Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit

Well, now that FluffyBunnyPwn has stolen, backstabbed me, completed the post on Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, I have decided to post on Moribito, another series with excellent animation. The prince Chagum is inhabited by a water spirit, and the palace star readers have foretold a drought if the water spirit is not killed. And so assassination attempts are made on the prince's life. Because of this, the prince's mother hires balsa, a well-known bodyguard, to protect Chagum. From there, the story continues on, but I won't say anymore because it would take too long.



Now, Moribito is produced by Production IG, well known for its excellent animation, and boy does it show! In the battle episodes, the animation is very detail-oriented and the movements are very unique. No repeated actions like in One Piece and Naruto and Bleach. Instead, each movement has its purpose and battle scenes are very well orchestrated.

However good the battles are, Moribito is still ultimately a coming of age story for both Chagum and Balsa. Balsa in the form of seeing things from Jiguro's view and Chagum in the form of being someone different. That takes up the majority of the anime. Because of that, there is a lot of backstory and the culture of the different people living in New Yogo is explored. Now, Moribito is adapted from the novel of Nahoko Uehashi, Moribito:Guardian of the Spirit, and it does a good job of making it into an anime. Some of the culture and events are different, but that doesn't matter.

Rating: 9/10