Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau (Children of the Whales)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Whale Calves Sing on the Debris, Tales of the Wales Calves

Japanese: クジラの子らは砂上に歌う

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Jun 6, 2013 to ?

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Demographic: Shoujo

Serialization: Mystery Bonita

Authors: Umeda, Abi (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.71¹ (scored by 1,840 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1481²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1405

Members: 11,283

Favorites: 278

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7.71

Ranked #1481Popularity #1405Members 11,283

MangaMystery BonitaUmeda, Abi (Story & Art)

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Synopsis

Chakuro is the 14-year-old archivist of the Mud Whale, a nigh-utopian island that floats across the surface of an endless sea of sand. Nine in ten of the inhabitants of the Mud Whale have been blessed and cursed with the ability to use saimia, special powers that doom them to an early death.

Chakuro and his friends have stumbled across other islands, but they have never met, seen, or even heard of a human who wasn't from their own. One day, Chakuro visits an island as large as the Mud Whale and meets a girl who will change his destiny.

(Source: Batoto)

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Background

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau has been published in English as Children of the Whales by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint since November 21, 2017. It has also been published in Spanish by Milky Way Ediciones and in Italian by Star Comics.

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Related Manga

Adaptation:

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau

More characters
Characters

Chakuro

Main

Lykos

Main

Ouni

Supporting

Liontari

Supporting

Suou

Supporting

Shuan

Supporting

Ginshu

Supporting

Sami

Supporting

Nibi

Supporting

Neri

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Apr 19, 2020

68 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

bad_shipping (All reviews)

18 people found this review helpful

I really liked this manga. The Sea of Sand is a mystical world that radiates an odyssey-like sense of wonder. It's a world painted by a unique blend of dystopia, utopia, and political intrigue, with a cast of characters that are genuinely all likable, the kind of people whom you'd be friends with.

Story: 9/10
I really like the idea of a lone ship sailing on a vast ocean of sand, unaware of the outside world and without a destination in mind. The story quickly swaps out this whimsical facade with a rather mature tale about the value of emotions, eldritch abominations that eat peoples' feelings, and an ongoing war between bloodthirsty empires. It's all genuinely interesting stuff that I've never seen in any work of fiction before. Each chapter follows the Mud Whale's inhabitants as they sail across the Sea of Sand, seeing new places and having deadly encounters with nearly everybody they meet. The only criticism I would make is that certain parts of the story are rather predictable. If you want a story with innovative fantasy elements and emotionally impactful plot beats, definitely give this one a try.

Art: 10/10
Abi-san's art style is gorgeous. Her art style is probably the most beautiful I've ever seen. All the scenery is luscious and detailed. The characters' faces and their actions are very powerful and expressive. The scenes involving "Nous" (the aforementioned eldritch abominations) are deliciously mind-bending and abstract and, honestly, remind me of Madoka Magica's amazing witch labyrinths more than anything else has.

Characters: 10/10
The characters of this story are, in a word, friends. It's a strange word to use, but to me, everyone in this story is a friend. The main character, Chakuro, is extremely nice to everyone he meets. He's adorable, the kind of person I'd give everything to protect. The heroine, Lykos, goes through powerful emotional development as she spends time on the Mud Whale and learns about the value of emotions. Ouni, the story's anti-hero style character, also has a very interesting backstory and eventually turns into someone you truly care about. Suou, one of Chakuro's best friends, is an amazing idealist who profoundly influences other characters as the story progresses. Even the villains have astonishingly complex motivations. All in all, the characters give you the feeling of a tight-knit village where everyone cares for each other. This kind of village gives me such a gentle feeling.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I don't think I need to add much here because everything I've described makes this manga a joy to read. Every panel is amazing, beautiful, and emotionally resonant. Yeah, I can't give enough praise for this author because she's crafted such a beautiful world and honestly I wish more people knew about it!

Overall: 10/10
The story, the characters, and the art combine to create one of the most gorgeous and heartwarming fictional worlds I have ever seen. This is not to say everything is butterfly and rainbows. Children of the Whales is actually a dark story that explores shockingly mature themes alongside some very twisted characters. But it's this darkness, this dystopian world, that provides such a good canvas for the warmth and comfort of the utopian Mud Whale to be painted upon. The resulting picture is filled with characters and feelings I'll never forget.

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Sep 25, 2017

2 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 6

rollercoasting (All reviews)

20 people found this review helpful

A shoujo manga getting an anime adaptation? Beyond the fact that shoujo anime are incredibly rare these days, {and not very popular in the general community}, I was inspired me to read the manga, and I wasn't impressed.

Art: The art is gorgeous. A pastel water-color like vibe, it is gorgeous on the eyes. Super abstract and beautiful.

Story: Unique, but really slow. It just sorta meanders at the early points, introducing us to the world. Once it kicks up, it slows down again, taking its time to do things. Really, a lot of stuff is just dumped on us, and it doesn't really explain anything. The read more

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Apr 18, 2021

68 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 8

enricocaliolo (All reviews)

4 people found this review helpful

Um conto sobre memórias e o sentido da vida

I made it in english too! It is below!

Children of the Whales é um mangá que me surpreendeu de forma positiva. Comecei a lê-lo por conta da arte e pela sinopse. Estava numa vibe de procurar algum mangá que tratasse sobre uma “civilização perdida”, e o anilist me recomendou isso. E, pra minha surpresa, foi muito mais do que eu estava esperando!

Usando a sinopse da VIZ, Chakuro é o arquivista da Mud Whale, registrando diligentemente as vidas e mortes de seu povo. Como um dos poucos portadores da timia, ele sabe que seu tempo é limitado e read more

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Oct 30, 2021

71 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 8

klesun (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

Came for a weird song, but stayed for the unexpected feels.

Boy, does Abi Umeda know how to draw likable characters and keep you invested. Just looking at expressions of certain side-characters made me fall in love with this "Mud Whale" community. You can literally see the soul poured on the drawings. Every now and then a panel where a piece of the world comes into view, you get reminded that you are consuming a very high quality masterpiece of an art.

I liked how progressing the plot effectively always centers around finding a pacifistic solution to a conflict and trying to understand the bad guy instead of blowing him off with a rasengan, even if he keeps behaving like a total jerk. I think the author succeeded somehow to sell this idea of "even if you did some really awful mistakes, this community can forgive you and accept you nevertheless".

It's touching how even small characters, even bad guys genuinely care for someone. While their emotions are "eaten by Nous" and they only have a slight piece of conscience left and mostly behave like robots, exactly that gives a value to small gestures hinting that they actually _do care_. "I killed your sister" "*poker face*" *shoot* "why did you shoot that guy that killed your sister? There was no such order." "I don't know"

The title very precisely describes the "atmosphere" of this story. From time to time some insignificant technical details are dropped by indicating that the whole Mud Whale island is a living being that cares about characters as a parent. Be it a character climbing a wall somewhere and thinking how it's cold unlike walls on the island that were warm as a person, or how every single outsider adorably must mention that islanders "smell like milk" (because of the food produced by the island), or how Aima/Neri take human form and try to comfort people when they are feeling down. And the fact that other such living islands in the story are usually just as****es towards their inhabitants makes this bond between Mud Whale people and their mommy-island kind of precious. A very unique experience of slowly comprehending that a giant sentient being is looking after you and your tribe, I don't think I ever felt this cozy while reading a manga.

There were few small failures in the story, the biggest one was having the protag participate in it. Some characters that looked cheesy in the anime, were much better in the manga and got a decent development... except for the protagonist whose involvement in the main events was way to forced: he did not do anything, he was not even the one who gave the tide-turning speech, but he absolutely must do the final gesture and destroy the mood with some cliched bubble. Chakuro's personality _could_ have been naturally used in the story, he does his thing well when the crowd needs to relieve the mood with some ridiculous childish remark, being children is important part of "Children of Whales" theme after all, but there was just too much of this guy.

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	ongoing? Ivanh0571 - Nov 14, 2021	1 replies	by Alexioos95 »» Nov 14, 2021 8:21 AM
	Poll: Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau Chapter 4 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 17, 2015	4 replies	by Neostorm-X »» Jul 8, 2021 12:03 AM

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau
Children of the Whales
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Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau
Children of the Whales
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