Children of the Whales (2017) User Reviews

An underrated show buried by Netflix.

[k-gordo17 · 8/10 · 24 April 2023]

This show was buried in Netflix recommendations. I wished I had seen it sooner because this was a pleasant surprise. The world building is top tier and the clash between the main characters' civilization and their oppressive villains is incredibly engaging.

This show is similar to other shows and movies where you have a civilization that knows nothing of the outside world and then are brutally brought down to earth and forced to not only acknowledge the outside world but also combat those who wish to harm them. However, the execution of this story is striking and original; I was never thinking of a similar show during the entire runtime.

Right out of the gate, the civilization is pushed to their emotional limits after experiencing tragedy. Seeing them take a stand was so powerful and emotionally satisfying. The action did not shy away from the psychological brutality of the violence and sense of loss. The civilization acts with their hearts on their sleeve which in turn makes the audience emotionally invested in the characters. No main character stands out, rather the combined social structure of the civilization is what draws the audience's investment. At the same time, there is a long mystery associated with their civilization and their past that comes into play as the story plays out which adds an extra layer of interest.

The animation is unique with backgrounds that look like water colored still images. The facial expressions and outline of the characters is intricate to make them stand out in the crowds of their civilization. The buildings, environment, and magic effects are gorgeous to look at.

Unfortunately, it looks like Netflix did not continue the show. Its a shame since there is 5x more material afterwords in the manga. If you did like this show, I highly recommend continuing with the manga. It's worth your time.

Soooooooooooo much detail. I love it !!!

[steliospet · 9/10 · 5 April 2018]

Wow it was Awesome. I love the fact that the strange names like falena and likos are all Greek. And since I am from Greece I can also translate them for you. so falena means whale, thats why the anime is named the children of the whales, likos means wolf and the enemy ship I couldn't recognise the world it was either skiros or skilos. Skiros is an actual island in Greece but I think it was skilos because it means dog and the other ships are named after animals too. Also anthropos means human and sarka means flesh. What else I LOVE about this anime is that Chakuro rights everything in Greek and the cool part is that what is writen in the paper actually makes sense with what Chakuro says to us as he talks, for example in one scene he says he wanted to describe everything even the tears of the people and in this scene what we saw was a paper that had righten down "den mporousan na stamatisoun na klene" which means "they couldn't stop crying". I think that Greek was actually the right language to pick since we actually have a lot of islands in my country and we have a lot of sea too. Also I think this anime refers to when we had dictatorship in Greece and whoever was suspected to be an enemy to the government was send in a prison which was located in an isolated island. There is a lot of references to Greek culture in this anime and a lot of detail. I really appreciate and love your work. Keep up with it cause I really want to see MORE !!!!

*everything that I wanted to write with Greek letters is written with English letters cause IMDb doesn't allow Greek letters to appear in its website, how rude.

Hope there is a season 2.

[cake_williamson · 9/10 · 21 March 2018]

I didn't expect too much from this, as I haven't been a fan of any Netflix original animes so far. However this one surprised me. The characters are likable (especially the main character), the world was unique and full of mystery, the artwork is gorgeous, and the soundtrack is both beautiful and, at times, haunting. I meant to watch 20 minutes before bed and ended up watching two hours.

The only criticism I have with this anime is that every once in a while a scene would reach beyond the realm of magical to where I was having a "...what did I just watch..." moment.

Overall, you should watch this. Go watch it.

Amazing Story

[atlkshade · 9/10 · 8 August 2019]

This anime is very powerful, I love the art and character arcs so far. I am hoping for season 2 I do believe that will be out sometime in the future. If your looking for a good fantasy anime I think this is a great title for you.

Interesting premise, but underwhelming

[vexed_writer · 4/10 · 27 October 2022]

This show doesn't do anything egregious, but it also doesn't do much to hold your attention. It's colorful, the animation is pretty good, the voice acting isn't terrible, and the writing is tolerable in most respects. The mysteries it tries to tease you with are predictable. Unless this is the first story you have ever experienced, you'll be able to pick out the archetypes and tropes at play in short order, and if you pay any sort of attention (a struggle at times) you'll easily guess the big reveals at the end of the season.

One major flaw is that the protagonist is a nothingburger. He is irrelevant to the overall story. He has no significant impact, and merely decorates the background in nearly every scene he is in. If he were removed from the story, nothing significant would change. Everything that moves the plot forward in any appreciable way is done by supporting characters while the protagonist whose name fails me after twelve episodes stands there alternatively crying, yelling someone's name, or droning on in some pseudo-philosophical internal monologue.

I would say that the supporting characters help make up for what is essentially a lack of real protagonist, but the more interesting a character is, the less screen time they get. Not to say any of the occupants of the Mud Whale are particularly interesting, but still.

The worst part of the show, bar none, is the pink haired psychopath character. Again, the name fails me and I honestly can't be bothered to look it up. He is one of the most obnoxious characters ever written. The story's attempts to make him a tragic figure are laughable, and he is kept alive throughout via an unending stream of deus ex and plot holes. Even if this series ever received a season 2, just knowing he would be in it is enough to prevent me from ever watching it. He alone reduced this rating from a 5 to a 4.

This show will kill the time if, for whatever reason, you cannot find anything better to do or you are procrastinating on something like I was, but don't go into it with high expectations. The story isn't concluded by the end, as it was clearly intended to have multiple seasons, but the anime was produced five years ago as of this review, and I don't see there ever being a season 2.

I love it

[arthrun · 9/10 · 5 August 2018]

I want more for this story, it was awesome and worth my time, thank you for making beautiful stories and fantasies

Pretty in many ways!

[MajorLuke · 19 March 2018]

First off all I have to talk about the art of the animation which was what actually made me watch the anime, I didn't expected to like it that much, I love when a anime has a non-mainstream kind of art, and here we have something like it, the art is gorgeous, a real masterpiece.

The writing here is also a major point, the story and the characters are well built, when I started to watch the first episodes I've seen myself curious to discover the secrets that this universe had. Many times the story just go to a unpredictable way, what is a also a good thing.

The soundtrack is amazing, I personally loved the ending song.

For me it is a masterpiece. 9/10.

What a poor excuse for an anime

[Snootz · 2/10 · 17 January 2023]

I cannot believe the high reviews that anime seems to get-- apparently just because it's anime. This poor-plot, droll, drags-on, extremely bloody excuse for an anime might light the fires of the adrenaline junkies and gore-lovers, but it's one of the most poorly-told stories I've seen in quite some time. The closer it got to the end the more it becomes obvious this is going nowhere, and that's where it ends up. There's no resolution, no lesson, no moral-- just an absurd plot thrown together without any perceivable reason. Whatever the writers / directors had in mind, they failed to achieve it, and instead delivered a sloppy premise with mediocre animation. By the last two episodes I was to the point of hoping they'd pull this out of the trashcan, and counting the minutes until this painful piece of trash was finished.

Just because it's anime doesn't make it good, and doesn't mean it's worth high ratings. There is a lot better anime out there.

A stunning beautiful and original anime!

[craigjameshenderson · 9/10 · 25 April 2018]

I'm not all of the way through it yet (two episodes to go!), but I feel compelled to come on here and write something about it.

When I first started watching 'Children of the Whales', I have to admit that I found it pretty dull to begin with but on the hand I was intrigued by its originality and decided to stick with it to see where it was heading, and... Well, I'm really glad that I did! Although it does start off pretty slowly, it takes a very dark turn around half way through the season and actually gets very good indeed. In fact, I found that the contrast between the idyllic beginning and the subsequent violence when Falaina is invaded was actually pretty shocking.

It's always great to discover an anime that isn't all about giant robots and shallow characters, and with CotW it's the characters and writing that really makes it stand out. There's some really great character development throughout the first series and many of the ideas and concepts are brilliantly original and are executed with some of the nicest art and designs I've seen in an anime for quite some time. There's a deep seam of emotion running through the show as well, and it is with some reluctance that I admit that it actually made me well up on more than one occasion.

Much of this emotion is down to the really rather superb music, with both the opening and closing title music (and the incidental music throughout the show) being absolutely amazing - in fact, it's one of the few shows where I actually watch them all the way through to listen to them, which is high praise indeed.

Overall, I'd got as far as saying that this is one of the most stunningly original anime I've seen in ages and I can't wait to see if they're going to make a second series.

Beautiful Anime

[DieFuechsin · 10/10 · 20 November 2019]

I was surprised by this anime: Visually pleasing, an interesting story and with all brutality still emotional and beautiful. It hits a special nerve. It's really worth watching! I hope there will be a second season.

Old Lessons, New Tale

[bennyantlang · 9/10 · 27 August 2018]

The show treads some well-worn tracks in terms of its themes (friendship, selflessness, love & loss) and a few cliche anime plot devices (Young Adults fighting each other with magical powers) but the setting & story are creative and intriguing - a small community, some of whom are born with mysterious psychokinetic abilities, are sailing aimlessly aboard a drifting island which they call the Mud Whale; after decades of isolation they suddenly discover they're not alone in the world, and the outsiders may know the tragic secret behind their magic... This story, combined with the beautiful art & animation style - the vistas are almost like oil paintings while the magical elements are added in stunning CGI - makes the Mud Whale feel like its own unique world. The main characters are likable and they develop well as the show progresses - in some unexpected ways too, which are equally heartwarming and heartbreaking. Overall, its one of the best anime which Netflix has involved itself in (not that there's a lot of competition) and definitely worth a binge if you want an anime with less bombastic fighting & fanservice, and more understated emotion & quiet beauty.

All in one!

[mehrnoosh-ghandili · 16 March 2019]

Although it is a sad story overall, I think one of the main goals of it is to teach young about humanity, unity, hope, war, negotiation, even politics in a simple but magic way!

Avoid This Sandtrap

[Free_Jafa · 1/10 · 12 November 2018]

This is a stupid show with stupid plot holes & stupid dialogue. Things happen without explanation, or that make no sense. Important scenes to the plot are not shown or even described.

Beautiful death trap.

[blackbanter · 10/10 · 29 January 2020]

This show is basically what one would call "big sad". What I mean by this is that the minute you start to care about the brilliantly written complex characters, the show kills them off in incredibly gruesome ways.

Seriously though, the show is insanely gory, going into it I thought it was just going to be a kid friendly fantasy anime, but in truth it's an incredibly deep and involving show that I binged in a day because I was so into it.

From the first episode I was hooked, wanting to find any and everything I could, no matter how small, about this amazing world. The twists and turn it takes are nothing short of truly amazing and definitely worth sticking around for.

I can only hope that there will eventually be a Season 2 that continues this underrated masterpiece!

A+

Pathethic MC with a greate story anime!

[AlexanderGGA01 · 4/10 · 15 April 2021]

One of the most pathethic MC in a anime series i ever watched!

Masterpiece

[dreamingskychild · 10/10 · 11 May 2020]

I went into this anime series today not knowing anything... and was so blown away by the raw beauty and expression of the characters, and the kind of music that plays on your heart strings and haunts you, as such mysteries and wonders of a different world reveal themselves before you bit by bit...

I was so immersed within the story and moved by it, gripped from one moment to the next; that I watched the whole series in a day. I personally rate Children of the Whales a 10/10. I have not been touched by a show in such a special way like this in sometime, and I will be reflecting a lot on the themes of this show, on the questions posed, on the events that took place, and the very characters themselves, as well as my own life.

Very grateful to everyone who created this masterpiece. I will definitely be watching it again in the future. I hope that others will find this anime to be a source of beauty and adventure in some way, I recommend it to those that like the fantasy genre, and to anyone that is wanting to feel something more at this time. I really hope that there will be a second season. In the meantime, I'm sure many will dream on about the Children of the Whales.

If you like Sword Art Online, you'll like this anime

[xenomorph-02 · 9/10 · 19 March 2018]

This anime is actually pretty decent. It starts off pretty easy going and inncocent, but then takes a dark, gruesome turn. The plot is interesting, the powers are unique, and the combat is gripping. The animations look similar to SOA. American voice actors from Bleach, SOA, Blue Exorcist, and Fullmetal Alchemist star in this show.

Children of the whales

[WeAreLive · 10/10 · 13 April 2019]

Chakuro is a marked boy who lives on the mud weale and likes to write stuff down as a habit. The village has been cursed as if someone cries then (I don't remember what it was... please do check out the show yourself). One day Chakuro and his friends travel off the mud weale and see this emotionless girl called Lykos who is the only member left there. They take the girl with them which leads to a war with the fallena.

The animation and art style was very smooth and very well drawn. The music was enjoyable and catchy. Even now I have still got the theme song stuck in my head. However, the only thing which I was annoyed about was that when ever they were singing they did not provide subtitles, I get that they can't translate a song because it costs too much money or they want to promote the singer (seriously) but they could at least provide subtitles of what they are saying. This is the exact same problem I had with Fuuka.

I watched the dub and from what I can tell Johnny Yong Bosch did a good job as the lead character although, it was a recycle of his Renton Thurston from Eureka Seven but stilled fitted. As for the rest of the cast including Melissa Fahn, Bryce Papenbrock, Todd Haberkkorn, Kyle McCarley and everyone else did a good job as their roles. My only problem was that every young boy including flashbacks of their characters sounded too girly in pitch. Also, I have not seen the sub or read the manga so I am not sure what name they used but in the dub they called Liontari 'Ryodari' I don't really care what they call him but I am just confused. Weather if Ryodari was his name in the anime or did they do it to avoid copyright.

But other then that it was a sold dub.

I would recommend this anime if you like a good adventure or something that has mythology or history. However, in terms of audience I would recommend it to from 11 and over (if parents are okay, showing their kids this) but 13+ as their was a bit of strong language, alot of death and blood and in one episode they were in a lake taking a bath naked but luckily there are no inappropriate nudity, just one butt shot and that is it.

Now I just hope Season 2 comes soon, I was originally not a fan of Netflix animes because of boring and mishandled stories like Kakeguri and Sword Gai or badly handled dubs like Aiko. But luckily this, B the beginning and Ajin gave me more hope.

So good!

[alhindib-05545 · 10/10 · 1 March 2021]

The animation is very unique and so is the plot line. It's a very good show and hoping for a season 2.

One of the best animes i ever seen

[marcoshhubert · 10/10 · 25 April 2021]

This animes is so great, good animation good history good characters.

If you like 'attack on titan' & 'the promised neverland', then you would love this.

[LancelotSB · 10/10 · 13 August 2022]

Im a picky person but this anime checked everything on my list to be perfect anime especially based on the first season overall. It has action, adventure, horror, thriller, fantasy, mystical, scifi, etc. Great characters design and development. Perfect sound scores and effect. The opening & ending songs suit very well with the tone of the anime (very adventurous beat, pirates vibe). Amazing voice casts and great animation. Its been over 5 years since the release of the anime, still no season 2. Very unfortunate. The most thing i love about this anime was the world building aspect of it, with mystical elements and lores, the build up almost same as the shingeki no kyojin (attack on titan) or promised neverland. Literally any/every characters can die anytime, and it caught by surprised several times. Not that much of emotional attachment toward this anime but still few sad scenes. Cute mascots that perfectly blends with the anime mood. Highly recommended.