Borderline Propaganda
It took me an episode or two to realise this show is an allegory for whaling, and how the whaling crew and ships are doing the world a favour by ridding it of those dangerous, yet supposedly tasty, whales.
Whilst the animation is very good and the voice acting well done, sadly the story leaves a lot to be desired. The show portrays the draking (whaling) ship as being on the side of good, even going so far to ensure the audience is aware that the whole dragon (whale) is used. Even parts of the dragon (whale) brain is used for traditional medicine. So it has to be good, right? No. It's not.
The show has other issues as well, which are typical of Japanese culture. At no stage do we see any of the men do laundry, the men are somewhat sleazy, and they even visit a brothel, with, what one can only guess is an under age girl, hence why she isn't "available". This doesn't stop one of the non main characters from attempting to, uh, "have her".
There's also the graphic hunting and slaughtering of the dragons, which is shown in all its glory (or should that be gory?). As a general rule, this would not bother me at all, however, if you've seen any actual whaling footage, then you'll notice it's virtually identical.
I appreciate this isn't real, it's a cartoon, and if Japan had banned whaling, then this would be a different review, but they haven't, and it's not.
As for the story, it doesn't really go anywhere. It's like watching an animated documentary by some really boring people about some really boring people.
If you want to watch it, I can't (and won't) stop you, but you should know it's not very good, and for once, most of the other reviews are in the right.
Whilst the animation is very good and the voice acting well done, sadly the story leaves a lot to be desired. The show portrays the draking (whaling) ship as being on the side of good, even going so far to ensure the audience is aware that the whole dragon (whale) is used. Even parts of the dragon (whale) brain is used for traditional medicine. So it has to be good, right? No. It's not.
The show has other issues as well, which are typical of Japanese culture. At no stage do we see any of the men do laundry, the men are somewhat sleazy, and they even visit a brothel, with, what one can only guess is an under age girl, hence why she isn't "available". This doesn't stop one of the non main characters from attempting to, uh, "have her".
There's also the graphic hunting and slaughtering of the dragons, which is shown in all its glory (or should that be gory?). As a general rule, this would not bother me at all, however, if you've seen any actual whaling footage, then you'll notice it's virtually identical.
I appreciate this isn't real, it's a cartoon, and if Japan had banned whaling, then this would be a different review, but they haven't, and it's not.
As for the story, it doesn't really go anywhere. It's like watching an animated documentary by some really boring people about some really boring people.
If you want to watch it, I can't (and won't) stop you, but you should know it's not very good, and for once, most of the other reviews are in the right.
- rodneyn05
- Oct 1, 2023