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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Devil Doll | # |
[32 episodes watched; temporary rating: 84% = "Buy-"]
This show combines the best elements of Lodoss Tou Senki (OAV) (the world map and the permanent switch of locations), Tenkuu no Escaflowne (a girl cast into a foreign world to save a country), Mononoke Hime (animal demons/spirits in battle action) and Air TV (magical flying beings protecting a country), just with two female lead characters who follow their own and very different paths: Having been cast into a fantasy scenario, the fantasy-loving loner accepts her role with enthusiasm ("this is the world where I belong") while the class-rep who used to please everyone learns her lesson the hard way ("looks like I can't return to my home world"). Despite the permanent killing in a world of wars and monsters this show isn't overloaded with action and violence (for example, during episode 13 a whole war is summed up into about 30 seconds), there's enough space for both girls to grow and adapt to ever new challenges, some of which change the relation between these two drastically. Both girls' characters are developing rapidly and plausibly due to experiences in their harsh reality and we're allowed to observe them wresting with their doubts and fears; Characters are definitely the strongest aspect of this work, and this alone makes this show a winner for me. The first arc, "Shadow of the Moon, Sea of the Shadow" (episodes 1-14) featuring Nakajima and Sugimoto, is a story full of character development ending in a wonderful climax whose resolution opens a door to the next stage. I like this part very much. Episode 14 is kind of a summary of the events so far, explaining certain cultural elements in full detail - not really necessary but providing an overview of the many different beings and powers in this world and all their functions and dependencies. This arc is a breathtaking fantasy epic offering suspense, character growth and a challenging tale where the side characters get a consistent and interesting story as well. (90% = "Buy+" for the first arc, despite one significant plausibility flaw in episode 5.) The second arc, "Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth" (episodes 15-22) featuring Taiki, tells a story of different characters that happened a few years before the first arc, as narration of side characters with the main character listening to that flashback. Now flashbacks aren't uncommon in animes - but a whole arc of no less than 6 episodes? I've seen this only once so far, in Tenjho Tenge. Just when we began to love the many lead characters none of these plays a role any more for quite a while... and the new characters show almost no development and have very few significant decisions to make. This arc ends without any explanation what actually happened but shows way too obviously how we will find out about it later (well, there's this miraculous coincidence...). I consider this "prequel arc" (lasting for half a season of normal anime airing time and again ending with a recap/summary episode plus another episode forming a bridge back into the main story) much weaker than the first one... and the worst thing is: The events from this arc are forgotten immediately afterwards and not referenced any more for a long, long time... (81% = "Rent+" for the second arc due to lack of significant choices for the lead characters.) The third arc, "A Great Distance in the Wind, the Sky at Dawn" (episodes 23-39) tells three tales in parallel: Yoko's events in Kei, the story of another visitor girl named Suzu, and the story of a former princess. These three stories seem completely unrelated for quite a while, so the permanent jumping to and fro between these stories is confusing (compare this to Lodoss Wars where all stories are obviously related and the audience knows that right from the start). What's more, this arc is extremely violent (but not explicit in terms of visible details) and very depressing - nothing positive happens for a number of consecutive episodes, and too many characters are acting in a mentally disturbed way. (The first arc had hostile people as well but each of them was acting rationally.) And the few positive characters we've got to know so far, most notably Rakushun and Enki, aren't present during the early episodes of this arc either. The narration about Yoko's problems is interesting but the fundamental issue (communication deficits of Keiki) has been explicitly stated too often before as to be credibly overlooked by the leads. But once Yoko has to face her first crisis and decides to take the initiative the story gets significantly better, and the foreshadowing of how these separate stories will soon be intertwined is excellent. The new characters get more interesting as well even though several of them are switching from admiration to hatred or vice versa in an instant, sometimes even based on nothing more than a (wrong) assumption or a lie. (82% = "Buy-" for the third arc due to excessive violence and mindless slaughtering of various kinds in an otherwise excellent story.) Music is impressive at times during dramatic scenes and with time I be able to identify more beautiful themes that enchant me but both songs (the OP features Japanese flute plus string orchestra, the ED is a rather boring guitar+vocals piece) are not of my liking, thus causing a downgrade for this attribute. Art and Animation are exceptionally strong, especially the drawings are extremely detailed and realistic (these high-schoolers are young women for once instead of being and acting like loli brats, yay!). More when I've seen more. So far this is better (i. e. more mature/serious and with better characters) than both Lodoss Wars series. Last updated Sunday, June 29 2008. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | DisFunctional | # |
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I've seen 3 eps and can i just say WOW!!! The character design is absolutely crazy. So much details!!! Very original. Story line - I cant wait to see what happens next, so i guess i'm intrigued. so far, all 10s Last updated Wednesday, November 07 2007. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | bitem_e | # | |
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Truly epic, truly great. Individual stories intertwined into this massive masterpiece. However, there is a lot of information and detail going into this world, and thusly, if you don't wanna think too hard or keep up with all the characters and backstories and names and whatnot, it's best to avoid. Fortunately, there are a couple episodes dedicated to keep you up to date. So it's not too bad. The action isn't impressive, but it's still pretty good (I have high standards anyway), there are hardly any 2-D characters, the magical beasts are just beautiful, the plot is smooth and nearly flawless, the drama isn't overdone. It's a wonderful series. And though mostly everything is resolved near the end (around ep 39 or so), I do wish they had continued and finished the series. Here's hoping it'll happen sometime soon.
Last updated Friday, September 15 2006. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | Dreamer | # |
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Wow!! After watching the first 2 episodes, I was hooked. This is truly the best anime I've ever seen; nothing compares as of yet. Although I feel the character design could've been slightly improved & the music, not exactly my taste, everything else was perfect. What got me hooked was how the side-stories interwove with the main plot. The whole story was a grand epic and as believable as any anime could possibly get. Solid story telling from beginning to end.
Last updated Monday, June 19 2006. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | Violet D | # | |||
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I remember watching this one and enjoying the animation and the story line. The character design was imaginative and I couldn't wait to watch more. It was like reading a book you can't put down and can't leave it because you are afraid you are going to miss what is going on. This is one you are going to watch, rent or buy.
Last updated Tuesday, June 28 2005. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Seth Weiner | # |
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This series is actually based on a novel series by Ono Fuyumi. The original novels were first released in the early 90's and then again just before the anime was released in Japan. The anime follows the novels to the letter with few differences. I was fortunate enough to have read the novels before watching the series. This is by far one of the most interesting and well done series that I have seen to date.
Last updated Saturday, April 09 2005. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | Jan-Chan | # | |
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Wow! What a grand epic story this is!! And it has everything (including incredible and detailed animation)!!! This is story of a simple, quiet, and complacent high school girl, Yoko, who is swept away to a different world and told that she is god chosen king of Chin country. On their journey to the land of the twelve countries, they are attacked by flying daemons and she becomes separated from her guide, her flying holy beast unicorn companion. Yoko and two of her high schools friends, who made the journey with her, find themselves in a strange and hostile medieval land, where they are called evil cursed pilots by the local villagers, and are hunted both by the local police and by packs of daemon dogs. On their adventure of escape, the three become separated, and Yoko has to travel on her own. She comes to learn that someone has claimed the throne of the Chin country and has declared her to be a false contender, and put a bounty for her arrest. Yoko has to find her way to safety, find friends and make allies, to rescue her unicorn companion and fulfill her destiny to be the king of the Chin country. This story has it all; evil daemons, beautiful fairies, flying horses and tigers, magic dragons from the deep ocean, transforming unicorns, armies of charging spearmen and archers, magic swords and spell casting kings. Set in a magical place where God has divided the land in to twelve countries, each to be governed by a magical holy beast unicorn, and a chosen king, in a land that hints of the ancient lore and legends of China. The story line is both rich and complex, and the animation is exquisitely detailed. This is an adventure story of an epic proportion. The five DVD set that I reviewed was actually three different stories that are interwoven and interrelated by both characters and theme. The first story (the first three DVDs, about 28 episodes) tells the story of how Yoko came to the land and ascended to the throne. The second story (the 4th DVD, about 7 episodes) tells of the holy unicorn for the country Dai, of how he was rescued from the fairy land of Japan, and how he comes of age. The third story (the 5th DVD, eight episodes) tells the story of how Yoko has confront the difficulties in learning how to be a good king, how she addresses the challenges of court politics and has to overcome a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to overthrow her leadership of the Chin country. This is definitely a treasure that is on par with, but better than, Fushigi Yuugi or Record of Lodoss War (TV Series). If you enjoy a good swords and sorcery story, then this is definitely an anime series to take note of. ................... (10/2003) Last updated Monday, October 20 2003. | ||||||||
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| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Randy | # |
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This is by far the best anime series I have ever seen...bar none. It has every element of a good anime: action, adventure, moral lessons, betrayal, character development, romance(only a tiny bit), fantasy. The characters and world are extremely well built due to it being based on Ono Fuyumi's books. It is somewhat like Fushigi Yuugi except that the female main character is very independent and capable.
Last updated Saturday, October 04 2003. | ||||||||
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Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Japanese Language Series Web Site | http://www.12kokuki.com/ |
| (English Language) Fansub Site | http://www.12kingdoms.us/ |
| ANIDB series posting | http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=26 |
| Fan Site - Image Gallery (all episodes) | http://anime.akichigo.org/juunikokuki/1.php |
| 2003 Anime Reactor Awards | http://forum.anime-reactor.net/viewtopic.php?t=6219 |
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