is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by

Daisuke Igarashi is a Japanese manga artist born in Saitama (2 April 1969), Japan. He began his professional career in 1993. Igarashi is known among manga fans for his bold, detailed art style and innovative storytelling. While his works are often described as f ...

. It was serialized in

Shōgakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Monthly Ikki was a monthly ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It tended to specialize in underground or alternative manga, but it had its share of major hits as well. The magazine started in 2000 as a spin-off of Shogakukan's '' Weekly Big ...

'' from December 2005 to September 2011. Shōgakukan has collected the series into five ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes published between July 2007 and July 2012. The manga is licensed in North America by

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

, who serialized it online at ''SigIkki.com'' and released the five ''tankōbon'' volumes from July 2009 to June 2013. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

Studio 4°C is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka and Koji Morimoto in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense. History Studio 4 °C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film t ...

premiered in May 2019 in Japan. In 2009, ''Children of the Sea'' was awarded an Excellence Prize at the 13th

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a ...

Plot

On the first day of summer vacation, Ruka Azumi deliberately injures a playmate who had tripped her up. Excluded from the club for all the holidays, she decides to leave for Tokyo for a day. As night falls, she meets Umi, a strange boy raised by

dugongs The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest ...

who dives and disappears into the murky waters of Tokyo Port. She finds him a few days later, requisitioned by his oceanographer father, to work in the aquarium he takes care of. But Umi is no longer alone, he is accompanied by Sora, who also has supernatural aquatic gifts.

Characters

; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; :

Media

Manga

''Children of the Sea'', written and illustrated by

, was serialized in

's ''

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Ma ...

'' magazine ''

'' from December 24, 2005, to September 24, 2011. Shōgakukan compiled its chapters into five ''

'' volumes, released from July 30, 2007, to July 30, 2012. The manga is licensed in North America by

, who serialized it online at ''SigIkki.com'' and released the five ''tankōbon'' volumes from July 21, 2009, to June 18, 2013.

Volume list

Film

A Japanese animated film adaptation of the manga was announced by

on July 16, 2018. The film is directed by

Ayumu Watanabe is a Japanese anime director. After joining Shin-Ei Animation, he directed multiple ''Doraemon'' anime films. As a freelancer, he also worked on numerous anime adaptations such as ''Space Brothers (manga), Space Brothers'', ''After the Rain (mang ...

, with Kenichi Konishi as

character designer In visual arts, a model sheet, also known as a character board, character sheet, character study or simply a study, is a document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of a character in arts such as animation, comics, and v ...

, chief

supervising animator An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of c ...

and unit director and music by

Joe Hisaishi , known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. He is also known for his piano scores. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore ...

. It is produced by

Eiko Tanaka is the chief executive officer and the president of STUDIO4°C, an animation studio she founded in 1986. Tanaka is also the chief executive officer of a producing company called Beyond C. Eiko Tanaka was an animation producer on '' TEKKON KINKR ...

. The

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

, , is written and performed by

Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and illustrator who began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 mi ...

. The film had its world premiere on May 19, 2019 and was released in Japan on June 7, 2019.

Reception

''Children of the Sea'' was nominated for the 12th and 13th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

was awarded a Japan Cartoonists Association Awards excellence award for drawing ''Children of the Sea'' in 2009. ''Children of the Sea'' was the recipient of an Excellence Prize in the Manga Division at the 13th

in 2009.

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

's Deb Aoki commends the manga for its "vibrant, detailed artwork that takes its inspiration from nature, real people and real places" but criticizes the manga for its slow plot which "picks up the pace after a few chapters". ''PopCultureShocks Sam Kusek comments on the interactions between the main characters, saying, " mi, Sora and Rukaall share something in common, the fact that they are outsiders from the norm. Ruka is not your normal girl. As athletic as she is, her attitude and aggression towards her teammates leave her high and dry for the summer. Consistently throughout the book, people are badmouthing her as she passes them on the street. Umi and Sora are obviously outsiders due to their extreme circumstances, wearing large robes to cover a majority of their skin and having to constantly bathe in water. Sora especially has a frail constitution, spending most of the book in and out of a hospital. All three are young children, and that is shown throughout the book, but they also have a unique sense of maturity that sets them apart not only from other children but most adults." ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ...

s Carlo Santos commends the manga for its "subtle, seamless storytelling and first-class artistry combine to form a fascinating tale of the sea" but criticizes it for "mundane events and superfluous scenes sometimes slow down the plot". ICv2's Steve Bennett commends the manga for "the art is rich with photorealistic details which help to give the fantasy a solid grounding in reality, and has strong, emotionally honest characters which should make this young adult fantasy appeal to both fans of epic fantasy and contemporary teen dramas." Coolstreak Comics' Leroy Douresseaux comments that he is reminded of the "1980s ecological sci-fi comic book, '' The Puma Blues''" when reading the manga. He also commends on Igarashi's "earthy art, with its busy line work and crosshatching and unsophisticated figure drawing, grounds this series in reality, which makes the moments of enchantment all the more breathtaking." He also recommends the manga to those who liked Inio Asano's '' Solanin''.

References

External links

* * * {{Monthly Ikki 2011 comics endings Aquariums in fiction Drama anime and manga Mystery anime and manga Seinen manga Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga Supernatural anime and manga Viz Media manga