[Kaoru Chujo]

I've seen ep1 and liked it. Very beautiful. Rather old-fashioned looking. Definite visual echoes of Oniisama-e, for me. The pace and sound are like a reverie, but not too still. Lots happened.

I like what they have done with the adaptation, so far, moving things around and leaving things out, as they have to do to condense a thousand pages into an anime series. So far, they seem to be picking the right things to include -- and even to add -- so I do get a sense of the characters and what's going on. But then again, I'm very familiar with the novel.

Endou Aya, who will be Murasaki, is entrancing as the narrator. Tamagawa Sakiko as Fujitsubo is brilliantly elegant, though maybe she sounds a bit old for Fujitsubo at the time shown. And Kobayashi Yumiko gives the pre-teen Genji a fresh feel.

I loved how intimate with the seasons the backgrounds and sound made me feel. Very appropriate to the Heian sensibility. The ED was nice, but the OP will take some getting used to. Odd choice.