(L) Seirei no Moribito (Guardian of the Sacred Spirit)

[SeijiSensei]

My friend and I watched episodes six and seven back to back (with an episode of Mahoutsukai no Yome in-between). We were both emotionally spent.

[BBOvenGuy]

Wow! Episode 7 is IN-TENSE!

Spoiler for Episode 7:

I never expected Tanda to get his leg cut off! What is it with this author and people losing body parts? It was bad enough when Erin lost her fingers in Kemono no Souja.

The whole siege at the fort sequence reminded me of Helm's Deep from The Two Towers. Hey, if you're going to borrow, borrow from the best.

[SeijiSensei]

Amazon Prime is now streaming the officially subtitled version of the live-action Moribito. Watching the opening moments once again I'm still struck by the beautiful photography in this series. The scene where JIguro takes young Balsa to New Yogo is especially stunning.

So far they only have episode one. I hope this doesn't mean they'll just tease their subscribers and not manage to stream the rest.

[SeijiSensei]

(Thought I was in the wrong thread because of the live-action discussion above.)

About the anime ...

I discovered today that not one streaming outlet that serves the US now offers Moribito. It has bounced around from Viz to Hulu to Amazon to maybe even Netflix. Now it is nowhere to be found.

I find that very sad.

[Guardian Enzo]

Yeah, that really sucks. I managed to get a few muggles hooked on it while it was on Amazon.

[Guardian Enzo]

Just finished my latest rewatch. No less wrecked by the ending, no matter how many times I watch it.

It seems worth mentioning that Seirei no Moribito truly lives on - new BD/DVD options (Sentai) and streaming (HiDive) in the West just this month. It will never fade, never grow old, in the manner of all great works of art.

[Guardian Enzo]

Wow - HiDive posted a Kamiyama interview about Moribito a few months back. A true rarity to hear the man even asked about his crowing achievement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boB6d0yHPNQ

[Proto]

Those are fighting words when you are also talking about the Ghost in the Shell director ...

Not that I would disagree though. But it's indeed quite the portfolio.

[SeijiSensei]

Kamiyama is directing a spin-off animated film based on The Lord of the Rings.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...e-film/.173806

[Blaat]

The remaining main Moribito books that haven't been released in English have been fan translated. So that's Yume no Moribito all the way up to Ten to Chi no Moribito. Three books still haven't been translated but they're prequel/side short stories.

I have been reading them for the past weeks I admit I don't know how good the actual translation is as I can't read Japanese but the English itself seems fine then again I'm not a native speaker.

[Guardian Enzo]

I'm reading them as well and the translation seems very good to me. So do the books! Though my view is that Kamiyama elevated the anime above what was on the page in every way.

[SeijiSensei]

I'm guessing they go beyond the live-action adaptation by NHK? It ends with

Spoiler:

the fall of the Karsh and the great flood. Balsa ends up with Tanda in his hut.

If there are more stories, do they focus on Chagum and his efforts to build a new country? To be honest, I'd be more interested in that subject than more stories about Balsa.

This article from ANN suggests that the NHK adapted "all ten" of the Moribito novels.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I'm guessing they go beyond the live-action adaptation by NHK? It ends with

Spoiler:

the fall of the Karsh and the great flood. Balsa ends up with Tanda in his hut.

If there are more stories, do they focus on Chagum and his efforts to build a new country? To be honest, I'd be more interested in that subject than more stories about Balsa.

This article from ANN suggests that the NHK adapted "all ten" of the Moribito novels.

I would be too.

AFAIK NHK adapted all the main novels (I’m not finished yet). There are one side stories and such not adapted but I think that’s it.

[Blaat]

I'm half way through the fifth novel and I don't recall the third and fourth novels being adapted in the j-drama but then again I have terrible memory.

Third novel has several people falling asleep and not waking up, the premise is similar to one of the anime's filler episode but the reason why they're asleep is completely different. The fourth novel has Chagum attending a coronation in Sangal. Fifth novel features the Asra girl which was definitely adapted in the j-drama. The novels also expand the world building so you'll get to learn more of Sangal and Rota. Overall definitely an enjoyable read so far.

[Guardian Enzo]

Yes, they incorporated elements of those novels but not the main plots of them. Perhaps because it would have meant recasting Chagum two more times, ROFL.

[SeijiSensei]

So I rewatched the entire anime series again this past weekend.

I realized I never understood why the guy Balsa slashed in the tiger episode didn't die. Then I realized that the blacksmith made her the "Ultimate Weapon" which he had considered giving to Jiguro, the one that doesn't actually kill.

I always find the little details Kamiyama includes in his scenes particularly striking. For instance, when Chagum and the Yaku girl Nimka return to the village, we see a drama play out in the corner of the screen with no dialogue. Everyone is angry with them for running away, and Nimka's father strikes her.

The same applies to the long shot coverage of the spear fight on the cliff in the tiger episode. We're so remote from the action, yet we experience it just the same.

I also noticed how rare it is that Kamiyama shows a still frame. There's always some business going on elsewhere, even if we're just watching people converse over dinner. Torogai's little rodent often plays this role. The scene where it refuses to have anything to do with her after she offers it up to save herself from the water beast is so precious.

[Guardian Enzo]

So much of all that is original material Kamiyama wrote (including the entire "Tiger" episode). The novel is great, but he lifts it from great to a profound masterpiece.

[SeijiSensei]

If so, he did a really good job of integrating it with the broader anthropological themes of Uehashi's work. It didn't feel out of place in the narrative at all despite being a stand-alone story.