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The Tweleve Kingdoms Anime (2002)
Image from Myanimelist.com
Plot Summary:
The Twelve Kingdoms is a truly spectacular series about an ordinary high school girl who is brought to another world by a strange man. When she gets to the new world, she gets separated from him and basically starts out on a journey to discover who she is, where she is, and where she truly belongs.
The Bad:
There's an exceptionally slow start to this anime. But probably around episode 10 you'll be hooked. The main character, Youko, starts as a whiney baby which will put a lot of people off, but stick with it. Of course then later a side character named Sugimoto takes up that crown of annoying but it doesn't detract from the main story. Honestly it doesn't last and really contributes to character development. On that note however, I will say some of the character development is blotchy. If a straight line could represent smooth character development, then Twelve Kingdoms might be an uneven dashed line. Some small details are missing but if you accept what's happening at face value, you'll understand and make out those missed minor details.
The Good:
The art is wonderful for the time period. The characters develop far more than most Animes out now. I think it's because they really took the time to make sure to complete the anime. There's a very solid 45 episodes with only a couple recap fillers. Each episode feels long and well told. I love it when a lot gets accomplished in an episode where you're like, "Wow so much has gotten done, guess this episode is almost over, whoa! still more than half left!" I love that stuff.
The story itself is very well fleshed out in my opinion. They address many of the things that get brought up early on, they will usually come back to it to explain what it means. For that reason, I feel it has a lot of 're-watchability.' The voice acting is well done, and the actresses and actors are well chosen. The music is matched perfectly with what's going on. It's all very atmospheric and you will really get drawn in.
The action for the time period is well done I think. I believe at the time this Anime aired, (2002) they were still hand drawing or at least partially hand drawing animations. Considering that, I'm all the more impressed.
Is it Worth The Watch?
Absolutely. It's a slow start unfortunately. As I've mentioned. All of the main characters are very annoying early on. But as the show progresses, you'll find yourself rooting for their changing characteristics. It changes focus towards after say the first 15 or so episodes? But it all adds to the story and comes back around to bring a very good close to a great Anime story.
