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    Almael
    Member
    Seirei no Moribito/Guardian of Spirit (Season 1)

    [BBvideo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kXNDM5EzVk[/BBvideo]

    http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag254/jashiman/Live%20Action/Seirei%20no%20Moribito/th_Seirei_no_Moribito01-006n_zpsy5rmw5cc.png" />http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag254/jashiman/Live%20Action/Seirei%20no%20Moribito/th_Seirei_no_Moribito01-030n_zpsx1ve4jub.png" />

    forced banquet

    http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag254/jashiman/Live%20Action/Seirei%20no%20Moribito/th_Seirei_no_Moribito01-013n_zpsc16pqazl.png" />

    the imperial capital

    http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag254/jashiman/Live%20Action/Seirei%20no%20Moribito/th_Seirei_no_Moribito01-085n_zpsfxhojieo.png" />

    lady of the lake : Torogai

    Type: fantasy history live action

    Genre: mystery, fantasy, action

    Year: 2016

    Introduction:

    This is a series of 22 (4+9+9) episodes total in 3 seasons over 3 years based on the 12 novel Moribito series by Nahoko Uehashi.. Like the anime of the same name Season 1 covers the first novel.

    Synopsis:

    Balsa saves Chagum, becomes his guardian and is thrust involuntarily into an adventure of being the most sought after!

    Critique:

    I just relized it’s been 8 years since I last saw the anime. Like the anime the show is lavishly beautiful. The special effects & animations are really good; hard to tell from real or not. Well, the forests are real, though. It’s comparable to “the Legend”. I think it’s a first with this level and scope for a Japanese show of this size. In return they saved a bit on the size of the set, though. Might be better in season 3.

    Haruka Ayase as Balsa was quite some shocking surprise. Here she shows her real life athletic ability. She’s no less than any other famed female martial artist actress here. Well, she’s a track and field person in real life not just in “Sekai No Chuushin De”. She does the action scenes very convincing… maybe too convincing. πŸ˜† And despite all the heavy makeup she looks too good still. Maybe she lacks grace, though, but that’s how Balsa is. Or maybe she has too much of it? πŸ˜†

    The rest of the cast is full of really good actors. I could but can’t wish for much more. I doubt there’s more in the budget for better ones anyway.

    Hayashi Kento as Shuga is definitely a good choice. He’s an unsuspecting chameleon actor. You may have seen him often but never realized it in his disguises. This will be interesting later on. Fumino Kimura as Ratu Kedua, Chagum’s mother, gives it her all. Perhaps her best performance so far.

    Ohno Satoshi as Emperor of New Yogo is kind of evil. He’s different from the anime.

    The story is closer to the novel than the anime and more complicated. Therefore, it makes a bit more sense in certain parts. The details are a bit different but that’s normal so I can’t tell for certain. Overall, it looks like a mix of your typical Chinese/Hong Kong martial arts movie and some fantasy movie with lavish backdrops both real and CGI.

    The art design is kind of even more chinese influenced than the anime. The temple’s design reminds of the Korean legend of the tree, though. And the wall paintings are european baroc or later rather than greek-indo-asianized variation. Here, Balsa’s people resemple a certain mountain people, who got eradicated by the Han, even more than in the anime. Here childhood friends more of those in the south. And well, some everyday things are too modern or rather modern stuff made to look historic primitive.

    The action scenes are better than the anime. (゚0゚) Unlike the anime the show features Balsa’s childhood adventure with seemingly mongols. She had her first fight at a pony station which is more chinese than mongolian design, though. The mongolian design is famed for efficiency.

    Balsa has her first battle with mountain bandits; witnessed the evil of men and took her first kill. And there’s bloody medical procedures. Torogai, here, is more of a witch. There are other indigenous people, too. They look and have accessories like southerners than people of northern regions.

    While the anime had a prominent story part in the mountains where they took refuge the show cut it short. Also different on the way back they are attacked by a huge tentacle creature from another realm. The end kind of came fast as it’s cramped into episode 4. Only episode 1 is normal paced.

    Now, if you actually look at the map… it looks like a typical Japanese/Korean map meaning West is up and North is to the right. Hence, the land it takes place is somewhere north-west of ancient Korea territory (see Legend) into the mongolian area.

    Verdict: 9.5

    Cast 9.5

    Cast performance 10

    Script/Directing: 9