Audience reviews
18 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
ulisesko
Fantastic childrend is an anime with positives and negatives that are surpisingly fitting for its themes and story.
For the positives it has its mennioned story and themes wich are focused in ethics, morals and the feelings of the characters. It uses a lot of subtle simbolysms in the visals, names, locations, numbers and other elements that give the series a spiritual and magical tone taht fits in with the themes and story. Unfortunatly it also has a terrible rythm and execution of the story with mysteries that take a lot of time being set up only to be resolved in very expositive flashbacks or straight up dialogue, killing my interest and having to bear with it to the end instead of enjoying it. A shame considering the intriguing start and all the unique theeming and symbols used.
Read at the sourceSgtSalamander
When I say that Fantastic Children is a slow burn, I really mean it. You take that into account right now if you're thinking about sitting down to give this anime a watch. It's not even as much of a slow burn as it is a downright smolder. So, let's start there, with the story- this anime's strongest and weakest aspect. I consider myself a pretty patient person. I'm willing to give an anime quite a bit of time to do what it needs to do, because sometimes it just needs to cook for a while to stick the landing, and all the waiting can be worth it if executed well. However, Fantastic Children takes a whopping 13 episodes to really get going- that's half the show! over 5 hours of buildup until things really start getting interesting, and even that's a generous estimation. An argument could be m…
Read at the sourcerowyn
First watched shortly after its airing in 2004 - 2005, and loved it for its atmosphere and how it respected the audience to see the foreshadowing and storylines come together. I remembered it for great storytelling.
Fast forward 20 years to 2025. On this second watch, almost a fresh experience, the storytelling strengths remain true. Aside from a mid-way recap episode, from start to finish, Fantastic Children unfolds a well-paced, engaging story. Along the way, it introduces many characters you want to know more about or want to root for, like the headstrong Tohma and all of the so-called Befort children. When one of their members leave, it takes only a few scenes to relay the feelings of pain, resignation, yearning, and resolution the rest feel, even if it takes quite a bit more time to…
Read at the sourceG_ifra
The anime is as horrible as its animation. It looks like the producers watched some better anime, then took what they found good as ingredients for this one. They chose to make a “centuries-long mystery” as a mystery apparently means the viewer doesn’t need to know much details. Also limit the dialogue and add repetition to the recipe to cut the costs even more, and you get their business plan to get wealthy with minimal effort.
This is probably the reason that fear emotions have to be shown on every face of every character and in sequence because a total group reaction would make the episode shorter. In the beginning it does make you wonder what terrible event is happening, but it gets boring quick.
And as the anime continues you find out that there is actually no reason for fear or it g…
Read at the sourceDemonessTenebrae
After watching anime for around 25 years, I can tell you with all the confidence of this world that this is BAD, this is so bad that it is cringe bad. I am not going to go into all of the details and all of the reasons because I could make full essays just single episode based let alone for the whole anime. I am just going to point out the worst things and the biggest flaws.
Story
They try to make it seem like this story is very mysterious, very dark, very complicated and edgy but all they do is spit in their own mouth when it is actually revealed what is going on.
It's a very simple story that could have been said and shown in 12 episodes at best and even then it probably wouldn't have been good. With their stretching things and prolonging each reaction of a character to take at least…
Read at the sourceTeirayo
Straight off the bat, this anime is definitely worth watching. Read the synopsis, look at the cover image, your first impression and amount of interest in both is probably pretty close to what you'll get.
But if you're uncertain onwards we go--!
I have a silly rule when it comes to finding new shows to watch. If there is at least one person passionate enough to write a glowing "10" review my likelihood to watch it is like, 50x more than it would be otherwise. That was the case for this show.
And I'm giving it a "10" myself for that reason, because I ended up passionately falling in love with this anime. On a technical level, it probably falls more at a 7-8-ish. Mainly because of the presentation. The character designs are great, the writing is great, and the soundtrack is great. However…
Read at the sourcedeimos96
This. Anime. Is. Underrated.
TLDR this anime is like Ghibli vibes, Akira level sci-fi, and Monster plot twists in one show. One of the best mystery themed anime I've seen my whole life. Its hard to explain once I've started writing this review now that I think of it, but like I said, it draws similarities from Akira where the world is set up so absurdly it manages to make the illogical become logical. It is absolutely genius.
Let's start with the story. This show is an epic opera. The story starts off with several parallel story lines of Thoma and the gang, the Children of Befort, and Detective Cooks. Like all mystery stories, elements in each story line interact with other one by one. But in Fantastic Children, each discovery just ends up in another twists revealing more secrets and mys…
Read at the sourcecelestia
I have been meaning to watch this whole series since it aired on television when I was a kid. Despite how old it is as it came out in 2004, it has all the good stuff, I mean adventure, mystery, romance, fantasy and sci-fi? Yeah, sign me up. But have you know, you are signing up for a shipwreck of feelings. Seriously, I guarantee you. Don't believe how kiddy it looks, its actually quite heavy and personally suitable for older generations.
Story: I'm a sucker for mystery, such that I have to know what's the big deal is. The plot is intriguing and as the story unfolds, everything becomes clear. I will separate the entire series into two; the first part introduced the main characters alongside the supporting characters. The first part of the story tells you what the characters are searching f…
Read at the source_Arcadia0
Fantastic Children
Wow, this was quite a ride. 26 amazing episodes and damn were they good.
A story that's not just complex, but if talked about in the slightest of ways, could be considered a spoiler, it's incredible. From 26 episodes, only one was a filler or rather, retelling of the events thus far, every other single episode had fantastic direction and purpose. We follow Thoma, Chitto and Helga for a large portion of the story. With the three kids, we also have a pack of children looking for someone very important; white haired, blue eyed kids. The story revolves around these two groups of people and the way the story opens up; it's always done deliberately. The lore behind what's going on is just as interesting as everything else about Fantastic Children; it's weird, it's very sci-f…
Read at the sourcejelloskater
A surprisingly disappointing show. It is impossible to do a meaningful review of this show without spoilers, so I will keep this bare bones.
Story 3/10:
The story is incredibly convoluted. I don't mean that it was hard to understand, because they did give relatively clear explanations for the events. The problem is just the sheer complexity of the plot, while managing to lack in substance. The story attempted to tell a lot, but many of the plot points were unnecessary, anti-climatic, and gimmicky.
Characters 3/10:
I had a huge complaint about multiple characters (in-fact, my biggest complaint about the show), but I cannot even brush on the reason why without huge spoilers.
Tone 7/10:
I did like the tone throughout much of the show. They didn't try to force comedy, romance, etc. in place…
Read at the sourceCaraniel
Epic storytelling and extremely well paced.
PLOT: Its a complete joy to find such a well told story. Fantastic Children has so many different plot threads that at the beginning it's hard to imagine that they’re all related – but they are and its so satisfying to watch all the threads come together. This anime goes through so many changes over its 26 episode run as every plot development adds new threads to the rich tapestry that makes up the plot. So many different elements are on display – mystery, sci-fi, historical, action, drama, adventure, but above all Fantastic Children at its heart is a romance story spanning space and time. It checked all the boxes for me and its conclusion almost reduced me to tears!
A minor criticism is that not all the characters were fully developed, includ…
Read at the sourceBishoooDuck
As a start am going to say this , I am immature when it comes to writing reviews , neither do I have any long weird hard to understand descriptions to point out am a smart-ass so this will be a very short review , purely because I love this anime and I feel like writing about it , not that it doesn't have high voted reviews already , This Anime is a masterpiece , a real hidden gem of the world of anime , so far so good aren't we ?
It gets a 10 out of 10 easily , because its unique , from every aspect there is to it , if you are into unique different types of animes/plots/graphics , then by all means ignore every prolonged low-voted reviews by some members here and watch it
Story 10/10 : starts as a slow-pace story with lots of mysteries , and I didn't mind the changed flashbacks every no…
Read at the sourceIceAndCream
A group of white-haired children in early 20th century Europe. The discoverer of radioactivity. A girl on a tropical island who draws pictures of alien landscapes.
It's honestly very difficult to write a review for "Fantastic Children." Firstly because it's a mystery, and if I go into too much detail, I might ruin the experience. Secondly, because it really is one of the strangest series I've seen.
Humans are attracted to that something we can't quite reach. That thing we don't know. Somewhere, out there, is something. We can almost taste it, and if we reach a little further, or go around one more corner, we just might find it. That's the best way I can describe the overall feeling this show gave me. And if you like to be intrigued, strung along, and then have your heart wrung out, read…
Read at the sourceKiraly
Just... wow. I just finished it and I'm blown away. I haven't cried this hard at an anime since I was on the last episodes of Clannad After - FC hit strings I didn't even know I have. From the moment Gretha remembered she was Mel, to Helga and Duma's little bonding session - and Thoma, oh god, Thoma. Just - I was sobbing and still feel like crying when I think about it.
Sakamoto Maaya as Mel was fantastic. This is the second time I've ever cried for a side character - the first time was Shiroe from Terra e, and even Shiroe was set up as a main character for two episodes. Her voice brought so many feelings to life in her. I've never held her as the voice acting goddess her reputation holds her, but now suddenly I'm not sure anymore.
But the biggest star in this anime was Junko Minagawa as…
Read at the sourceMagEarwhig
Story:
The beginning of the story is part mystery and part adventure, focusing on a group of half a dozen white haired kids making an appearance through out centuries seemingly without aging and the other time focusing on a kid called Thoma who meets some anti-social girl called Helga and a energetic boy called Chitto. I admit the story was a bit underwhelming at first but once the story unfolds in later episode, you'll be hooked straight away, it turns into something quite epic and unique, there's so many twist and turns and you'd just watch episode after episode and without even noticing it's already over.
Animation:
The art style can be a bit of a turn off for some people, they might even think this is a kids show but fear not this is quite mature even if the first few episodes are lig…
Read at the sourceAdipvpster
I haven't explained the story below because you can see in the above reviews. This is purely my thinking. Please do tell what do you think about it and do read this till the end because this is one of the greatest Anime I have ever seen.
At first I neglected this Anime, as I saw in the middle and I quite didn't understand it. But when it was aired on Animax in January 2009, I was drawn towards it.
As the story continues, it makes a connection with your heart. Although everything is explained in the series through scientific manner, but it still lacks a few thing according to pure science. Although it is obvious but there are still many minor details that the writer seemed to have forgot. Atlthough it is showed as happy ending they forgot about the main part. The concequence. If you dare…
Read at the sourceMapleRose
STORY
At first glance, this looks like some weird story about kids, targeted at kids. But don't be fooled by the simple character design or the title. This series is actually quite intense, with a memorable and complex plot and good storytelling that will draw older viewers waiting with bated breath for what happens next. It is definitely not a series just for children.
The story revolves around a group of mysterious children who appear every once in a while throughout Europe. Who are they, where are they from, and why do they keep on reappearing? These are some of the questions that are being answered bit by bit throughout the series. At the same time, the story also follows another group of children who have run away from the local orphanage, and are searching for a place they want to…
Read at the sourcewaterfalls
Things go pretty slowly for a while, but if you're watching and wondering if things eventually pick up, well, yes, they do, around ep. 11, and most of what happens is explained, although it's not really anything as complex and sophisticated as Stand Alone Complex and there are certainly a few loose ends and deus ex machinii. (Not as complex as Stand Alone Complex? Just call me Unrealistic Expectations Man.) Normally I drop a show 2 eps in if it doesn't catch my interest, but this is a favorite of one of my friends here, so I kept watching.
What do I think? I think it could have used a bigger animation budget and could have been cut down from 26 to 22 or even 20 episodes.
Animation is kind of low budget. Fantastic Children looks and feels like it was made in the '80s. The color palette sh…
Read at the source