[4Tran]

Well, in episode 9, Seirei no Moribito was settling down a little bit, and the wuxia feel started fading a bit. However, it came right back in episode 10. This kind of story is so archetypical of Chinese storytelling that I found it extremely predictable. However, I love the archetype so I found it extremely entertaining nonetheless. It's really a shame that anime is such an unpopular venue for pure historical fiction because I would love to see this kind of thing more often.

Originally Posted by gaguri

And the last statement applies to just about every anime in existence, you have to be watching the world somehow. I once again, fail to see how majority of all that is seen from anything but Youko's perspective.

While the Sea of Shadows is told mostly from Yoko's perspective (it's only natural given that the orginal novel is told in limited omniscient format), a lot of the focus is less on her character than it is on the setting. What's unusual is the sheer amount of attention to detail that's placed on subjects that really have nothing to do with the characters. Yoko's only a small player on a very big canvas, and that's the very nature of the Twelve Kingdoms universe.

In comparison, so far, the canvas in Seirei no Moribito is only a little larger than what the characters see. While there are many mysteries to uncover, we can be reasonably sure that the majority of them will be addressed by the final curtain. If something doesn't concern the characters, then the story won't talk about it much, and the focus is on the things that do concern the characters.

Originally Posted by Saffire

I honestly don't know what anime I could compare this to, but perhaps Kino's Journey would fit the bill.

I would venture that the Crest of the Stars series and Legend of the Galactic Heroes also fit fairly well (the former more so than the latter).

Originally Posted by Saffire

If I understand things correctly, The Twelve Kingdoms spends a bit of time immersing the viewer into the world itself, how it works, the culture, politics, etc, even if it means warding off the character development somewhat in doing so. The story wants you to see the world and all its complexities. Yoko is there to help you understand it, and though her character development comes, and no doubt comes in loads from what I hear, they still focus a lot on the setting and how the unfamiliar world Yoko's landed in works. In simple terms, they want to Flesh out the World more for the watcher.

Another way of looking at is that a lot of the things that we learn about the world of the Twelve Kingdoms doesn't have anything to do with the plot, nor do they really affect the characters all that much. That information is intended purely to give the viewers/readers a better idea of the way the different setting elements interact with one another.

Originally Posted by Saffire

In Seirei, it's a little different. They still show us a little bit of the world, yes, but it doesn't seem to be the main focus. From the way the plot is creeping along right now, what we're seeing is pretty much the very characters themselves moving and keeping the story afloat. The world and its customs just isn't the main focus at this point at time, and I somehow don't think it will be. For instance, in Episode 10 we get to see how perceptive Chagum is, and see him get used to daily life.

That's absolutely spot on.

Originally Posted by Saffire

I dunno if I'm getting what he's saying or not. Maybe I'm just an airhead that doesn't know anything. But in any case, I'd probably enjoy both shows, and no doubt The Twelve Kingdoms is as kick-butt awesome as this one is.

Given your insight, you won't be disappointed.