Somali and the Forest Spirit - Reviews

Alt title: Somali to Mori no Kami-sama

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nitebeing's avatar
Mar 23, 2022

*no spoilers* this could've been incredible! I'd rate it 3 & a half stars but it deserves an extra half star for the backgrounds alone!! they were so stunning & immersive, sometimes I had to skip back a bit cuz I missed sum dialogue just dwelling in them~ such detail & softness & v pleasing colour palettes!!! esp the blues & purples & pinks~ & so much luv is put into the character designs & world-building~

it's a sweet slice-of-life father-daughter fantasy drama with a few dark themes. it's simplicity is somehow both its strength & it's weakness~ I feel some of the commentary on forgiveness & prejudice would've benefited frum a deeper more nuanced approach. I'm curious to check out the manga to see how they differ~ it did make me cry a few times, & it's overall v sappy & adorable~

if u watch it & wanna support the mangaka, Yako Gureishi, he is currently destitute & has recently asked for support so he can hopefully start up the manga again after a few years dealing with poor health. he has a pixiv fanbox or u can buy the manga

?/10 story
?/10 animation
?/10 sound
?/10 characters
8/10 overall
Archert's avatar
Oct 12, 2020

Sobrevalorada.

A la animación le queda por mejorar mucho. El mundo que han creado es intesante y bonito, las ciudades que van visitando son hermosas y plagada de cosas pero no hay apenas detalles en los dibujos, algunas proporciones y dibujos de brazos y pies son horribles en varias escenas. Por ejemplo, cuando visitan la primera ciudad hay numerosas razas pero no podemos ver detalles en ellas, en el cuerpo de un reptil no vemos sus escamas solo un coloreado verde. Los colores no tienen tanta fuerza y algunas partes del Golem como la boca parecen pintadas con lapiz. Esto me da rabia pues cuando termino de ver un capitulo llega el ending, y en el ending es una explosión de colores vivos, sobras brutales, numerosos detalles, una auténtica maravilla que no es utilizada para la serie...Es verdad esto es gracias al CGI pero ya hemos visto en animes como Violet o Jibaku Shounen que no se necesita de CGI para lograr un grandisimo resultado. Toda esta chapa viene un poco por que he visto mucho 10 en la animación y me parece un insulto para estos dos últimos animes que acabo de mencionar.

En cuanto la historia me gusta el mundo tan variado que han creado y como se explota. Constantantemente estamos viendo cosas de él, sus razas, ciudades, incluso costumbres. También algo que me gusto y me pareció curioso fue la situación entre humanos y el resto de razas, me pareció muy acertada y diferente. Hay dos puntos negrativos que no puedo dejar pasar por alto. Primero, la historia nos cuenta el viaje de un golem y una niña humana, el viaje esta plagado de momentos enternecedores donde la niña mostrará su afecto hacia el golem de numerosas maneras y este hacia la niña, hasta el punto de enteder que tiene sentimientos. El problema es que constamente nos recuerdan que el golem se va a morir, por lo tanto me hace sentir que esos momentos "enternecedores" estan hechos de manera artificial, hechos para que cuando llege el día de su muerte esto haga de un mayor drama. Los segundo es su final, un final horriblemente abierto, no esperé que se quedara tan abierto por como estaba planteado, horrible.

Los personajes es quizas lo que más me gusto, jugaron muy bien con las personalidades del golem y la niña, haciendo de esta una pareja interesante.

El sonido es de notable, sin ser un portento tiene algunas melodias de fondo bastante buenas y canciones propias que casan muy bien.

En resumen, la intención de la serie es hacernos llegar esos sentimientos que nacen de la relación que hay entre el golem y la niña, pero a mi no me ha llegado debido a ese final y lo explicado más arriba, quizas en una segunda temporada...

¿La recomiendo? No

7.3/10 story
7.8/10 animation
8.1/10 sound
8.3/10 characters
7.8/10 overall
Misoony's avatar
Jan 9, 2024

There was something so magical about this anime, with the heartwarming relationship between Somali and her Father, sweet characters and beautiful art. I'm honestly surprised this anime isn't more popular. I really really loved it.

Somali is such a cute and sweet character, and she stumbles into the care of Golem aka Father. For awhile he's hesitant about taking care of her, as it's not his purpose. But he still wants her to live a happy life, and he's determined to give her that. The two of them go on a journey together to find her this happy life, however along the journey he realizes that she is living her happy life, she's happy with him. He realizes that in a sense he's become her father and he cares for her quite a lot. This journey between the two of them, where they bond and Golem realizes he's more than what was just his original person was so sweet. There were so many moments of care and friendship, along with moments that made me cry.

Along their journey they meet others who also turn out to be quite kind. These characters are all quite different so I can't describe the majority of them, but they bond with Golem and Somali, caring for them as well, whether this takes awhile or not, and these characters become part of the journey, even if for just a few episodes, they're important to Somali and Golem and are considered friends. They also help Golem realize that he cares for Somali, an they care for her too.

The art, animation and backgrounds was absolutely gorgeous. It had such beautiful backgrounds and the character designs fit so well with the world and story that I'd say this animation was just perfect for this series. It was amazing.

I highly recommend Somali and the Forest Spirit, there's so many emotions within it and the bond between Somali and Golem is wonderful to watch along with seeing the world they're within.

9/10 story
10/10 animation
10/10 sound
9/10 characters
9.5/10 overall
kizhuo0's avatar
Aug 12, 2021

Maybe this is a spoiler? i don't really know but if you read this and i somewhat spoiled it, my bad. 🚨Spoiler warning ⚠️ 

I accidentally stumbled onto this anime when scrolling through crunchyroll and let me just say that it was the best decision ever. This anime focuses on the story of a human child named somali and a non human creature called a golem. Seeing the relationship grow between the father and daughter was so pure. The golem father learns so many new emotions throughout the episodes and learns that he does have emotions and learns to treasure his human child. They meet new people and learn new things thought their travels.  They're in search of something related to the little kid somali because of time. Definitely go check out this anime out if you're in search of something wholesome and interesting. 

10/10 story
10/10 animation
10/10 sound
9/10 characters
10/10 overall
BlackCatLef's avatar
Jul 5, 2020

3S Review no.1 (short, simple and sweet/spicy/salty)

Its really funny how the abundance of horrible anime (or any type of creation in general) out there makes you really appreciate the simple things. What are those simply things, a story with a beginning and an end with some solid characters.

Somali and the Forest Spirit has those two simple things. Somali and the Golem, or the daughter and the father if you prefer, are two well fleshed out characters. Somali represents the idealistic person, the more romantic (with the good ol’ meaning, not the new kind of lost in translation one) point of view in life, while Golem-san is the realist, the naturalistic approach of how life works. There is a hint of how the one school of thought blends and fights or resists the other, kind of how an art movement resists, fights or acculturates the other.

Story is simple, story telling is solid, with a few hiccups here and there and some parts where good writing leaves the building, but nothing worrisome. Its bad writing with a purpose, that purpose being enhancing the so called "creator's message", is that something i concur with? No, but its a common occurrence in literature, its one of those flawed mechanisms that writers get away with because you judge it by the result, and not by the procedure. Another common occurrence in literature is the "false open ending", same with this anime. You don't really get the end of the story, but you get the end of the plot, you are free to imagine a different ending using all the optimism that derives from your heart (because that is where the anime is aiming, your heart, your sentimental part of the brain) but the end as far as events go is pretty much predetermined. What can change is how you view it, or how you accept it. As the inevitable naturalistic end, or something idealistic that's beyond that, surpassing the biological end of life. Nonetheless the closure is there, probably satisfying for some and disappointing for others.

Animation is good, nothing special. Sound effects are ok, the opening is good, it struck to me how different the song is from the usual anime opening songs, but it didn't get stuck in my brain or anything. Finished the anime today and i cant recall it, i can only recall that it was unusual. What i can recall though is the voice acting of the two main characters, that was completely on point. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to voice two characters that are so monotonous and representative of a very specific school of thought and behavior (especially the one being a little girl) without being annoying and boring as fuck? Well its pretty damn hard but those two made it work. Somali is one of the least annoying little kids you'll ever come across in an anime.

So is it worth a watch? Yes it is. Had it been a 26 episodes series, it probably wouldn't. But those 12 episodes are worth your time. It won't blow your head away, but it won't be a waste of your time either. If you are looking for a short and kinda relaxing anime, its a good choice. You won't find any deep meanings in this one, nor a genius plot, you won't be coming back for more or wish it had more episodes. But you'll get the solid story of a father and daughter journey. You probably won't remember much of it through the passage of time, but you will definitely wont forget how well the two main characters (as linear as they were) were fleshed out, thanks to non-over the top writing and great voice acting.

6.1/10 story
5.9/10 animation
7.8/10 sound
6.9/10 characters
6.7/10 overall