Children of the Sea 3
Posted: June 6, 2010 Filed under: Children of the Sea 3 Comments »Daisuke Igarashi – Viz – 2010 – 4+ volumes
You know, I like this series. I like it a lot. The art and atmosphere alone make it a great read. The mixture of sea and costal areas, the aquatic life constantly swarming around Umi and Sora, and the periodic creepy legends that creep into the narrative. All of that is good stuff, and I just can’t fault it. If nothing else, Children of the Sea does an excellent job of conveying its mystery and coming-of-age story through the medium of nature, and that’s just not something you see every day.
On the other hand, I’ve never been very good with intangible philosophy, which is what drives the plot. The characters often speak of the philosophy of life and creation, and I’m pretty sure that it has a deep, intrinsic meaning to the plot, but I’m just not getting it. I can follow what’s going on well enough, but every single bit of nuance is stripped from the storytelling by my lack of comprehension as to how discussions along the lines of likening conversation to whale songs and turning into ghosts that can be viewed by people from the future have to do with the plot. I can see it, since in that case, Anglaide is very much affected by what he sees in that flashback, but I want to assign meaning to all parts of it. The part about the whale song makes more sense later in the volume, and yet, I wish that things could be more straightforward. The characters are just talking in riddles when they explain things. Again, it’s not hard to pull meaning from in terms of the immediate conversation, but it’s frustrating to read, and I feel like I’m missing out on a big chunk of the story.
As far as ambition, art, and atmosphere goes, Children of the Sea is one of the best. But the plot progression always makes me hesitate when I’m going for a new volume. It’s beautiful, and I have a feeling that there are quite a few people who can appreciate it more than me. I’m going to continue reading, because it’s just so bizarre and I do love mythology… but it is a little frustrating.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
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I’m about to give up this series. I really wanted to like it and do enjoy aspects of it but everyone always speaking in riddles and waxing philosophic is just becoming to annoying. I was hoping the big event at the end of 2 would lead to more clarification about things but just the opposite occurred.
I can’t blame you. I have a hard time giving up on series once I start, but this one’s definitely on the cusp since I really don’t enjoy reading the volumes. I can respect it for what it is, but it’s not really for me, either.