[Anime] Seirei no Moribito - Guardian of the Sacred Spirit

Synopsys: Balsa, a warrior who has done work as a bodyguard, was walking through the Yogo Empire when, while crossing a bridge, she sees a carriage carrying the young Prince of the Yogo Empire topple over and watched as the young Prince fell into the rushing waters below. Without a second thought, she leapt into the water hoping to save the Prince and after a few moments of searching frantically, she succeeded, aided by a mysterious power emanating from the Prince. Balsa then gets invited to the Palace by the Empress who tells a story of how the Emperor himself has sent assassins to kill the Prince. She then pleads with Balsa to take the Prince away from the castle and protect him with Balsa's life.

Impressions: The first reaction I had to this series was "HOLY SHIT! THE ANIMATION AND SCENERY ARE AWESOME!" The backgrounds were wonderfully drawn and the animators definitely didn't take any shortcuts when detailing Balsa's movement. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised since this is a Studio I.G. work combined with the Director who did Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, but it's just really nice to see. Balsa reminds me a bit of Saya from Blood: The Last Vampire in the way she was drawn and animated.

From the character standpoint, Balsa is an interesting character because of her unusual status (a female warrior) and because of her past. While the series hasn't gone too much into it yet, Balsa is obviously someone with skeletons in her closet and has forced her down her chosen path. Despite these demons from her past, she is warm yet coldly calculating as she works through the problems presented to her on her journey. She also has enough foresight to see obstacles where others cannot. The Prince, despite being the reason for this journey, doesn't play a huge role, at least, not yet. He is pretty determined though and will do what it takes to help Balsa.

The plot seems to borrow a bit from Scrapped Princess except the scope is more on an Empire rather than the entire world with some "wandering warrior" sprinkled in for good measure. As with most "wandering warrior" type of series, it's the journey that's going to be the interesting part, especially when this show combines religious myths and political intrigue as obstacles that the characters must face. Through it all, there will be some ethical dilemmas to sort through. It's off to a pretty good start and I'm looking forwards to giving other episodes a go.

On a final note, Balsa is going to give Juliet a run for her money as both are serious contenders for the title of "Most Badass Female Protagonist" for this anime season. For that matter, this series is also going to be a serious contender for "Best Anime" released this season.

Links:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

How ya doing, buddy?

I fail at using the search function

Kenji Kawai's work on the soundtrack is pretty solid this time around too. I was disappointed with what he'd done on Fate/Stay Night and Higurashi, but now, it looks like he's got his groove back.

Episode 3 also features some of the most awesome sword on spear and spear on spear action ever. The storyline is most certainly epic and I'm looking to see how the court intrigue begins to pan out.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: at this stage of the game, Seirei no Moribito is the clear stand-out show for this anime season.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

While things do slow down a bit, the way the characters are explored is exceptionally well-done, especially in the way they go into the characters at the Yogo Emperor's court and (later on) with the shaman. This series definitely doesn't fall into the action spectrum of high-fantasy anime series; look instead for just an epic, beautiful atmosphere with a great cast that departs from the clear black and white of good versus evil, but rather into the shades of gray. Most characters you'll find you care a lot about, no matter which side of the struggle they're on.

So far, this series has been firmly entrenched as the best anime series released during the Spring 2007 year, and for that matter, this year so far, and that holds true even when I'm watching stuff like Claymore, Hayate, and Lucky Star.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by The Big Cheese

I was a bit confused as well. The only way it makes sense to me is that Balsa was so deep in her fury she imagined the entire thing and her aura was somehow powerful enough to scare the shit out of the guy. Or, maybe I'm just an idiot.

Maybe you should rewatch that scene in which Balsa talks to the blacksmith. All of the clues are right there methinks.

How ya doing, buddy?

Agreed with the sentiments expressed in the spoilered section. Personally, I think it was for a want of some conflict that they arranged it that way. Gotta please some of the viewers who are out there looking for the well-choreographed action scenes.

But yeah, Tohya definitely came out on top in episode 17. There's something to be said about a side character who manages to pull through and make a big difference in a huge way. I do hope to see more moments like that, especially now that the journey has finally resumed.

The previews for episode 18 look pretty good and I'm looking forwards to that once it gets subbed.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Plot-wise, everything went more or less what I expected even if there was nothing too surprising. All of the character development along the way was absolutely fantastic and I particularly enjoyed how all of the characters played a role and were useful all the way up into the end. The planning behind the series's script was really well done in the that the characters were given ample time to develop and rise up to the role in which they were destined to fulfill. Unlike other series *cough*Bokurano*cough* where the villainy takes a direction as to render the plot somewhat unbelievable, Seirei no Moribito shows how it should be done: that is, villains can exist, but they should also be shown as being human and take actions that make sense other than being evil for the sake of being evil. The way in which this show handles the early conflicts between the Court and Balsa is a refreshing change.

Looking forwards to the ending for sure. This series will definitely go up there as one of the better fantasy anime series out there due in no small part to its stellar animation, epic plot, and excellent character development.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well, I've been harping on and on about how great of a series Kure-nai has been, both on this forum and elsewhere. Really deep characters and an overall excellent plot.

The setting is in a modern city, so it's not exactly your medieval fantasy world like Seirei or Twelve Kingdoms if you have a sort of setting preference.

As for Seirei, yeah I just can't recommend it highly enough. Sure, it's not action-packed the whole way through, but the way in which it develops its characters is most excellent and you definitely get a solid feel for their personalities and such. The atmosphere also contributes a lot to making this series just plain awesome.

FELIPE NO

(Before this gets too far off-topic, you could search tokyotosho under Kurenai since it's listed under that title as well.)

I think a lot of the issue had to do with people expecting a fighting series based on what they saw in episodes 1-3. So when Balsa opted to go into "Tiger mode" that one episode, it just felt really off.

My favorite point of the series still has to be in the winter caverns when Balsa related her past. That episode was how you build and mold a character beyond just the surface features you've seen before. It definitely offers a lot of insight as to how she was as a child and how she matures to where she is now.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?