Novel, Anime: Seirei no Moribito is adapted from the first volume of the ten-volume Guardian series of the same name, and was written by Nahoko Uehashi and released in Japan in July of 1996. Scholastic has translated it as Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and released the translated novel in June of 2008. The translation of the novel was honored with the Batchelder Award for outstanding translated work at the 2008 midwinter conference of the American Library Association.
Seirei no Moribito is a twenty-six episode anime directed by Kenji Kamiyama (who also directed everything in the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series, including the TV show, OAV, and movies) and produced by Production IG (known for their work on the Ghost in the Shell series and xxxHOLIC). Moribito aired on Japanese TV from April 7th to September 29th of 2007. It was originally licensed almost immediately after the production announcement by Geneon, who soon after went defunct. The license was picked up by Media Blasters, and was translated as Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, with the third volume due to be released on February 24th of this year. It also aired on Adult Swim in a fairly convoluted run, starting in the 12:30 AM (central time) slot starting on August 24th of 2008, but was then switched to the 4:30 AM (central time) slot in early September, with the first ten episodes being aired twice before being pulled from the schedule on January 16th of this year.
Story: Balsa, a spear-wielding wandering female bodyguard, is passing through the New Yogo Empire, and happens to save the second prince, Chagum, from drowning in the river. As she is saving him, she notices a bright blue light surrounding them both. That night, in the middle of the night, she is called to the palace by the Second Empress, who wishes for her to flee with and protect the life of Chagum, who the Emperor, his father, believes is possessed by a water demon that threatens to destroy the Empire, and is determined to kill at all costs. Balsa, who works as a bodyguard to atone for a past sin, agrees, and takes Chagum and flees. However, all is not what it seems...
Probably the most interesting thing about this show is the characters themselves. None of the characters are simply good or evil, even those who would pursue and kill Chagum; they're all fleshed out as human beings, with reasons behind their decisions. What's even more interesting is that when these characters make their decisions, they actually make sense, and are even smart, given the situation, which is something that is lacking among most main characters of anime these days. Take Balsa, for instance; none of her actions or decisions are superfluous or over the top or done to point out the fact that she is a woman and a bodyguard - she simply does her job, nothing more, nothing less. It's wonderful to see a female character of this sort.
It's also an incredibly well-built world. Various aspects of how the empire runs, culture, history, different ethnic groups, religion, city and country life, just about everything that could be thought of is fleshed over the course of this series. The level of detail in general is amazingly intricate, and it's here that it's very evident that the source material for this show was originally a novel.
Seirei no Moribito is one of the most solid stories I've seen of this type in a good long time. It has one of the most common threads of sci-fi and fantasy anime at the core of its story - protect the special child! - but the way that it actually executes the plot is well done. And, by my standards, I should really like this series.
But, here's the thing. I assumed, from the first episode on, that Seirei no Moribito would be a show of high standards; when it lived up to that, I wasn't that surprised. To some degree, though, I hoped that it would go beyond my expectations for it. And it didn't, which is probably why I'm not all that into this show.
It's a solid series with good plot, characters and a well-built world, yes, it just leaves me with a meh feeling. It probably works better as a novel, honestly.
Art: The art for this series is extremely high-quality. Backgrounds are intricately detailed, animation is well-done, and character designs aren't incongruous with who the characters actually are - Balsa looks like she's a bodyguard, Chagum looks like a prince in hiding, etc.
However, where this series really shines is in the action scenes.
Think of any animated action series you might've watched recently, or one you know really well, doesn't even have to be anime. Keep that series in your head, and go and look up Moribito fight scenes on YouTube. You will notice the differences instantly. There is no skimping on the details, or shortcuts; every moment of the fight is animated, from beginning to end. This series is probably going the standard on which I base all fight scenes on; there's no excuse for other shows not being able to get this level of detail in their fights.
Music: The music was very unobtrusive for the most part; I really only noticed it if it was going out of its way to be heard. There's a folk song towards the end of the series that ends up becoming integral to the resolution of the plot, and is a nice little song that I'll go out of my way to listen to here and there. The OP (done by L'Arc en Ciel) and ED (done by Chagum's VA) are nothing too special. Overall, decent music, but nothing outstanding or anything.
Seiyuu: There aren't any names I really know from any other productions in this series, but overall, the seiyuu do a wonderful job.
Length: I never felt that this series was too long or too short, in the end. It might've had more impact on me if it had been shortened by a few episodes, but, at the same time, we wouldn't have gotten information that we did otherwise.
Overall: Overall, this is a solid series with good plot and characters, a well-built world, beautiful art, and wonderfully done fight scenes, but, in the end, it doesn't leave you with anything more than a "meh" feeling. Maybe try looking at the novel instead?
Story: 8/10
Art: 9/10
Music: 8/10
Seiyuu: 8/10
Length: 7/10
[b]Overall[/b]: 40/50; 80% (B-)
