Final impression of this series noted in the end. =)
Episode 26: “Departure” (series finale)
Summary: A messenger informs the emperor of Chagum’s success. Chagum and company travel back to the palace. On one of their rest stopos, they have a little party to celebrate. As Chagum leaves Balsa’s side, we see Shuga and a couple of assasins hiding among the trees behind. They ask for Shuga’s orders. Even though it may be against his will, it seems that he was ordered by the emperor to dispose of Balsa after the ordeal.
Before Shuga can say anything, Mon and Jin appear and manage to stop Shuga from giving the orders. They say that even if it was a royal order, it is no longer necessary, adding that no one wishes to cause Chagum any grief. Shuga agrees and thanks both of them for their interference. He adds that he will talk to the emperor instead. They finally arrive at the palace grounds. With Balsa’s encouragement, Chagum runs towards the palace to find his mom and let her know that he is alive and well. He then visits Sagum’s room in memory of his brother. Meanwhile, Torogai-shi, Balsa and Tanda are shown to their royal guest quarters. Balsa and Torogai-shi later go to the bath and have a little conversation. Balsa says she hasn’t thought about what would happen next after the whole ordeal with Chagum is over. Torogai-shi tries to shift the subject towards Tanda, noting that there seems to be talk of Tanda receiving an offer of marriage from a nice girl in town. Balsa seems a bit taken aback to hear this. After some pause, she says it sounds like a good match.Torogai-shi can only sigh at her response.
Chagum faces his father, the emperor, who congratulates him for a job well done. Chagum says that it was only possible with the help of many, particularly Balsa. The emperor cuts him off, angrily saying that Chagum should forget about Balsa and that to the commoners, Chagum is the hero who saved the empire from great hardship. The emperor does acknowledge Balsa’s heroics and selflessness just to protect Chagum, insisting that she would have no objections to Chagum becoming the hero and leading the New Yogo Empire into the future. It seems Chagum is no longer allowed to see Balsa and company. Chagum tells Shuga that he realizes that Balsa must have predicted this was going to happen eventually, that’s why she told him Jiguro’s story. The next day, Balsa, Tanda and Torogai-shi are presented their reward while standing in front of the royal family. Chagum looks indifferent to them but it is apparent that he wants to meet up with Balsa and company instead of just sitting there watching them. His mother notices this. As she looks on at Balsa, she mutters a heartfelt “thank you” for protecting Chagum with her life.
On their way out after the ceremony, Tanda notes that he would’ve preferred to talk to Chagum rather than receiving the reward. Torogai-shi jests that she’d take his reward instead. As they approach the palace gate, Jin and Mon tell them that they are not allowed to pass through the gates and points to another path, saying that “you are worthy of that path.” Tanda takes a bit of offense with what they are implying, but Balsa says they should just do as they are told. It turns out that in that path, Chagum is waiting for them along with Shuga. Chagum runs over to Balsa and hugs her, crying that he doesn’t want to be the crown prince and just wants to keep traveling around and not be separated from her. Balsa hugs him back affectionately, then asks him if he wants to run away with her, “Want me to stir things up?” Chagum, realizing what she’s trying to say, notes that she doesn’t have to and that she should just save it for another child. Shuga breathes a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Chagum adds, “Oh, maybe that will be the child you and Tanda will have!” Tanda can only exclaim a bashful “Eh?!” as Torogai-shi laughs commending Chagum for such a good remark. They bid their last goodbye. Chagum asks Balsa to call him Chagum and say “Goodbye, Chagum” to which Balsa obliges. Chagum tearfully says his final thanks to Torogai-shi, Tanda and Balsa.
Tanda drops by Saya and Touya’s place in the city. Touya wishes they could’ve said goodbye to Chagum too. Saya asks Tanda why Balsa suddenly decided to go back to her hometown, Kanbal. She adds that since Chagum was her 8th soul in her road to redemption, she should’ve been able to settle down now. Tanda says there’s something she must do (probably referring to clearing JIguro’s and her father’s name). Touya notes he hopes that Tanda won’t have to wait years again before Balsa returns. Tanda says he’ll cross that bridge when it comes. Tanda then notices a shadow cast by the sky outside. It seems that clouds are appearing, bringing some rain, confirming the success of the birth of the water spirit. Balsa starts her journey to Kanbal. She stops for a moment, taking out her necklace and grasping it. With a smile, she says that she should’ve had some of Tanda’s wild vegetable stew before she left, then continues on her journey.
~ THE END
Impression: Months after I finished watching this series, my long overdue summary of the finale is finally done! xD The ending isn’t exactly very definitive, but I think it was fitting considering this dealt with the first book in a series of 10 novels. The ending is suggestive of another adventurous journey for Balsa as it’s mentioned she will be returning to her hometown, Kanbal, to clear Jiguro’s and her father’s name. It’d be great if Prod’n IG will animate the rest of the novels, I’d totally watch those too. Among the characters, Chagum is obviously the one who’s developed the most throughout the series. It was nice to see him gradualIy grow up and become the capable prince that he is. I would’ve wanted more information on Balsa and Tanda’s relationship, but alas, she had to go on a journey first. LOL. I couldn’t find any spoiler about the books (phooey!) . If anybody has read it and knows if Balsa ended up with Tanda after all, please do let me know. Haha. Obviously, I’m rooting for those two! 😉
BTW, the first book has been translated into English and published by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic and will be sold in hardcover this Summer 2008 (hopefully, they’d translate the whole series!) while the anime is licensed in North America by Media Blasters and will be released in Fall 2008. I, for one, am looking forward to buy a copy of the novel when it hits our local bookstores here in Manila. If it won’t be sold here, I’ll just ask my friend in the US to buy a copy for me and send it over! xD ;P
FINAL IMPRESSION: Again, it’s an adaptation of the first book in the “Guardian series” of Japanese fantasy novels written by Nahoko Uehashi, so this series is quite dialogue-heavy and takes its time to develop the characters in the span of 26 episodes. Some might be put off by this aspect of it and choose not to follow this series, opting for more action-oriented or maybe something less complicated since you need to have patience and quite a long attention span to keep up with the story.
Speaking of action, let me go back to the animation. Production IG did an amazing job with it! Everything is done in the most detailed way, from the backdrop to the splash of water, and the movements are so fluid, I couldn’t help but just watch in awe. Most notable of this are the fight and chase scenes, especially in episode 3 and the Jiguro arc (21-22). Most episodes (if not all) have a lot of talk, exploring the characters. As I mentioned in passing in my last entry, I think this series has one of the best soundtracks from the Spring 2007 season. Kenji Kawai did a really good job with the music. It complements the animation well and creates the necessary atmosphere whatever a particular scene is trying to convey. The OST has 2 volumes both contain great tracks, but majority of my favorite tracks come from volume 1, including “Omoi Haruka;” “Eiyuu, Tatsu;” “Naji no Uta;” and “Balsa Hashiru.” Going back to the episodes, some would probably seem like a filler at first and could feel a bit dragging to follow, but as you go along watching the series, you’ll realize that everything is coming full circle and connecting all the episodes nicely, finishing off with quite a fitting finale.
Overall, it has a great storyline, awesome music, excellent character development, brilliant animation. This series is nothing short of amazing. I must say, this is definitely one of the best anime series I’ve ever seen in a while (and Balsa is just so cool! Girl power!).
Would I recommend you to watch Seirei no Moribito? Definitely. ^_^
Thanks for reading my summaries for this series! (even though I started blogging it around the final few episodes). It’s been fun to share it with you. =)
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Wow, what a coincidence. I finished this anime on the same day as you. I did thoroughly enjoy this as well.
@ Deadskin: Cool! Although I actually finished watching this around November last year but I just got around to re-watching it and doing the summary now. LOL. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this series as well. It needs more love! =)
I watched it in December 2007 and I loved it thoroughly. Beautiful, simply spectacular. I will say right off that I can’t stand anime that simply relies on constant action and no character development. This anime really made you care about the characters, and I’m not just talking about the main ones. I do hope they animate the rest of the books. However, even if they don’t, the plot flowed, the characters came alive and the ending was simply perfect. I think I’m in love. 🙂
@ Kat: Glad to hear you loved the series as well! I do hope they’d animate the rest of the novels too. ^_^
Oh, almost forgot. Seirei was full of win and awesomeness until the end. I can only wonder if the other novels will be animated at some point.
@ totali: I’m really hoping that Prod’n IG will pick up the rest of the novels and animate it. We need to see more awesome series like this! ^^
I just finish watching this anime, i was glued to the screen every episode. I hope if there will be a second season it’ll be as entertaining as the first.
@ Archer: I’m glad you enjoyed watching it too! ^_^
The book almost about ends up the same as the anime but the Balsa really sad that she will probley never meet up with Chagum again. I like the book Both made me sad.
@ Mamm: Cool, thanks for sharing about the book. I can’t wait to read it! Hopefully, Scholastic will translate all the books in the Moribito series into English.