is a Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

created by Takashi Nakamura and produced by

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with its headquarters in their Tama, Tokyo, Tama City studio and an administrative office in the Ginza district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō. Nippon Animation is known for prod ...

. It first aired in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

across

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

into English for broadcast across its English-language networks in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. It was previously licensed in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Bandai Entertainment was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

Plot

The series opens with the introduction of a group of white-haired children, known as the "Befort Children", named after "Befort", a fictional village in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

where their existence was first recorded in 1489. This group of enigmatic children has been spotted at different times and places in Europe for over 500 years. Always with the appearance of 11-year-olds, they behave far more mature than they should be, never grow old, and seem to have supernatural power. Then the story starts to unfold in 2012 by introducing Helga, an introverted 11-year-old orphan who drew pictures of a land with a crescent moon that she believed was her home. Her playmate and only friend in the orphanage, Chitto, wants to help Helga find it. So together they escape from the orphanage and set out on a journey in which they meet Tohma, an energetic boy in his home, Papin Island. There Tohma tries to befriend them but misunderstands Helga and becomes hostile to her. Later he is mesmerized by Helga's bravery in rescuing Chitto from a group of poisonous insects. Tohma, through his desire to help the two runaway orphans, ventures out on a quest that will eventually cross paths with the mission of the Befort Children, who have spent centuries wandering

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in search of a person named Tina. As they go further they come to realize a truth far more great and entwined with many other mysterious characters.

Characters

is the series

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

. He is an enthusiastic and energetic young boy who lives with his parents on the shores of Papin Island. is a quiet and

introvert Extraversion and introversion are a central trait dimension in human personality theory. The terms were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung, though both the popular understanding and current psychological usage are not the same as Jung's o ...

ed young girl, whom Tohma helps save from an oppressive orphanage. She is in search of a place which is the source of her paintings. is a good-hearted young boy, who is an earnest and steadfast friend to Helga, and her best friend at the orphanage. The is led by Gherta Hawksbee. Gherta uses Conrad Röntgen's findings to reconstruct the Autozone, a machine which brings people back from the Zone, the land of the dead, using Orsel, the life force in all living things. Because of the high levels of Orsel required to bring someone back, however, a person can become very unstable and the Orsel can turn into a sort of weapon. Later, the GED is manipulated by Dumas so that he can send Tina's spirit back to her old body, though this plan does not work.

Production

Staff

* Executive producer: Kōichi Motohashi * Original creator, character designs and director: Takashi Nakamura * Planning: Takuo Minegeshi, Michio Katō * Planning coordination: Shin Unozawa, Kenichi Iyadomi, Shirō Sasaki * Production manager: Shigeo Endō * Script: Hideki Mitsui, Takashi Nakamura * Art director: Nizo Yamamoto * Art assistance: Osamu Masuyama, Akemi Imano * Chief animation director: Miyuki Nakamura * Storyboards: Katsumi Terahigashi, Hiroshi Fukutomi, Masaki Sugiyama * Episode directors: Hiroshi Kaburagi, Kenichi Nishida, Kenichi Shimizu, Yoshimi Tsuda * Animation directors: Kōichi Maruyama, Tetsurō Aoki, Hitoshi Haga, Yasuko Sakuma, Norihiro Naganuma * Director of photography: Seiichi Morishita * Color designs: Mayumi Satō * Color designations: Yumi Asano, Makiko Nishidate * Music: Kōji Ueno * Sound director: Hiroyuki Hayase * Music producer: Yūko Sakurai (

Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...

) * Music coordination: TV Tokyo Music * Producer: Kenichi Satō * Production: Hakuhodo DY Media Partners,

, FC Project

Soundtrack

The series' soundtrack was composed by Kōji Ueno. A CD containing a total of 27 tracks was released on March 14, 2006, under the title ''Fantastic Children: A Gift from Greecia''. It included both the opening theme of the show, "Voyage" (performed by Inori, lyrics by Mikio Sakai, composition by Mayumi Yamazaki, arrangement by Takanori Eguchi), and the ending theme, (performed by

Origa Olga Vitalevna Yakovleva (, October 12, 1970 – January 17, 2015), better known as Origa, was a Russian singer who rose to prominence for her musical collaborations in Japan, especially her work for the Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. franchise. ...

, lyrics by Rie Hamada( Japanese version) Origa (Russian version), composition and arrangement by Kunihiko Ryo).

Adaptations

Manga

, illustrated by Masakazu Miyano, was serialized in the monthly ''

Comic Flapper is a monthly Japanese seinen manga magazine, published on the 5th each month by Media Factory since November 5, 1999 as a successor to ''Comic Alpha''. The magazine celebrated its 100th issue on February 5, 2008 (March issue 2008). On July 13, 2 ...

''. It was collected in two

volumes Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The ...

. # #

Video game

The ''Fantastic Children''

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

was released for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

on May 19, 2005 by

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

. Developed by

Inti Creates is a Japanese video game development company. Formed by ex-Capcom staff in May 1996, they are best known for developing games in the '' Mega Man'' series, namely the '' Mega Man Zero'' series and its follow-ups ''Mega Man ZX'' and '' Mega Man ZX ...

, the game follows Tohma through his adventures from Papen Island with Helga, Chitto and the Befort Children.

References

External links

''Fantastic Children''
Official Japanese site
''Fantastic Children''
Official game site * * {{Nippon Animation 2004 anime television series debuts Adventure anime and manga Anime with original screenplays Bandai Entertainment anime titles Nippon Animation Romance anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Odex Game Boy Advance-only games Game Boy Advance games