(L) Fantastic Children

[ShikaShika]

First ever anime to take place partly in Sweden? Yay... (Not that I recognized it though...)

[Secca]

After watching 2 episodes, I think this series has the most complex story line this season.

Spoiler for ep 2:

In episode 1, I tought the children was from the past and when they said Conrad Lugen discovered X-Ray, I tought maybe they just a group of genius children. And that would explain why Duma wants to capture them. But in episode 2 the other children seems to have knowledge about X-ray already, so maybe they are from the future or something? Also with the memory crystal and stuffs. It's stil unclear about their origin.

But I see that once they forgot about their identity, they grow up just like normal people. Or maybe the children themself age normally, it just that they jump from one timeline to another so they always looks the same? Except for Duma?

I'm very puzzled. Lots of questions. Very very interesting story indeed. ^^ Cannot wait the next episode. ^^

[Guts]

Well..

Spoiler:

They're from another planet did'nt you gather that from their unusual looks, and unworldy technology. Also I assume that girl is too, which would make a bit of sense. Since she, like them, seems to come around every 100 years. (How do those kids die tho?)

I think a timeline is needed for episodes in this anime. It can be confusing at times, as all information has to be picked up from characters conversations. And how the Time periods between the tropics & sweeden change without notice.

[Yamano667]

It has a flare of old classical animation (it reminds me Galaxy experess 999 tv)
The OP music is superv, and the END song is very soothinn
I am looking forward for more episodes ^ ^


the thin that intrigues me is the time that the aliens have been looking for their queen, and they always fail. Time is running out and no QUEEN

[Vincent.]

I see that its licecensed on the main page, how does one go about attaining the official DVD? amazon?

[Vincent.]

Shoot I made a post about this on the wrong forum, what a numbscull I am. Ah well I'm sure I'll be reprimanded for it in due time.


Anyway I think this is a great anime, and I'm surprised to see it has so small a following but then again I guess I shouldn't be, after all it varies so greatly from conventional anime. By that I mean, it relies on a solid and intriguing story to entertain the audience rather than on mass appeal. The concepts of ecchi comedy, gory violence, two dimensional character development are all foreign in "Fantastic Children".

To me it seems like the prevalent anime series of today have been concentrating on a central theme in order to gratify their audience. The concept of a character becoming stronger through the determination of attaining a goal has been presented far too many a time for my liking. I'm talking about a ninja inspired to become the strongest representative in a village; a pirate deadset in becoming the strongest of all pirates; a certain Soul Reaper vowing to become stronger in order to defend his loved ones; a three sworded fighter declaring his unfaltering decree in never losing to another swordsman. I could go on but hey, I bet you get the picture. These concepts just lead to two dimensional character development in the anime. Although it's all fun and games in seeing these characters learn new abilities, techniques (jutsos if you prefer) as they attain greater strength, there comes a day when you tire of it all.

Series like "Fantastic Children", although lacking the aesthetic lure (personally I love the art style) of these other pop animes (as I like to call them), present a unique alternative: a refreshing story relying on unconventional character and plot development. On the one hand we have a dark side to the story, shady individuals in trench coats, dark alleys and secret passages, conspiracy theories and what not. On the other hand we have a lighter side, the entertwining of the aforementioned plot with that of an innocent boy in a coming of age tale. It feels very much as if he's going to embark on an adventure, it seems great and refreshing akin to Nausicaa in the Valley of The Wind.

Anyway that's my take on it, give it a shot if it sounds like your cup of tea. Personally I've gotten sick of the whole "sacrifice everything for my dream" angle, but then again, maybe I'm just getting old

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by Vincent.

I see that its licecensed on the main page, how does one go about attaining the official DVD? amazon?

That will work eventually, but first you'll have to wait for it to finish airing in Japan before they even begin to sub it. I doubt it that the DVDs will be out for at least another year.

[hunterx]

I dunno the story is interesting but I don't like the mood of this anime. I always feel tense after watching an episode

[dreamless]

I can see the setting is quite complicated, I kinda wonder if they'll flesh out more about the past incarnations of the girl, I'm very interested to know more about her past incarnations.

[lolicon]

Originally Posted by Vincent.

Shoot I made a post about this on the wrong forum, what a numbscull I am. Ah well I'm sure I'll be reprimanded for it in due time.


Anyway I think this is a great anime, and I'm surprised to see it has so small a following but then again I guess I shouldn't be, after all it varies so greatly from conventional anime. By that I mean, it relies on a solid and intriguing story to entertain the audience rather than on mass appeal. The concepts of ecchi comedy, gory violence, two dimensional character development are all foreign in "Fantastic Children".

To me it seems like the prevalent anime series of today have been concentrating on a central theme in order to gratify their audience. The concept of a character becoming stronger through the determination of attaining a goal has been presented far too many a time for my liking. I'm talking about a ninja inspired to become the strongest representative in a village; a pirate deadset in becoming the strongest of all pirates; a certain Soul Reaper vowing to become stronger in order to defend his loved ones; a three sworded fighter declaring his unfaltering decree in never losing to another swordsman. I could go on but hey, I bet you get the picture. These concepts just lead to two dimensional character development in the anime. Although it's all fun and games in seeing these characters learn new abilities, techniques (jutsos if you prefer) as they attain greater strength, there comes a day when you tire of it all.

Series like "Fantastic Children", although lacking the aesthetic lure (personally I love the art style) of these other pop animes (as I like to call them), present a unique alternative: a refreshing story relying on unconventional character and plot development. On the one hand we have a dark side to the story, shady individuals in trench coats, dark alleys and secret passages, conspiracy theories and what not. On the other hand we have a lighter side, the entertwining of the aforementioned plot with that of an innocent boy in a coming of age tale. It feels very much as if he's going to embark on an adventure, it seems great and refreshing akin to Nausicaa in the Valley of The Wind.

Anyway that's my take on it, give it a shot if it sounds like your cup of tea. Personally I've gotten sick of the whole "sacrifice everything for my dream" angle, but then again, maybe I'm just getting old

I have to agree with this. To be perfectly honest, the majority of mainstream anime has never appealed to me, and I have always found myself pursuing the more unconventional and underappreciated series. My favorite movies and books have all been "thinking" material, and I really like a series that tries to be different from the rest and make the viewer consider what is happening on the screen instead of just turning their brain off to watch some character become incrementally more powerful to defeat villain #643.

In that respect, FC is wonderful. I have no idea whats going on, but I really want to find out, and when I watch it, my brain goes full-tilt trying to figure out what the overarching story is. Everything in this story feels like its being set up to make it one hell of a ride... Just like the passed-over Paranoia Agent, Texhnolyze and Boogiepop Phantom.

The art is really reminiscent of "Now And Then, Here And There", a title that, despite its very simplistic artwork, was one of the most brutal, depressing and adult anime's I have ever watched. I'm very interested in seeing whether this show will carry the same adult themes in it, and how it will implement those themes in context of the story.

In any case, I am increadibly grateful to have found out about the existance of this anime, because it is the only thing really worth watching this season.

[Yamano667]

Well ...the ost short version is out

the original OST will be out on the end of Nov hehehe
it will come with russian music, that would be neat

[wao]

Has anyone watched the "clarified" ep 3?

Cripes, I'm so - and I can't emphasize it enough, so let's juts say I'm SO glad I stuck with this series...

I just love it so much. For once it's a series I truly enjoy. Really, really, truly.

The pacing and the way things fold out... I WANT MORE! It's just so awesome... I have never felt this way before - I don't need to think very carefully over each episode and such but I can already feel VERY much for the characters - like how Thoma is somehow really piqued by Helga, and how Chitto is desparately trying to escape from Chikao, and how Helga feels so despondent and desolate... I can feel every episode!

And the awesome animation... do you know how much I want to rejoice for the fact that this anime does some great things with details for animation - such as ANIMATING the birds (and very well, too), and their excellent portrayal of characters in the dark - the colour palette is very accurate, you can just barely see the characters but they're mostly dark...
And the train scene in this episode, it was just so damn cool....

to Takashi Nakamura

EDIT: For a rough translation on what's on this and the 2 pages after that... be warned, this is again me trying to act like I'm cool but really be a fool :P

After looking through it, I personally think I've been spoiled quite a bit and a lot of the mystery is gone (But the way the show is right now, even if I knew everything it wouldn't matter )

I highly suggest you don't read this unless you're dying to... it explains the general outline of the story (including backstory and thus explains what the Before Children are and so on) and also the nature of the story. You can easily figure out everybody's roles after that.

Spoiler:

Page 1

(blue text) With an expanse of outer space spanning countless millions of years, the love story of our heroine, who traverses eras of time and expanses of space, is now beginning.

At the end of the 15th century, a tragedy began to occur two hundred million light years away, on the planet of Grecia [ギリシア - Greece doesn't sound appropriate].
Posessing a tremendous power and so called the "Ultimate Weapon", was the Queen Tina.
In Grecia, there were internal conflicts which surrounded her.
Amidst many sacrifices, Tina gathered the essence of all of the planet's technology and headed towards Earth, by way of a "Reincarnation Machine".
Picture.

Page 2

Picture.

Tina successfully reincarnated as a being on this earth.
However, the memories of her past life were locked in the depths of her heart.
After 500 years of "Natural Reincarnation" repeating again and again, Tina is reborn as an orphan Helga in the year A.D. 2001. (Hey, at least it wasn't A.D. 2101... War was beginning... What happen?)

And then, when Helga is 11 years old, she has a fated encounter with a young boy from a small southern island, Thoma.

Thoma was strangely attracted to the quiet girl who had an air of mystery around her.

However, looking for the reincarnated Helga were pursuers from Grecia.
7 scientists aiming to retrieve the soul of the Queen.
Georka and his son Duma, seeking to obtain a tremendous power.
Thoma desparately struggles to fight and protect Helga from the pursuers.

Picture.

500 years ago, exactly what happened on the faraway planet of Grecia...
What are the true intentions of the 7 scientists, Georka and Duma...
And what meaning lies in the meeting of Helga and Thoma...
This complicated, entangled story will be unravelled.

The character info is not as spoilery but I still suggest you don't read it unless you're bored... (why am I doing this?)

Spoiler for character info:

Before Children (all 11):
Agi
Leader of the Before Children. Is hardly upset and is quite calm and composed. His original purpose was to simply carry out his mission, but it seems that in this life, the matter of "family" weighs heavily on his mind, and his thoughts are trapped.

Tarlant
One of the Before Children. He created a pet, "Wonder". (???)
Wonder opens up his heart, and they talk about anything.
Wonder deeply adores him. [Or is it "yearns for him"?]

Heesma
One of the Before Children. Cold, cynical, sarcastic and rather overly self-confident.

Soleto
One of the Before Children. The lone woman in the remaining 5 of them. Is kind of worried about Agi. Has a very sharp mind.

Hasmodai
One of the Before Children.



Duma (18 years old)
Has come from the planet Grecia to look for his sister. He does not appear very often, and has a lot of mystery surrounding him. During the course of the story many pieces of this mystery are revealed.

Spoiler for character info:

Gelta (52 years old)

Responsible for the Gedo mechanism. (?)
She created a mysterious machine that deciphers fragments of codes.
Originally used to be one of the "Before Children".
Inspired by Professor Lugen's (aka Conrad) discoveries, she continues down the path of a scientist.
And there the fence of the past...


Cooks
A detective investigating the "Before Children".
"Ojii-san [referring to himself], being a reporter, got entangled in the whole affair."
His accomplice? Alice and he investigate the matter of the "Before Children", and in the end, hits upon something very very big.

Nothing really big on the rest of the characters, so there.

Spoiler for speculation:

IMO, it's blindingly obvious the Before Children are the 7 scientists. Now we know what Duma is as well. Anyway - it seems like anybody from that planet has white hair. Which is why Duma is as he is.

Based on the site (character section) it says that the Before Children forget their memories once they pass the age of 11 as earthly beings, which means that they have to sort out this whole thing in 1 year as they are 11 too...

Once the story bit said "love story" it became too simple Look at the pictures on the site. Especially this. See the Queen? There's somebody crying over her and hugging her, looks awfully knightly - and I'm willing to bet my money that this person also travelled to Earth [did he reincarnate as well?] and is actually Thoma. Seriously! Why does Thoma otherwise have such an odd interest in her? As if they have some sort of karmic relationship?
Ah, how touching

Anyway. Look at the OP as well. Now that you've read the spoilers it all makes sense - the queen-like person is well, the Queen...
Those two people standing together looking at the sea are obviously the Queen and her lover (aka Helga and Thoma)...

Despite all of that, there still are the remaining questions:
1. what is that place featured in those drawings
2. what is going to happen afterwards
3. what are those weird shadow things in episode 2
4. what are those mecha in the OP
5. what DID happen all that time ago that caused all this to happen?

And so on...

EDIT: By ep six, 3 and 4 have been solved. So now we have the new set of questions

1. what is that place featured in those drawings
2. what is going to happen afterwards
3. what is GED
4. what is that "stone" thing Cooks is looking for
5. what DID happen all that time ago that caused all this to happen?

[dreamless]

one thing I have to say about this series, the ED Mizu no Madoromi now officially thrones over Moonlight and becomes my favorite music in recent animes

this is definitely one of the best anime this season, and a rare gem nowadays that's not selling on pretty girls and handsome boys

[stpehen]

This really is a gem, the quality has not gone down a whit since the first episode. And I agree with dreamless too, even the musical themes are stunning. While I'm immensely enjoying Gankutsuoh quite a bit, Fantasic Children is definitely running away with the "Best Show of the Season" title. If there's ever been a title I've been happy to see licensed far before airing, it's this one. Here's hoping stateside DVDs will be popping up in good time.

[wao]

Originally Posted by dreamless

one thing I have to say about this series, the ED Mizu no Madoromi now officially thrones over Moonlight and becomes my favorite music in recent animes

this is definitely one of the best anime this season, and a rare gem nowadays that's not selling on pretty girls and handsome boys

Can we hope that it'll come to Singapore? I would so buy the DVDs/VCDs of this show if it came out here, as soon as they're released (if quality keeps up - which I think it will, since Takashi Nakamura, who's worked on all the other eps, seems to have a LOT of roles in this project, I think its his pet project)... Unfortunately money is still a key issue in ordering DVDs from the US...

This show really didn't deserve to be in a late-night timeslot. *sighs*

[BonBon]

Wonderful show - the seemingly disparate plot elements, the deceptively simple aesthetic, the contrast between childish simplicity and more cryptic and adult concepts...I love it.

Although I think Conrad Lugen was supposed to be Conrad Röntgen...after all, it was (Wilhelm) Conrad Röntgen who first discovered the X-ray.

-BonBon

[BluWacky]

Well, episode 4 actually brings us another bunch of questions that the website doesn't answer - what kind of experimentation is Greta up to with those poor people? And why did one of them head to the family from the previous episode?

Curiouser and curiouser, and I still love it.

[wao]

Absolutely. A wonderful sohw...

And the better news is that the OP and ED singles are OUT!

[Sonhex]

Originally Posted by wao

Absolutely. A wonderful sohw...

And the better news is that the OP and ED singles are OUT!

I got my copies this morning, the full versions of both of these tracks are wonderul. the music is just perfect for the mood of the series.

I caught up with Eps 6 and 7 at the weekend, Ep 6 was really good, especially the whole...

Spoiler:

...wasp/hornet sequence, not only brilliantly animated and timed but revealed so much about Helga's character. Though I wonder whether she was drawing on a hidden strength or whether she simply did not care about her own personal safety. At times she barely seems able to carry her own weight...

FC is truely something special and unmisssable.

[Secca]

Originally Posted by BluWacky

Well, episode 4 actually brings us another bunch of questions that the website doesn't answer - what kind of experimentation is Greta up to with those poor people? And why did one of them head to the family from the previous episode?

Curiouser and curiouser, and I still love it.

I'm getting X-files vibes watching ep 4. ^^ With the government secret experiments stuffs and they tried to cover it by saying they are looking for escaped criminals.