Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

Original title: Serei no Moribito
Genre: Fantasy.
Author: Nahoko Uehashi
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Studio: Production I.G
Original run: from April 7, 2007 to September 29, 2007
Lenght: 26 episodes.

"I cannot let someone who knows this secret go free."


It finished already, and yet, I still do not know if I’m honestly disappointed or if I’m just surprised that it didn’t went at all like I was expecting.
Well, at a first sight I figured that it was an animation with a plot focusing a distant past, a Japanese one, with a female focal character being a powerful warrior, and that seemed a truly uncommon approach. Well, as my bet for the context was right, I can’t say the same for the second part of my personal bet, as it doesn’t have the action that I was expecting. It starts like that, and she is really strong like her opponents but soon it will be over with the majority of the episodes being quite peaceful and polite.
Resuming the plot isn’t a hard task as I only need to say that this female, Balsa, is a wandering warrior who takes the mission of saving lives in atonement for a past sin. On her journey, the second Empress hires Balsa to protect the life of the second prince Chagum, guardian of the water spirit and the eight and last atonement for the spear wielder. Quite simple, actually isn’t it?
Well, I will not recommend you this anime because of its action or because any of the common vectors. By opposite, I actually recommend this series for its environment. Serei no Moribito, more than a story, have history! The context, the places, the ways of being, all the court details, all the perspectives and traditions and even believes, turns this anime in a really educative piece of work and if you have any interest for more than superficial entertainment and if you want to acquire some reasonable knowledge about the Japanese native culture, Serei no Moribito welcomes you!
However, the emotionless of the plot as well as the lack of skirmish may decrease severally your interest.

Story: 7
Design: 8
Animation Dynamics: 6
Soundtrack: 7.5
Sound Effects: 6
Characters: 7
Voice Performances: 7.5
Overall: 7,0