Ranked #673

Kemono no Souja Erin

First of all, don't judge an anime by its art-work and NO, this is NOT a children's anime.

Before I start writing a review, here is a quick advice: Watch the First 6 episodes and then rate this anime and tag it as a children's anime if you want. After watching first six episodes, you will not be able to avoid this anime anymore, because it happened to me and now i know how wrong it would have been if i dropped this anime without even going to the main storyline.

Short Plot:

The plot is set in a world of fantasy beasts. Erin, a ten year old orphan is the lead character of the anime. Her father, the son of village chief had long passed away leaving her mother Soyon, a beast doctor when Erin was a toddler. Brought up in a single parent family by her mother Soyon, Erin is a quick learner, and everyone loves her for her intelligence she has been gifted with.

The village breeds and nurtures wild beasts called "Touda", in our world, it appears to be a larger species of Komodo. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon

Erin's mother Soyon looks after the Toudas, the fearsome beasts that are used for military purpose. Great wars have been decided by the superiority of touda-army and thus upbringing toudas have become a profession of many villages. Erin, with her amusement and delight watches as her mother Soyon looks after toudas. from aka-chan (baby) touda to monster kiba (huge touda reared up using special treatment and care) Soyon looks after many of these wild beasts and the best beast trainer and beast doctor in the village.

However, Soyon always faces harsh remarks from some villagers as she has been from the Kiri tribe. The Kiri tribe is a tribe that isolated themselves from regular people for long and rumors say they rely on forbidden teachings and beliefs. A notable appearance of the Kiri tribe is that, they have midori (green) eyes and hair, which Erin genetically got from her mother.

But most of the villagers love hardworking Soyon and her lovely little girl Erin, as Erin's energy and enthusiasm runs through every corner of the village and her presence can be felt always.

Erin, growing up with the teachings, the wisdom and the warmth of her mother, and days ahead are full of promises as she decides to follow her mother's footsteps and become a beast doctor herself until....

(this is where you pick up the anime from, episode 6)

Review:

The story is by far the best in recent times. this anime has so much to offer and i am amazed with the settings it made up (first 5 episode) before turning into an absolutely heartbreaking and at the same time heartwarming story.

Most of the characters are already developed, it is only erin and the two sons of the duke who are going through the age of development (i can already see the older brother will be the main male lead of this anime when they grow up).

The sound is amazing. the background songs give a nudge of tenderness and at the same time fills your heart with warmth.

The animation style is different and probably the reason why this anime scored so badly. I myself decided to hang up this anime after watching the first 3 episodes since i didnt like the animation style at all. but i had plentiful time and ran out of ongoing anime and decided to give a go after a friend suggested me that i will miss it if I don't pick the show up.

I did and watched two more episodes and thought is it really worth it. I am glad I decided to give another try, but was telling myself episode 6 will be the last if this anime doesn't pick up any pace. And boy am not i glad that I did!

Episode 6 and onwards have been absolutely amazing. I am now at episode 14 and cannot wait for more. This anime is probably the best anime of all the anime that started since January 2009 and sad but true, people will overlook this anime because many couldnt bear the slow pace of the anime at the start and above that, there is this animation style.

Overall, this anime has been almost a masterpiece.

A reminder: please at least watch up to episode 6. because this anime worth every second from there onwards. read more

I'm going to draw a middle line on the debate surrounding the 'childrens anime' tag and just suggest that this is 'all ages.' Much of the scenic artwork found in Kemono no Souja Erin is deeply reminiscent of Folk Tale art, and I would go so far as to say that the show follows such a line in terms of story as well. This isn't to say that its in any way juvenile, it isn't.

The depth to this anime is truly exceptional, to the point where I'm not sure I've ever seen its like. The plot builds slowly, and meticulously. Each new episode lays down new stones, each building on the last, constructing the world with considerable attention to detail.

This story could quite probably have been told in 26 or even 13 episodes, thats the feeling I'm getting as it progresses (this being written with 17 episodes out so far). However the story hasn't been drawn out so much as each character and element of the world has been allowed to grow organically over time.

This is an epic tale with epic presentation, with an artistic style I can't really attach to anything else I've ever seen. I can only imagine that once this series is done it will take on a life of its own; but, even now as its running I can think of no other anime I was ever less likely to stall or drop.

This is as close, I think, as an anime can get to a truly good book. A must watch. read more