Children of the Whalesposes more than one idealogy, and confronts the moralities of each one, with the exception of Suou’s. Throughout the show, he displays incredibly high levels of naivety and empathy that cause him to make unique choices. The audience may agree that those choices are ultimately the best from a moral standpoint. However, both the other characters in the show and viewers themselves may question whether or not those choices would actually work out the way he believes they will. Since he is the leader of the group this makes the audience wonder, should people strive to be like Suou, or does he serve as a cautionary tale forthe dangers of naivety?
Theanimefollows the story of Chakuro and his peers as they navigate life on the Mudwhale, a floating island/ship. They are adrift on the sand sea and have no contact with any other civilization. The story kicks off when their first outside encounter results in a devastating attack that massacres a large portion of their population. They are left reeling in its wake, unsure of how to deal with everything they have just been exposed to. In the attack, their Mayor was also killed, and Suou was elected to fill the power vacuum.
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Who is Suou?
Suou at the age of 17 was already so well liked by the residents of the Mudwhale that they anticipated him taking over the role of mayor when Taisha was ready to retire. Her early demise forced him into the role far earlier than expected, however. Since Suou is part of the 10% of the population born without a mark that allows them to control Thymia, he is eligible for the role of Mayor. The category of unmarked means that he is also expected to live a full human lifespan, whereas the markedare doomed to dieby the age of 25.
Suou isgreatly affronted by the ideathat the marked will die so young, particularly because his younger sister Sami was born with a mark. Due to this, he has dedicated his life to trying to lengthen their lives, to no avail. But this genuine concern for others is why he is so well liked and trusted on the island. Repeatedly throughout the show, he tries his hardest to help others, to keep them from harm, and to trust that people will do the right thing. Sometimes this works for him, and other times it doesn’t.
The Positives of Innocence and Naivety
Suou adamantly opposes violence, and always assumes the best in people, which in many ways is a highly admirable characteristic. He was willing to immediately forgive and accept Liontari for all of his transgressions as soon as he was able to understand what made Liontari that way. Even though he had to step over the body ofone of Liontari’s victimsto make his point. When a second group of unknown people lands on the Mudwhale it would have been easy for Suou to attack and drive them off. Instead, he welcomed them and was adamant that he makes the best possible impression so that he could garner allies.
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His welcoming personality, abhorrence to violence, and staunch belief in the good of humanity makes him unique in this world of heartlessness and death. He becomesa beacon to his peopleof the kind of person that they want to be. Even the audience can admire how pure and objectively good Suou is.
The Downfalls of Suou’s Naivety
Much as the forgiving of Liontari demonstrates the kind of person that Suou is it also demonstrates the dangers of being that type of person. Liontari revels in death, and following this encounter has only one goal,to break the spiritsand then the bodies of the people on the Mudwhale. It is possible that had he had the chance to accept Suou’s offer he could have been healed, but it is far more likely that the interference of Shuan saved not only Suou’s life but the lives of many others on the Mudwhale.
In addition to this, his inability to delay his reaction to the elder’s decision to sink the whale left him entirely unable to help the situation at all. Had he been a little bit more cunning he could have played along and later helped Chakuro in his effortsto prevent the planfrom working. More than once he believes that he can reason with the Empire to save the lives of his people. This is never truly put to the test, but given clues about the empire, this would be entirely impossible, largely due to them having no emotions upon which to play.
While Suou’s naivety is objectively an ideal thatthe audience can aspire to, the show does an amazing job of also portraying it as a cautionary tale of what can happen if an individual is too naive. In reality, both in the show and in the real world, it is better to be that ideal but also to know when to face harsh truths and make harsh decisions. Chakuro was able to save so many more lives in preventing the sinking of the Mudwhale, the same goal as Suou, by sneaking around than Suou was able to in his head on attack of the problem.
