Children of the Sea (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray & DVD) Unboxing

Children of the Sea (海獣の子供, Kaijū no Kodomo) is a 2019 theatrical anime film based on Daisuke Igarashi’s manga of the same name. The anime was directed by Ayumu Watanabe with screenplay written by Hanasaki Kino and music composed by Joe Hisaishi. Studio 4°C animated the film and was released theatrically in Japan in June 2019.

Background:

“When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does. Ruka’s dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only distantly aware of what the children are experiencing as they get caught up in the mystery of the worldwide disappearance of the oceans’ fish.”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, March 2021.

I personally found Studio 4°C to be one of the most underrated anime studios around. Their works are very diverse with Tekkonkinkreet, the Genius Party anthology film series and their adaptation for Berserk Golden Age were all pretty good for various reasons. One of their most recent works is an adaptation of Daisuke Igarashi’s manga series called Children of the Sea, which was written in 2006 and now shown in what is probably the most beautifully animated film I have seen in a long time.

Sure many would say that one episode of Demon Slayer is the best thing they’ve ever seen, but clearly they haven’t seen this film. Children of the Sea tops that one episode by a long shot because the visuals in this film are spectacular. It’s a film that I actually wish was released on 4K Ultra HD.

Now the film did get released theatrically in the United States & Canada by GKIDS, but Anime Limited weren’t able to do the same for the UK & Ireland due to the pandemic, so instead it went straight to home video. That said, it was made available through the online film festival service Screen Anime for digital viewers which was how I was able to watch the film beforehand.

GKIDS released the film first with an English dub in 2020, while Anime Limited took the extra time to provide some collector’s packaging that was released in early 2021.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Anime Limited packaging treatment continues with their release of Children of the Sea.

This package offers a rigid box that houses the film in a digipack. Alongside the digipack is a 68-page booklet with discussions from the director and studio and interviews from many staff members. It’s really well detailed and also adds some extra information about Studio 4°C.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray & DVD combo pack is limited to 1000 units for an SRP of £34.99. While the distributor usually only offers a collector’s set at first, standard Blu-ray and DVDs were also made available at the same time as this edition.

I acquired the film as part of Anime Limited’s 12 Days of Christmas 2021 sale via their Red Mystery Box.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with digipack packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 68-page Booklet

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 8th March 2021

The collector’s edition release for Children of the Sea contains the film on a single Blu-ray and DVD disc using the GKIDS encode/author. The audio options include Japanese with English, Spanish & French subtitles and the NYAV Post English dub with optional English subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B and DVD players set to 2.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 1.78:1 aspect ratio
Region	B
Subtitles	English, English HOH, French, Spanish
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	1 BD-50

DVD Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
Video	Standard Definition in NTSC format 1.78:1 aspect ratio
Region	2
Subtitles	English, English HOH, French, Spanish
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	1

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

• Intro at Animation is Film
• Directing Children of the Sea
• Animation Breakdown
• Interview with Composer Joe Hisaishi
• Japanese Cast Interview
• Art Gallery
• Selected Storyboards
• Turep – Looking for Children of the Sea (1 hour 20 minutes length)
• Studio 4°C Makes a Meal
• Making of the Poster
• Trailers

DVD On-Disc Extra Features:

• Intro at Animation is Film
• Directing Children of the Sea
• Animation Breakdown
• Interview with Composer Joe Hisaishi
• Japanese Cast Interview
• Art Gallery
• Selected Storyboards
• Studio 4°C Makes a Meal
• Making of the Poster
• Trailers

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

The collector’s edition and standard edition releases of Children of the Sea are available to order across multiple retailers across the United Kingdom, including Amazon.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)