(CR) Kemono no Souja Erin ~ Beast Player ~

[TinyRedLeaf]

I've been putting off this show for far too long and, like endless2010, I'm also in love with it after five episodes. It feels as though I'm watching a charming cartoon version of Jane Goodall growing up among the lizards in the mist.

I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, while growing steadily aware of deeper political-social tensions brewing just beneath the surface. I like it!

[Fevvers]

Despite some of my complaints with this show, I'm actually enjoying it a whole lot. I still think it a shame that this could have been better with a different director (pedantic nature aside, the character mannerisms are far too stereotypical anime-ish), but, yeah, the story and the characterization have been truly absorbing.

[FlareKnight]

Spoiler for Ep7:

Ok just caught up with this. I know its against what the story would do, but I'm all for Erin raising an army and just taking the jerks down. Would just be epic in its own way to have a variety of creatures overwhelming the country and making the prosecutor espeically pay for what happened. Sadly it's not going to go like that. Probably my emotions running high right now after watching that death. It's just too cruel to die like that.

Somehow I saw this fate coming to Soyon. I mean she came so close to being in grave danger a few times already. After the Kiba died I knew it was going to be a tragic end. Can understand why she didn't escape with Erin. But would have liked them to make a break in the night. Guess she wanted to guarantee a safe life for Erin within the village. Then the second chance in the water was negated since it was probably a mortal wound she took from that ass who stabbed her. Not to mention probably feeling she deserved punishment for using that ability.

Not sure what to think about Wadan. I mean he knew it would probably end like this. No point feeling bad about it now. Made all those cracks against Soyon and then pointed to her as the one who would have to take responsibility. Is the reality just too much for him?

It's just tragic no matter how I look at it. Now Erin has to survive and deal with her mother being dead. Not just dying, but actually going down like that.

Spoiler for Ep8:

Well definitely an aftermath kind of episode. Can't really blame Erin for crying for most of the episode. Losing your mother especially like that is horribly painful. The life she was living ended right there and finding your way after isn't easy. Not wanting to cry since she wanted to hold onto the memories of her mother. Not going to be easy for her to live on, but she'll have to find a way.

John is a good guy. Aside from issues with farting. Still tried hard to help Erin recover from her injuries and went above and beyond. Finding some kid hurt like that and giving her food and shelter. Erin definitely wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for his kindness at that time. Wonder how long she'll stay with this guy. It's not like she has anywhere in particular to go.

Also finding out that Soyon used the player technique was good. Can actually see how that technique would be seen as a terrible thing. If misused someone could actually follow our plan of revenge. Gather a huge army of creatures and taking over the land wouldn't be that tough. Seems the Mist people will be on the lookout for Erin now. Could feel their own sadness at the death of Soyon.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Oh. My. Goodness.

Episodes 6 and 7 catapulted a children's fable into epic territory that I've not seen in anime for a very, very long time. O___O

I do believe I've just found my sleeper hit for the year. The heart-rending impact of Episode 7 is what Claymore's Episode 8 ought to have had on me back in 2007. It's hard to recall a time when I've been stunned this speechless by how well a story arc has been handled, and by how beautifully Erin's aesthetic elements come together to support its tale.

Production I.G has struck solid gold again with novelist Nahoko Uehashi. The amount of socio-anthropological knowledge she's brought into this story is steadily becoming apparent. Like many others, no doubt, I had thought Erin to be a pleasurable side project she indulged in while working on her epic Moribito series, but it turns out to be a worthy story on its own, exploring another set of themes, not least of which is Man's relationship with beasts.

My anime-viewing prospects for 2009 suddenly look a lot brighter now.

By the way, bee-sting therapy has been documented before. Take a look here, for a small peek at how it works in real life.

[endless2010]

This anime is defiantly at higher level than anything I've seen in a while. I loved the way the aftermath was handled in episode 8. Good stuff. I'm not sure where they are headed from here, but I'm excited to find out.

[itisjustme]

...Episode 8 gets a 10/10 for fart lecture.

[jennkei]

Surprisingly informative, and definitely endearing -- I'm still not sure I have enough staying power to follow it for 50 eps, though. XD For a short summary/screenshots of episode 9..

[Xcomp]

Soyon will be proud to know she raised such a great daughter.

Spoiler for Episode 9:

I mean come on... After finding out John used a single silver piece worth of produce to save her, Erin felt so bad she couldn't repay him back. She even goes onto begging to let her stay in exchange for work. How many children would have acted responsibly like that?

Anyway, quite an informative episode about honey bees. It was cute the way Erin thought something will happen to her after tasting that royal jelly

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Xcomp

Soyon will be proud to know she raised such a great daughter.

Erin pulled a Chagum, actually.

In any case, she seems to have wandered very far from home, and ended up in a country where the staple cereal is wheat rather than rice. So, even if she had the means, she wouldn't know how to get back (assuming she still wanted to, after all that had happened).

[FlareKnight]

Spoiler for Ep9:

Well can say I probably learned more about bees than I ever cared to know . I mean wow they really spent a ton of time telling everything that they could. Yet there was important things in there such as the using of the beeswax to save her and giving a lesson about continuing forward.

Of course no way Erin is going to be staying with John for the entire series. After all it's not called 'Erin the beekeeper's apprentice' . But considering all that happened and how far she went this is good. Give her heart a chance to recover from the emotional pain and just focusing on working.

Erin really shows her intuition and knowledge here. Even though it's pretty far away from Touda she still managed to understand quite a bit. Although her habit of wandering into dangerous situations hasn't changed. Such as sticking her face close to the new beehive .

Guess we'll see how things go. She is just a kid but the story would demand her to move on eventually.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Spoiler for Ep9:

Well can say I probably learned more about bees than I ever cared to know . I mean wow they really spent a ton of time telling everything that they could.

Spoiler for bees:

Heh, I certainly didn't need to know that I'm drinking bee saliva whenever I eat honey.

[SuperKnuckles]

I guess Erin has a new sugar daddy... literally.

[karumofin]

i dont know, the fart guy really put me off, if this is how the series continues im putting it to rest for a while...

[TinyRedLeaf]

Can anyone take a guess at how Erin's name might be written in kanji, given that it means "Wild Apple"?

[Jehuty]

Erin isn't a Japanese name, so no kanji is used. I don't know where he got the wild apple meaning from, though.

Also, I absolutely love John. Not only is he kind, but incredibly knowledgeable. I felt so sad for Erin when she started shaking though. It was so touching - no child should ever have to feel as helpless as that.

Then again I just got done watching Aishiteruze Baby so seeing a child even sneeze would be touching ><

[endless2010]

Episode 9 was a nice episode. John is just a nice guy. I'm not sure how his corny humor will hold up after 2 or 3 more episodes, but we will see. I did have a problem with the fansub since at some points the subtitles were taking up half the screen, but I'm not sure if that was just my computer or if it was the file.

BTW, Erin means "Ireland". I believe it's actually a Celtic name. John was probably just trying to cheer Erin up by telling her the "wild apple" thing.

[signorRossi]

Originally Posted by endless2010

BTW, Erin means "Ireland".

Wouldn't that be 'Eire'?

[jennkei]

I was wondering about the wild apple reference too...couldn't find any other places that mentioned the link. ._.

Both have been used in the past, it seems -- from dicty.com
Erin
ancient name of Ireland, from O.E. Erinn, dat. of Eriu "Ireland."

Ep 10 was..hrm..well. Screenshots here, but I missed

Spoiler:

John. XD He was funny! And I don't mind bee trivia.. I could see that this ep was moving the plot, though, which is good. However, I think Erin has to start being more careful. -wry- I mean, I know it's part of her straightforward personality, but sometimes I feel like telling her...self-preservation, girl!

[TCman]

Episode 10 is really nice.

Spoiler for Episode 10:

I am a little surprised that there are some action and martial arts in this episode; I really like the motion blur and radial blur that are used in the action scenes;

in this episode we could also see the origin of the Erin's "harp" from the promational poster/image; The harp comes from the Royal Guard Iyaru who shares a similar fate as Erin - he also is seperated from his mother when he's a kid. The whole episode emphasizes on the theme of "motherhood" or "motherly love".

There's also an other caped guy who attacked Iyaru when he interrogates the two "Touda eggs poachers"/ the two brothers (who decided to better their life after what they have seen what has happened in episode 7); that caped guy want probably to stop the interrogation before the two brothers can remember the name of the man who instructed them to steal the Touda eggs; maybe the "enemy" also wants to use Touda dragons in the war against the Kingdom. By the way is the character Iyaru voiced by Mamoru Miyano?

[golthin]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Spoiler for Ep7:

Ok just caught up with this. I know its against what the story would do, but I'm all for Erin raising an army and just taking the jerks down. Would just be epic in its own way to have a variety of creatures overwhelming the country and making the prosecutor espeically pay for what happened. Sadly it's not going to go like that. Probably my emotions running high right now after watching that death. It's just too cruel to die like that.

Somehow I saw this fate coming to Soyon. I mean she came so close to being in grave danger a few times already. After the Kiba died I knew it was going to be a tragic end. Can understand why she didn't escape with Erin. But would have liked them to make a break in the night. Guess she wanted to guarantee a safe life for Erin within the village. Then the second chance in the water was negated since it was probably a mortal wound she took from that ass who stabbed her. Not to mention probably feeling she deserved punishment for using that ability.

Not sure what to think about Wadan. I mean he knew it would probably end like this. No point feeling bad about it now. Made all those cracks against Soyon and then pointed to her as the one who would have to take responsibility. Is the reality just too much for him?

Amen! too bad that like you said such thing will not go with the spirit of the anime.