Guardian of the Spirit

The Japanese love their taiga. So much so that entire production companies are vested in bring stories of the past, fictional and mythical, to light.

Moribito is one such taiga that stems from a novel series about a travelling spear warrior and her encounters with kings, princes and commoners, demons, spirits and spiritualists, while embodying a courageous noble code of not killing her opponents.

Because taiga are episodic, they carry much of a soap opera style in writing and dramatic effect. Moreso than the source material they derive from. Motivations and emotions are very key to the characters' journeys and arcs from beginning to end.

Apart from the through-plotline there were enough episodes to show slice-of-life scenes that grounded the main characters in their locale, and several that gave enough back story to Balsa's tale.

If you enjoy period fantasy tales, this series is for you. Watch it with enjoyment.

"Guardian of the Spirit" primarily convinces with animations that were pretty good for the time. The story of the anime is not extremely imaginative, but it still tells an exciting and interesting story. What I particularly liked about the anime was how the characters' relationships with each other grew closer and closer as the story progressed. The relationship also develops at a comfortable pace without rushing anything.

A big point of criticism that I have, however, is that the story is told extremely slowly, so that I got really bored at times. The number of episodes could easily have been halved in my opinion and the anime would have been more enjoyable to watch.

Why are stories from the road always the best?

Prince Chagum is possessed by a water demon. This will endanger the whole land. To avoid a curse, there are those who would kill him. His mother hires - nay, she /extorts/ the woman warrior, Balsa, to run away with her son and keep him alive. "I saw within that woman's eyes a strange power and indomitable strength. It was overwhelming," mom will later say. Balsa & Chagum set out on the road. They flee, fight, find new friends (and old), and they all form a unit together. They flourish. They do settle in somewhere, eventually, and that's where we see the prince mature. (It's weird that the entire kingdom is filled with agents looking for the missing prince, yet they fail to change the prince's name when they're on the run. Are they worried about confusing us?)

We'll learn that it's not exactly a water demon, but the egg of the water spirit inhabiting Prince Chagum. Destroying it is not the solution, but rather, they must keep it SAFE so that rain will return to the land once again. What is most distressing is that, for the egg to be born, the prince may have to die. That's been the fate of the other egg carriers. Balsa is determined to save his life. She has sworn an OATH, you see.

Rated 8.13 on MAL, M is a 2007 production of 1 season consisting of 26 25-minute English dubbed episodes with CC available. It's based, per Wiki, "entirely on the first novel in the Guardian series, and greatly expands the midsection of the novel." Author Uehashi NNahok's next most popular work is The Beast Player Erin. Once again, there's no English translation of many of the written words that appear onscreen - a general failing of anime that has been widely corrected, as of late.

There's a rich and wide variety of characters. Musa Jiguro is the man who protected and raised Balsa. He turned her into a warrior. A noble one. Sagum is Chagum's older brother, the crown prince. The brothers love eachother. Jin is one of Chagum's pursuers who is in for many surprises. Madam Torogai, the ancient mystic teacher is voiced wonderfully by Barbara Goodson. She's the smartest, funniest, and craziest character. Tanda, the madam's student and a particular admirer of Balsa, is always helping from the shadows. Shuga & Saya are two of the group from the city; they commandeer the street betting scene in ep11; it's well written.

Touya is the palace star reader who takes a great interest in Chagum. He's a stargazer, and he's a man of science. He is very conflicted about the decision to kill the prince. Even after he believes that Prince is dead, he continues to investigate the matter because it doesn't sit right. He's out in the countryside one day and talks to a local. There's no change in the number of fish, and the farmers had a bumper crop. BUT the mantis, per oral tradition, lay their eggs where they anticipate next year's water line to be, and the mantis have laid their eggs very low this year, the local guy points out. So, the insects anticipate a drought. Touya considers the evidence: 'There's plenty of fish and the harvest was bountiful. Doesn't that mean things are going well?' (He desperately wants to believe something good came from sacrificing Chagum). The local guy has another way of looking at it. Just in the way animals fatten themselves up before the winter, maybe nature is preparing itself for some bad months or even years, opines the man.

The evil of politics is one of the themes. "Resist this warning and you will find an underbelly to the Star Palace that you never knew existed." Everything is presented as mandatory. All options don't seem optional, but Balsa believes in fighting until the end for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The 2nd queen tells her son to NOT hate his father for ordering his death. She explains that he has a heavy responsibility to the kingdom and must do what is right for the kingdom/first/. In this case, "right" is killing the prince. The prince must die, not only because he is possessed by an "evil spirit", but merely because of /rumors/ that he is possessed. Perception is politics, and the opinions of the people factor as strongly into the King's decision to kill his son as anything else. This is how politics woos people to evil. We're always told there is no other way. The corrupting power of fear is another theme. This is what it looks like when rulers are driven by fear, and back at the palace, it's always politics as usual.

Fulfilling duty, courage, sacrifice for others, the greater good, and doing what's right are all themes of MGOTS. We see many fights, a plethora of colorful characters, and the plot is gloriously imaginative. MGOTS hardly seems Japanese, it's so much like a Chinese fantasy feature. The author has explained that was deliberate - she was trying to represent all of east Asia in her work.

The palace intrigues are good. The local intrigues are good. The magical intrigues are good. The character development and growth, the dialogue, and interactions are all better than good. Every element, in fact, is better than good, and every facet of MGOTS is excellent. Potential complaints are that it is methodical, maybe even plodding. But it goes at a steady pace. It's a solemn piece. There are some chuckles, and humor between the human personalities and their varied interactions, but this is a serious drama.

Right away, it's obvious that the art is next-level. They send signals from the first frame that this is a quality production. In fact, after 5 minutes of watching, I stopped and waited for my son to visit so that we could watch it together. He loved it. The art truly is stunning. People are realistic with a high level of detail. The backgrounds are detailed. Most frames are a work of art. This supports the vibe of a serious yet beautiful and epic style drama. The opening song (Shine, by L'Arc〰en〰Cielis) is a little cheerful for the show's serious tone, but it's VG. It takes me to Napoleon Dynamite's expressive dance and I developed the urge to raise my arms expressivly and giggle every time it played. Another song by Sachi Tainaka which plays during the closing credits is very nice.

Only nomads and gypsies stay on the road forever. Their Journey eventually comes to an end and there's a resolution (of sorts). At the end, the palace door slams hard and heavy. Chagum's in a prison. Balsa is back out on the free, open road. Chagum may not be free, but he will be a better king for his experience.

QUOTE📢

If you have money, life ends up being the same wherever you go.

〰🖍 IMHO

🎬87 📝86 🎭85 💓50 🦋30 🌞70 🎨95 ⚡67 🎵/🔊75 😅35 😭45 😱50 😯55 😖30 🤔60 💤15 🔚93

Age 10+ depending This is not appropriate for young kids.

There's violence, fighting, killing. The king decides to kill his son "for the greater good" The tradeoff is the way the protags handle adversity. This show reinforces the best qualities. Language v. Some d@mns & he!!s. Rated PG.

Re-📺? Absolutely

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Anime- Here Comes Miss Modern-8, The Dragon Prince-8.7, My Happy Marriage-8.3, Samurai Champloo-8.6, Nina the Starry Bride-8.4 Akame ga Kill! 8.6, To your Eternity-7.6, Legend of Exorcism-8.8, Heaven Official's Blessing,Land Of The Lustrous-8 Watership Down-8.5 Vinland Saga-10

🔮🐉- C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9; Douluo Continent 9.4; Handsome Siblings 8.7; Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!; Ancient Love Poetry 8.6; Love and Redemption 10

🎎 - C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4, Under the Power 8.6, The Rebel Princess 9.1, The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style), The Rise of Phoenixes 9.

This series is a fantasy tale, a story about survival and redemption, exquisitely crafted. There are no "stand-alone" episodes here; the story unfolds in a linear fashion, effectively leaving the viewer wanting more at the end of each episode. Great character development, you can't help but sympathize with the main characters as their relationships strengthen throughout their ordeals. The animation is exceptional as well as very realistic and backed by a fitting soundtrack by Kenji Kawai, makes for an elaborately atmospheric experience. The action scenes play a secondary role, one of building the tension when needed, although superbly choreographed nonetheless! There is no real explicit content but the spiritual aspects and the inescapable "cycle of life" theme embedded in the series is definitely for mature audiences only!

I saw the last episode of Seirei no Moribito last night. Actually it was 3AM. I couldn't go to sleep without knowing what happens in the end. When the whole thing was over, I did something I don't usually do: I clapped my hands in amazement... This is something I do only when I am truly impressed by what I saw. This show is perfect! It's flawless pure and simple! The story is very interesting and beautifully told. It unfolds just right from one episode to the other like a perfectly written book. The character development, as others pointed out, is very well done! In the end you just wish the show would never stop and you develop a sort of respect for the characters that doesn't really happen with characters from other anime shows. Just like the title says, from time to time I surf the net and find a gem like "Seirei no Moribito". I'm glad I found it and I'm glad I can tell others about it. It's good that in our time you can still find amazing stories such as this one. 10 out of 10? Sure, if 10 is the highest score I can give it, but it's as simple as this: this series is Perfect and Beautiful! If you find it, for the love of God watch it and keep it safe! If you have children, this is the kind of quality they should be watching! Definitely a series that entertains you and also teaches you valuable things. Later I realized I started asking myself: "what would Balsa do in this situation?"...