[valondar]

Twelve Kingdoms is definitely one of the better fantasy anime I've seen, but then, it appeals to me because it really indulges in one of the things I like most about the genre: The capacity for elaborate and sweeping world-building. It does a lot about the politics and the social order of the hierarchical feudal monarchies, there's just a lot of scope to the damn thing which is nice. As chii says the first episodes are pretty poor (to the point I was thinking what the hell was the point of watching the series) but it does improve as it progresses and overall was a very worthwhile watch.

And while I like the genre, I do prefer sci-fi and that's my favourite anime genre (so it's perhaps no surprise that my two favourite anime right now are both sci-fi shows).