STORY: 8/10
In feudal Japan, the young prince Chagum has seemingly been possessed by this "water demon" that is said to be responsible for droughts, and knowing what will happen to her son, the queen begs a humble traveling spear wielder named Balsa to take the child prince away until they find a way to banish the demon. She accepts, and the temple where they talked was burnt to a crisp, making the royals call her a criminal, so now both people have to accept their new circumstances while on the run from the Mikado's forces. It's interesting to note that this journey probably could've been finished in about 14-16 episodes. However, if they did, they wouldn't have time to do any world-building or flesh out the characters, which would've made the series far less impressive than it is, but even then, with the 26 episode slot, there are times where things get a bit dull and fillery for the sake of world-building, and as such meanders. Luckily, we get some nice in depth looks at Balsa's past and why she decided to take up the spear without killing anyone. Unfortunately, for an alarming period of time, there seems to be no clear end goal or true antagonist, minus the Mikado's forces getting in the way a few times here and there. However, the final act rolls around, and you can see what they were methodically building up to, and while it is an interesting reveal and sequence of events that DOSEN'T go the whole "it was just some narcissistic douchebag pulling the strings all along" route, it definitely sets itself up in a way that it almost feels like either a sequel bait, or a "they live to go on a new journey/and they live to fight another day" thing. You can pick either or, but I like to go with the latter.
CHARACTERS: 9/10
Let's start with Balsa. Balsa...is amazing. This show gives a more realistic look to its characters, like back in the '90's, and she is beautiful. As for her character, she is a total badass, but at the same time, she is merciful, sorta like Batman. Her father died when she was like 6, so she was forced to travel with an equally awesome and badass spear-wielder maned Jiguro that way the people behind her father's death don't end up killing her too. Both of them bond over the years, and we can definitely see how Jiguro rubbed off on her, as both characters are wonderful people. Chagum, is a homesick kid who manages to adapt to his new environment surprisingly well, even if his homesickness eventually overtakes him. The other side characters are nice as well. There is one issue though. We never actually see much development. The actions are a direct response from a character's backstory, but these characters never actually develop into slightly improved or different people. Even some of the royals, Warriors, and star-readers never really develop, but instead have pure consistancy with their actions due to their background, only changing tasks as a response to the bigger picture unfolding.
ART: 9/10
Let's get this out of the way. The CGI in this show varies in quality. Sometimes, it can look fine and complement the scene. Sometimes, it can be downright jarring. As for the character models, they look like a more polished version of the more realistic look used in many '90's anime films, and this style is actually rather rare Sith very few popular examples aside from Ghost in The Shell or Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress for an example more akin to this artstyle. The fight scenes look gorgeous. The choreography and fluidity of the fights is astounding, and at points, can be breath-taking just to see how well done these spear and sword clashes are done. Even some of the spirits and creatures look rather good as well.
SOUND: 8/10
The OP done by L'arc en ciel, is a nice and calming OP, fitting considering the nature of this show, ableit, the opening isn't truly amazing, but is nice nonetheless. The ED is just plain forgettable and meh. The OST, dosen't have anything truly memorable, but the pieces do go well with the situations and atmospheres present in the show. Now, the dub, is also good. Balsa's portrayed brilliantly, and everyone else does so a mostly good job, even if it is weird seeing Yuri Lowenthal and Johny Yong Bosch playing a teenager and Chagum's brother respectively. Nothing groundbreaking in either part of sound, but it's pleasant nonetheless.
ENJOYMENT: 8/10
That's a good way to describe this show: pleasant. Normally with this type of series, you'd see far more angst and bloodshed than what's being presented here. However, some episodes do get a bit boring, and a bit on the simple-minded and childish side, but overall, the great fight scenes really made up for that. I can at least say that I was mostly entertained and lulled.
OVERALL: 8/10 RAW SCORE: 8.33/10
You can't help but wonder how a show like this never really got talked about much in the anime community. It is definitely a calming series, and at times, a slow burn [(props to anyone who understands this term before I explain it) (slow burn is when some scenes are deliberately boring in order to slow things down and break up the more intense moments of a story)], but this is definitely a series I can recommend to anyone looking for something a bit different, or something in a more feudal era. With that said, I bid you adieu.
