The story is about a very reserved girl who lives in a mountain shrine with her guardians and has been sheltered and protected for her entire life. She feels that there is nothing special about her, and indeed, the only thing we know about her to be different is that technology shorts out or even breaks when she touches it. She has been told however that she is a very important person, a princess, and must be protected at all costs. The story begins with her act of cutting her extremely long hair to make bangs for herself... a seeming act of rebellion as magical strength is sometimes linked to ones hair, and this act is the first step in her taking a very small step toward self actualization. Or at least affirming that she is able to do something by her own will. The next change is that an old childhood acquaintance re-enters her life, and she is told that this boy (who has never been nice to her and seems disgusted by the fact that he must do what he is told) is her servant and will be enrolling in her school to protect her.
The plot progresses, and these two interact with each other (reluctantly) and meet new people with magical ability, throughout all of which she discovers that her body is to house a very powerful spirit and grows in magical ability herself. She very slowly comes out of her shell and begins to make personal relationships, and more actively begins to interact with her magical abilities and with the spirit world.
This was an unsatisfying anime to watch. Not because it wasn't good, because it was; the characters, narrative, and take on the fantasy genre were all very compelling. It was just too short. The characters developed too slowly for the length of the show, as did the plot, and by the last episode I felt as though I was at the inciting moment of the plot... where the true story should now begin. The story ends before any of the characters resolve any personal tensions, before the relationship between the heroine and the spirit possessing her was explored and we understood the boundary between the two, or if in fact they were two people at all, and what would happen to the heroine's spirit if they aren't. We aren't even told in any great detail the significance of this 'very powerful' spirit, and the ramifications of her presence or lack there of in our world. It ended at the beginning basically. The book series might go into more detail, bu the anime is highly unsatisfying.
Not un-worth the watch though. In what they do show you, the character development is well done, and the interactions with the other world and with various magical abilities are well thought out and the basis for a very good show. If this show was one or two more seasons long, it has the potential to be one of the better animes... but it doesn't go far enough. So I would still recommend it to be watched in appreciation of the story, but prepare for the unsatisfying ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment