January 2008

**Author’s Comment**  I just thought I would let you guys know that Adult Swim has been featuring this series for quite some time.  It’s on at 12:30 a.m.CST, so catch it if you can, you won’t be sorry!

A water spirit places an egg inside a person, along with several other hosts, bestowing the responsibility of the Guardian of the Sacred Spirit.  Luckily for those who are chosen this strange occurrence only happens but once every 100 years.  This time, the responsibility falls on a boy named Chagum.  Chagum is no ordinary boy though, he is the Second Prince to the New Yogo Empire.

Guardian of the Sacred Spirit
5 Stars

**Author’s Comment**  I just thought I would let you guys know that Adult Swim has been featuring this series for quite some time.  It’s on at 12:30 a.m.CST, so catch it if you can, you won’t be sorry!

A water spirit places an egg inside a person, along with several other hosts, bestowing the responsibility of the Guardian of the Sacred Spirit.  Luckily for those who are chosen this strange occurrence only happens but once every 100 years.  This time, the responsibility falls on a boy named Chagum.  Chagum is no ordinary boy though, he is the Second Prince to the New Yogo Empire.

Chagum begins showing signs of possession, mainly his belly just glows, but this freaks out the Emperor.  So, in fear of the royal family’s reputation being destroyed, the Emperor decides to have Chagum killed.  The Second Empress, Chagum’s mother, secretly asks a female bodyguard, Balsa, to protect Chagum for the rest of his life, no matter what.

Balsa and Chagum leave immediately on an adventure that change their lives, and the lives around them.  On their adventure Balsa and Chagum arrive at the door of her two orphaned friends Touya and Saya. Touya, who lives with Saya, is known to be the best errand runner in town. Touya and Saya are orphans from two separate families, who will later realize their love for one another.  Balsa, strong willed and aims to always protect her client, fought off assassins while Chagum ran into the forest.  After receiving a wound in the gut so early in the series, I was worried what might happen to the plot.  Luckily Tanda, a medicine man and old friend of Balsa’s shows up in the nick of time to aide Chagum in his search for safety and to help Balsa recover from the wound she received from one of the eight assassins seeking her and Chagum.  Good thing she heals fast because the assassins continued to hunt her and Chagum down until they fake their own death.

Finally, Balsa and Chagum can settle down and prepare for what happens next.  They move into the little water mill and await Chagum’s fate.  As time goes on Shaman Torogai comes to visit, and help to understand what is going on within Chagum’s body.  Shaman Torogai goes on an adventure to learn more of the ’water fiend’.  She comes in contact with creatures and demons before she finally understands what must come of Chagum.

Chagum must allow the water spirit to hatch on an even day of spring at the Place of Celebration, while protecting himself and the egg from a demon called La Lunga.  Chagum and his friends have no clue on what to do until the day finally comes, so they evade assassins who realize they are still alive and other people searching for them by hiding out in Hunter’s Cave.  A cave turned into a house for those traveling in the winter months.

When the day finally comes Chagum leads Balsa and a horde of troops from the court to the Place of Celebration.  A great battle scene erupts when La Lunga shows up and the eight assassins, who aimed to kill Balsa and Chagum, begin aiding with the hatching of the egg.

Wow, I mean, this anime really kept me interested throughout the entire 26 episode long series.  I was curious to see what exactly La Lunga was going to be, I initially laughed, not because it was stupid, but because it looked like the flying spaghetti monster referred to in an episode The Colbert Report and also in an episode of South Park.  Now, back to the story line, it was interesting enough to see a woman working in a man environment.  I didn’t touch much on the court, or any of those characters, also Jiguro, there is a lot to learn about him.  I felt that you should watch the series for yourself if my review peaked your interest enough to care.

Overall, I would have to say that this anime series was fun to watch.  I love the feudal era animes, where the characters fight with swords and knives.  I guess you could say the clink of the blade is where I get my kicks.  This is a supernatural anime, so beware if that is not your cup of tea, but it does have a healthy mix of action to go along with it.

At first glance, I was really skeptical about this movie. It seemed to be some third rate production that was put out there to make a buck or two. The basis of the movie looked like a normal girl with a bunch of cats, but I was pleasantly showed otherwise. The Cat Returns is a delightful story about a girl who helped out a cat and got thrown into an adventure of a lifetime.

Neko no ongaeshi (The Cat Returns)
4 Stars

The movie begins with a ordinary girl named Haru being late and scurrying off to school late like she always does. She arrives late and gets laughed at by her class and gets stuck on cleaning duty. Her life seems to really have no point and only seems to be getting worse and worse.

She was walking home with her only friend when she spots an odd black cat walk by with a little package in his mouth. They stop and watch the cat as he walks his way to the road and attempts to cross. Haru notices a large semi-truck hurling towards the unsuspecting cat and she makes a mad dash to save his life. Armed with only her lacrosse stick, she skillfully sweeps up the cat from harms way and they both go tumbling behind some bushes. She notices her lacrosse stick is broke and looks up at the cat, but he is standing on his hind legs and brushing himself off. Staring at disbelief, she questions the cat, and oddly enough he talks back. He thanks her and scurries off. She sits there bewildered by the talking cat when her friend catches up and starts yelling at her for her recklessness. Haru ignores her still speechless from the talking cat. Haru gets home and heads to bed to try to forget the events that happened that day.

She is rudely awoken by the cats of her neighborhood making an awful fuss at night. She goes outside to see what the whole commotion is all about, to see a parade of cats on their hind legs carrying torches. She hides behind her gate and watched the strange spectacle take place. In the center, guarded by four Secret Service looking cats, was a chariot carrying an abnormally large cat with a crown. The cats around him seemed to be his servants. Finally the parade stopped in front of her gate and one of his servants spoke up. He said that the King of the Cat Kingdom, King Cat, wanted to meet her personally and thank her for saving his son, Prince Lune, earlier that day. The fat cat finally spoke up and told her that she will be showered with the gifts of the Cat Kingdom in hopes to please her. Then they marched on. Speechless again, Haru decides to go back to bed in hopes that this was just a bad dream.

She wakes to her horror to find it was not a dream. Her house is swarmed by cat tails, her locker stuffed with mice, and every cat in her neighborhood follows her everywhere. Things just seemed to get worse for her. She is greeted again by one of the King’s Servants and he says that they will take her to the Cat Kingdom that night and she will wed Prince Lune. She seems intrigued by the offer of going to the Cat Kingdom, but she thinks it would be weird marrying a cat. She ponders the idea. the cat grows impatient, takes her delay as a yes and heads off to the King. She sits there worrying about what to do when a voice says to go to the “Cross Roads” and find a white cat and ask about the Cat Bureau. She doesn’t really question the fact that she is hearing voices, and she decides to do what it said. She searches in the “Cross Roads” and gives up. She goes to a small outside restaurant to take a seat and accidentally sits on a really fat cat. He seems to ignore her when she tried to talk to him, but once she said “Cat Bureau”, his ears perk up. He finally talks back and leads her to the Bureau. He leads her around corners and through alleyways until they hit a part of town where everything seems to be a lot smaller, including the buildings. She is introduced to Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, or Baron, a high class, and well-dressed cat that wants to help her with her problems. Baron also introduces the fat cat as Muta. Later a crow named Toto joins them while Haru explains her problem with the Cat Kingdom. Intrigued by her issue, Baron agrees to help her, but it was too late. The cats find Haru and drag her off to the Cat Kingdom. Muta jumps into action and sticks with Haru while Baron and Toto are left behind to catch up.

She wakes up in the middle of a grassy knoll and is dragged to the castle and is dressed to meet her groom, Prince Lune. The king holds a large banquet where Baron comes to her rescue and steals her and Muta away and tries to escape to the portal to the human realm at the top of the spire in the middle of the castle. The are stopped by the king at the top and when all hope seemed to be lost, Prince Lune shows up and declares that he has found another cat to marry. Free to go, Haru returns home with Baron and Muta.

 

As I stated before, I was really worried this was going to be a horrible waste of time. I kind of found myself wishing there was a bit more afterwards, a sequel or something. I really enjoyed this movie a lot. The voice acting was spectacular, and the art seemed it took some time to draw out. It was a bit on the cartoony side, but that just gave it even more charm. A great find for those cat lovers out there.