I’m so out of touch with the animes that are running this summer, heck, I’ve yet to finish or catch up with the spring ones. Hatsukoi, Sengoku Basara, Shangri La (is it over yet?), Pandora Hearts, 07 Ghosts and yes, Guin Saga. Honestly speaking, I was intending to drop this one. But me being me, I thought oh what the heck, I’ve downloaded it so might as well watch it! Man am I glad I did! I was reminded once again what makes Guin Saga a good epic fantasy anime!
The first arc ended nicely with plenty of changes and new character introductions, leading us right into the second arc. Epic battles are giving way to more political intrigue (oh my senses are tingling), conspiracies, hidden agenda etc etc… Some characters are developing very nicely. I love how the princess is losing her cool and is so obviously smitten with leopard man Guin. I love how the twin, the prince is turning from prince emo to prince darkness.. AND OH I LOVE THE NEW CHARACTERS! *Points to above. Prince Naris is HAWTNESS, but he is a man whore. He’ll flirt with anything that has boobs. Yeah, so this story is gradually becoming pretty PG? Or more? We have a full grown man kissing the 14 yr old princess when she was unconscious, a Princess/General with dominatrix tendencies, and a Prince Naris who flirts and seduces all the freaking time. Children friendly? No idea. But anyways, the second arc begins with sniffles of this and that. Meaning, you only catch glimpses of possible plot/character development and are left guessing most of the time till it unfurls (9 episodes more, plenty of time to guess!)
This aside, I did some research about the novels. I was surprised! Never knew it was such a well-acclaimed novel! 126 volumes with 21 side stories, currently standing as the world’s longest single authored series! WOW. Well, the sad thing is, the author passed away in May this year… so we’ll never get to know the ending… And apparently, the later part of the series introduces elements of yaoi!!! OMG. Who? WHO?WHO? I’m dying to know!!! But this is like what, 126 volumes!? In japanese? My god, I am already struggling to read Shonen Onmyouji in Japanese… How the hell can I read epic novels like that? I’m just shocked that this is not some run of the mill kind of fantasy story, but one so widely acclaimed (said to compare with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, my favourite book of all time!)
I am intrigued and hooked. That said, I shall continue this series to the full course of 26 episodes in the running. Anyone who has the stomach for epic fantasies should really try too. Oh I forgot to mention, the music arrangement for this anime is the cherry on top of the cake. It is well, for a lack of a better word, EPIC. *grins*
