Alright, let’s start off with this trailer…
And then let’s talk about how this trailer IS THE MOST MISLEADING THING ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET. From this trailer we get the sense this show will be loaded with action. In reality, it is loaded with talking and politics. There are maybe at most five instances in which Balsa utilizes her spear. She is a warrior. A spear wielder. She has been trained not to be so inclined to negotiate. And that’s how she’s portrayed for the first 3 or 4 episodes. And then, she becomes pensive. She doesn’t wanna fight. WHY. Oh my, oh my…
Oh wow, not what this show's about at all...
I gotta say I was excited to watch this show. Dynasty set Japanese anime with a buttload of fighting. Sign me on to that. What I didn’t sign on for was every other character and the discussion of problems and the larger machines at work in this show. The obvious (and I say this with sarcasm out there, you haters) Twilight references and anticlimatic ending that looked as if it wasn’t going to end in the big battle it promised. And do you know who I owe this disappointing anime to?
Chagum. You should've been dead long ago.
Chagum. That little royal biatch ruined any chances this show had at being a shounen. No fighting because one little prince must be protected by the use of words. And why? Because he’s pregnant with a water demon. And everbody wants him dead or found, they can’t decide which. I was happy with the animation, I was happy with most of the characters and their development, but not that illegitimate bastard. He deserved nothing in this anime. His conflicts, the story revolving around him and not Balsa as this anime clearly states in its trailer is too upsettingly misleading.
The lore and backstories that go into this anime make it one who crapload of reading subtitles and not really getting a chance to appreciate that vivid images and landscapes that were drawn to backset this “samurai-like” anime. I was expecting honor and all I got was one long, extended chase scene. I could pick out the plot of each episode to a tee. And all I had to choose from was talking or running. What a hard, boring decision.
We can enjoy this scene, but nothing's happening...
I don’t even care to talk about the show and its parts in the ways in which it was redeemable. I’ve had problems in the past with movies that were misleading based on the trailers. (Biggest one being Robin William’s Man of the Year. Not a comedy at all.) Sometimes this misleading element can leave you presently surprised, as in the case of my earlier reviewed 50/50. But no. There is no excuse for misleading me for 26 episodes. And the fact that the monotone Japanese voices didn’t make it any more interesting. What I’m really saying is there was no emotion behind this supposed to be dramatic anime. And it was only slightly improved in the dubbed which I had to switch to being bored to tears.
There are no words.
I can actually sum this anime up in one sentence. Balsa the Spear Wielder gets caught up in some shit and has to help a prince give birth to save the world. The end. And I can sum up this review with a paltry 3.2 out of 10. That’s mostly due to the misdirection, but also to the content. Shame on you Moribito for ruining a should’ve been good samurai dynasty anime.
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