YMMV / Children of the Whales

• Ho Yay:
  • Ouni and Nibi are rather close, complete with being Childhood Friends with The Promise. Heck, their final words to each other in their Dead Person Conversation, where they just about declare each other their reason for living, wouldn't be out of place in a love confession. In fact, if you look closely in the anime, Nibi's wound during that conversation almost looks like the shape of a heart.
  • It doesn't take long before Suou and Rochalizo act Like an Old Married Couple, and ultimately, Rochalizo is far more attached to Suou than he'd care to admit, seeing as how he's unable to kill him when ordered to and breaks down crying over the idea.
  • Crossing over with Foe Yay Shipping, but in Ch. 51, Orca sounds less like someone trying to convince the enemy (Ouni) to defect and more like an admirer turned Yandere who can't stand that his target has someone he cares about more (i.e. the Mud Whale).
    Orca: Capture... successful. But... I couldn't capture his heart.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Liontari is an outcast back in the Empire, as being unable to have his emotions absorbed by the nous has left him incompatible with an otherwise emotionless society. Suou finds him sympathetic, at the very least.
  • Shuan is one of the most unpleasant people on the Mud Whale due to his inability to find happiness in the world, to the extent that he outright sees himself as broken.
• Stoic Woobie: The entire series is basically a nonstop Trauma Conga Line for Ouni, but he'll rarely angst about it in front of others.
• Tear Jerker: Episode 3 is an exercise in tragedy. The Mud Whale is attacked and many innocents are killed, including Sami and Lady Taisha.
  • Not to mention Chapter 7, when Sami's spirit comes back and kisses Chakuro goodbye.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Sami, Nibi, Lady Taisha and many others could have had larger roles in the story. Instead, they get killed. Though Lady Taisha, at least, is implied in the manga to have a Not-So-Small Role after all.