MORAL CODE: Children who chase after lost voices. (Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo).

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, otakus and NEETs,

Welcome to MORAL CODE, a series in which I pick apart the themes, characters and plot of an anime movie in order to determine and communicate the messages hidden within.

Makoto Shinkai's Children who chase after lost voices is a fantastical adventure that is emotionally compelling, visually stunning and assimilates the often sensitive subject of death and loss presenting it in a two hour long journey that our protagonists and the audience embark on. Today, I’ll be attempting to go into detail into what I believe is one of the major messages Makoto attempted to communicate to the viewers, The value of life and the importance of loss.

This film follows three major protagonists throughout, Asuna, Shin and Morisaki sensei, it is through these three that the majority of plot is progressed and messages are conveyed because it is these three that the audience are emotionally invested in.

There is a lot of imagery used in this film surrounding the themes of death and loss throughout the movie, particularly to do with the grieving process and how people usually deal with loss, individually and as a group. A lot of this can be seen through the world of our story, Agartha.

A mythical land drawing its origins from Hindu and Buddhist lore, it is essentially a world within our world, it is a place where gods, demons, demi-humans and every other odd existence under the sun have been known to gather, belief in the lore surrounding it has even spawned modern day belief in a hollow Earth. Makoto actually stayed quite true to the lore, barely manipulating it to suit his story, every being seen in the anime can be likened to a being found in Agarthan lore.

Such as the Inzoku, in the anime these creatures are the twisted malevolent souls of Agartha, these can be likened to the Asura, A group of malevolent beings in Agarthan (Hindu) lore that essentially cause trouble and devour souls.

The difference in Makoto’s version is the Inzoku are those who were incapable of forgiving the humans for the loss of their own lives and as such are sworn to devour the “defiled” blood that courses through "topsiders,"

At least this is the explanation we receive from one of the village elders, however, upon closer inspection we find that "Inzoku" is Japanese for bereaved, a term that basically means distraught over the death of a loved one. In a sense the Inzoku are distraught over their own death, unable to forgive those who killed them and unable to accept their own departure from life.

Now that we’ve had a look at one of the major themes within the story let’s take a look at what kind of losses our protagonist’s are dealing with.

ASUNA:

Now, in the first act of the film we see Asuna come home to an empty house as evening arrives, she finds the kitchen light on and calls out to her mother who does not respond, this doesn’t surprise Asuna, instead she changes out of her school clothes, prays at her father’s shrine and begins her chores.

All this transpires under two minutes and through this elegant use of exposition we learn that Asuna’s father is dead thus explaining why her mother is away so late being the breadwinner of the household and the fact that Asuna is so used to this tells us that this is not a transition that recently occurred.

This is later confirmed when we see Asuna and her mother visiting his grave, at this point we hear an infantile Asuna ask “Dad’s not coming back anymore, Is he mom?” expressing her understanding of the passing of her father. As they leave the gravesite Asuna’s mother talks about how Asuna’s father probably wouldn’t wish to come back “he said death is a part of life after all...even so” even so, she breaks down in front of her daughter. I bring this scene up because it occurs directly after the death of Shun is revealed to Asuna, foreshadowing the greater lesson Asuna would need to revisit in the wake of this tragedy, the fact that life and death are intertwined, two halves of one whole, even so, the loss of life must be mourned because it is in mourning that the value of life is truly appreciated.

The loss inspired anti-social behaviour in Asuna, never spending time with her classmates and constantly spending time alone, this was only spurred on by the long absences of her mother at work. Asuna is, however, sociable, well known and liked amongst her class she simply chooses to spend all her time alone until an unexpected boy encroaches upon her territory forcing a bond.

MORISAKI:

Morisaki sensei’s loss comes in the form of his wife, whom he lost to illness while he was away at war. Although, Makoto never explicitly states what war he fought in, from this image of a newspaper:

We know that it occurs in 1963 which would place the current events of our story in the late 1960’s. There is no actual war that broke out during that time in Japan but news of America’s involvement in the Vietnam war and the subsequent protests that rose in opposition of this had reached ears globally and as a result a great wave of change was sweeping the world, even Japan had begun to see protests by scholars beginning in 1960.

Morisaki’s loss touches upon the obvious, with death or loss comes change, approaching the subject through the theme of war, Morisaki fought for a future and with the loss of his wife any future that he fought for was lost.

We now see that Morisaki sensei has become radicalized in his attempts to revive his wife. The loss has left him a man frozen in time, unwilling to yield the future he fought to secure he has become incapable of moving forward with his life without wielding a bitter destruction in order to salvage an old future.

Shin:

Shin has lost his brother Shun, someone who was expected to come of age and protect his community.

With his death Shin attempts to fill the role that his brother has left behind, when we see Shin speaking with the elder of his village two things become apparent: the first being that Shin, having been orphaned with his brother will have to bear the sole burden of aiding the village in any way possible.

The second is that the community use this as an excuse to force him to bear the responsibility of the entire village’s peace yet in doing so also strips him of his childhood and any peace.

Shin’s plight serves an important role as it exposes us to the unforgiving perspective of the Agarthans.

The reason they have never been able to recover from ruin is their grudge toward the topsiders, a passive lifestyle inspired by

their understanding of the fleeting nature of life and how it is part of a cycle that includes both death and rebirth, because of this Agartha feels like a world waiting to die.

Thus, Makoto makes a point to show that by failing to live you are just as misguided as those who fail to move on from the deaths of loved ones, bereaved by the loss of their world the Agarthans condemn themselves to death believing it their salvation.

A Life for a Life

As a result of her choosing this adventure with Morisaki sensei, Asuna is faced with a situation in which the roles of male role model and protector are filled by Morisaki sensei, this not only reminds Asuna of her loss but also illustrates the importance Asuna has on this trip to Morisaki sensei, she begins to remind Morisaki sensei of the future he has lost and in doing so foreshadows the future decision Morisaki sensei has to make either choosing his wife or Asuna.

It also echoes the fact that Shin, despite his desire to pick up where his brother left off, is not a replacement for his brother, Shun.

neither for his village nor Asuna who could either perceive him as such or as a kindred spirit, kindred in the loss of Shun, and the appreciation of his life.

In this way Makoto attempts to illustrate the value of human life, our protagonists are incapable of achieving what they desire without sacrificing something of equal value (FMA fans know what I’m talking about). In other words a life for a life, illustrating that even in our attempts to cheat death the value of life must be honoured through the death of another.

Finally, Children Who Chase Lost Voices is a film that teaches us the importance of grief, experiencing it and overcoming it, for Asuna, Shun and Morisaki sensei, traveling to Agartha was the necessary first step taken on a journey of mourning and acceptance.

The moral of this story: Accepting someone’s death is just as important as accepting their life. To quote the 2019 game, Sea of Solitude, which helped me resolve the death of someone I grew up with, "It's not about loss, it's about change."

Thank you for reading all through that, you’re a legend.

Please leave a like if you liked and comment what anime movie or series you suggest I write a Moral Code on next because there will definitely be another one coming soon.

Thanks again everyone!