Children of the whales

I started this series a few years ago, but with college I fell off a lot of manga series that I had been following, and I'm only now going back through and catching up. This is one that I had been meaning to revisit and finish for a while now, because the art and story were both incredibly unique. I don't know if Abi Umeda has any artbooks or anything out there, but I would absolutely purchase them if so.

This particular series starts out following Chakuro, a young archivist for the Mud Whale, a floating community of several hundred residents adrift on an endless sea of sand. Most of the residents are marked, people able to wield magic (or “thymia”) that is heavily influenced by the user's emotions. Because of this, emotions are reined in, kept in check, and otherwise frowned upon by most of the residents. Chakuro chronicles the day-to-day happenings on the Mud Whale for future residents, as all people considered marked live short lives. The Mud Whale happens upon a small island, and Chakuro accompanies a small band of residents to go scope it out for potential salvage opportunities. It's there that we're introduced to a mysterious young girl that seems to recognize the Mud Whale, but who is immediately detained by the elders. The arrival of this young girl has a dramatic impact on the residents, however...

I thought the story was unique, and while it does have a bit of a slow start (almost a slice of life story, albeit in a unique environment), I think the cliffhanger ending more than makes up for it. I also thought the art style was incredible, as I'm a sucker for wide shots, full page shots, and great scenery. There's quite a lot of mystery packed into the story already, and I'm excited to unpack this complex story!

Reminds me a bit of the manga From the New World and No. 6 (both manga are superior to the anime). Post-apocalyptic world in which everything is covered in sand, and our main characters are on a moving island sailing across the sand sea. They've never seen another living human. Some characters are ‘marked,' which means they have magic, but they have short lives. One day, another island is spotted in the distant. A recon mission is sent, and our main character Chakuro finds a single girl on the island. They bring her back–and all hell breaks lose. The elders hold her captive and seem to have secrets from the other 500 or so inhabitants of the island, and the girl seems to know what these secrets are.

Being a first volume, it's sketchy and perhaps too quickly paced in parts. But the set up is intriguing, the world is really cool, and the art is gorgeous. I will most certainly be looking forward to the next volume.