mDuo13

Lately I've been watching a fair amount of anime - the list of things I'm keeping up with this season is long - but the one that's wowing me most at the moment is Kemono no Souja Erin, a 50-episode children's fantasy epic that nobody else seems to be watching. It provides something refreshingly different than the current lot of copycat fanservice anime. And even though it's (apparently) aimed at children, it is actually one of the more intelligent shows currently airing.

Take the most recent episode, for example. Even disregarding the unusually good music, the episode introduces us to several potentially recurring characters as well as the concept of the seizan; the one even undergoes a slight change of heart through his encounter with Erin; it brings our first visit to a larger, bustling town; it hints that a grand plot has actually been developing for some time now with the comments about a man who suggested stealing Touda eggs; it introduces a mysterious antagonist; it provides Erin with what will probably be her signature harp, and this is all on top of an episode plot where Erin stands up for a boy because she recognizes her own situation when he is separated from his mother for breaking the law; all this on the excuse of John needing to go into town. And on top of all that, we get a parallel subplot of a lost kitten told without interference by any of the main characters.

Few shows I see these days manage to so organically develop so much at once while maintaining a coherent style and feel, but Erin does it all the time. I love the show's affinity for animals. In some episodes it is more subtle than in others, but never does it become blunt and clumsy. The show tends to show us rather than tell us that Erin is good with animals, that she has a good heart and a heroic spirit; and even so, she's not a Mary Sue who goes around fixing every problem and mastering every discipline she encounters: she's just a bright child who's sometimes a little lost but always cares a lot.

I guess part of the reason I have so much respect for this show is that it reminds me of the fantasy novels I read when I was younger, like the Redwall series. But with less anthropomorphism, of course. ;)

In unrelated news: My break so far has consisted of some anime, some arcadegoing, some wikisurfing, some Google Image Classification gaming, and the discovery that my beloved Adams Natural Peanut Butter is a regional brand not available anywhere in southern California. Who knew?