So I opened my eyes.
I was at the bottom of the sea.
They told me : "You can look now."
Next to Mum, I approached my hand near the glass.
Wherever I went...
they followed me
It's a memory from my childhood.
Is it a song ?
No, here the whales are answering the song.
The dolphins started migrating after hearing the song.
It's a new kind of song, unkown until now.
It's still far but getting closer little by little.
The story of the origin of the stars.
Of the children of the stars.
And of the birth of the stars.
One star
Many stars
The sea at the origin of the world
The moment is finally near.
CHILDREN OF THE SEA
I...
can fly to the sky!
Nice shot!
Ruka, you're in great shape!
That's normal, it's the first day of holidays.
In the summer I feel lighter.
Nice shot Ruka !
- Nice, Ruka ! - Yes !
Ruka, you're in awesome shape!
Great!
I don't trust her and her burstling energy.
What?
Sorry.
Stay in your place, kiddo.
What's wrong? It's your nose?
When Ruka shot, her elbow hit her in the face.
She did it on purpose.
Bring her to the nursery.
Let's check that your nose isn't broken.
Ruka, you went too far this time.
Even though she stumbled you, it's no reason...
But...
Come in the teachers meeting room.
What a story... On the first day of holidays...
You're always a trouble maker,
With your friends, and with your foes.
Why did you hit her?
Huh? Answer me.
She is the one...
who started it...
It's not your fault, then?
I didn't say that...
You put the blame on her?
Fine, let's end it here.
Anyway,
I might have to bring her to the hospital.
You can leave now.
I'm injured too.
One last thing, Ruka.
If you don't intend to apologize,
don't bother coming back!
Ouch...
Today was the first day.
Yet, my summer holidays
are already over.
I can't fly anymore now.
- When are you leaving? - During the Ghost festival.
Before that I'll be at the club.
- Your holidays are packed. - Yes.
Me, I'm not going anywhere.
- I'll just decorate the tombs with flowers. - Shall we go to the cinema?
Good idea!
I'm coming too.
Let's go together.
How bad is her injury?
but...
What a beautiful memory...
the aquarium...
Next station Enoshima, final stop.
Wonder Aquarium !
WONDER AQUARIUM NIGHT VISIT
Today is the first night visit, come and join.
Here you go.
Thanks.
Tell me,
aren't you Mr. Azumi's daughter ?
What ? Ruka ?
You recognized her?
She has your eyes and you often brought when she was a child.
What does she want? I can't go and get her.
Tell her to meet me behind the big aquarium.
Thank you very much.
- Chief, the sardins have arrived. - Ah yes.
Let's go.
I'll bring you to your father.
Yes,
thank you.
Go through here, and you will find him easily.
This way.
Come later for the night visit.
Excuse me...
Dad?
Anybody there?
Ouch!
What?
Who's there?
Summer holidays...
Is it summer holidays ?
He plunged!
Really?
Ruka!
He's flying.
My name is Umi. And you ?
My name is...
"My name is...
"Ru... ka."
Your name is Ruka!
- Fascinating isn't he? - Dad!
He was raised in the sea by dugongs.
Dugongs ?
My holidays...
my very very long summer holidays are starting.
The dugongs, the source of the sirens myth?
The smell of Dad...
We found him ten years ago with a group of dugongs
off the coast of the Philippines.
He was with another boy.
His skin can't support beeing dry
because he lived in the water.
We were given custody to study them.
By the way, why have you come to see me?
No reason.
And now, the news!
A gigantic humpback whale was spotted off the coast of Manhattan.
Once more,
your father left without telling me.
Why have you gone to see him?
Ruka !
Have a nice day.
The will-o-the-wisps are coming.
Avoid them!
I thought I saw...
Sorry.
Excuse-me.
But it's not your fault.
Ouch...
Why am I hiding in school?
Ruka, there you ares!
Umi...
Let's go?
Where?
The will-o-the-wisps are coming. Let's go see them.
The will-o-the-wisps?
I wanted to go with Sora but he can't.
Sora ?
My elder brother. He's in the hospital.
Oh...
I though of you and came looking for you.
The will-o-the-wisps?
They shine while flying off. Let's go see them.
Tell me, what is this place?
A sanctuary.
A shinto sanctuary.
What about this?
That's a statue of Jizo.
I know this!
Italian ice creams...
Sweet!
Why am I the one paying?
Why me?
Why did he come for me?
Does he feel the same?
the sound of the waves resonates stronger.
Night has fallen.
Can we see the will-o-the-wisps from here?
Is he playing me for a fool?
Perhaps...
I'm sure of it.
- I'm going home! - Here's one!
Another one!
What was that ?
It's so bright.
And huge.
Incredible! What is it? Asteroids?
- Will-o-the-wisps. - Shooting stars? Meteors?
Will-o-the-wisps.
Whatever, it's incredible!
How did you know?
The will-o-the-wisps asked me to find then.
If they shine so bright, it's to attract us.
Insects and animals shine when they want to be found.
I understand.
I was happy that Umi found me at the school.
I wanted someone to find me.
It was incredible.
Thank you for bringing me here, Umi.
VISITS FORBIDDEN
Sora, Jim is here to bring you back.
Ok.
A meteor shower?
How is he?
He's not focused.
The seals were loud last night.
Maybe it's because of...
The meteors?
Where the meteors crashed,
humpback whales have been seen coming.
Jim, your theory was right.
Fine, thanks.
I am sending you a recording of their song.
Please.
Sorry...
You're Mr Azumi's daughter?
What was that music we just heard?
- Ah, the song. - The song?
It's coming from the whales singing underwater.
Sound spread much further in the water than in the air.
They can communicate together, even accross hundreds of kilometers.
The song of whales contains waves of extremely complex information.
Us human, we communicate with difficulty with words,
we only express partially our thoughts.
But whales,
might be able to directly pass on what they see
or what they feel.
They pass on directly...
They communicate without using words.
Will there be anymore Will-o-the-wisps tonight?
What's that sound?
Huh?
Anybody there?
Umi ?
No.
Is it Sora?
That sound again...
With the waves,
the sand and the rocks make this sound.
But it's covered by the sound of waves.
Shores are very talkative.
Numerous information reach here, passed on by the water.
When you listen carefully,
you can understand almost everything.
You're Ruka, aren't you?
You probably know who I am.
I am sure of it.
Sora?
You bore me.
Your behaviour is so predictable.
You came to see Umi, didn't you?
Too bad,
he's at sea.
But you're sick. You shouldn't...
I am not sick. I was just beeing examined.
You're free to be interested in Umi
but is it mutual?
I don't think so.
I didn't come to see Umi!
I wanted to see the will-o... the shooting stars.
I'm taking care of Umi. You can leave.
Anyway, I was about to leave. I don't know what you're doing here.
The song...
I'm listening to a song that I've never heard before.
The song of the whales?
Just now, I heard a recording,
I had a vision of a whale and a shooting star
like a summer festival to celebrate the birth of a child.
And then?
Nothing!
If you feel lonely,
I don't mind playing with you, little lady.
He's getting on my nerve ! This mean guy is really Umi's brother?
He's getting on my nerve !
But I have the feeling
that he could disappear like a ghost.
Are you alone, Sora ?
I thought Ruka was with you.
She just left.
You're right. She carries the same smell as us.
We'll have to look into that carefully.
How was it?
Seems like they are all gathering.
We can hear them.
Yes.
A star
Many stars
The sea at the origin of the world
Humpback whale
Let's start by our conclusion.
Sora is human.
As for his eyesight, his breathing functions,
his muscles and bone density,
his abilities can be explained by his life spent in the water.
No light factors in his skin tissues,
he shouldn't be able to emit light.
False killer whales?
Ruka, sorry for keeping you waiting.
Do you really want to do that?
Yes.
The water is cold here.
Stop it, don't put your hand this is the sharks tank!
I know!
Masaaki !
Sorry but who are you?
Oh, hello Kanako.
- Who is that? - That's Mr Azumi's wife.
Ah. Ruka's mother.
Mr Azumi is at a seminar.
- Really? - Yes.
What about Ruka ?
She should be around.
Good, thank you.
I will go look for her.
Kanako used to work here
but she's been off for a while.
Yes, she's a legendary trainer.
Kanako? She's on her way?
What the...
- What are you doing? - I don't want to see my mother.
If you want to hide, come this way!
This way!
There you go!
Let's hide here!
This boat belongs to the aquarium. No one will find us here.
Sorry.
Is it working?
Raise the anchor!
Go!
Here we go!
That's unbelievable that you know how to pilot a boat.
I don't know how to pilot it.
- I just mess around a bit. - Will it be fine?
Ahead! Ahead!
- We almost crashed in it! - It avoided us.
The harbor...
It's so far.
but...
that's a relief.
How about going to watch the whales?
Good idea!
The whales?
The engine stopped.
No reaction.
- We are not moving? - Seems so.
- What are we going to do, in the open sea? - There's nothing we can do.
I have no clue how to fix that.
What are we gonna do? We can't go back!
You, have you even tried to stop me?
Have you told me to stop or go back to the harbor?
None of that. You were very happy.
We share the blame.
As we grew up in the sea,
if we don't get wet, our skin burns,
it can't breathe.
Me, I adapted well to life on the land
but our life expectancy may be very short.
Your life expectancy?
They are doing research to extend it.
Huh ? There's something there.
Come have a look!
But it's deep here.
Impossible to go in such a deep sea!
Absolutly impossible !
How deep...
Impossible!
What is it?
A whale shark?
I can't hang on anymore!
If you can't swim, don't go in the water.
I can swim.
You almost drowned.
There, I...
- You can't swim. - I can swim!
Many of them
are following our boat.
you're right.
Its full of them.
A school of fish...
Incredible...
They are following the whale sharks.
The whale sharks were sparkling in the sea.
The other time too
the ghost of the aquarium...
Was it sparkling?
Yes.
I saw it disappear in sparkles when I was a child.
- We saw it too. - The ghost?
Yes, we called it "the ghost of the sea".
- We saw the same thing? - And the song?
Haven't you heard the song of the whale at that moment?
No, I only heard the recording the other day.
What does it mean?
There's gonna be a big celebration, a birth festival,
somewhere in the sea.
With Jim, we go around the world
to understand the link between this festival and us.
Whales are said to sing the advent of the festival
and are searching for a guest for this festival.
A guest?
Sora's examinations show the same result.
Yet his condition seems to degrade faster and faster.
Umi adapts well to life on the land.
They seem identical but are different.
And about the meteors,
they don't seem to have reached the Earth's surface.
They burned out?
Professor Anglade searched for them,
in vain.
Yet fishes are converging around the area.
And this unknown whale song...
All of these are omens
of the festivals that we are investigating.
We have to hury Or else Sora...
Sora!
Is it here?
These are false killer whale!
Sora!
Umi!
Something is shining.
Umi? Sora!
Luckily the sea was calm
and a boat passed by, or else... What were you thinking?
Are you listening, Ruka ?
What were you looking for, alone at sea?
You lied to me when you said you were going to the club.
Ruka,
Where are you going everyday?
- To see your father? - Doesn't matter where I go!
Doesn't matter.
Poor thing... He was thrown back by the sea.
How did it happen?
Is it dead?
I'm sorry...
What?
That's...
Ruka ?
Dad!
Surprising no? It's a megamouth shark.
A megamouth shark?
They live in the abyss.
As well as those fishes.
Why have they come here?
Several sorts of fishes have washed up.
Sora disappeared. What a mess!
- He hasn't come back? - No, Jim is looking for him.
And Umi? How is he?
Bad, he's worried about Sora.
A typhoon is approaching! Stay home!
Giant oarfishes?
Umi!
His heart!
He's not breathing.
How... How to bring him back?
Ruka, what are you doing?
Fool! What are you doing here?
I know where Sora is! The waves told me.
The waves?
The typhoon carries the smell of the sea where I was born, the smell of Sora!
The typhoon?
Umi's hand...
It's so warm.
I have to protect him.
The typhoon just changed its course and is coming right here.
After the washed up fishes, the typhoon.
It's Ruka !
Don't go on the beach!
It's dangerous!
They don't even have an umbrella.
CLOSED DUE TO STORM
No, she's not here.
Cast away at sea?
No, no, some fishermen saw them...
I'll call you if I...
Yes, alright.
Why have they gone out right in the middle of a typhoon ?
In a storm, memory, time and spirits cross paths.
I didn't expect that we'll be in such need...
of time.
Of time?
Bye-bye!
Is he near?
Yes, this way!
The sea!
Hey, you found us quickly.
Sora is in the sea.
I found him in the open sea
and brought him here.
And...
You brought Umi.
Or rather...
Umi brought you here, following the typhoon.
Yes.
In that case, beware of him.
Anyway, I have warned you.
Bring us something back for diner!
You can stay as long as you want, I'm calling Jim.
- You know each other? - Of course.
I work as his assitant, I'm a marine biologist.
With two surprise guests, I'm going to ask him for summer leaves.
Summer leaves?
Ruka!
Sora...
A dugong...
Incredible!
So,
you're saying the festival day has finally arrived?
Yes.
Where?
The boys of the sea
will translate the song of the whales for us.
To study the the proceedings of the festival while watching it
will greatly improve our knowledge of the oceans.
According to our intel,
your assistant, Anglade, has kidnapped these precious boys.
They are temporarly together
and we always stay in contact.
We won't be able to know when the festival will start.
In that case...
Anglade will be able to guide you.
- He can't be trusted! - Don't worry.
We are following the boat's position.
- How laxist! Send a fleet! - Wait!
How much time do we have left,
Umi,
Sora?
Incredible...
The sky and the sea, everything is red.
Your eyes are red as well.
Look.
Hey!
Have you caught something?
We'll prepare the meal!
Ah, I forgot!
The red sea is not only due to the sunset.
Look there.
What is it?
You will know when the night comes.
Caught something!
Look!
I'll open it.
Sora, how do you feel?
Not so good, and after each examination, the results are worse and worse.
To understand our origin and our destination,
I had to go through examinations and experiments
but neither the scans or the MIR
could reveal anything unusual.
I feel my body is changing.
but scientifically, no one knows what's happening.
In this world,
humans can only see a tiny fraction of what really exist.
With the progress of space observation,
we know the existence of a black matter
that was never detected previously.
The universe is made
of ten times for matter than what was originally thought.
In other words, more than 90% of the universe total mass
is made of unkown black matter
So almost all of it?
We can say that we see almost nothing.
This world is full of invisible things
and the universe exceeds much of what we can see with our eyes.
I think the universe, is like humans.
In a human,
many small fragments of memory are scattered.
Sometimes a few memory fragments may link up together.
These blocks of memories are a bit bigger,
and attract others
and become even bigger.
Thanks to these mecanisms, we can think and feel things.
It looks like...
It looks like
the birth of stars or of a galaxy.
The universe and mankind...
Where are Sora and Anglade ?
Umi?
You're burning!
I hope he will be alright.
When I was a child,
Mum used to do that...
Sleep
My child
You are the dearest thing
In my heart...
I forgot the rest.
Anglade's boat is no longer here.
Huh?
The water is shining.
It's plancton.
Sora!
- It's plancton. - Plancton ?
The red coulor of the sea was caused by this.
Under certain conditions, plancton can be luminous.
Incredible...
The red sea emits a blue light.
Sora!
Look closely.
The sea is divided in water masses.
By sliding on these masses, you can swim easily.
It's beautiful...
Can I make it?
Incredible...
If I keep on...
If I keep on like this...
I will swim
to the stars.
From top to bottom, the milky way surrounds us.
- Tomorrow will be the new moon. - It's like the craddle of life.
The whole sea is burstling
around the area where the meteor crashed.
What do you think?
The world we live in...
may just be the dream
of the shellfishes that live in the abyss.
Umi and Sora,
where are they really from?
Who are they?
Where are they going?
You may wonder the same for all of us.
They observe the world from another perspective,
from another place, another time.
They live in another world beyond imagination.
But they appeared to us.
The only way to help them,
is to not slow them down.
If you want to protect them,
protect them from the arrogants.
Soon...
the festival will start.
And the guest has undoubtedly been chose.
Don't worry.
The inside of your body is changing.
Me too, it still happens to me...
at that moment...
It's really beautiful.
Something is shining for us to find it.
Umi told me so.
A beautiful light makes me feel lonely.
It makes me sad.
Maybe because it's fading away.
It shines but it fades away after.
These are the thoughts that come to me
but it's not very...
I swallowed something.
The meteor. I entrust you with it.
If ever...
you realize that Umi needs you,
Open up your belly to give it to him.
What's going on?
Sora?
It seems the moment has come.
Sora!
They somehow thought that it would take place during a full moon.
Jim and Anglade didn't see that coming.
Observe me well. It could be useful for Umi.
Sora!
The dugongs this afternoon had actually come to take me back?
It's earlier than I thought.
Too early...
What's this sound? Again...
Umi forgot the human langage?
Since his return, he hasn't talked.
The show is about to start. Get out of the water.
Anyway,
she came back safe and sound.
You remain so distant.
- It's not deliberate. - But you are.
Ruka doesn't want to stay home because of me
and you left for the same reason.
It's rather the two of you who are alike.
You both want to be understood
but don't know how to do so.
You get upset and make everything complicated.
It's clumsiness.
I finally get it.
I was never able to confront that.
You are clumsy...
you too.
I would like to start again from scratch,
if you would like to.
Our home, for the three of us
is here.
You're finally here Jim.
It's too late.
Sora left.
I heard the sound carried by the water of the sea.
698,45 hertz.
The frequency of a dying star.
When I found Umi, he was feversish
and Ruka was in a shocked state on the beach.
Do you think Sora is dead?
I don't know.
It mus be the festival that old Dédé mentioned.
At the end of the day...
we have been totally helpless.
I can still feel the presence of Sora.
I have to go observe the stars.
Ruka...
Inside my body,
I feel like a tornado.
What's going on?
What's with them?
Is there something at sea?
At sea? Why?
Look!
- what is it? - A whale?
Mum, what is it?
Chief, there is a whale at sea!
A whale?
- It's huge. - A humpback whale.
I can see in your eyes
that you want to go very far.
I have to go.
I'll take care of everything at sea.
Hop on.
The wind is good,
and the current as well.
We should be able to catch up with the whale.
I heard the song.
It's looking for a guest.
It's the song of the stars.
The song of the stars?
A star, many stars
The sea at the origin of the world
The hunted stars fall in the sea
Cradled by the waves, they fall asleep
I finally remember the rest of the lullaby
that my mother used to sing.
She's playing with the wind.
The song of the whale from the stars...
The wind contains all the memories of the sea.
By replacing it with words,
we created and passed on poems and songs.
But with words, you can only capture a tiny fraction of the wind,
like sails.
This, is a way of communicating with the wind. with the memories of the sea,
flooded emotions that can't be transcripted.
I can hear a soft voice carried by the wind.
By chance, we come across...
the memories of a beeing,
its past and futur memories.
A school of false killer whales!
They are heading in the same direction.
In that case...
Damn!
What?
Why have I plunged?
Umi didn't follow me.
Why?
What do you mean?
What Sora feels,
I can feel it too.
Ruka, the song is coming.
Umi ?
We will hear it live.
Incredible! I never heard such a powerful sound.
The whole sea...
The whole sea has started moving.
A bit exagereted, all this escort.
It's very normal.
It's very far from the planned location.
Doesn't matter.
They are at the center of the festival
and all the answers will be there.
Perfect, Jim.
We will have the best spot.
Then, good luck.
I am taking another path.
I can't do anything for them?
I wanted to extend the life of these children.
But the goal of this research has changed
and these children have to bear the consequences.
Dédé told me
to protect them from the arrogants,
from those who consider human as superior.
Did we manage to protect them?
Jim!
Umi et Ruka have gone missing.
You must know.
- Bring us to them. - I want to see Ruka.
Fishes...
Come.
Your home is this way.
Of course...
Marine animals can't live here.
Umi! Are you ok?
Umi!
We have to hurry and bring him back to sea.
Is he better at sea or on the land?
Umi! Where are you?
Umi...
What's that?
Him,
he's been living here alone for a very long time.
Were you awake?
Incredible...
Even in this universe,
deep and without light,
there is life.
They are all of memories of the water and of living beeings.
Sora?
Ruka,
your role here is over.
Good job.
My role?
Yes, the meteor has awaken.
And what will it become?
It will be the at the center of a gigantic tornado.
Take a look at what will happen.
If you can hold on until the end without looking away.
Sora...
Aren't you Sora?
I've told you,
the meteors encompass all the memories.
Not only their own memories,
those of the people you know
and those that compose you.
Go on, close your eyes,
slowly.
Good.
The sky and the sea are as one and the festival is starting.
Let's sing the joyful song of birth.
It's your lullaby.
Can you hear it? They are already singing.
The whole universe is singing
together as one.
Sora, you are mean.
The universe is a form of life.
A planet is a uterus.
The meteors fertilize it. It is a festival of fertilization.
Those who witnessed this celebration composed a song out of it.
A star, many stars
The sea at the origin of the world
I can hear the rest of the song.
Humans are feeding breasts The sky is a playground
The festival is starting.
I want to see!
I can see.
I am the universe.
This lullaby...
My mother's.
My mother...
She is within me.
Umi?
Umi !
No!
He shines because he wants to be found.
It's Umi's light.
Umi!
What?
Umi, where are you?
In the world,
there is a balance between good and evil.
They are like two point of views on the difference
between marine and land beeings.
No, we're not different.
We are all made from the same matter
that comes from the universe.
All that exist on Earth is identical.
The universe and humans are alike.
If all that exist is part of a same group,
everything is so much alike that it is identical.
the sun, the sea, humans,
Sora, Umi, me...
and the others.
If we coul explore the universe,
we would realize that it's like the sea.
Umi!
Just now...
you bid me farewell?
Where are you going?
Wait for me...
Wait for me!
Bring me with you...
forever...
with you!
Ruka!
Ruka, hang on!
Come on...
Me too, at your age, I met...
a handsome boy from the sea.
The children of the sea appear discretly
and come to talk to us softly.
They tell us where we are from,
where we are heading and the reason for our life.
Clues to understand the secrets of the world
have been revealed to us in different shapes.
A goddess kissed by a whale
or boys who can leap through time...
Through the breath of the wind,
they speak to us.
Even in the palm of your small hand, there is a story,
a universe that is hiding in another form.
My...
story...
Me...
I knew nothing.
But I just want to see them once more.
Why?
Why me...
I'm not...
You are perfect...
Trust Umi and Sora.
And trust yourself.
There as well, I found the sky
and the sea.
Here's all that happened
during that summer.
Œuvre originale : Daisuke IGARASHI
Design des personnages, direction de l'animation
et mise en scène : Kenichiro KONISHI
Direction artistique : Shinji KIMURA
Musique : Joe HISAISHI
Scénario : Saku KONOHANA
Direction des images de synthèse : Kenichiro AKIMOTO
Colorisation : Miyuki ITO
Montage : Kiyoshi HIROSE
Direction sonore : Koji KASAMATSU
Chanson Thème : "Ghosts of the Sea" de Kenshi YONEZU
Doublage
Ruka : Mana ASHIDA
Umi : Hiiro ISHIBASHI
Sora : Seishu URAGAMI
Anglade : Win MORISAKI
Masaaki Azumi : Goro INAGAKI
Kanako Azumi : Yu AOI
Le professeur : Toru WATANABE
Jim : Min TANAKA Dédé : Sumiko FUJI
Productrice : Eiko TANAKA
Réalisation : Ayumu WATANABE
Cut the cord, please.
I asked them. cut it.
There.
I felt like cutting a life cord.
Tell me Mum.
What?
When I was a child, you used to sing me a lullaby.
Was it your mother who taught you?
Yes, your grandmother used to sing it
during my childhood.
Why are you asking?
No reason.
Sleep my child
A baby fish is born in the sea
Its mother feeds it and it grows bigger
It asscends to the sky to hunt the stars
The hunted stars fall in the sea
Within my body,
I am still linked to them.
The most important promises
are not made through words.
Sous-titrage TITRAFILM