Fantastic Children

Fantastic Children (ファンタジックチルドレン) is a Japanese animated television series created by Takashi Nakamura and produced by Nippon Animation. It first aired on Japan across TV Tokyo between October 4, 2004 and March 28, 2005, totaling 26 episodes, and also received its satellite television premiere on the CS television network Animax.

The series was later translated and dubbed by Animax into English for broadcast across its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia. It is licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment, who also produced a separate English dub for release in the region.

Plot
The series opens with the introduction of a group of white-haired children, known as the "Befort Children", named after a fictional village in Belgium where their existence was first recorded in 1489. In the year 2012, the energetic Tohma meets the introverted Helga on the shores of Papin Island. The two venture on a quest that will eventually cross paths with the mission of the Befort Children, who have spent centuries wandering Europe in search of a person named Tina.

Characters
Thoma (トーマ) is the series protagonist. He is an enthusiastic and energetic young boy who lives with his parents on the shores of Papin Island.

Helga (ヘルガ) is a quiet and introverted young girl, whom Tohma helps save from an oppressive orphanage. She is in search of a place which is the source of her paintings.

Chitto (チット) is a good-hearted young boy, who is an earnest and steadfast friend to Helga, and her best friend at the orphanage.

The GED Organization (ゲド機関) is led by Gherta Hawksbee. Gherta uses Conrad Röntgen's findings to reconstruct the Autozone, which brings people back from the dead. Later the GED is manipulated by Dumas so that he can send Tina's spirit back to her old body, though this plan doesn't work.

Terminology
Greecia (ギリシア) is the Befort Children's home planet. Much of Greecia is made up of water, and most things on that planet are also powered by it.

Enma is the Japanese name for Yama, the ruler of the underworld in Hinduism. It is not made clear if Enma is a single entity or not, however it can appear as a large number of dark cylindrical forms. Agi describes Enma as the God of the Universe that seeks to maintain balance, and restore it when it is lost. The main role, as presented by the series, of the Enma while maintaining the universe balance is to keep each soul where it belongs, preventing them from either going to different zones or remaining alive when it shouldn't. Since the Befort Children are in violation with the universe balance, Enma constantly attacks the Befort Children. Enma uses illusions to coax the children into returning to their original everyday lives.

Orsel is the life force in all living things. Grecian scientists, and eventually the GED organization, utilize Orsel to bring people back from the Zone, the land of the dead. Because they have to use such high levels of Orsel to bring someone back, a person can become very unstable. If the person can not control its emotions, Orsel can turn into a of weapon. Orsel is measured in Stilbs.

The Autozone is the machine Grecian scientists use to bring someone back from the Zone. It can also send someone through the Zone and bring them back out of it. The GED, through Gherta Hawksbee, gets a hold of this technology to create their own Autozone, but it ends up having dangerous side-effects.

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

Theme music

 * Opening theme: Voyage (performed by: Inori, lyrics: Mikio Sakai, composition: Mayumi Yamazaki, arrangement: Takanori Eguchi)
 * Ending theme: Mizu no Madoromi (水のまどろみ) (performed by: Origa, lyrics: Rie Hamada, composition and arrangement: Kunihiko Ryo)

Manga
Fantastic Children: Tokei Jikake no Tabibito-tachi (ファンタジックチルドレン 時計じかけの旅人たち), illustrated by Masakazu Miyano, was serialized in the monthly Comic Flapper. It was collected in two volumes.
 * 1) ISBN 4840109834
 * 2) ISBN 4840113025

Video game
The Fantastic Children video game was released for the Game Boy Advance on May 19, 2005 by Bandai. Developed by Inti Creates, the game follows Tohma through his adventures from Papen Island with Helga, Chitto and the Befort Children.