The Twelve Kingdoms, disc 1 (episodes 1-5)

[rachelmanija]

I was craving shoujo epic fantasy after my brief exposure to Shamanic Princess, so I rented this, knowing full well that if I liked it I'd have to order the rest from ebay since there's ten discs and the video store only had the first one. I liked it. That check from Hodder & Stoughton had better come in soon.

I had heard two things about Twelve Kingdoms: that it was similar to Fushigi Yuugi but with much better production values, and that a lot of the story had to do with character development so you should stick with it even if you initially found the characters unlikable. Going solely on the first five episodes, it is reminiscent of FY but with way better production and no comic relief, and yes, the characters are not very likable. Yet. The narrative is extremely gripping, though, so branna and I watched all five episodes in a single gulp, while eating fresh lychees.

Schoolgirl Nakajima has naturally red hair, which her conventional, traditional parents make her dye black, because otherwise people would think she dyes it red and that's not ladylike and OMG what would the neighbors think? ("Oh my God, it's Darkover," whispered branna.) Nakajima is quiet, conventional, a good student, and seems to have no interests in life other than not making waves. She has sort of a friend, Sugimoto, although they don't seem to be really good friends because Sugimoto is a bookworm and an outcast who wishes she lived in a fantasy land like the ones she reads about. ("Maybe people would like you more if you read less," says Nakajima helpfully, thereby losing our sympathy for the next three episodes.) Sugimoto is dating a boy, Asano, who is sweet, if a bit clueless and undirected.

Then a white haired guy in formal Chinese robes, Keiki, appears at the school and declares that Nakajima is the chosen one that he is vowed to serve, and he's going to take her to the country where she belongs. A bunch of amazing beasts spectacularly attack. Keiki gives Nakajima a sword and tells her to kill the beasts. Nakajima bursts into tears, refuses, cowers, and finally throws the sword away. Sugimoto volunteers to take the sword and kill the beasts, but Keiki says it won't work for her. Sugimoto is pissed. Asano stands around looking confused.

Keiki finally sticks a magic spirit into Nakajima that will weild the sword for her, since she absolutely refuses to do so, and whisks all three of them into the Twelve Kingdoms. Then Keiki gets separated from them, and they discover that Nakajima can speak and understand the language there but the rest of them can't. Also, everyone including Nakajima herself say that she looks completely different and unrecognizable, but she actually looks exactly the same except for some little scratches on her face. If anyone else has seen this, is this a plot point or did I miss something? Also, at one point a king says, "Oh, yes, they come from the country where everyone is born from their mothers' bellies." WTF? Do they reproduce by fission in the Twelve Kingdoms, or was that lines really badly translated?

Anyway, Nakajima wanders around crying and being passive, and is not even compensatorily genki or compassionate. Asano wanders around not having many ideas of his own, but going along with whatever anyone else suggests. Sugimoto decides that she's actually the chosen one, and goes completely psychotic. (The relationship between Nakajima and Sugimoto is reminiscent of that between Miaka and Yui, except that the former never seemed to have much of a bond to begin with.) Lots of fascinating and confusing stuff happens: spirits materialize and offer psychological insights of dubious morality, a creepy Kabuki play does basically the same thing, fantasy terminology is hurled about with abandon, and fabulous beasts charge every which way. A giant mouse with a leaf umbrella appears... and that's all I can watch until I order the rest of this somewhere. Dammit.

Comments

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Joe and I need to track down the last half of this anime someday. We liked it a lot, and I was charmed by the structured worldbuilding.

That line was not really badly translated. It is explained later.

[marici.livejournal.com]

In my version it was pretty clear she went from human red hair, the orangy-brown stuff, to true red and her eyes got a lot greener. I'd hold this series up as an example of a story that went too directly from book to screen -- the pacing's all off when all you get is half an hour a week instead of sitting down for hours of concentrated reading.

[teleute12.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure her skin got darker, too. I couldn't tell when it happened, but it's more obvious in flashbacks later on in the series.

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

Netflix has all 10 discs.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

You have just convinced me to sign up for Netflix.

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

It's a smorgasbord of anime.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten this far yet but yasminm has been pimping this series to us like mad-- she loves it, and has had some discussion under flock. You might want to ask to be in on it-- she's a wonderful, perceptive and interesting person in addition to the 12 Kingdoms discussion.

[janni.livejournal.com]

Maybe people would like you more if you read less," says Nakajima helpfully, thereby losing our sympathy for the next three episodes.

Heh.

Even from the description, my sympathies are with Sugimoto. I'm assuming this is deliberate. :-)

This is another compelling thing about anime/manga: not only can one be earnest, but no one ever seems to say, "Sorry, we have two many series about schoolgirls chosen for special destinies already, please write about something else instead."

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Initially my sympathies were with Sugimoto, but she has a sense of entitlement and ruthlessness that makes her pretty darn scary. (A bit reminiscent of Brianna in C. J. Cherryh's Rider at the Gate, if you've read that.) All three of the characters have major character flaws, which is one of the things that intrigues me about the series.

I'll take your destined schoolgirls and raise you reluctant teenage pilots of giant robots.

[janni.livejournal.com]

At which point my destined schoolgirl of course develops a crush on your reluctant teenaged pilot, and Complications Ensue. :-)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I wonder if that's ever been done...

[janni.livejournal.com]

Castle in the Sky sort of comes close, only she's not a schoolgirl and he's not reluctant ...

[minakokenshou.livejournal.com]

Twelve Kingdoms is one of my favorite series--and it only gets better as you go along. It's amazing just how much some of the characters, like Nakajima, grow throughout the series.

"Also, at one point a king says, "Oh, yes, they come from the country where everyone is born from their mothers' bellies." WTF? Do they reproduce by fission in the Twelve Kingdoms, or was that lines really badly translated?"

I don't want to spoil anything for you, so I'll simply say that babies are produced in *quite* an unusual way in the Twelve Kingdoms.

Atashi wa... BAKEMONO DA!

[slithytove.livejournal.com]

I talked a little about this show when it was in fansubs three years ago. (Has it really been that long? Sheesh.) Re-reading that, I find my thoughts seem to have been remarkably similar to yours.

There is something funny about the art: the action scenes are beautifully detailed and complex, but the scenes of conversation are much more crudely drawn. As if the producer used its A-team to do the action scenes, and a bunch of untalented drudges to finish the rest.

BTW, I agree that the characters in the first few episodes are unlikeable, but fear not! Something Happens shortly.

I stopped watching the series when it was licensed, and the fansubs went underground, but I've been picking up the DVDs and will start watching it again.