Name: Pretty show that starts intriguing & full of potential only to be derailed by an overcrowded story & lack of resolution
Item: Children of the Whales
Rating: 40
Author: Kalladry

Waifra

Pretty show that starts intriguing & full of potential only to be derailed by an overcrowded story & lack of resolution · Waifora

Some things keep popping up in my Netflix recommendations, so I figured, this looks cool, why not try it? (Why not? Several reasons, it turns out.)

Floating on a sea of endless sand, peaceful islanders are divided into “marked” magic wielders whose powers will cause them to die tragically young, and the unmarked who lead the island with their longevity. As a magic wielder, young and curious archivist Chakuro knows his time is short but stable, but everything changes when a girl from the outside appears on his island.

So. This series. It looks so pretty, with light and bright colors. The first two episodes seem to be setting up a pretty fantasy land. They live on a floating island in a sea of sand. Most people are “marked,” with basically some magic (psychokinesis) abilities, but they die young. An unmarked minority help lead the people, since they live normal lifespans.

One day, a new floating island comes into view. They go check it out, find it deserted except for a strange girl.
So far, so good, right? Seems like it’s setting itself up to be a gentle, fantasy almost slice-of-life. Maybe we’ll get answers about this fantasy world. Maybe they’ll find a way that the “marked” don’t have to die young. Maybe we'll get to see pretty new magic.

WRONG

Without getting spoilery–which is hard, because the problems with this serious have to do with some serious spoilers–but the series takes a darker turn after a mere two episodes, some people have the audacity to get mad when others don’t want to commit mass suicide and this is treated like...not a huge deal, and one of the main bad guys is a cardboard cutout of the unrestrained delights-in-killing murderer, despite being in an army that supposedly suppresses everyone’s emotions.

And all that might even be okay, if the series resolved anything, but it can’t figure out what it wants to do in 12 episodes. Explore the secret of the island? Focus on the fighting? Explore outside nations? Heck, an entirely new character set shows up in episode 10. It tries to do too much, and suffers for it.

Also, they call the mysterious girl on the new floating island “Lykos,” find out it’s not her name–it’s the name of her ship, which she tells them–and then they…just continue to call her Lykos. Never ask her real name. Why.

Verdict

English dub? Yes

Visuals: Lots of lights and colors, especially early on. Nice.

Worth watching? Not for me. It felt supremely unsatisfying due to the issues mentioned above. Perhaps if another season was available, it’d be different, but they tried to cram too much into 12 episodes and it shows. Also, because they appeared to be trying to set themselves up for another season, there’s no resolution at all.