X
- 2020
- Not Rated
- GKIDS
- 1 h 51 m
- 2020
- Not Rated
- GKIDS
- 1 h 51 m
Summary When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does. Ruka's dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only...
Directed By: Ayumu Watanabe
Written By: Daisuke Igarashi, Hanasaki Kino
- 2020
- Not Rated
- GKIDS
- 1 h 51 m
- 2020
- Not Rated
- GKIDS
- 1 h 51 m
Children of the Sea
74
6.8
Where to Watch
Summary When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does. Ruka's dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only...
Directed By: Ayumu Watanabe
Written By: Daisuke Igarashi, Hanasaki Kino
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
74
75% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
25% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
74
75% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
25% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A surging tsunami-crash of creativity and beauty.
This wide-eyed loner may be “just” an anime character, but she’s as relatable as any live-action teenager you might meet on screen this year, thanks to the splendid attention to detail and seemingly boundless imagination that characterizes Children of the Sea, director Ayumu Watanabe’s stunning adaptation of the prize-winning manga by Daisuke Igarashi.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 User Ratings
6.8
64% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
27% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
9% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 User Ratings
6.8
64% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
27% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
9% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Beyond Studio Ghibli, this story comes with a more stylized but beautiful, hypnotic animation style. The plot may be difficult to follow because of its metaphors about marine life, its relationship with the universe and ours in it, but in no way provoke boredom or indifference. To see more than once to assimilate it better.
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Almost a week after seeing this movie and I'm still trying to digest it, I'm honestly having a hard time placing my feelings for it.
The one thing I can say without a doubt is that Children of the Sea is absolutely stunning to look at. The animation on display here is like nothing I've ever seen.
My main hang up is the story. The characters are likable and the plot is intriguing, but it absolutely goes off the deep end in the last third and that's where my hangups lie. It becomes incredibly hard to follow which makes its ending not quite land the way it should have. Some plot threads don't feel entirely fleshed out, but are simultaneously wrapped around the plot at large to make them thematically relevant.
I think I walked away glad that I saw it, but it's going to be a hard sell to people I know.
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By simply witnessing the grandeur of the sea, by allowing us to glimpse that symbiosis between ocean and universe, the film ends up resonating powerfully, a feast that will stimulate both the eye and the cerebral cortex.
Children of the Sea is consequently yet another animated fantasy based on hackneyed tropes, like sprite-like martyrs, the guiding hands of fate, and vague nostalgia for a pre-technological past.
Full of interesting concepts and accomplished animation, Children Of The Sea is less than the sum of its many parts and just seems to lose its way after a very promising beginning.
Children of the Sea finds plenty of beauty and purpose in the watery depths but doesn’t provide enough grounding first: It’s all too easy to get lost 20,000 leagues under the sea.
Great visuals, it's very unique looking. The film starts off good with good character development. Mediocre pretentious nonsense story faking depth. Iincoherent. Can't care what happens if you don't know whats happening. The film might still be worth watching for the visuals alone. The first act of the film is at least decent, before it becomes a total mess.
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What did I just see? The universe having sex? This was too artsy and painful to watch.
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Production Company
Beyond C.,
DMM.com,
Maoyan Entertainment,
Orix,
Parco Co. Ltd.,
Phoenix Entertainment,
Sankyo,
Shogakukan,
Studio 4°C,
Tianjin Maoyan Weying Media,
Toho Animation,
Wanda Pictures,
Whateversmiles
Release Date Sep 1, 2020
Duration 1 h 51 m
Rating Not Rated
Awards
Mainichi Film Concours
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
International Cinephile Society Awards
• 1 Nomination
