it's nothing impressive. It'll get you some nice screenshots though.
Sound: 8
I've got a terrible memory when it comes to background music and OP/ED themes. There is, however, a memorable scene in one of the episodes where a character sings a song amidst a battle and it's genuinely beautiful. It briefly revived my hope in this series before it was beaten back into the sand.
Characters: 1
The characters are the worst part of this show.
Chakuro - the main character who doesn't feel like a main character. He's described as an archivist but this aspect of his personality is so underdeveloped that I genuinely forgot that that was his job until a character referred to him as "Archivist of Falaina." On top of that he's a weak, ineffectual crybaby who, unlike better crybabies like Deku from My Hero Academia, never gets better.
Lykos - she literally had the emotions sucked out of her prior to the series and it shows. She's quiet and mopey, refusing to give potentially crucial information until the end of the series despite having it the entire time.
Ouni - The only decent character. I think he even exhibits character development, but my god is he not enough to save this section of the review, let alone the entire show.
The main issue is, as I mentioned before, that they introduce characters at random. "Oh this character's going on a potentially dangerous mission? Give him a best friend who wants to come with." "Hm... there's not enough internal strife, let's introduce two new characters who literally explain away their absence with a 'we've stuck to the edges of the Mud Whale til now' as if that excuses their delayed introduction and have them stir things up" They're reluctant to kill off important characters so they invent new characters whenever they want and throw them in the story, hoping to eke out some emotional payoff.
Enjoyment: 2
There are just enough pretty moments to edge this series above a 1 for enjoyment. It's not fun to watch, it's really boring even during the action. The fact that they introduce new characters just to kill them off destroys any tension once you know who's going to survive. There are about 2 deaths with any real impact, and even then only the first one is felt by the viewer. The penalty for the magic system that the characters have is short lifespans, which is a totally ineffectual penalty. Sure the older characters are likely to die, chances are it won't affect anyone you really care about for another few years, and it's difficult to care about these characters anyway because they just don't do much.
Overall: 3
Children of the Mud Whale is a bad show. It's a pretty show, but it's bad. The art and sound keep it from being a 1 or a 2 but they are not enough to give it an even passable score. This is, after all, an anime, not an art book.
BanjoTheBear
(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) Whales are intelligent, majestic creatures. Rulers of the sea by size and by power. In comparison, Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau has no size. It has no power. All it really rules over is the bottom of the ocean – right where it belongs. STORY Credit where credit is due: Kujira no Kora (as it will be shortened to from here on out) contains a neat premise what with its expanse of sand, an inexplicable titan, and the cultural norms it creates. It at least has the footing necessary to get the ball rolling (or, in thiscase, get the “boat” rowing).
But as a narrative, as a story, this whole venture sinks rather than swims.
Major issues reveal themselves swiftly and without remorse. For instance, the bad guys have a weird tendency to just not really do anything in situations where they clearly have the upper hand, turning specific events into an excuse to push the plot in a certain direction rather than into intense moments that allow it to develop naturally. Moreover, hardly anything is known about these adversaries since the show will go long stretches without talking about them or at least referring to them, missing out on crucial exploration of their side.
The trading of information also encounters trouble. Characters like Lykos will hold onto vital clues for very little reason other than to obstruct the narrative. Then, in complete opposite fashion, someone like Aima will descend in front of Chakuro to give him her umpteenth example of deus ex machina so that the plot at least “makes sense” when going to its next part.
Quotes must be used there since Kujira no Kora often treads into nonsensical territory. Random characters, such as the older elders, appear and disappear out of nowhere. Certain interactions, such as Chakuro speaking with one of the Nous directly, involves incredulous logic. Important changes, such as Ouni’s newfound powers, have miniscule impact in the aftermath of their discovery.
This systemic plague within the writing festers and oozes its way into the more fundamental aspects of the show. An excessive amount of exposition bogs down the flow, and pacing can get too quick which hinders events. There’s also the intermittent comedic relief. It stilts the tone since people are literally dead or dying and such jokey asides clash hard with the serious morbidity.
Even disregarding the comedy, Kujira no Kora breaks apart with its drama and its action, the areas that make up the bulk of its story.
On the drama side, it’s tough to care about the loss of life which occurs. It tries to be emotional insofar as those who perish usually represent major figures in the lives of those nearby, but the lacking presence of these people to begin with prevents the drama from landing.
On the action side, not enough happens to justify the skirmishes. Those who are Marked have essentially magical powers, but their abilities and their usage rarely (if ever) aim for an interesting angle let alone reach memorable status.
Problem after problem hounds this story nearly every step of the way. It’s largely incompetent, and its premise simply cannot carry the glaring mishaps and the ludicrous inadequacies that weigh it down. This vessel doesn’t just sink; it implodes.
ART & ANIMATION
While the show may not recover from the damage to its narrative, Kujira no Kora at least dazzles with the artistry at its disposal.
Chief among its wonders is the color palate. The anime opts for a watery fade to achieve its softer hues, coinciding with the sea motif and forming the watercolor looks for many of its visuals. It also chooses much lighter colors in general: pinks, teals, yellows. They add a vibrant contrast not only to the darker blues and purples but also to the overall darkness of the mood at hand.
The rocky outcropping the characters call home also gets attention. Craggy walls and earthen stone encase their lodgings. Rudimentary holes act as rough windows. Quaint amenities line their rooms. Vegetation on other floating islands and the regal cities of the “normal” people have a place, but this monolith of mud and clay captures the rustic intent of the anime.
Combining the colors and the setting provides the show with ample opportunities to highlight the beauty of this world. Again, it almost never leaves the static ruins of their roaming giant. Yet, when a sunset casts light on their abode or dancing lights flicker in the nighttime air, it becomes easier to forgive the stale variety and to appreciate these gorgeous segments.
While the art and the artistry often impress, the more nuanced, technical side of things isn’t as captivating. Cinematography remains standard for many of its scenes, and the actual animation during bouts or as they go about their daily lives stays relatively straightforward.
Kujira no Kora prevails with other details, though. The designs for its characters fit the scope and the lore of their era and their culture as loose clothes, accessories, sandals, and other simplistic garb invoke a native feel to their looks. And above them, a painted, almost canvas-esque sky stays aligned with the painted vibe of the art, granting an awe in all directions.
Overall, the anime contains some rather good artistry. One can’t complain too much here.
CHARACTERS
The characters within Kujira no Kora, however, cannot evade complaints.
Chakuro takes the helm of this “ship” as the lead star and the narrator, speaking of his account aboard their home and his knowledge of the Falaina people (i.e., his people). However, he’s entirely too passive to be considered a worthwhile character within the anime. Not that being passive is inherently a problem; it’s that that’s all he is.
He’s a writer at heart, so it’s understandable that he stays on the sidelines during fights (even if he’s apparently a very strong thymia user) since he has little in the way of battle training. But he contributes almost nothing else. He watches events play out, and he cries a lot, yet he just laments the situation and goes along with nearly everything that happens around him.
Deaths of dear friends do affect him, so he’s at least attuned with the gravity of their dilemma. That’s not saying a whole lot, however, when he won’t speak up even if he knows the causes behind it. Worse yet, Chakuro will constantly talk about wishing to record the stories of his people for historical purposes episode after episode, but his progress on this front must be minimal because Kujira no Kora rarely showcases him doing as such. I.e., he talks the talk but does not walk the walk.
Chakuro is so bland and so useless that it’s a miracle to see him connected to this story whatsoever. Lykos is a walking blob of a character, too. She begins as a blank slate of sorts, harboring almost zero emotion when Chakuro and the others find her. Meaning, the anime primes her for an interesting arc to follow throughout the season.
True to its trends, though, Lykos succumbs to the same problems of overt passivity and minute contributions. She receives a tiny bit of backstory near her introduction, and she’s related to the main baddy, but the extent of her presence stops there. She barely says or does anything meaningful despite her growing emotions.
Lykos maybe-possibly develops feelings for Chakuro, indicating her recent changes on a psychological level. Sadly, their relationship neither goes anywhere meaningful, has a resolute foundation, nor is challenged to any significant extent. That is to say, just as they are individually depleted as characters, the bond they share turns hallow as well.
Besides these two leads, Kujira no Kora includes side characters who likewise fail to meet a proper spot. Shuan, the eyepatch guy, is the outlier amongst everyone insofar as he cares not for anything, including (apparently) his own wife. But he’s almost too much of an outsider, leading his small asides to register as inconsequential moments without much follow-through. Then there’s the purple-hair goofball who gets some pretty vital backstory right before a key scene in his arc. It demonstrates a complete lameness in the character writing, aggravated further by his absurd motivations.
Perhaps the only two notable characters in the show are Suou and Ouni.
Suou becomes the voice of reason whose nonviolent ideologies struggle against the fear and the hatred which brews in the hearts of his fellow thymia users. He’s the anchor of hope that the rest of the characters look up to, a mature person who himself has a lot left to learn. As a supporting character, he’s at least beneficial to the ensuing plot.
Ouni is arguably the most well-written character in Kujira no Kora, but it’s still a weak and precarious backing. The anime sets up him as a conflicted anti-hero who inspires everyone to fight back and who cares deeply for the misfits he has befriended over the years. His never-ending angst and his much-to-be-desired backstory don’t do him any favors, but the personal troubles he endures push him down the right path. A statement that cannot be said for the other two main characters.
Unfortunately, Suou and Ouni find themselves drowned out by a mixed bag of other additions to the cast. Sami enlightens the audience to the harshness of their world, Hakuji shows how people can redeem themselves yet, and Masoo reminds everyone of the unfair toll they have burdened. On the opposite side, Oruka is an annoyingly blasé villain in need of depth, and the latecomers from the new country arrive way too late indeed.
For these characters, it’s mostly just a wash.
MUSIC & SOUND
A cleansing of the audio is also required for Kujira no Kora.
At the minimum, its opening track “Sono Saki e” harbors a hefty emotional tone that strikes at the bittersweet layer permeated throughout the anime. The tender female vocals and the light acoustic guitar strings work in unison to meld this mood, relying on the drums and the shakers for a steady rhythm. It’s perhaps slightly repetitive in its structure, but poignant delivery for many of its lyrics supplant this grievance.
The tail end of each episode brings the ending track “Hashitairo”, another song aiming for that bittersweet tone. However, it dives into it with more gusto. Female vocals and acoustic guitar strings return alongside piano keys, extra backing vocals, and violins to emphasize the bitter half of the term. Unlike the OP, this ED skirts around repetition, yet the middle section of the track meanders to a questionable degree. Still, the poetic, story-like lyrics introduce a complexity that befits the song’s equally complex emotions.
While neither the OP nor the ED stand out as too impressive, they at least do not go down the contemptable route of its semi-insert songs. Over the course of Kujira no Kora, a few musical numbers per se pop up to crescendo as sweeping emotional points in the story. Per usual, though, they fall flat. Sometimes they’re way too out of place, like as the prelude to a battle about to commence. Sometimes they’re too methodical, like as the beginning of the end to the story’s conclusion. Whether melancholic or uplifting in nature, these songs are easily the worst audio decisions in the anime.
The majority of the rest of the audio elements simply pass the mark. Heavy cellos and quicker instrumentation coincide with the somber and tenser parts of the anime (respectively), but the collection of tracks it touts leave behind nothing all that memorable. The voice-acting performances similarly lose out on any standout mentions. And the sound-effects, regardless of the thymia possibilities, remain par for the course.
In short, the music and the sound fairs slightly better than the other aspects of Kujira no Kora, but it ends up in the red anyway.
ENJOYMENT
To say I disliked this anime would be an understatement.
The weaknesses throughout the season were already enough to make it a soured and sorrowful experience, but the anime goes that extra step further with some more baffling choices. Key among them involves a certain purple-hair antagonistic who shall go unnamed still for being absolutely insufferable.
Jim Carrey as the Grinch put it best: “Loathe entirely” describes this annoying, eye-rolling, grating nuisance of a character (intentional or not). Yet the show steps it up again by making him into a literal personal jester later on, increasing his loathsome behavior to another level after what should have been his leave. He pretty much deserved such a fate for being a psychopathic lunatic, but, having hit maximum on the hated scale beforehand, he breaks it afterwards. He has now become one of my least favorite characters I’ve ever had the displeasure of viewing onscreen, and I pray I never have to see him mentioned anywhere ever again.
Furthermore, I couldn’t take the anime very seriously at all. There’s a distinct part in episode five that is one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments I’ve ever seen in a long time, if not ever. The Nous creature gets hit by an arrow, and its reaction is priceless. The scream, the eyes, the camera zooming in and out. It was a trifecta of funny that wasn’t meant to be so but got there anyway.
Also why would throwing sand at each other equate to a worthwhile pastime for these stranded people? I get that they must be bored out of their minds out there, but the fact that nobody seems to question such a dangerous activity comes off as irrational.
Maybe I’m being nitpicky over such a tiny detail, but it just goes to show how frustrating this whole project ended up being for me. It’s empty. It’s inane to watch. It’s borderline bottom of the barrel.
When this one did finally wrap up, it boldly declared that, “The journey will continue.” I can acknowledge its confidence for future success – but that’s as far as I’m willing to extend my olive branch.
Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau fails miserably. Like a golden toilet, it shines on the outside thanks to its beautiful art, but, on the inside, it contains excrement in the form of poor narrative writing, odd musical choices, lame characters, and unappealing entertainment. A whale of a time it is not.
SUMMARY
Story: Terrible, a ridiculous enemy, improper plot handling, nonsensical happenings, fundamental problems, and an uninteresting direction sink its maiden voyage
Art & Animation: Good, vibrant colors and a painted style give the visuals a gorgeous look even if the more technical traits like cinematography and movement do not impress
Characters: Bad, Chakuro and Lykos are horrible protagonists, Suou and Ouni have a mediocre presence, and the remaining supporting and extra cast members lean towards the weak, negative side
Music & Sound: Bad, the OP and the ED demonstrate emotion, but the absurd singing moments and the rest of the lackluster audio elements fail to contribute
Enjoyment: Terrible, has one of the most annoying characters ever seen, laughable when it doesn’t intend to be, and increasingly frustrating the further along it proceeds
Final Score: 2/10
-HippySnob-
A bizarre world building ended a tragic and epitome of disjointed plot As referring set of tragedy events behind the story which lies under the beneath catalyst breach of such unspoken some more less detail never detain an interior crappy edgy tone vibes. In depths between an example of Dante's Comedy but with a common poison A structure which bases on an imagining contents in a form of writing directs unnecessary gibberish drawn out of context grandiose tale without based to the point of existentialism behind the drastic factual and careful disregarded recyclable setting. Not only it has a shallow mediocre material, but tells neutral status rather thantaking some components on every aspects that depicts on a massive downgrade fantasy series. Such as political struggling issues on the deaths between set of characters for having a severe breakdown.
The writing in this book is decent for the most part. It struggles in the dialogue department at times, coming off as rather clunky in a few areas when it introduces a character and awkwardly explains what they’re about to characters who already know (see Suou’s introduction). Otherwise, I found the dialogue pretty decent enough. It presents us with a redeeming setting wrapped in a coat of luscious, beautiful artwork that is an eyed candy to our eyes, But It lacks a strong cast currently and its pace may be more of a hindrance than a benefit to some horrifying, but fascinating to look at and ponder. Not bogging you down in the detail and bringing them in one at a time. The pacing is quick and while I find that hurts the story, it can be a benefit for those who just want to get straight to the point. Plus, things are easy to follow and never feel that confusing even despite the characteristics, It felt cringe enough to width the amount of parts by being left in a mark.
From the verge of the existence in between the stellar art and beauty
intertwine a vision had caught in a blink state of morality. And was also left a complete anticlimatic attempt as it never reach to it's mere type of conclusion. Stereotypes are never felt biased and failed to deepen a crucial focus on what's life is normally like on the Mud Whale. This doesn’t necessarily hurt the series much, Neither pacing didn’t do its justice, by showing characters, or plot any favor. It probably would have been more essential where exploiting a desirous on began challenging the unbearable of living and anticipating the less aesthetic human nature.
Harucchan
Kujira No Kora is beautiful anime in all senses! I realize not everyone will like, because it’s quite a sensitive story; it’s that kind of story which leaves you, at the end, with lots of tears. The story is quite interesting too – it’s filled with a magical world and mysteries; so, I’m sure if you start watching it, you’ll end up watching all episodes in a row, considering how much addictive the show is. I need to be sincere with you guys: the show is really interesting, but the story has some inconsistencies; it’s a shoujo show, but, as far as I’m concerned itends up being too shoujo – to the point where the story becomes unrealistic, at times, because the show follows rigorously the “shoujo criteria”. Everything said, you’ll love the show, so don’t hold back and just watch it right away! It’s on Netflix, after all, come on, guys!
[Story: 7/10]
[SPOILERS ALERT] There are minor spoilers ahead, otherwise it’s really hard to write this review: but don’t worry, they’re not anything which will make a difference when you’ll watch the anime. Also, review big AF ahead.
Kujira No Kora has a marvelous universe construction, you’ll be dumbfounded by how well constructed it was. The story is based in a utopic island which moves around a sea of sand – and, yes, in the story the sea is made of sand: it’s not a figure of language. The island has a small community living within it; to them, that’s their entire world, for they have no idea of the world which exists out there. It seems that utopic island Thomas More wrote about: everything is beautiful, everyone is an equal (well, almost everyone) and all of the people live their lives with no worries and no violence (it’s almost as if they don’t know what violence is).
That said, there’s something which divides people in two groups: the ability to use a power called “thymia”. Ninety percent of the people can use it – being known, then, as the Marked; the other ten percent can’t use it – being known then as the Unmarked. A board of Unmarked elders hold the political reins of the island; however, the work is divided equally among everyone – even among the Unmarked. So, in this sense, is almost as if that island represented a communist system (if not for the difference in political power among the Marked and Unmarked, but the Marked have super powers; so, I guess that makes them equal lol).
The people who live in the island are different from the people from their ex-homeland: while they can feel such stronghearted, tear dropping, breathtaking feELiNgS, the people from the outside world don’t have feELiNgS. Now, I can begin to show how incredibly intelligent the show is: I see as a portrayal of our world if it were to become a dystopia (in a way it already is if we stop to think about it). And it’s really interesting how you start the show thinking it’s a utopia but, in the end, you realize it’s a dystopia. In this universe, it came a time in human history when humans deemed emotions could only get in the way, so it’d be better to live without them; therefore, they became heartless soldiers. The people in the island can only live this perfect, utopic life in the island, because they ignore the outside world. And it’s really interesting to see, as the show progresses, that some people in the island, who have emotions, can be really cruel at times – so, they are just hypocrites pointing their fingers to the outsiders, who don’t have emotions, and calling them “monsters”. Regarding the outsiders, it’s exposed how far it came the human stupidity to think it’d be better to live in a world without emotions.
So, the brilliance of the show lies this portrayal of us, of how far the human stupidity can go and of how deluded we can become, unable to see our own hypocrisy. Also, the brilliance lies in the way the show can demonstrate emotions in such a stronghearted, tear dropping, breathtaking way. It just kills me how I ended the show soaking wet with my tears. I’d give a 10 for the story, if not for the inconsistencies; nonetheless, it’s an amazing show.
[Art: 10]
The direction of art is splendid! The island is so beautifully constructed visually that it only can aid the understanding that is a little perfect world! The art is so well done that it really makes you think that island is a utopia. The art is so good that I’d watch the show just for the art. That’s how good it is.
[Sound: 10]
It’s rare to watch an anime with an orchestrated soundtrack; just that considered makes the sound of the anime incredible. But besides being orchestrated, the melodies are heavenly, really, they’re heavenly! When you hear that beautiful music, you’ll believe that island is not only a utopia, but it’s heaven. Not to mention the few songs in the show, sung by the own characters, have such a good lyric and carry such a huge emotion that when you start listening, you’ll cry immediately.
[Character: 7)
As I’ve said above, the show can be really, really shoujo – which, on one side, make it amazing to watch all of those guys with emotions blurting out of their skin acting so passionately around other guys (and girls); but, on the other side, it makes the show unrealistic: Suou and Chakuro, for example, are so kind and passionate that their behavior, at times, is just ridiculous (though, most of the time is just tear dropping). Many characters lack depth while some are really deep and well-constructed; so, if you forgive that and the inconsistencies, I can grant you’ll have a great time filled with tears watching the anime.
As I’ve said above, this kind of show is not for everyone, but, in my opinion, the best shows are the ones filled with passion, I’m sorry not sorry.
[Enjoyment: 10] and [Overall: 8.8]
I’ve spoken so much about the show in this review that I guess it’s enough (and obvious) to say, with all of its faults, you’ll love the show. It’s like a son or a daughter (I imagine, for God’s sake I don’t want one now): you’ll love anyway, so just watch the show.
I’m sorry for the long review, believe me, I’m tired of reading it as well, so I get you.
Inter_anime
"Children of the Whales" or "Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau" is a precellular anime, it has an interesting premise, complex world-building, and decent animation, yet despite all that it constantly felt as if it was coming up short. Depending on what you like in a show, this anime might either be really enjoyable for you or not enjoyable at all. One thing that is really appealing about Children of the Whales is its setting and world-building, it's hard to explain without giving too much away, but there's this whole complex story of this sea of sand with various islands called "whales" with the inhabitantson them being divided between those who have special power and those that don't. For each society there is a different drawback to having these powers called "thymia", for the protagonists it means that their lifespans our significantly shortened, for others it cost them their emotions. I'm not going to divulge what the cause of this is of course, but there were plenty of surprises, twists and turns that kept me hooked the whole time.
While the premise and background are the anime's biggest strength, the writing is its biggest weakness. Children of the Whale is surprisingly brutal at times, with a body count among its main cast rivaling many popular war anime, but it seems that the writers of the show were uncertain of how much they should showcase. A lot of the brutality and character deaths were muted and ruined by pointless melodrama, and it seemed as if the show kept trying to cover up how dark it actually was. Pacing was also an issue, some episodes felt overly rushed while others were far too slow. Also, the show relied way too much on exposition, especially in the early episodes.
Another aspect of the show negatively affected by the writing were the characters. For its runtime Children of the Whales has a surprisingly large caste, especially among our protagonist's society, but their development is haphazard at best. Chakuro is built up to be the main protagonist and Lykos is kind of the poster child of the show, but there were some episodes were neither of them were in it for more than a couple minuets. It is clear that the vigilante Ouni is the most dynamic and complex character in the show, and this is reflected by the fact that he is by far the most popular character, but his development too was uneven at best. Another issue was how unbelievably stupid a lot of the characters acted, aside from the aforementioned Ouni it rarely seemed as if any of the other characters had two brain cells to rub as they were constantly making boneheaded decisions to further the plot.
The art for the show was alright, I guess. The whole environment of these islands and people floating on a sea of sand was well conceived of and animated, and the main caste's character designs were surprisingly complex. The side character's designs though at times bordered on overly simplistic and it was hard to tell them apart, as well as sometimes the background art and the characters seemed to contrast too much, making it look like the characters had simply been pasted on.
The music also had its highs and lows, the op and ep didn't strike me as overly special at first but they both grew on me over time, to the point that I consider the former one of my top favorite openings now. On the flip side there is this tune one of the characters sings which is really annoying, and there were a few times the music did not gel well at all, there was this one moment that was supposed to be sentimental, but the directors chose to have this upbeat, almost goofy song playing which ruined the moment for me.
Children of the Whales touches on some important themes, such as the inevitability of mortality, how complicated morality can be, the fact in war the bad guys sometimes win, and the power of emotions. Yet despite that and its interesting premise, I personally never felt as if the anime ever fully delivered. In fact, there were a couple times, especially after the horrendous episode 10, that I wanted to drop this. Personally, for me it's the one anime I feel most conflicted about, and I feel that I like it more for the show it could have been rather than what actually came out. Perhaps it's because the anime is a Shoujo and not the Shonen, but I really didn't connect with how the themes and ideas were being expressed. Despite that and all the issues I have with Children of the Whales, it did get me interested in the manga, and I am hopefully looking forward if this anime (though unlikely) ever gets a sequel. I very tentatively recommend this if you appreciate intriguing fantasy anime and complex stories, but if you're offput by bad writing or missed opportunities then you probably will not enjoy it.
raisin-kun
I am in despair. For the first time in a long time I am actually sad that an anime has gone this poorly. I had hopes that Children of Whales (KujiKora for short) could be a little gem of an anime. JC Staff are an animation studio that have probably been the most consistent studio in all of Japan and have given us some incredible classics like Nodame and Hachimitsu as well as some great contemporary works like Sakurasou and Raildex. I had hope that this anime would be able to join their echelons. Fantasy is a genre that I have hardly explored but thisshow had so much promise to introduce to me a whole new, wonderful world with a smooth, slow, purposeful story that took you in with beautiful imagery and charming characters. That was my hope. And it was shattered.
WARNING: DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE ANIME, THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS.
KujiKora is set in a world with a gargantuan ocean of sand. We follow the experiences of people living on a large ship made of mud which is called a "whale" which is where our title comes from. The story is told mainly through the eyes of Chakuro - a young archivist living on the ship with several hundred others. Some people - our MC included - possess telekinetic powers called Thymia and are "Marked". In exchange for this power they live relatively short lives, rarely going past 30. The ship and its residents have been aimlessly adrift for nearly a hundred years and have never encountered any other people. Whenever another mud ship drifts into view and range, they send people to see whether there is anyone on board as well as to scavenge. There is never anyone on board these rarely encountered foreign ships but, one day, the scavenger group - our MC included - find a girl who turns out to be a soldier for a large empire who sent their own ships to attack and sink their mud ship for reasons that are explained latter into the anime. Thus, begins our thrilling adventure of drama ad suspense while figuring out the secrets of the world.
Problem #1: Too many characters
There's a lot of characters in this anime. And I mean a lot. There are about thirty or so named characters in the show. It isn't an inherently bad thing that a show has a crap ton of characters in it. Shirobako, for instance, has about twice as many named characters in twice as many episodes and turned out great. Kujikora, however, struggles to juggle between all the characters. A lot of the characters have way too much screen time despite hardly being tertiary characters. It gets so bad that the actual main characters of the show have almost no screen time despite them being the point-of-view characters of the story. The anime does kill of quite a lot of its characters and these are often the characters the anime pushes us to try and form an emotional bond with despite us hardly even knowing them. The anime is simply inept at trying to develop these characters since most of them have one-note personalities and only last around two or three episodes if they're lucky. This makes their existence feel so shallow and I could hardly muster up the energy to feel anything for them. It just feels so cheap. So high is the frequency of the show killing off characters that you just know who has a death flag on them. There's a lot I can list - more so than I want - but one of the most egregious is in the beginning where they kill off the MC's "love interest". We hardly know anything about her and her entire character is that she loved the MC. That's it. But the anime constantly brings us back to her and her sad story - especially in the first half - that she got annoying fast. Another egregious example would be Ouni's friend who gets offed simply to become a plot convenience to "unlock" Ouni's power as well as to give some cheap backstory which I hardly cared about because he was introduced literally 2 episodes prior. Trust me, these characters might sound like big deals but they really aren’t since so many of them pop up.
That's another part of the problem: new characters are often introduced seemingly on a whim and they constantly do this throughout the very small number of episodes. A lot of them either end up doing nothing, do very little to further the plot, or and up making the whole thing a lot worse simply by their existence. I understand that this anime is adapted from a manga and that these characters will probably become relevant latter on in the story but in the anime it just feels intrusive. One of the most egregious examples of this happening occurs in episode 8 where two blokes whom we were only introduced to a few episodes prior, and whom were never alluded to – nor had more than 5 minutes of screen time, suddenly came out looking all important and demanding a rebellion of the Marked against the Unmarked. Not only was this conflict never expanded upon or alluded to in any previous episode (something I’ll expand on latter), but these characters were incredibly one-dimensional. The anime expected me to somehow invest myself in them and the conflict but I just cringed throughout the scene. This haphazard and disregard of characters ruins the pacing of the show. It also makes it so that hardly any of the characters have time to develop past their shallow personalities. This ties in with the second problem I have with the show-
Problem #2: Poor character writing
As I’ve explained, none of the characters are particularly interesting. This extends from the most insignificant of side characters to the main characters as well as affecting the whole spectrum of bad guys to good guys. The anime’s attempts to make characters be multi-layered and complex end up doing it more harm than good since the show struggles with timekeeping. There are 3 main characters listed on the MAL page for this show but I swear that Suou has the most screentime and he supposedly has a supporting role. The MC is (supposed to be) Chakuro who did have some decent scenes in the first half and had a lot of promise to develop into a stronger, more assertive character after going through all the shit he’s been through. Unfortunately, he hardly changes from his meek attitude he displays at the beginning of the show. This is likely because the creators of the show wanted to contrast him with our other male MC – Ouni. This guy is supposed to the be sort of an edgy anti-villain protagonist with the big power and only helps out the other characters begrudgingly. He unfortunately has very little personality to speak of. His character is reactionary and he never seems to do things on his own violation. Instead, the anime seems to be forcing him to go through with almost all of his actions all for the sake of furthering their shaky plot. This saddens me since he’s the one with the most motivation in the story. He has a bond with a group of friends whom he considers dear to him, he desires to get off the ship and explore the world, and he has huge power which can have a whole arc built around it. Any of those things could have served as the main driving point for his development but the anime flip flaps between them and never gives him any solid ground on which to build his actions upon. To be fair, his group is made up of a bunch of boring, bland characters who, as explained in problem #1, take up far more screen time than necessary. So, like our first main character, he never really develops at all and seems to be there for the sake of being there. Our third main character is Lykos – the girl who was found on the abandoned ship. She’s kind of alight. She has the second most motivation (and potential) in the show and she doesn’t waste all of it. She serves as the emotionless foil to the emotion-driven people on the mud whale as well as providing a lot of insight in to the world of KujiKora. Her development is the most natural but (I feel like I’m saying “but” way too many times in this review) the anime writes her in such stupid situations it’s sad. In any other anime she’d be forgettable but here, she’s pretty good. Our last character of note is Suou – who isn’t but might as well be a main character. He serves as the Chief of the people on the mud ship and is supposed to be the leader type of guy who takes on responsibility and such. He’s a boring character who also never develops but I feel that he should have been the main character from who’s eyes the story is told from. The anime wastes a lot of his potential wither on melodrama or stupid slapstick comedy (problem #3 coming up) and he has very little impact on the story despite being the goddamn Chief of the place. The story always seems to blow straight past him which is a bit of a shame since he has the second most development.
The villains of KujiKora are hilariously bad. The main one we’ll be seeing is the anime’s attempt at making a crazy character – Liontari. He’s basically someone who failed the audition to become the main character of Neo Yokio and after seeing he lost to Jaden Smith, he went mad and joined the army just to kill some people. That was a joke but it’s still a better, and more impactful, motivation than he was given in the show. What a shame as well since I think Liontari would fit in perfectly in the comedy genre that is Neo Yokio because I for the love of me can’t take him seriously. He’s the anime’s attempt at making a sympathetic villain and he’s given a lot of backstory and such as to why he’s the crazy guy he is. The anime, however, can’t make him imposing in any sort of way and he instead comes off as a comedic villain while he’s busy doing really despicable things. That sort of mood dissonance is not healthy for the body I’ll tell you that. His “development” comes late and feels very rushed and contrived. He, like many of the other characters, has a lot of potential in character interactions but he’s never really given any chance to change or anything. The worst part is that he’s got almost as much plot armour as Brie Larson and seemingly can’t be killed off. He sticks around with us like a zit and overstays his welcome up to the very end in the anime’s attempt to bait a second season. I would love to say he’s the only villain of the show since it would beneficially limit the conflict and world of KujiKora to only him and his fellow soldiers and the people on the mud ship. The anime can then be free to make express it’s themes on a much larger scale than the physical setting it is built up on. Uuuuunfortunately (I’m also using that word a lot in this review) this anime tries to make its world on a scale as large as the themes it tries to present. The world building problems will be explained in problem #4 but I’ll explain the crappy side effect that is the overarching main villain of the show. The main villain is introduced early on but only gets proper writing very late into the show. And I mean around episode 10 kind of late. He’s just your generic villain who the anime tries to make imposing but he has so little time to develop. Again, this is likely the anime baiting us a second season, or telling us to screw off and read the manga – both things which are big problems in their own right. His actual character doesn’t bother me too much – he’s simply your generic bad guy as I’ve said. What does bother me is that his very presence is detrimental to the show. The introduction of a much grander conflict so late into the show blasts away what was left of the pacing beforehand and he introduces us to the incredibly boring world of politics. The anime should never have adapted his part in and probably should have ended just before his big introduction.
Problem #3: Tone deafness
This anime has a big problem with its tone. It just can’t keep anything straight. There are many parts in the show where serious exposition is being delivered but then they have many of the (useless) side characters start cracking jokes. They don’t even bother changing the serious music. This is a result of the anime trying way too hard to juggle about a dozen different themes that it clearly couldn’t in just 12 episodes. Many themes are introduced throughout the show including but not limited to: horrors of war, the conscription of children to fight out of desperation, what it means to kill someone, not running away from a cursed fate, how having emotions is better, wanting to explore the outside world and rebel against a closed society (basically Ouni's character in a nutshell), love and grief, the burden of revenge as well as taking on responsibility, the importance of leaving behind records for future generations to find etc. That was long but trust me it feels longer watching the anime try and play out these themes. It feels very disorienting whenever they bring up these serious questions and themes before immediately dropping them in favour of another. It makes everything feel so inconsequential. For example, the people on the mud whale have to conscript little children to fight against the invading force sent to slaughter them. That is one thing but the other is that this is supposed to be a peaceful society who has never seen fighting the entire century they have been adrift AND the explicitly go out of their way to teach people not to use their powers to hurt others. What I expected was a sort of commentary on the desperation of the people and how being forced to use innocent children to fight can be a hopeless situation. But no. These kids are all too happy to shoot arrows and kill the faceless goons. Heck, they even have fun while they’re at it. They don’t address it either. They just SHOW them having fun killing the goons. There are no repercussions for the kids. There are absolutely no consequences for the people who basically forced the kids to kill. None. The worse the adults get is that they feel guilty about it while deliberating on the conscription. The anime just sweeps it away once it is done and offers nothing deeper to think about.
Problem #4: Lack of coherent story telling
All the various problems with the characters and its themes lead to the storytelling being completely shot. There is almost a total disregard for pacing in the show thanks to the numerous characters being poorly introduced. Things either crawl at a snail’s pace or they give you whiplash with random new developments. This is especially prevalent near the end when we are suddenly whisked away to the random Empire that is trying to sink our main characters. It suddenly introduces politics in an anime that was never good at politics in the first place. There are way too many plot contrivances in this anime and there’s very little foreshadowing of anything that is to happen. Stuff like the furrball pet suddenly being an important plot point feels ridiculously hammed in because the writers wrote themselves into a corner and couldn’t think of a way to move the plot forward. The stupid friend of Ouni being stupid and wanting to go on the trip felt so inauthentic that I was bashing my head against the desk at the anime’s sheer bravado at trying to move the story forward with such an obvious death flag. It feels like the people writing this show had to refer to a set of guidelines when writing this show instead of actually thinking about the actions and consequences of the story.
#5 Final thoughts (aka tl;dr)
This anime is not good. The themes are messy and are all over the place, the characters are uninteresting, there’s too many characters, the anime tries to gobble up way more than it could, and the story itself is somewhat generic and one I’ve seen in better fantasy settings. This anime reminds me of Shinsekai Yori. Shinsekai Yori, in case you’ve never watched it, is not a particularly well-written show. It struggles with pacing, there’s a lot of characters I didn’t care much about, the themes were messy – very much like KujiKora. The characters having powers is also a major similarity. So why do I give that a 7/10 and this a 3/10? Shinsekai Yori actually manages to create a world I became invested in. It did this by turning many of its faults into points that drove the anime forward. Lack of pacing? It doesn’t care. Use that infamous exposition episode to naturally build the world. Less-than-stellar character writing? Don’t make characters play very important roles and sideline them which makes the feeling of desperation when shit hits the fan all the more full of dread. Shinsekai Yori managed to create a cohesive world that made sense and feels like it has rules. KujiKora simply feels confused at what its supposed to do and can’t remember any of the groundwork of rules on which it is built upon. It fails at being a compelling, densely-themed story and it fails at building a proper word of fantasy. I have never been so disappointed watching an anime.
KujiKora should serve as a warning to any prospective writers that you should never try to bite off way more than you could chew. Harsh criticisms aside this anime really had a lot of potential. This incoherent mess does have a lot of things that I would like if they did them right. I love a good fantasy show and was hugely expecting this anime – especially since it came from one of the most consistent studios in the past two decades. This anime, however, is not what they should be doing.
Thanks for reading!
diomenes666
Beautiful art, intersting story, some cool characters, AN AWESOME OP¡¡¡¡¡ i love it, the guitar was epic sad and happy at same time...it feels so good. the story is so fast and good until chap 10 then ...it feels incomplete, this anime needs a second season the art is colorfull pretty well done, not astonish but feels so warm the sound is decent, but the OP is lovely the characters, well need more time to learn about them, this is the weak point I rate 7 because the lack of development of some characters and the incomplete story...maybe after another season it will get an 8. Is not a masterpice,is not so original, but it´s decent whit nice art and a cool vibe.
my favorite character....maybe SAMI ...you know after chapter 2....
whats the worst...well maybe the bad guys ...they dont feel "real" need more time screen more development, but I repet It´s decent at least
Tyrannicswine117
Warning possible Spoilers Children of the Whales was incredibly close to being dropped from me, it starts off poorly and yet it somehow manages to make me watch it till the very end. This is thanks to a alright yet very familiar story. Story (6/10) The story concentrates on the people of the Mud Whale, an island drifting an ocean of sand. They discover a girl who turns the whole world of the Mud Whale upside down. The first two episodes really didn't do much for me and almost made me consider dropping this show, the artstyle, music and the world of the Mud Whale itself had me interested.The characters were the main problem, they were just bland as hell, thankfully the ending of episode 2 kept me on board and I don't regret it too much.
Episode 3 and beyond changed everything, it's development changed the show from being mediocrely sweet to surprisingly dark. The fact that a new human civilisation had come to destroy the people of the Mud Whale was pretty hectic and seeing characters, who I thought would have a big role, die was also surprising.
However once you get past the initial battle and the people on the Mud Whale try to recover and build up for another attack it does slow down again. Then it picks back up again once the next battle arrives, I was entertained for a good while as the battle got more and more brutal for the Mud Whale people, plus there were some pretty cool battle scenes between certain characters.
When we reach the final episodes though, the direction of the show shifts immensely as other human factions are introduced and we see the scope of the world itself, which leads us to our cliffhanger end of the series, although with the way things were going this seemed inevitable.
I did like the emotional split between the human factions, as having emotions was a bad thing and not having them was good. I enjoyed this aspect and gave more weight for the opposing sides, however this setup felt way too familiar to Attack on Titan. I mean think about it, a secluded bunch of humans being attacked by a larger faction of humans because they have a specific trait that is wrong to the rest of the world sounds very familiar.
Despite this, I am a little surprised how this anime managed to narrowly escape me dropping it.
Characters (5/10)
The main problem of this anime, is the characters, true there is a whole emotional war going on, but when you can't make your characters feel interesting then whats the damn point of them.
Chakuro is the male MC, an expressively emotional guy who is very interested about the world he lives in, Chakuro just didn't do much for me as a character. Sure he has an adventurous spirit, but most of the time he actually doesn't do a whole lot. He just points out certain things and obtains certain things, because story plot I guess. By the end of the series I felt barely any different of him than I did at the beginning.
Lykos is the female MC, ok I get that she is from a race of people who have discarded emotions, but come on she was another boring character. Although not as bad as Chakuro since you see her slowly develop emotions again over the course of the show, which gave her some development, but she didn't do anything either. She just felt like a character for Chakuro to hold hands with.
Ouni felt like the only character, who was actually worth a damn in this show. He already seemed like an emotionless person from the get go, but as he starts fighting against the enemy and starts losing the people he cares about, you really see the devastation erupt from him and he starts to care more for the people of the Mud Whale instead of being an outcast. True his overpowered legacy is a little cliche, but I'm willing to put that aside since he was an actual badass character.
I'll also talk about Suou since he felt like a major character, I thought he was alright since he had the difficult job of being the new mayor of the Mud Whale when the previous one died in the first attack. He tries his best to find peaceful solutions that will keep everyone alive and even when this doesn't happen he still stand up to the enemy so he can protect the others. Suou was a very respectable character compared to others.
There was a lot of supporting characters, but they don't seem worth the mention since they were only there for a specific role and that was it really, however it did surprise me with certain characters who ended up dying.
Art (8/10)
I have to give credit where credit is due, because Children of the Whales was a beautifully made show, there was barely any notice of CGI apart from a few cases, but the detail put into the Mud Whale and the scenery was applaudable, it looked fantastic. I also liked the roughness of the characters look too, it gave off a unique feel I haven't seen for a while in an anime.
I think the artstyle is what kept me watching the show mostly, as there were so many scenes you could look at and pick apart how good the animation and background was, like for example the scene where Ouni sees one of his friends die and he sees his spirit sail away or when Chakuro receives a weird object from one of the enemies creature thingies. These are just a few examples, but it proved how good looking the show was.
Sound (7/10)
The sound was also done pretty well too. The OP felt like it was made to fool you into thinking this was a happy show, sure there are moments where you see certain characters arming themselves for action, but you don't know what for and the happy tune the op has along with the scenes being shown helped really well with covering the true nature of the show.
The ED was also really nice too, it had a calm, but sad feeling to it and this definitely fitted for the later episodes when everything gets brutal with the battles and everything. I also liked how it just showed the ocean of sand like there was an infinite bleakness to it as well.
The ost also felt magnificently done too, the scenes where it felt calm, sad or something amazing was happening the music just kicked in at the right moment and had some really powerful stuff.
Extras:
The fantasy setting this anime has was pretty interesting, seeing people on an island that is endlessly drifting an ocean of sand until another human civilisation comes and destroys everything they knew, however this is a little ruined when you compare it to Attack on Titan, but I'll give it points for coming up with a fairly unique setting.
The mystery element in the show, kinda falls short as we get a lot of stuff thrown at us, but not a lot of it is explained. Like for example the weird creatures we see that take human emotion or don't in the case of the Mud Whale, these creatures are a big part of the show, we just don't get a lot of exposition of them which is probably being saved for the sequel.
Enjoyment (6/10)
I'd say this is a fairly mixed show, but it felt more positive than negative. The characters are really what lets the show down, but it had it's moments of surprise.
Overall (6/10)
Overall this show had something, but didn't really do a whole lot with it. We get an interesting world, but sadly it felt strangely familiar to another anime, however I am interested in where the sequel series will go.
SethlWhitaker
One must truly understand, to a profound degree, the duality of the nature of life to fully appreciate this anime and all it has to offer this world. If this is you, as it is me, then this will likely become your favorite anime. I sincerely hope it comes back for a second season, though certainly not at the expense of the delivery of its message. Truly a masterpiece, as it stands. There is nothing more that needs to be said. Though when I hit submit it says; "Please enter a longer review" So I'll repeat; There is nothing more that needs to be said.
Tai231
I love this anime 8/10 While I would like to give it a 10/10 I cannot. The story is great, and very immersive, but the real excitement takes off after the anime ends, I feel they should have focused on world building and character building for the first season and maybe another season with the first would have been good. Character's 9/10 I loved the characters of the show, they are interesting in my option, and a nice clash of difference with each other. While I believe they are a little lackluster and could have had more time to develop I still found myself interested in learning moreabout them, and that's good character writing in my opinion.
Story 8/10
We look at the story from the perspective of Chakuro, our protagonist. So I get why some thins are unexplained, we learn them with Chakuro, but other than that a lot of things were explained nicely, and I believe the people who don't understand didn't pay attention enough. Although there were a few plots that weren't as developed as it could have been, It feels like they forgot about it, remember, and didn't nothing but other than that I really think you should give it a try.
Enjoyment: 10/10 (personally)
Overall: 8/10 (for plot reasons)
P.S, Please despite all the negative comments on the anime/manga, give it a try. Remember all these reviews are mostly options and while someone may dislike it you may find you enjoy it.
LacePendragon
Children of the Whales was a beautiful, soft story about discovery, loss, and magic. While a great deal was never explained outright, enough was explained that I felt moved by the story, and Chakuro and his friends were brilliant characters that I was rooting for the entire time. The colours and lighting in this show are part of what makes it so good. It's a very emotional story that relies on silence, emotional beats, and what is left unsaid, but it works rather well. Not only that, but the concept of the magic, as well as what it does to the people of the Mud Whale,was incredibly unique and something I enjoyed watching and seeing.
And I will freely admit that Ouni is one of my favourite characters in the entire thing. Really hoping we get a second season for this.
samara261
Going through the reviews, the major complaint seems to be the complete lack of romantic relationships and the hardly fleshed out characters. While there is indeed much to be desired, the anime does not pretend to be about either of these things. In a word of magic and gifted children who are ruled by elders without similar abilities, Children of the Whales does not pretend to be about childish friendships or silly moments growing up. Instead, they dive right in with a character who is misinformed yet eager for proper answers. And a system set up to ensure he is constantly shielded from them. The animeis gripping, not only because the bright colours (might I add here that each character on the Mud Whale is named after Japanese colours) contrast almost sickeningly to the content, or that the theme songs, especially the closing one, is haunting and written to perfectly fit the mood one feels after an episode. The anime tackles how these children respond and are affected when they must decide: allow their home to be taken and destroyed or fight a war.
With characters representing almost every viewpoint that may fit this topic, Children of the Whales presents a story where children are called on to make sacrifices, are harmed, grow and develop with one another. Quick warning though, don’t get too attached to any character. The anime is not afraid to remind its viewers that war is a nasty game and on the Mud Whale, not even the children are safe.
simonyib
I believe that this is a great anime, with some of the most spectacular visuals and fantastic musical elements I have seen and heard in a while, coupled with a story that will get you hooked in from the first episode. While my opinion of the visuals and the music is shared by others, the storyline seems to have received a lot of unjustified, in my opinion at least, criticisms. This is where I would like to do the show some justice. This anime is the tale of the descendants of a group of people who refused to become the mindless puppets of a central authority. Forthis, they were banished from their homeland, and sent into a prison they could not possibly escape. What is more, their rebellion against the central power has been demonized in the historybooks of the mainland, where they are presented as fiendish brutes.
(an oddly familiar way of treating the voice of dissent)
All in all, I think the premise of the show is set quite spendidly. While later on other elements, like the importance of emotions (i feel that the quote from Hamlet is quite pertinent here: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep No more), become important as well, the story does not neglect its original aim of depicting how a repressive authority works.
Into this grand setting embedded is a magical place with its unique characters and laws of nature. I personally liked the characters, they were just as 'colourful' as you would expect humans to be, with their uncertainties and internal struggles, along episodes of heroism and courage.
I think the show addresses some very interesting topics, which will surely have those thinking who have the desire to do so.
RESOLVING_POWER
I watched Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau, also known as Children of the Whales. Here are my thoughts: I'll begin with discussing visuals, as this is one of the show's best features. This anime consistently looks excellent. Nearly every single frame is screencap-worthy. The art style is unique and has an organic look to it that is quite immersive. There is a lot of variety among the character designs, and most of them look good. The MC is adorable, both in design and personality. Facial expressions are well illustrated and the character animation is consistently good. The creative art style and high visual productionquality really enhance the fantastical setting of this show as well.
The setting is another very remarkable aspect of this anime. It is quite unique and otherworldly. It was a major component of my enjoyment. More and more information about the world is gradually revealed throughout the show; it is pretty intriguing and the show does a decent job at world building for a 12-episode runtime. What I can reveal to you without spoilers is that the show takes place in the middle of a 'sand ocean' aboard some sort of magical ship composed of earthy materials. It is quite cool and fantastical, and the nice visuals really complement it.
Even beyond the world building, there are a lot of mystery elements in the show and hints dropped about things not yet revealed. However, as you might cynically expect from a 12-episode manga adaptation, many of the mysteries alluded to the viewer are never explained. Regardless of some of my questions not being answered, I still often felt a sense of intrigue while watching. The writer clearly had some fascinating ideas. Also worth mentioning is that the ending is not particularly satisfying and leaves a ton of loose plot strings. The last episode indicates an upcoming sequel (and I did watch the Blurays), but at the time of writing this I'm not aware of any sequels.
One of this show's most significant issues is the size of its cast. The enormous cast with this limited runtime is not a good combination, especially in an already plot-heavy show with a lot of exposition. This anime tries to balance way too many character arcs, and none of them are done particularly well as a result. Compounding this issue further is the fact that it's difficult to feel emotions for characters who are not given adequate development, or barely any screentime at all for that matter. A common criticism that I've heard from others about this show is that it is too "melodramatic." I would argue that this feeling of so-called melodrama described by others is the result of phenomena I've just outlined: emotionally impactful events happening to inadequately developed characters. In any case it is true that the show is dramatic. Most episodes involve somebody crying at some point. If frequent tears is something that puts you off then you likely won't enjoy this anime. It definitely lays on the drama heavy (that's certainly not an issue for me personally). Apparently the source material is shoujo demographic, although it felt much more cosmopolitan than that to me. One subtle but praiseworthy aspect of this anime is that it maintains a fairly consistent emotional tone. I was grateful for the absence of comedic relief and minimal 'emotional whiplash' effects.
Beyond the characters, the show tries to tackle a bewildering amount of story arcs, in addition to the already elaborate world building. Simply put, the show tries to pack way too much story into its runtime, and as a result none of the story arcs are executed particularly well. The divided attention of the viewer and lack of sufficient screentime meant that any resulting emotional payoff from a given story arc was significantly impeded. To me, this is a core reason for this anime's squandered potential. I think you won't be surprised to read that I found the show's overall pacing way too quick, particularly during the later episodes.
Although they weren't present in every episode, I found the fight scenes to be a weak point of this anime. They were fairly lackluster and, even worse, drawn out and soaked up a lot of precious screentime. I'm really not sure why so much screentime was allocated to these fight scenes. Regardless of the execution, it was disappointing to see such a unique creative show devolve into mundane violent conflict. I realize that the kinetic conflict was a mechanism to explore the themes of the writing, but I wish it was approached a different way. However, my opinion on this is definitely biased due to my general distaste for fight scenes. It's possible I'm overstating their significance.
The OST seemed decent but I'll need to listen to it in isolation to evaluate it with greater confidence. I know there were some good tracks, but it was mostly overshadowed by dialogue and sound effects (like sandstorm background noise), at least from my perspective. In terms of voice acting, nobody in this large cast impressed me or stood out (besides Ouni's sexy deep voice).
My overall rating: 7/10
This anime has a truly unique setting along with some intriguing world building, and it's all presented with a wonderful organic-looking art style. It consistently looks fantastic. Unfortunately, it suffers from unfocused storytelling and poor screentime budgeting. It tries to present far too much story content for its runtime, and sadly as a result none of the story arcs realize their impressive potential.
A lot of this anime's issues could have been diminished if it were two cours instead of a mere 12 episodes. Most of its flaws are common manga-adaptation problems.
Despite my criticisms, I think that a lot of people could enjoy this anime. There are a lot of aspects here worth appreciating. I'm surprised it isn't more popular.
SateiTishia
First of all, I'm going to start this review by giving a bonus point to this anime for the opening, which is clearly my favorite of the season (although it would have been nice if they changed it a little after episode 3) Story : 8. I must say, the story had potential. Even though the world was interesting, it is clearly undevelopped but that can be excused by the fact that it only has 12 episode to develop it and that the show seems to be focused on characters and emotions before world-building - but I'll come back on that part in the character section. Art: 6. Unlike most people here, I really didn't find the art to be that amazing. Sure, it had some great character designs, great color palette and designs too, but that's about it. The art is good for something like an illustration, but in an anime, it's the animation that's more important, and that's what they're missing. Most of it was pretty stiff, and even on parts were it was supposed to be the climax, I feel like they just didn't put enough effort and, as people call it, enough sakuga.
Sound : 8. Honestly I'd be lying if I said that I paid big attention to the music in this anime apart from the opening. But I'd say that it's a good point since it didn't disturb me from the actual show.
Character : 3. Oh boy, the characters... Where do I start. Well, let's begin with the main character. To me he was one of the only good characters, along with Ouni and, to some extent, Lykos. But still, he was kinda...bland. Now, for other characters of the Mud Whale, while some had great potential (shoutout to best girl Ginshu and best girl #2 Taisha) they get forgotten pretty easily because of the lack of appearance (and yes I had to go back check their name since I forgot them because of how few these two appear in the show). Ouni and Nibi relationship was great, but it was only clearly revealed late in the show so it kinda ruined the climax of their relationship.
About the characters from the other islands, I don't even want to talk about them because either 1) they have little to no screentime and 2) those we are able to see are simply incoherent. I mean, yeah, let's make an entire country full of """emotionless""" people and yet they will still have the exact same reaction as the inhabitants of the Mud Whale, pretty logical huh. Although I'll make an exception for Liontari since he is one of the few character of this anime who actually got character development.
Enjoyment : 3. Boy was I bored when I watched this show. To be honest I only finished watching it to see where it was going in the end, but I was rather disappointed with an ending leading to a most-likely second season. Well, at least I know that if that second season does actually come out, I probably won't watch it.
TevishSzat
Children of the Whales is a show that starts with amazing potential, and then promptly squanders it. Watching the first episode or two, I had a lot of good will towards it. The art is amazing, and reminded me very strongly of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (an all-time favorite of mine). The music and voice acting were spot on. And the ideas were FASCINATING. I love approaching these high, philosophical ideas in fantasy, and questions of utopia or dystopia, and what makes a human, well, human or what makes life worth living. And the initial storyand conflict we're given is just that, playing on what it means to have emotions and how life could be different for factions that sacrifice feelings over ones that don't. It's not fare I'd go for all the time, necessarily, but it can be really good stuff.
All these existential questions and more were unceremoniously discarded or thrown into the "never really addressed" pile in favor of harsh action. Also and more damningly discarded are basics like pacing and character development, the poor handling of which constantly degraded the show, along with a poor understanding of when and how to do its world building.
As an example, we lose a very likable character early enough in the show that I wouldn't even count the death in question a spoiler. I wouldn't mind so much, but towards the end of the show I realized that the one who died in the first couple of episodes was one of the straight-out best characters. That's right, a character with only a little screen time in the first couple episodes beats out our leads in my mind because that bit character at least had a definitive persona and some recognizable character traits while our central characters just don't. The survivors, most notably our leads Chakuro and Lykos, were damnably two-dimensional, with no character traits that you could discern if you weren't told by other characters that they're supposed to have those traits. Chakuro can almost be forgiven -- he is our point of view character, and such a person suffering from being an invisible bland nobody is still bad, but it's hardly remarkable. Lykos though has to do some heavy plot lifting, and we're supposed to believe that she's experiencing a journey as she gains feelings for, if not literally the first time, the first meaningful time. How much does she change from the very beginning to episode 12? Well, her voice acting does emote a little more, and she gets a crying scene? Yay? But that happened at the start of her journey too; there's no progress nor transformation, and if she has more or less become a person by the end of the show thanks to gaining feelings of her own, I have no idea who she is as a person. None whatsoever! There are more tolerable characters -- Ouni and Suou -- who experience arcs, but for the most part they aren't the focus as much as they should be through the bulk of the show if they're the characters we're supposed to be seeing evolve.
The pacing throughout the story has a continual problem where too much time was spent on scenes that really didn't need it, or building in directions that never paid off. For instance, there's a minor villain who never really amounts to anything who is given a really notable setup and what looks to be a huge, focal sendoff and it's totally undeserved. Similarly, multiple times throughout the show we're treated to out-of-time conversations in some spirit world, and while the first one seems to be serving to build character (it fails) and comes at a time where it feels relevant and germane, at least one later such conversation comes in the middle of climactic action, and it takes FOREVER, repeating itself and slowly, over iterations, saying what it wants to say when a much shorter version of the same scene could have been just as effective. Or, thanks to reducing the bloat, more effective. These kinds of problems are throughout the show, to the point where you could probably tell the story that it wants to tell in episodes 1-9 in 6 or fewer, which would have left time for the simultaneously rushed and bloated post-script that takes up episodes 10, 11, and 12. Speaking of which, that little misstep is truly baffling in its failure. It has the emotional weight and sequence of occurences of something you could handle in a single episode, but introduces so many specific details and new plot threads that it feels like it needs another season to properly explain and explore them. Maybe that's supposed to be the way it feels, since the show will outright tell you that the journey continues, but there are far more graceful ways to do it. Other shows, adapted from longer-running source material, leave hooks to draw the audience on to a (theoretical) next season, but they don't do it at the expense of getting the first season right.
The art and sound may be great, but the Story is a wasteful mess, the characters are bland puppets, and I was left feeling fundamentally unfulfilled by how insultingly little the show gave me. Now, I will say this -- I do appreciate the world-building. I love fantasy worlds that dare to be something alien to Earth as we know it, and the vast Sea of Sand that we see here does that well. What's more, the creatures and powers (Both supernatural and political) that inhabit the world are quite interesting, and their roles and life-cycles seem designed well. I didn't like Children of the Whales and can't recommend it, but at the same time I have to say that if a second season does manifest, I'd probably at least try to watch it in the hopes that they go somewhere with that.
Story: 3
Art: 9
Sound: 8
Character: 3
Enjoyment: 4
Overall: 5
