Reviews

Jun 5, 2010
Mixed Feelings
"Kemono no Souja Erin" is an anime with great plot potential, well build characters and pleasant design, but unfortunately - horrid storytelling and structure. It takes 50 episodes to tell the story (which is supposed to be understandable, since it's long one), but dragged scenes with badly animated conversations, and lots of flashbacks make you feel as if it should be done in 26 episodes instead - and maybe it should have.

As I mentioned, the story has great potential - we have our main heroine that we meet when she is still a little kid, we watch her grow, mature, and struggle, through all the hardships she has to overcome. In the same time the story gives us insight about what is going on in the country where the heroine lives, introduces us to the royal family, and some political intrigues. The characters presented have different backgrounds and aims but all of their stories intersect at some point. This is what you normally call "great storytelling", but the thing is - the anime is horribly slow and not well planned. It could have been so much better.

Many people claim that slow plot development of "Kemono no Souja Erin" simply builds up the atmosphere, and in some episodes - maybe they are right. But in most of them - no sir. Many episodes in this anime show action that could be presented in 10 minutes but goes on for 20. And yes, some very good series do this and are still great, but this anime it's not the case, because the means through which the creators prolong the episodes are mainly flashbacks, still shots of scenery and conversations presented to you in few still shots of people sitting next to each other. In other words - this is a prime example of poor directing and lack of money for animation. In some episodes you will see the same scenery scene even 6 times (I counted), and the flashbacks that remind you what happened few minutes ago. And why would somebody do that? Of course, not to animate anything else. This does not count anymore as "building up the atmosphere". It really, really doesn't.

I don't know what happened during the production of "Kemono no Souja Erin", but something must have gone wrong. The way it is done really makes you feel as if it should take 26 episodes and nothing would be lost- it shouldn't be that way because the story is really good and complex. It is simply a shame that it went the way it did - it could have been a real anime gem, but it's not. You get bored, you see the same scenes you saw few minutes ago, you look at the endless still shots of scenery, and you don't get enough satisfaction. The poor directing and planning turned this story into and average show. I can only guess the novel is amazing. "Seirei no Moribito" by the same author, came out to be a MUCH better anime. Check it out instead.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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