Children of the Whales
Children of the Whales is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Abi Umeda. It serialized in Akita Shoten's Shojo manga magazine Mystery Bonita from 2013 to 2023. The manga is licensed in North America by Viz Media. An anime television series adaptation produced by J.C. Staff aired in Japan from October to December 2017, and was released globally on Netflix in March 2018.
Synopsis
The story focuses on a boy called Chakuro, who lives on a giant vessel called a Mud Whale that drifts over the sea of sand. In the Mud Whale, society is divided into two kinds of people: the Marked, who can move objects with their minds using a strange power called "thymia", at the expense of shortened lifespans, and the Unmarked, people who lack thymia but enjoy longer lifespans. Chakuro and his friends have never seen anyone from the outside world, and they spend their days yearning to explore and learn about it. In year 93 of the vessel's exile, the Mud Whale encounters a lonely island and Chakuro finds a girl inside, starting an adventure that changes the lives of everyone.Characters
;Chakuro;Lykos
;Ouni
;Suoh
;Ginshu
;Liontari
;Shuan
;Sami
;Kicha
;Taisha
Media
Manga
Abi Umeda launched the series in the July 2013 issue of Akita Shoten's manga magazine Monthly Mystery Bonita on June 6, 2013. The series has been collected into 23 volumes as of March 2023. The series ended serialization on January 6, 2023. Viz Media announced during their panel at Anime Boston 2017 that they have licensed the manga.A comedy spin-off manga series was serialized in Monthly Mystery Bonita magazine from April 2018 to June 5, 2021.