Common Name: Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau
Alternative Names: Children of the Whales, Whale Calves Sing on the Sand, Tales of the Wales Calves
Score: 7/10, 3/5
Length: 12 Episodes, 1 OVA
Genre: Drama, Action, Supernatural, Super Powers, Military, Political
Summary: Born on the back of a creature that traverses a great ocean of sand, the children of the Mud Whale either come into this world gifted with the ability to use a manipulative magic called "thymia" or end up being powerless. Yet those gifted with the thymia are cursed to live very short lifespans, while those born without can see generations of their gifted friends come and go. So, to ensure there is a balanced law and order to their society, those who are born powerless are given the grave task of managing this society of gifted children. That long-held peace quickly becomes shattered, however, when a young thymia-using girl is discovered on passing land mass. Strange in her similarities to the children of the Muds= Whale yet different in her utter lack of emotion, the discovery of this girl proves that there is a world beyond this ocean of sand. Whether or not that world would be kind to these children, however, the chances seem bleak, especially when this girl openly claims that they would have all been left better off if they had just left her to die on that island.
Review: While such occurrences are, on the whole, fairly rare in my experience, it's always difficult for me to review a show that blows me away with its visuals, music, and overall aesthetic but fails to do the same with its story and characters. Though I am loathe to admit it, Children of the Whales is, unfortunately, one of those kinds of shows. As much as I'd like to waive the issues I have with the show's plot away and simply revel in the beauty of this show, I'm forced to acknowledge that visuals can and will always be secondary to a show's ability, or lack thereof, to tell a good story in this medium--at least so long as this storytelling medium is being judged from a critical perspective. Before I get into my complaints, though, allow me to state here and now that I love this show for a number of reasons.
Unfortunately, most of my love for this show can be boiled down to this picture.
First and foremost, it possesses an aesthetic unlike anything I've ever seen before. Full of vibrant colors, this show's visuals seem to capture a very specific aspect of childhood. That aspect is the feeling of ignorant awe. Anything and everything is capable of capturing that kind of reality-bending awe people feel when they're exposed to something new and amazing and wholly different from anything they've experienced up to that point. At the same time, however, the fine lines that outline every character and structure and blade of grass seem to speak to and acknowledge the fragile nature of this world on the back of the enigmatic Sand Whale. Those kinds of aesthetic statements fit this show perfectly, given the show's young cast of characters and how childishly ignorant the majority of them are to the cruel nature of this world they live in. Lastly, I will also say that the show's music is positively breathtaking. The Opening and Ending of this show are both hauntingly catchy and emotional pieces that speak to the conflicts and drama that abound throughout this story. At the same time, the rest of the show's arrangements, though not nearly as memorable, do wonders to set the pace, tone, and evoke the emotions desired. This, of course, just means that the music does its job as well as should be expected. When paired with the visuals of this show, however, those adequate musical tracks become a solid reason to grow even more invested in this beautiful and magical world surrounded by nothing but sand.
Uugh, so fricken pretty!
Apart from those few things that would otherwise be part of some grand, flowing recommendation in most cases, Children of the Whales just underwhelming in every other respect. The plot and characters are serviceable, yet they fail to meet the expectations set by the show's artistic glory and its original material. While I have not read said original material, it is my understanding that this property was originally a shoujo drama/action title focused mainly on the acclimation of Lykos, a young thymia-user rescued from an island by the residents of the Sand Whale. Considering how she has the most backstory, drive, conflict, and physical abilities that outpace 90% of the Sand Whale's residents, it just makes sense that she would be the main focus of the show. Through Lyko's similar but different perspective, we, as the audience, would be able to learn about the whale and its residents at the same pace she did. Not to mention her struggle with regaining her emotions, after prolonged separation from her homeland where thymia are granted in exchange for one's emotions, would have been relatively compelling and would have offered a solid springboard for a discussion on PTSD narratives. As far as the show is concerned, however, Lykos is relegated to being both a side character and little more than a potential love interest for a different, male lead.
If only if only the protagonist cried, if I had half of the guts of the girl by my side.
Rather than complaining of what this show could have been, I'll judge it more on what it is: dull and pointless. As much as I'm personally inclined to like the character of Chakuro, in that he is a chronicler of knowledge in much the same way I am here, it's just a point of fact that he just isn't an interesting main character. He lacks motivation. He lacks drive. He doesn't really have any kind of goal to speak of. In fact, the vast majority of the story just kinda happens to Chakuro, rather than it being a result of his own efforts. Oversimplified though this might sound, I'm pretty sure Chakuro's only actions as a main character are limited to him drawing other characters into the conflict that surrounds him. He is, after all, the one who decided to save Lykos and bring her to the Sand Whale, which is what sets off the main push of the show's drama. Similarly, he drags the antihero character of Ouni into the front of the story so that the people of the Sand Whale will have a combat-capable hero character. Outside of these two actions on his part, Chakuro mostly just observes the plot from a distance until a literal deus ex machina decides to tell him what he should do next.
You might think I'm overexaggerating with that claim, but rest assured that "deus ex machina"
doesn't even begin to describe the nature of Chakuro's patron deity.
There is, fortunately, another main character that shares the screen with Chakuro. Unfortunately, Ouni isn't that much better. Where Chakuro is the combat-incapable beta of the show, Ouni is the alpha who spends most of his time being a social outcast by choice and moping about how horrible it is that he can and does kill people. As much as I'd love to like Ouni, considering what little this show gives me to work with, I just can't get over the fact that he's just another "woe is me" shounen protagonist. While there is some intrigue to his story in that he just kinda appeared on the Sand Whale out of nowhere, the show never gets into the implications. There are even some prophetic vagueries that hint at him being what basically amounts to being a slayer of gods. The show does nothing with either of these ideas though because it's too focused on periodically killing off one of his outcast buddies just to distract him and us from those foreboding roads.
Yep, that's an anime protagonist alright. Too bad he's such a killjoy.
So, I guess if I've made anything clear so far it's that the artistic prowess of this show is unrivaled and that its main characters are, quite frankly, shit. So, what is it that drew me into and kept me hooked on this show? I'll tell you right now that it isn't the show's villains. Sure, the Empire might have more character and an actual goal, unlike the residents of the whale, but I could never really get invested in them for two reasons. The first being the fact that the main face of this evil force, who just so happens to be Lykos's older brother, comes off as being evil incarnate. In other words, he's just kind of an unstoppable force that can't actually be defeated because that would mean the show's over. Even when he's destroyed politically within his empire, a concept that is presented as being his one weakness, he just finds a way to grandstand and evil his way back to the top because, again, the show would be over if he didn't. The second is that the face of the empire's army is an emotionally unstable child with a constant murder-boner named Liontari. To call him cartoonishly evil doesn't do the kid justice, but let me be clear in that he is simultaneously one of this show's most interesting and most annoying characters. I say interesting because he's one of the few people in this show who has his goals, desires, and tragic backstory adequately fleshed out and explained. More than that, though, he's made into a fairly interesting case study on the nature of child soldiers so long as you look past him ceaselessly trying to get his rocks off by murdering helpless civilians and children.
But, let's be honest, who could possibly hate such a precious smile? Me. I could. Easily.
If I'm going to be totally honest, the main reason I got so invested in this show was because of all the vagueries, prophecies, and world-building that's seen primarily in the background of this show. One of my favorite things about fantasy settings with totally original worlds is the manner in which that world is presented and how that world then influences its characters. For example, Liontari is a particularly interesting character because he is a product of this world's dysfunction. Similarly, Lykos's story would have been compelling, had it been focused on at any point, because her lack of emotions are a glimpse into the nature of that same dysfunction. Even the actions of the empire seem vaguely justified because they at least go into the myths and prophetic lore of this world that speak of mankind's destruction and their rebirth through the gifts of some unknown god. These "gifts" being the creatures known as Nous that simultaneously grant humanity access to God's own power, also known as thymia, and serve as the cores to the few vessels humanity can use to cross the great oceans of sand. From this knowledge, we get the big reveal that the Sand Whale is one of these Nous which can be paired down to basically being pieces of some extradimensional horror with some great, unknowable ulterior motive, a la Cthulhu. As interesting and compelling as I find this eldritch horror through line, though, the show does very little with this idea outside of going, "Oooooo spooky" in spite of the Nous having a direct, if unreliable, hand in the events of the show.
Spooky, but still pretty to look at.
The fact of the matter, however, is that all that background, lore, and intrigue mean very little when the show's central story can hardly stand on its own two feet. Sure, there are some cool action sequences. The premise those sequences are built around, i.e. the empire's desire to see the residents of the Sand Whale butchered for some generations-old crime, makes little to no sense. Sure, the show has some dramatic moments. Rarely ever do those moments have any consequence, though, since everyone has to immediately move on to the next dramatic plot point. Sure, there's a couple tearjerker moments. All of the show's deaths can be seen from a mile away, though, and lack any real gravity to them since each one is either played for shock value or ends up just being a means to further the plot. Sure, there are some alright character moments, but most of those moments end up being forgotten or rendered pointless just so the characters can mope around some more. If this show had any kind of central theme or focal point, I might have been able to tie all this nonsense together, or at least forgive some of its faults, but the best I can think of is this show being a cautionary tale on thoughtlessness. Thoughtless action. Thoughtless drama. Thoughtless trauma. Thoughtless character development. Thoughtlessness is the only consistent theme I can find in this work, and that's just kinda pathetic when I am able to visibly see all the things this show could have been. Unfortunately, the best I can hope for at this point is that the show's second season will find a way to correct its course and become the great work that's worthy of the heart and soul that got poured into the show's execution.