Ranked #720

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

Kemono no souja erin is about a girl thrust between two warring nations; she seems to be able to control beasts.

I'm giong to keep this extremely short until i watch mroe, then i'll edit.

Kemono no souja erin is NOT a childrens book anime from what the other reviewer said. If one thinks of prejudice, death, politics, wars and folklore as a anime for children, you have downs.

I'll just note that the animation style may not suit everyone as it isn't what anime norms are today; with having said that, the characters look great, and the buildings although different have a certain charm, a charm that i find more attractive, ever play valkyria chronicles? it reminds me of that kind of animation.

the music is very befitting of the background and only adds to it.

Voice actors are pretty good.

Even though I cannot divulge more information at the time, i recommend giving this show a try, and i'm sure it will get much deeper as it is a 50 episode anime.

Sure if you wanna be judgemental and not give it a try be my guest, but on the same note, one might say that the writer of seirei no moribito wrote this story as well, and with that, i take my leave. read more

I've got to admit that the moment I saw the anime’s image, I thought it was for intended for children BUT I was mistaken. There is an old saying that says you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and in this case it’s the anime. The plot was great, to be honest I found it promising and it’s really hard to find animes these days with great plots. And the more I watched, the more I got hocked to it. The developments of the characters are slow in this anime. But that’s what makes its special and interesting to watch. As for the art, it’s sort of weird at first but you will get used to it overtime.
I guess all that’s left is for you to go ahead and see for yourself how good it is. I hope you will enjoy watching it as much as I did
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I'd recommend this anime to anyone. It isn't a children anime at all. It has War, Drama, Romance and more. There are parts that will make you cry, make you angry and more. Finished watching the Ep 26 Raw and was very moved. I won't go into what happens but I'm sure everyone will be very touched by it :).

This is an anime you can't miss watching!

I'll start off by saying this series feels very much like a show aimed at a younger audience, it falls wholly into that category of "safe for kids" (duh as if the rating wasn't clue enough). It's definitely not your typical late-night-airing shonen series that has become nearly synonymous with the term "anime."
Combat is bloodless (or very nearly) and there is little onscreen violence even during fighting sequences and what is shown is rather brief or extremely simplified (though the touda are a little mean looking at times).

The story other than is fairly simple and pretty straight forward. There is a narrator to fill in all the minor details and explain each characters motivations & thoughts when necessary.

The artwork is nothing flashy with the exception of a few detailed still images of Asian styled dragons & serpents used during transitions. Overall it is composed of soft colors & simple clean lines. Reminds me a lot of picture books I used to read as a kid, especially the shots of the village and cut-away elevation diagrams of the holding pens where the touda (giant lizards) are kept.
The characters and creatures are well drawn but for the most part they have very little detail (especially on clothing). Close up shots are a bit more detailed, but it still looks like a picture out of a coloring book at times, very simple & rather plain.
I have to say I wasn't a big fan of the way they drew the character's eyes, they were just colored circles without the black pupils, it looks a bit strange imo, kind of lifeless.
I have to say the overall simpleness of the artwork is one of the biggest detractors to this series (for me anyway), we are talking about a visual entertainment medium after all. If the work is not visually appealing it can be that much more difficult to enjoy the story as it is presented. However, considering the probable target audience, I can understand why it is presented in a simple picture book like style.

The BGM was soft and melodic, mostly strings & piano with a bit of upbeat electronic/synth during the more "dramatic" sequences to help set the mood. There was a musical interlude as well complete with vocals, a sort of cute little "lullaby" scene. Overall I think the BGM fit well with the style of the show, fairly tame with nothing too harsh or out of place. As a side note, I really liked the OP/ED theme music too.
The voice acting was decent. The narrator sounds more than a little monotone/dry in her delivery at times (always), which kinda got on my nerves a bit, but the rest of the cast wasn't too bad.

The main characters at least were likable & kinda cute, pretty much what you would expect from this genre considering the intended audience. The relationships and interactions between the characters are fairly straightforward and easily understood. This makes for a simple story but the characters end up feeling a bit lacking in depth at times.

Overall it's the kind of series I'd watch when I'm not looking for a lot of over the top action or romance/drama. I'm sure I probably would have enjoyed this more if I were maybe 15 years younger, but for what it's worth I didn't hate it either ^_^

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