Guardian of the Sacred Spirit (Seirei no Moribito), episdoe 1-8 [no spoilers]

[timepiececlock]

rasielle recommended this series, and I'm enjoying it immensely. It feels like Blade of the Immortal met Mushishi and had a child series, and that progeny then hooked up with The Twelve Kingdoms...resuling in Seirei no Moribito.

It's methodical and almost paced... but not slow. Simply more careful and thorough than a lot of anime series take the time to be. Like 12Kingdoms, this reminds me of the experience of reading a novel, although 12K was much too slow at points. Seirei no Moribito feels like an epic series in gradual advancement. My interest in the plot is high, the world of the characters is new but familiar enough not to be a big issue, and the characters are already strong and three-dimensional.

I'm most impressed by the choice of protagonist... a stoic, conservative female warrior on the brink of turning 30, repenting through past evils and seeking a higher way of life without needless killing. Not only is it unusual for anime to take what would normally be a stock "male" role and make the character female instead, but it's unusual for any anime to have a female protagonist whose older than 25. And now this woman, who has been a drifter for her whole life, is suddenly saddled with a child... a self-conscious, spoiled boy of about 10-11 years. He's not a bad kid-- in fact he seems to take it to heart how much other people have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for him--but he's immature and unsure of himself, and has practically no useful skills.

The eclesiastical character--Shuga-- I also find him interesting, and I look forward to the future events that make his plotline overlap with Balsa's. I can't help but feel that the whole empire is going to go through some significant changes before the end of this show... we see little hints of conflict in the clergy, in the royal family, and in the spy network connecting everyone to everyone else. I just know the camera doesn't pause on the covered faces of the servants so often for nothing.

Comments

Re: I need some Balsa icons... *whines*

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

They're being almost TOO obvious with the covered servants. The camera pauses on their veils at least once an episode. I fully expect development, since otherwise it's just wasting time every episode, which would be depressing. :D

It is pretty great so far-- THIS is much more my mood for fantasy adventure at the moment, though I *do* like shoujo sometimes too. I can't really explain why I like this one but didn't like that other historical fantasy you recommended... well, it was probably the character design. Really put me off, for some reason. THat's the kind of thing you never know you'll care about until you actually watch it.

you'll find that the general opinion is "falls short of 12 Kingdoms, soulless, etc" - which has mystified me as a viewer all the more because I could never put my finger on why exactly Seirei wasn't as exciting as 12K.

That's interesting, because I didn't think 12K was very exciting. Well it had its moments, sure, particularly from about episode 3 through 14 or 15... most of the first arc. And the end of the final arc when the war is building up... but there were huge stretches of episodes, as much as 8 or 9, where I thought the show was incredibly boring. I almost dropped it during that whole part with the young black-haired kirin and the king. While I loved the epic scope of 12K, the erratic story pacing was one of my complaints about it. Sections of excitement followed by longer sections of very boring stuff, that I only survived because I have an analytical interest in the world-building that's going on. I think 12K would have been better as a 26 episode series, or split into one 26 episode season + one 13 episode sequel half-season or OVA series.

So far, Seirei no Moribito has been very similar an experience, in terms of the methodical story pacing that 12K also had, mixed with intense action sequences. It's not as emotionally intense as some shows and I can see why it would be thus "boring"... although I like Balsa and Chagum, all the characters feel a little distant, so my heart's not hanging in the balance as to whether they survive or not. For me, that's why it's not quite "exciting" yet, just interesting. But that can change in time, and I might truly fall in love with the characters. Right now they're merely intriguing. I think that's why some might call it "soulless". I had this problem ultimately with Blood+, and that's why I never finished the series. I couldn't get attached to the characters. But that show was 45 episodes long.... I'm pretty sure I'm good for a standard season length.

[rasielle.livejournal.com]

re: wasted arc in 12 Kingdoms

Regarding the arc including Taiki and G... Gyosou? Taiki's king, YES. I wouldn't say I thought it was boring - I'm a total sucker for any ambitious worldbuilding in general (*cough* closetRobertJordanfan *cough*) - but when I found out that they weren't going to resolve it AT ALL in the anime adaptation - yeah. A waste of funds, in my opinion. I wholeheartedly believe they should've made episode 39 the very last episode, immediately after Youko passes her first law as Kei-ou. It was so final and full of authority that it would've been an epic last-scene-ever; they even had the Pirates of the Caribbean background music playing and everything.

re: Seirei's emotional intensity

Yep, that vibe doesn't kick in until well into the series - but it does get there, and the viewer falls hard. The dynamics between Balsa and Chagum become extremely intense, and if by episode 18 or 19, you aren't fully engaged by the characters, then I doubt you could be afterwards.

Before that, though, there is a sort of lull in the plot that may result in a few really calm, almost dull episodes - they're not bad, though, and there are absolutely no real fillers. What might appear to be a filler actually harbors some kind of significance to be explored a little later. That's what I love about Seirei: so high-quality, yet so economic. What's missing is the trademark crack that comes with anime, but I did start Ranma 1/2 immediately afterwards and, well. ^^;;