Jul 2, 2009
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.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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