Anime: Children of the Whales by Umeda Abi (Season 1)

As we are are in quarantine, it has given me a lot of time to catch up of some anime that I've missed recently. These are crazy times right now as I am typing this up, for this post is going to be up weeks after I have finished typing it! I hope you are all still safe when you read this because I can't see the future. Stay inside and watch some anime or read some manga! If you're reading this blog I would hope you like to do one or the other. Moving on, we are going to get right into this review! 

I have heard a great many things about this anime and boy, they weren't wrong! This anime is a relatively new one, available on Netflix by Netflix. It's a coming-of-age, fantasy, adventure centered around a ship called the Mud Whale and going-ons that happen. 

The main character is a young boy named Chakuro, who acts as a recorder, historian of sorts, for the Mud Whale. Everyone on the Mud Whale are sort of split into factions, the Marked, those who can use thymia, and the Unmarked, those who cannot use thymia. Not really factions per-say but there is a difference between the two. The Marked have shortened lifespans, barely making it to the age of 30, if that. The Unmarked don't have to worry about such a thing and thus govern the Mud Whale with their long lives. 

Thymia is sort of like telekinesis, but appears like magic, with glowing symbols and shapes surrounding the people and objects they are using their thymia on. But enough about that right now, moving on, this anime is quite short at only 12 episodes. It didn't take me long to binge through it and finish, craving for more than what was just devoured. I'm going to try and keep the story short and go right into my thoughts!

(SPOILER WARNING! START)

The very first episode starts with a funeral... the woman is in her twenties, dying from the fact that she was marked. She was a teacher and taught the children of the Mud Whale on how to use their thymia. The episode also goes on to explain about how the people of the Mud Whale clasps their hands together to try and keep their emotions in tact because a rule of theirs, really a tradition, is to not cry over the dead at the funerals because it is said that the souls will come back and spirit you away with them. At least I remember it being that, might not be exact.

Anyways, Chakuro, who has been narrating this whole event, and will continue to do so, bursts out crying at the funeral and everyone around him are all like, "not again, Chakuro," because he's bad at keeping his emotions to himself in the event of someone's death. 

Chakuro is one of the Marked, but he doesn't have good control over his thymia and is called "The Destroyer" because his thymia goes all over the place when he does use it. There is a lot going on this season so I'm going to try and break it down and compress it.

The people of the Mud Whale see a ship in the horizon and make plans to go and do a recon, to see if there is anything useful to bring back to the Mud Whale. Chakuro and his childhood friend, Sami, go on this mission, where Chakuro finds a girl and brings her back with them, cutting the mission short. They assume her name is Lykos due to it being embroidered on her clothing. She awakens and the Council has a meeting with her. The Council is comprised of the Unmarked after they hit a certain age and are told the truth about the Mud Whale. Lykos asked if the ship was the Falaina, I would do the accents but I have no idea how to do it on my laptop, and everyone is confused like, "no this is the Mud Whale." 

Lykos ends up being the catalyst for the events that inevitably happen in the series. Ouni, a rebel against the Mud Whale and the small world it is, kidnaps Lykos and Chakuro to take him to the ship that Lykos was found on, since it was the first ship they found with a person on it. Ouni then knew that there was a bigger world out there that him and the Moles, his group of rebels, had always dreamed of. There, Lykos explains that her name isn't Lykos and that she has no emotions because she feeds them to the Nous, a being who eats emotions and gives back to humans the power of thymia. The Nous of the ship they found her in was named Lykos. She explains that where she comes from, everyone gives their emotions up, and that they are unnecessary there. With this revelation, they all go back to the Mud Whale and have a meeting about everything revealed thus far.

Soon after, another ship arrives and attacks the residents of the Mud Whale, calling them criminals and that they are to be executed. Chaos ensues, with many dead including Sami. Lykos, having been on the Mud Whale for a while and getting to know everyone, also being away from a Nous, she is starting to get her emotions back and tries to defend the Mud Whale. The enemy ship leaves her there as an experiment with emotions and there is a funeral held, this time no one can hold in their tears. 

And this is all within the first couple of episodes mind you. All these events keep happening one after another in rapid succession. 

The rest of the season dwells on the aftermath and their preparations for the return of Skyros, the enemy ship that attacked. Ouni had gotten a little crazy during the first attack and killed the enemy soldiers, taking one hostage, having gotten information from them that there would be another attack in four days. So the Mud Whale preps for the fight, having to need to get the children involved too because your thymia gets weaker as you grow. 

A lot of change happens, the mayor had been killed and Suou, the older brother of Sami and the next one in line to be mayor, gets inducted immediately and all these other events happen that causes them to distrust the Council. They tried to get the Mud Whale to sink by killing the ship's Nous, Falaina, causing mass suicide... not the smartest choice on their end, to be honest. 

The four days pass by quickly and the fight happens. Chakuro and some others sneak onto the Skyros with the mission to kill it's Nous. It is also revealed that Ouni is the Falaina's daimonas, but they don't really delve into what that is until later. They kill the Nous, and win the fight, losing many in the process on Skyros and back home, also getting a rudder for the Mud Whale too, so they can now steer the ship. 

Another ship shows up later and it's from a different country than their enemies and they all make nice and the Mud Whale heads off to try and make allies with said country. 

(SPOILER WARNING! END)

I absolutely loved this! It's extremely intense and emotional, also not really suited for younger audiences, although it's not as violent or graphic as Elfen Lied. The way the story is told gives you enough insight into the characters, having you fall in love with them very quickly, with the short time they have on the screen. I tried not too go too much into depth, so most of it might be a little rushed but I definitely tried to compress it as much as I could. This was a really emotional journey and I cannot wait for more of it! I do hope that Netflix releases a second season, because I know that many people are vying for it. 

This is absolutely a series I recommend, it was such a heart wrenching story with little lighthearted elements thrown in there. It is something I'm going to be keeping my eye on for the news on season two. If this wasn't enough for you and you still need more, there is a manga that is most definitely ahead of the anime at the moment so go check it out! The covers are beautiful with watercolors and such, which is how it brought my attention to the series in the first place!

What do you think? Is this something you'd be interested in checking out? Or have you watched the season already? Leave your thoughts down below and I'll reply to them! Until next week!