The ending of the new Children of the Sea anime left viewers scratching their heads, and for good reason.
Children of the Sea It’s a confusing movie. Directed by Ayumu Watanabe and adapted from Daisuke Igarashi’s five-episode manga, the series is streaming in the United States on Netflix, meaning new audiences have a chance to be hooked, dazzled, and ultimately captured fascinated by the hallucinations of Watanabe. Far and far, the most confusing part of the film is the climax, in which Ruka (the main character) gets caught up in a whirlpool of intergalactic sea life and erupts from the other end with her changing perspective. a human life. As a visual spectacle, it stands out. As the story goes, it’s incomprehensible.
This is not the kind of movie that can be easily or objectively understood, but here is an explanation that will hopefully make the last forty minutes a little easier to deal with.
Children of the Sea: Summary
Before getting into what actually happened, it’s helpful to review the core concepts of the film. Usually voiced by Anglade, Children of the Sea is interested in a kind of micro-cosmic model relationship. Essentially, an idea is a part (miniature model) that reflects the whole (macro model). This is a model for exploring man’s place in the universe. It gives rise to the idea that a person is not only a part of the universe, but also the universe itself.
It’s easy to see how this idea invites the kind of free-spirited, transcendental experience conveyed by the film’s climax. Indeed, in what Watanabe reveals indirectly inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the “festival” of Children of the Sea hits viewers like a massive wave of existential strangeness. . It’s a distinct experience, saturated with abstract dialogue and kaleidoscope imagery. There’s no shame in feeling disoriented – like it or not, that’s what Watanabe is all about.
Children of the Sea is a watery scene
Festival ties everything together and regenerates it; think of it as a water-filled Big Bang. It was too grandiose and sublime for anyone to think properly, but it seemed to be some kind of celebration of existence. At the center of the event are Umi and Sora, mysterious, ghostly, seafaring missionaries. They do not fully understand their roles, most of the time of the film is caught up in the flow of fate.
When Sora lost his physical form, he chose a human as his “guest” who took the meteorite (consider this a seed) into the belly of a humpback whale. Umi (considers him as an egg) takes the meteorite from the guest and “fertilizes” the universe. Ruka is the guest. Sora assigns this role by feeding Ruka meteorites, and this propels her on the acid trip of life.
What Really Happens In The End Of Anime?
This is where it all gets weird and needs to be explained, so there’s no universal explanation for all that happens. Ruka is swallowed by a whale. She goes through a galactic memory and symbolism and meets the silhouette of Sora. Together with the viewer, she has a choice: close her eyes and accept that her job is done, or challenge herself to decipher the coming madness. Ruka embraces the festival, experiencing ego death as she comments, “Am I the universe?” Callback to this micro-macro: yes, that’s right.
Appearing out of nowhere, Umi retrieves the meteorite from Ruka, who tries to stop him from swallowing it. She experiences a series of his memories, Umi shrinks back to a child, and Ruka shoves a meteorite into his mouth. Combining meteorites (seeds) with Umi (eggs) ends the festival – reincarnation is complete. When all was said and done, Ruka awoke in the ocean, and Umi and Sora disappeared. Strange as all, this is Ruka’s coming-of-age story. Even if she doesn’t understand everything, she still matures as a human.
It is unlikely that Ruka will see Umi and Sora again. However, she understands that they are connected by the world around her, which is why she feels their presence while standing on the beach during the post-credits scene. Following on from this idea, it might be easier to think of Umi and Sora themselves as sea and sky, as their names suggest. They are always there with Ruka (who, again, transferred to earth), even if they don’t have human bodies. After all, everything in the movie is part of one big, interconnected story. Things are different, but they are exactly the same. As Carl Sagan puts it, people are “instruments of the star”. People, animals, the sea, the sky, the stars — they are all one with each other.
Children of the Sea has a lot to learn. Love the ending or hate it, Watanabe puts it all into it, ensuring culminating events rich with symbolism for anyone crazy enough to seek it out and swimming with enough stunning visuals to appease those same people just for the trip. The film cuts out quite a bit compared to the manga, so those who want a slower, more sporadic Children of the Sea will find it in the manga.