Sheex

When I first decided to watch Seirei no Moribito, I must admit that, while it sounded somewhat interesting, I wasn't planning on being too impressed.  My perspective changed after witnessing the gorgeously animated opening sequence, and over the course of the next twenty-five episodes, my enjoyment of the series only grew.  While lacking slightly in story depth, the symbiotic orchestration of the animation and musical scores created a very distinct and unique feel to the series - the world itself wasn't too impressive, but I felt very much drawn into it.

The series begins with Balsa, a female spearman, entering a small village in the outskirts of the New Yogo Empire where the Emperor's son happens to be staying.  As she's passing through, the royal carriage carrying the young prince encounters misfortune on the village's main bridge, falling into the raging river below.  Balsa leaps into the river without hesitation and ends up saving the boy from certain death, and for her heroism she is summoned to the royal palace for a reward.  Upon arriving, however, she finds out that she rescued the prince from an assassination attempt, and the Empress charges Balsa with fleeing the palace and protecting the prince from any further harm.  She reluctantly accepts, and so the story begins.

While the plot sounds slightly cliché, the presentation of it is anything but.  With some of the most fluid pacing I've ever seen for a twenty-six episode series, much of Seirei is devoted to fleshing out its characters in a rather human light.  The vast majority of the anime, in fact, entails Balsa and Prince Chagum's everyday life in exile, and emphasizes his growth from a naïve child to a strong-willed man.  Though the first few episodes imply a rather tension-driven, hectic scenario of life-or-death proportions, this notion slowly fades as the episodes progress; in actuality, there are relatively minimal amounts of action within the central portion of the series.  As such, it provides for a very smooth, casual progression that magnificently captures the personas of the main characters.

As I shall discuss later, both Balsa and Chagum serve as immensely fine main characters, and their well-rounded statures fuel Seirei's potential.  Neither bears any resemblance to the generic, stereotypical roles most anime characters fill when placed in similar positions.  The series tends to show the characters grow through the simple, required daily tasks they must do to stay alive, ranging anywhere from shopping in the city streets to splitting logs for a fire; a very calm, serene aura actually encompasses the greater portion of the series' airtime, and, for the most part, drama is emphasized much more heavily than action.

Without a doubt, Seirei no Moribito captures a quality of animation many OVA-standard productions would be jealous of.  The attention to detail absolutely amazed me, especially with the use of reflective surfaces such as water, and the quality remained consistent throughout.  This perhaps accounts for the unequal disparity in fight scenes scattered throughout the series, as producing such ubiquitous, high-quality visual splendor is neither an easy or cheap task for a studio to undertake.  If you take the time to notice, for instance, you can see the clouds moving, the grass shuffling, and fires flickering completely independent of camera movement, which makes every aspect of the series' visuals to constantly seem naturally in motion.

Regardless, the fight scenes that are present boast some of the most amazing choreography I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing, as it's quite obvious the animators spent a fairly substantive amount of time studying the mechanics of actual spear and sword combat before putting them into production.  While perhaps slightly exaggerated, the physical combat is of amazing realistic quality, as the fights often pan out in very life-like ways.  For instance, often times a character will lose a weapon at some point in a fight and be placed in a mortal situation and must quickly adapt or face pending death; this results in the grabbing of nearby rocks, sticks, stones, or whatever other makeshift weapons the character can find.  There's no glossing over the combat in any fashion, and for those who appreciate enormously beautiful, detailed, and realistic medieval fighting, there are a handful of treats scattered throughout the series.

While I cared little for the opening theme and only slightly for the ending theme, they are by far the worse tracks of the series.  Every insert track carries a distinct, atmospheric feel that really draws the viewer into the story, especially so given each track's beautiful orchestration.  Whether it be an intense, tension driven battle or a trek through a verdant forest, the musical score really brings Seirei's epic storyline to life.  Sound effects play a key role in exemplifying the very natural flow of the musical tracks, as the series employs a vast number of different effects to emphasize its focus on realism.  For example, as the camera moves about the battlefield in a few scenes, the echoes of clashing metal change based upon the viewer's perspective, which further amplifies the impressiveness of the already outstanding aesthetics.

To make matters even better, the voice acting is absolutely superb, especially with Balsa and Chagum.  Chagum's seiyuu really captures his character's growth, as his vocal subtleties shift over the course of the series from a proud-but-frightened prince to a bold, confident man willing to accept all the circumstances put before him.  You can really feel his character growing in a very literal sense, which further proves just how masterful the storytelling is.

While perhaps lacking a particularly deep world, Seirei's characters more than compensate in this case, as the story itself is meant to chronicle their growth.  As I just briefly mentioned, Chagum's character is amazingly well developed, and his very realistic portrayal makes him an incredibly empathetic figure.  Unlike so many other series where characters put in his position would whine and bicker for an entire twenty-six episodes, Chagum carries his burdens in a very regal fashion.  While he sheds tears a few times, he by-in-large shows firm willpower and resolve, choosing to adapt to his new circumstances rather than mourn his past.  Come the end of the series, he clearly displays his development, as the quality and charisma of his character both progress from that of a child to that of a man.

Balsa proves somewhat different, as her growth is much more past oriented.  While her protection of Chagum demonstrates her inborn maternal instincts at work, her character tends to be fleshed out by others whom reflect upon her past.  While appearing idealistic, she proves a few times throughout the series that she is not bound blindly to her code of ethics, and if situations require she can break her rules to protect those close to her.  As the story of her upbringing pans out, it provides insight into her process of thought and, more importantly, her distinctly feminine features back-dropped upon a stereotypical male persona.

Despite hearing otherwise, I went into Seirei no Moribito with expectations for an average, run-of-the-mill series.  While it didn't blow me away, I was nevertheless enormously impressed with its presentation, and found myself intrigued from start to finish.  The sheer attention to detail and subtleties really made it shine as a true work of art, and had it been for a bit more involving storyline, I could have easily seen this series vying for a spot among such epics as Junni Kouki and Crest of the Stars.  On its own, however, a more than formidable series suitable for anybody who shares my appreciation for serious, well-told dramatic stories, and perhaps even those who enjoy a bit of action thrown in the mix as well; not to be passed up.